Renowned Indian-American author Jhumpa Lahiri has refused to accept an award from the Noguchi Museum in New York City after the museum fired three employees for wearing keffiyeh shawls - a garment long associated with solidarity with Palestine.

“Jhumpa Lahiri has chosen to withdraw her acceptance of the 2024 Isamu Noguchi Prize in response to our updated dress code policy,” the museum said in an emailed statement on Wednesday (September 25), reported by The New York Times.

"We respect her point of view and understand that this policy may or may not be in line with everyone's views," he added. Lahiri won the Pulitzer Prize in 2000 for her book "Interpreter of Maladies."

According to the New York Times, last August, the museum announced a policy prohibiting employees from wearing clothing or accessories that express “political messages, slogans or symbols.”

It is noteworthy that demonstrators supporting Gaza wear the Palestinian keffiyeh around the world, as a symbol of Palestinian rights. The most prominent of these celebrities was the late anti-apartheid leader in South Africa, Nelson Mandela, on several occasions.

Last November, three Palestinian students were shot in Vermont for wearing the Palestinian keffiyeh.

Others in the United States have lost their jobs because of their stance on Israel's war on Gaza.

Last May, a New York City hospital fired a Palestinian-American nurse after she described Israel's actions in Gaza as "genocide" during her award acceptance speech.

Israel denies the genocide charges brought against it by South Africa at the International Court of Justice.