PEN America asks to host public forum with writers who quit over Gaza
4 Min Read
PEN America released a statement yesterday calling for a ceasefire in Gaza showing solidarity with all Palestinian writers in the besieged enclave.
-
A protester waves a Palestinian flag in front of law enforcement officers as hundreds demonstrate in support of Palestinians near the Dolby Theatre where the 96th Academy Awards Oscars ceremony is held on Sunday, March 10, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP)
After several important writers and literary figures quit PEN America's World Voices Festival in protest of its silence on the Israeli genocide against Gaza, PEN America has proposed an olive branch to the group.
In an open letter released on March 20, the organization announced that it wishes to meet with the authors and others in a public forum to promote a better apprehension of its position and talk about "sharply divergent views on questions of deep consequence."
It added that it is providing "a substantial financial contribution," presumed to be about $100,000, to the Netherlands-based PEN emergency fund for distribution to Palestinian writers, claiming it is an "expansion of existing support."
'We stand alongside the writers of Gaza'
Regarding the ceasefire, PEN America said in its statement “We call, alongside PEN International, for an immediate ceasefire and release of the hostages, an agreement that can pave the way for urgent humanitarian access and a lasting peace."
It expressed further support for writers in Gaza amid the Israeli war on the latter “by making clear our sorrow and anguish at the suffering endured by so many Palestinian civilians in Gaza, including authors, poets, artists, journalists, and others who have paid with their lives brutally and unfairly."
"We stand alongside the writers of Gaza who are struggling to survive. The ravages of the current war will linger as a stain on humanity for generations to come. We are devastated by warfare that has stolen lives, silenced voices, and left innocent people shattered, terrified, displaced, starving, and denied their freedom," it emphasized.
"Palestinian writers are firmly encompassed in our commitment to the freedom to write. We have offered direct, confidential assistance to individual Gazan writers and artists in need," the statement added.
PEN America added that it hopes that its offer to throw a public event, promoting dialogue on the literary and artistic community’s reaction to the war and "inviting participants with varied perspectives, including those critical of PEN America," will help clear up its position, which it stressed is to provide a platform for a various range of opinions.
Diversity of opinions is a top priority, PEN America says
In its letter, PEN America highlighted that its mission of portraying writers who have wide-ranging opinions and positions makes it impossible to always please everybody.
"We have been accused of antisemitism, anti-Palestinian bias, unfairness toward Israel, double standards, moral equivocation, and complicity in genocide," it announced, adding that “Some feedback is public, some private, and some has gotten personal. As a community, we are aghast witnessing the brutal toll of human suffering."
“Beyond that, there are sharply divergent views on questions of deep consequence. As an organization open to all writers, we see no alternative but to remain home to this diversity of opinions and perspectives, even if, for some, that very openness becomes [a] reason to exit,” it emphasized.
PEN America added that it was also urging ahead with the World Voices festival, but that it was let down by having to remove a panel tentatively titled The Palestinian Exception to Free Speech “that was to have included several of the writers who have now told us they will not take part”.
Prominent writers boycott PEN World Voices Festival over Gaza
Dozens of writers withdrew from an international literary festival as it failed to call for an end to the ongoing Israeli genocide against Gaza.
Naomi Klein, Michelle Alexander, Hisham Matar, Isabella Hammad, Maaza Mengiste, Zaina Arafat, Susan Muaddi Darraj, and other writers quit the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature as reported by The Daily Beast on March 15, which cited a letter released two days prior.
The festival, created in 2004, takes place annually in New York City and Los Angeles and honors international writers.
"Israel has killed, and at times deliberately targeted and assassinated journalists, poets, novelists, and writers of all kinds," the letter stressed.
The letter labeled the deliberate Israeli attacks on cultural institutions in Palestine, including universities and libraries, as a form of "cultural genocide".
As the festival has not urged for a ceasefire in Gaza, the writers in protest emphasized that such neglect is a "betrayal" of its values.
"This failure is particularly striking in light of the extraordinary toll this catastrophe has taken in the cultural sphere," they stated.
