The free speech organization PEN America fired me three days after I published an article about how they investigated me for sharing an article critical of Zionism. My termination is a sad reflection of PEN’s censorious approach to Palestine.
Read Susan Abulhawa’s scorching letter to the head of PEN America where she takes a blowtorch to the organization’s continued complicity with Israel’s genocide in Gaza.
Working at PEN American has given me a firsthand look at how liberal institutions suppress pro-Palestinian voices.
Israel arrested Jenin Freedom Theatre chairman Bilal Al-Saadi last month and sentenced him to six months detention on undisclosed charges as part of a crackdown on Palestinians’ artistic freedom. PEN America and an international group of theater community members have condemned the arrest. They are demanding Al-Saadi’s release.
Human rights advocates welcome the decision by PEN America to hold the World Voices Festival of International Literature without funding from the Israeli government.