Palestinian authors abandon Penguin deal over disputed Zionist-framed edits

Palestinian-American activists Alana Hadid and Jenan Matari signed a deal with Penguin Random House for a teen-focused nonfiction book titled Displacement and the Palestinian American Story. During the editorial process, the publisher’s legal and public-relations teams added a line describing the October 7 2023 attacks as a violation of international law and removed language that recognized Palestinians’ right to armed resistance, while also pressuring the authors to replace the term "Jewish gangs" with less specific wording.

The authors, who only saw the final manuscript weeks before the planned release, rejected the edits, describing them as an effort to impose a Zionist framing of history. After the publisher insisted the changes were essential, Hadid and Matari reclaimed the rights and moved the project to independent press Interlink Publishing. The dispute follows previous controversies involving Matari, including a lawsuit over a library event cancellation and a halted children’s-book promotion. The authors view the episode as part of broader censorship of Palestinian narratives.