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Literary Institutions Are Pressuring Authors to Remain Silent About Gaza

Requiring authors remain silent about war at the risk of losing their livelihoods is not only ironic but also sinister.

By Lisa Ko , Truthout, October 25, 2024

When writer and disability justice activist Alice Wong received a MacArthur Fellowship earlier this month, she shared a statement about accepting it “amidst the genocide happening in Gaza.” The backlash was swift, with a deluge of posts on X attacking Wong’s character and accusing her of antisemitism.

This conflation of opposition to Israel’s military action with hatred of Jewish people is only one part of a broader wave of political and social repression that is attempting to silence writers speaking out against the war. In the past month alone, authors who have criticized Israel’s ongoing bombardment of Gaza — which is funded largely by the U.S. — have been labeled extremists, been suspended and fired from faculty jobs, and targets of defamation and harassment.

I had my own recent experience with the latter following an incident with the New York State Writers Institute’s Albany Book Festival. ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. more https://truthout.org/articles/literary-institutions-are-pressuring-authors-to-remain-silent-about-gaza/

October 28, 2024 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | civil liberties