PEN America president’s resignation marks latest anti-Zionist uproar in literature

PEN America President Dinaw Mengestu resigned in protest of an article published by his own organization, which detailed the “cultural isolation” faced by Jewish and Israeli authors. The article, titled “A Silent Moratorium,” highlighted instances of writers being told to remove Jewish references from their work and facing online harassment. Mengestu argued that PEN America's opposition to cultural boycotts, rather than the boycotts themselves, was discriminatory and an “ongoing failure to defend free expression fairly.” His resignation underscores ongoing tensions within progressive literary circles regarding anti-Zionist activism, free speech, and the acknowledgment of Jewish and Israeli victimhood.

• The PEN America article documented cases where Jewish and Israeli authors were accused of “supporting genocide” and subjected to “review bombing” campaigns.
• Mengestu stated, “What PEN America fails to understand is that a boycott is a form of dialogue.”
• This incident follows previous turmoil at PEN America, including the cancellation of its 2024 award ceremony and the resignation of former President Suzanne Nossel, amid accusations of “Zionist propaganda.”
• Writers Against the War in Gaza celebrated Mengestu’s resignation, asserting, “Normalization of Zionism will never again be tolerated by the literary community.”