NEW YORK — Last week, the free speech group PEN America published an article describing the “cultural isolation” surrounding Jewish and Israeli authors.

One writer said she had been told to strip Jewish references from her romance novel; a children’s author who wrote about a child bringing matzah to life was accused of “supporting genocide”; and other writers were targeted in coordinated “review bombing” and harassment campaigns online. A literary agent for Israeli writers said she hasn’t sold a book by an Israeli since the October 2023 Hamas attack. The article did not include a call to action, political prescriptions or support for Israeli policies.

The president of PEN America, novelist Dinaw Mengestu, resigned to protest his own organization’s article about Jewish and Israeli victimhood because the article opposed cultural boycotts. Mengestu argued that opposition to the boycott movement, and not the anti-Israel boycott movement itself, was discriminatory.

In a statement, he assailed PEN America for its “ongoing failure to defend free expression fairly.” He argued that the group was harming pro-Palestinian free speech by defending free expression for Israelis and Jews.

PEN America’s stated goals are to “champion the freedom to write” and “protect free expression.” Mengestu’s resignation stood out because opposing boycotts of a national group, and discrimination against writers, would seem to be clearly in the organization’s mandate.

Mengestu’s resignation and the ensuing fallout exemplified several patterns related to anti-Zionist activism in progressive spaces, including alleged prejudice in literary spaces, disputes over free speech, and the minefield around acknowledging Jewish and Israeli victimhood.

The interrelated trends have come up repeatedly in the nearly three years since the Hamas-led October 2023 attack on Israel.

Upheaval in the literary world

The PEN America article, titled “A Silent Moratorium,” followed a series of reports on anti-Zionism and alleged prejudice in the publishing industry in recent years.

A 2024 online list targeted “Zionist” authors for blacklisting; Jewish authors have been ostracized; hundreds of authors pledged to boycott Israeli cultural institutions; and a Brooklyn bookshop canceled a book launch with the leftist Jewish author Joshua Leifer because the event moderator was........

© The Times of Israel