Over 600 writers urge PEN America to address Palestinian authors' plight

In an open letter to PEN America, more than 600 writers and poets have called for the organisation to urgently address the threat faced by Palestinian authors due to Israel's actions.

The signatories stress the importance of PEN America taking a stand against the genocide, calling for a response to the challenges faced by writers in Palestine.

"We demand PEN wake up from its own silent, tepid, neither-here-nor-there, self-congratulatory middle of the road and take an actual stand against an actual genocide. The bare minimum," the letter stated. It also cited instances of suppression of Palestinian writers since October 7, 2023.

Notable signatories include Roxane Gay, Alissa Nutting, Marie-Helene Bertino, Kiese Laymon, Saeed Jones, Carmen Maria Machado, Solmaz Sharif, Tommy Pico, Laura van den Berg, and Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah.

The signatories call on PEN America to release an official statement on the 225 poets, playwrights, journalists, scholars, and novelists killed in Gaza, attributing the deaths to Israel, a Zionist colonial state funded by the U.S. government. The letter emphasises that PEN America should leverage its mission to "defend writers, artists, and journalists and protect free expression" to respond to the escalating crisis.

They also pointed out that PEN America remained silent even when PEN International called for a ceasefire.

The writers accused PEN America of perpetuating fascist nation-statehood, particularly concerning Palestinian voices. They also criticised the organisation for remaining silent on the plight of Palestinian journalists, writers, and poets allegedly targeted by Israel. The letter also condemns PEN America for platforming Mayim Bialik, whom they accuse of endorsing racist Zionist ideology.

The letter addresses the violent treatment of Randa Jarrar, a Palestinian writer associated with PEN America, during the same event. It demands an apology for the incident and urges concrete steps to support Palestinian writers, including creating a legal strategy for their asylum.

"PEN Members and representatives from Writers Against the War On Gaza (WAWOG) protested this event indoors. Among them was Randa Jarrar, a Palestinian writer who has done weeks of unpaid labour for PEN as an event host, organiser, and judge of PEN’s Open Book prize and Robert Bingham prize. Rather than defending Jarrar’s right to free expression, PEN America violently dragged her out of the event by her audience chair, and threatened her with state violence, stating that if she did not silence herself the Los Angeles Police Department would be summoned to silence her," said the letter.

PEN America is urged to extend its Writers in Crisis and Writers at Risk programs to assist Palestinian authors and poets. The letter called on PEN America to raise awareness about the unlawful detainment of Mostafa Sheta, director of the Freedom Theater in Jenin, by Zionist occupation forces.

The writers demanded PEN America's active involvement in advocating for the censorship of Palestinian voices, citing the destruction of educational facilities, libraries, and universities in Palestine. They underscore the importance of PEN America's global campaigns against book banning and freedom of speech, urging equal attention to the suppression of Palestinian voices. "PEN should “find the same zeal and passion that they have for banned books in the US to speak out about actual human beings in Palestine."

"The Zionist occupation forces have damaged or destroyed 372 educational facilities, including every single university and the Gaza Municipal Library, which served as a cultural centre and library for children. They are targeting artists, poets, and writers," highlighted the letter. "They murdered poet Heba Abu Nada and kidnapped poet and writer Mosab Abu Toha. Murdering writers and bombing libraries is the ultimate book ban. Destroying universities is the ultimate repression of campus free speech," it added.

The letter concluded by urging PEN America to fulfill its charter's goal of promoting "one humanity living in peace and equality in one world" and take a stand against the "extermination of an entire people," emphasising that "there is no form of censorship more powerful than the extermination of an entire people, no silencing more absolute than genocide."