PEN America president, defending Israel’s critics, resigns after report warns of threats to Jewish authors
The president of PEN America resigned over the weekend in protest of a report on boycotts targeting Jewish and Israeli authors, part of yet another round of internal division over Israel at the literary free-speech…
Assessment
Dinaw Mengestu’s resignation widens a familiar fracture inside PEN America: whether defending free expression includes protecting calls to boycott Israel. His departure suggests the organization’s balancing act between condemning antisemitism and upholding broad speech rights may be unsustainable. The split could further polarize literary institutions already struggling with the Israel-Palestine debate.