In a letter to the board of PEN America, a group of current and former employees this week threw their support behind a recent, high-profile protest against the literary free speech organization’s refusal to align with its parent organization PEN International and call for a ceasefire in Gaza. The staffers, who sent the letter anonymously out of fear of professional retaliation, shared with the board two letters employees sent to the organization’s top brass last year “expressing concerns from a large number of staff that PEN America is failing to comply with its mission and values with regard to its work on Palestinian free expression.”
In December, 41 PEN America staffers sent a letter to leadership raising “continued concerns about the organization’s shortcomings in mounting a principled defense of free expression,” and warning that CEO Suzanne Nossel’s decision to take an “ill-conceived” trip to Israel would undermine PEN America’s credibility on issues it purports to care about. Another October letter scrutinized the organization’s initial response after Hamas’s attack, accusing PEN America of not also addressing the ongoing and ensuing suffering inflicted upon Palestinians.
PEN America, in its own words, “stands at the intersection of literature and human rights to protect free expression in the United States and worldwide,” with the specific aim to “defend writers, artists, and journalists.” Israeli forces have killed more than 100 Palestinian journalists, jailed critics for mere speech, and destroyed entire universities in Gaza. PEN America has failed the moment, according not only to the organization’s employees, but also a slew of prominent writers who rejected invitations to its celebrated international annual gathering in an open letter in mid-March.
That rejection, rather than the internal staff letters, sent PEN America into damage-control mode. Publicly, it responded by calling for an immediate ceasefire and hostage release, and making a “substantial” financial contribution of $100,000 to the PEN Emergency Fund for distribution to Palestinian writers in need.
“Like many other organizations, PEN America is wrestling with the challenges of responding to a complex conflict that has divided our community. From the outset, we have had countless discussions with staff at all levels of the organization on how we can best contribute in this moment,” a PEN America spokesperson told The Intercept. “These discussions have been fruitful and are ongoing — and, of course, will continue to shape our policies. This is consistent with our role as a big tent organization that defends free expression and writers. Our work in defense of speech, by or in defense of Palestinians, most of which is publicly available, has been robust and extensive. Airing varied voices and reflecting complexity in our work are essential in fulfillment of PEN America’s principles and mission.”
“No Palestinian wants to be the token Palestinian. It’s insulting and offensive. We’re not going to clean up your mess.”
The organization also reached out to a handful of well-known Palestinians to invite them to sit on a panel on censorship of Palestinian voices. Journalist and analyst Rula Jebreal, the recipient of one such Zoom invitation, said that she was willing to hear PEN leadership out but had no interest in serving as window-dressing for their missteps. Other Palestinian writers and activists, such as human rights attorney Noura Erakat, took a similar position. “No Palestinian wants to be the token Palestinian. It’s insulting and offensive. We’re not going to clean up your mess,” Jebreal said she told PEN America. (Erakat said she stood in solidarity with Jebreal and others. Jebreal and her husband Arthur Altschul Jr. have donated to The Intercept, and Erakat spoke at a recent Intercept fundraiser.)
The question, Jebreal said, is simply one of consistency. When Russia invaded Ukraine, she noted, PEN America disinvited two Russian dissident writers from an event hosted by New Yorker magazine writer Masha Gessen, a Russian American journalist who has been an outspoken critic of President Vladimir Putin, after Ukrainian writers said they would feel unsafe in the presence of the Russians. (According to PEN America, it was the Russian writers who decided to withdraw.) “You went out of your way when Ukraine was under attack and now when it comes to Palestine, it’s as if we don’t exist,” Jebreal said. “We found out a lot of our allies, people who agreed with us on Iran, on Turkey, on Ukraine, then turned on us and said, ‘Those principles don’t apply to Palestinians.’”
Jebreal and others told The Intercept they were willing to continue engaging — not wanting to feed into the toxic stereotype that “Palestinians never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity” — but they wanted the organization to first commit an internal investigation into how things had veered so thoroughly off course, a change in public posture toward the conflict, and an apology to and attempt to make amends with Randa Jarrar, a Palestinian American writer who was physically removed from a January PEN event that featured a pro-Israel speaker.
Jebreal also encouraged the organization during her meeting to host events focused on the growing number of Palestinian writers killed and arbitrarily detained, the cultural genocide underway in Gaza, as well as a call to stop framing the conflict entirely around October 7. “I’m 50 years old,” said Jebreal, who grew up in Jerusalem. “My entire life was under military occupation and you’re telling me the clock starts for you with that date.”
The image above shows a photo by Ashraf Amra/Anadolu via Getty Images. The image is available in various sizes for different viewing options.
On October 10, PEN America issued a statement condemning the attack by Hamas on Israel, focusing on the targeting of a music festival. A week later, staff protested the statement for lacking historical context and not addressing free expression issues in Israel’s retaliatory war on Gaza.
In December, more staff expressed concerns about PEN America’s perceived alignment with Israel and its oversight of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. This was particularly highlighted by an upcoming trip to Israel by the CEO, Suzanne Nossel.
Staff also criticized the organization’s decision not to back a ceasefire in Gaza, citing concerns about inconsistency in addressing conflicts. The PEN America union accused management of imposing policies that could restrict staff from engaging in political activities.
PEN America has faced external criticism as well, with writers urging the organization to speak out about human rights violations in Palestine. Some writers withdrew from the PEN World Voices Festival in protest of the organization’s perceived betrayal of its values in the context of Israel’s actions in Gaza.
The co-signees lambasted PEN America for its failure to support calls for a ceasefire, for denouncing authors who endorse Palestinian boycotts of Israeli institutions, and for what they perceived as a disparity in the organization’s efforts regarding Gaza compared to its initiatives opposing the war in Ukraine and supporting Latin American journalists.
In response, PEN America defended its extensive focus on the conflict in Gaza, highlighting webinars on Israel and Palestine, over 35 statements issued since October related to the war, and its stance against stifling Palestinian and pro-Palestinian speech. The organization also outlined additional actions it was taking, reiterated its support for writers’ participation in boycotts, and expressed regret over the removal of a writer from an event in January.
The dissenting writers appreciated PEN America’s apparent willingness for introspection and self-assessment, urging the organization to assemble a group of individuals with impeccable integrity to review its approach to the repercussions of decades of Israeli occupation of Palestine. They emphasized the need for a systematic examination to identify any patterns of bias in this area that have persisted over the years.
Members of the Worker Writers School, a literary group established in 2011 and comprising workers from various fields, unanimously endorsed the response statement. The group decided collectively not to participate in the PEN World Voices Festival, a significant event for them to showcase their work to a broad audience, as noted by poet and school founder Mark Nowak.
Correction: March 30, 2024, 3:37 p.m. ET
This article has been corrected to remove a mistaken mention of PEN America’s founding date. It has also been updated to include the organization’s stance on an event involving Russian dissident writers and cultural boycotts, as well as to disclose a donation from Rula Jebreal to The Intercept.
