2022 Nobel Prize in Literature winner Annie Ernaux a longtime critic of 'apartheid' Israel

French author Annie Ernaux, who won the 2022 Nobel Prize in Literature on Thursday, has repeatedly shown solidarity with the Palestinian cause and backed a boycott of Israel.

Ernaux, whose writing career spans five decades, is the first French woman to have won the prestigious award.

In 2021, as Israel ejected Palestinians from their homes in occupied East Jerusalem and conducted a ruthless bombing campaign on the besieged Gaza Strip that killed more than 250 Palestinians, Ernaux signed a letter "against apartheid" that condemned Israel for its actions.

"We demand an immediate and unconditional end to Israeli violence against Palestinians... We call on all governments that allow this crime against humanity to put in place sanctions, mobilize international accountability bodies, and end their trade and economic relations," the letter read.

Growing international recognition of Israel's systematic discrimination against Palestinians as 'apartheid' has angered Israel, which staunchly rejects the label.

In 2019, Ernaux signed a letter calling on a French state-owned broadcasting network not to air the Eurovision Song Contest, which that year was being held in Israel.

A year earlier, she signed a letter opposing the establishment of a season of cultural events by the French and Israel governments to mark the 70th anniversary of the creation of the Israeli state.

Both of these letters accused Israel of using cultural events to whitewash its crimes against Palestinians, and were signed by other French cultural icons including late director Jean-Luc Godard.

Ernaux beat out writers including Salman Rushdie - who survived a stabbing attack that landed him in hospital earlier this year - to win the Nobel literature prize.