A few days ago an article about Jews and American publishing by Liel Leibovitz, editor-at-large for Tablet, was posted on both the Hebrew and English websites of the Israeli daily Israel Hayom.
“A sampling of incidents,” says Leibovitz, “from just the past year demonstrates how American publishing—an industry that achieved its zenith in the 1950s and 60s under significant Jewish leadership—has devolved into an openly antisemitic environment that enables persecution of Jews without pretense.”
Among the samples included by Leibovitz, the American Jewish journalist James Kirchik
published an exposé in The New York Times revealing the crisis’s true depth…. Kirchick uncovered a list of over 200 editors, writers, and industry professionals suspected of excessive Jewish pride, complete with color coding to denote varying degrees of Zionism and support for Israel. Author Emily St. John Mandel, for instance, earned the dreaded “red” classification as a “Zionist” because, according to the list’s anonymous creators, she “frequently visits Israel and speaks positively about these visits.” Writer Kristin Hannah received the same designation for sharing a Magen David Adom donation link after Hamas’ [October 7] attack. And Gabrielle Zevin—author of bestsellers “Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow” and “Young Jane Young”—was placed in a slightly lower category of Israel supporters. Her offense? Speaking at a local chapter of Hadassah women’s organization….
One literary agent, speaking anonymously for fear of professional retaliation, told Kirchick, “Today it takes real courage to publish proudly Jewish authors or books about the Jewish experience. If you believe in Israel’s right to exist, the industry now considers it appropriate and desirable to completely cancel you.” Another author, also requesting anonymity, expressed concern that despite his new book containing no Jewish themes, reviewers and readers might boycott him simply for being proudly Jewish and appearing on one of these defamatory lists of Jewish authors.
Another case—and there are several more in the article—involves PEN America, which Leibovitz calls “perhaps the country’s largest and most influential writers’ organization”:
This February, over 1,500 organization members signed a letter demanding immediate condemnation of Israel and calling on the organization to “wake from its passive, lukewarm, fence-sitting, self-satisfied and mediocre approach and take concrete steps against Israel’s genocide in Gaza.” After accusing Israel of systematic and deliberate murder without any factual support from writers or journalists, the letter left little doubt about required action, “We demand PEN America issue an official condemnation naming the killers exactly: Israel, a colonialist Zionist entity funded by the US government.”
