Today, there is no need to burn books; you can simply boycott and refuse to publish books by Israeli and/or Zionist authors and/or books with Jewish motifs. It is also much less harmful to the environment.
Last week, the president of PEN International, the international writers' organization founded in 1921 to promote literature and defend freedom of expression worldwide, resigned. The president resigned after an article was published on the organization's website containing testimonies from writers, literary agents, and publishers detailing how, since October 7, publishing houses have been refusing to publish Israeli authors or books with Jewish motifs. There are cultural boycotts. Writers are asked to downplay or hide their Jewish identity. There are social media attacks against those perceived as Zionists. There are online lists attempting to flag "Zionist" writers.
The resigning president believed that the mere publication of the article about the exclusion and boycotting experienced by Israeli and Jewish writers could harm the freedom of expression of... BDS supporters.
Once, books were burned. Today, it is enough simply not to publish them. And when a freedom of expression organization dares to publish testimonies from Jewish writers about this. its president resigns in the name of defending the boycotters' freedom of expression. Orwell would have had a hard time improving the script.
Once upon a time, PEN was a respected organization. For example, it defended Salman Rushdie after the fatwa against him for publishing The Satanic Verses, although there were marginal voices that condemned Rushdie for publishing the book.
But over time, the margins are expanding: Following the massacre at the Charlie Hebdo office, PEN America decided to award the Freedom of Courage Award to the surviving editors and cartoonists. The PEN leadership justified the decision by stating that the award was not being given out of agreement with the cartoons, but because the editorial staff continued to publish despite death and massacre threats. In the organization's phrasing: it was about resisting "the assassin's veto"—meaning, refusing to accept a situation where murder and terror dictate what is allowed to be published. The decision caused a stir. More than 140 writers signed a protest letter, and among the opponents were well-known names. The claim was that publishing the cartoon constituted humiliation and mockery of a weakened Muslim minority... The organization's leadership did not back down. They replied that there is no need to agree with the content of the cartoons in order to defend the right to publish them. The award is given for the courage to continue publishing despite death threats. "Freedom of expression loses its meaning if we only protect speech that is comfortable for us."
And today, the organization's president resigns simply because an article was published recounting how Israeli and Jewish writers are being excluded. Still, most of PEN's leadership justifies publishing the article, but a large group outside the leadership supports the president's resignation.
by Yossi Ziv
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