Pro-Israel Groups That Tried to Cancel Palestine Writes Festival Incite Hatred Against Palestinians
By Nora Lester Murad
On the eve of the historic Palestine Writes literature festival this past weekend, the Philadelphia air felt heavy with the pollution of vitriol and hatred.
Attacks on the festival’s organizers, speakers, and supporters were expected, because there’s almost never a time or place in the United States when Palestinians can speak freely and without fear about their own life experience and dreams for a better world.
Even in white-dominated organizations that ostensibly uplift Black, brown and queer communities, Palestinian voices are routinely censored in ways cloaked as “polite” and “reasonable.” When the inclusion of Palestinians is proposed, excuses are pulled out: “Let them speak, but make sure the other side speaks too so there is balance.”
Lobbying against Palestine Writes, however, was anything but polite and reasonable. It started weeks before the September 22–24 gathering of 1400+ writers and readers from around the world. The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and the Jewish Federation/Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) mobilized thousands of people to pressure the University of Pennsylvania to curtail the event. The university didn’t cancel the festival (perhaps because that would have been blatant censorship), but they did endorse anti-Palestinian racism by saying they “share unease” with the ADL and JCRC about statements made by some speakers–even though the statements quoted were critical of Israeli policy.
The attacks were so vicious, racist and inflammatory, it reminded me of the generalized fear I carried around for the 13 years I lived in the West Bank under Israeli military occupation. I actually took an onion with me to the opening ceremony of the festival–as if I might need it to soothe my eyes should we be tear gassed. Fortunately, there was no tear gas, but there was a truck driving around the block throughout the event with a huge sign libeling the festival and, like at demonstrations in Israel, there was a guy standing at the entrance taking the photos of everyone who went in.
Meanwhile, the University of Pennsylvania bent over backwards to ensure that Jewish students would feel “safe” from the Palestinians on campus. At the same time, they said nothing about the safety of Palestinians–even while the ADL and JCRC were inciting hatred against them and while Palestinians are actually being brutally victimized by Israel, the state they are protecting from criticism.
The mongering of Jewish fear against Palestinians is a strategy steeped in anti-Palestinian racism, and it builds on lies and distortions pro-Israel groups been cultivating for decades. Trading in racist stereotypes of Arabs and Muslims, they create “controversy,” then use that controversy they created to cultivate suspicion about Palestinians.
For me, as one of the Jewish speakers at Palestine Writes, there are a few tactics that I find particularly offensive and destructive. For example, pro-Israel groups like the ADL and JCRC hijack antiracist language to incite hostility against Palestinians. They falsely claim to speak on behalf of all Jews, even implying that Jews who oppose Jewish supremacy and stand up for Palestinian equality aren’t fully Jewish.
I speak from personal experience. I lived, worked and raised my children under Israeli military occupation in the West Bank, and I have never felt uncomfortable as a Jew among Palestinians. Palestinians know the difference between a friend/neighbor/colleague who is Jewish and a person, regardless of religion, who supports the Jewish supremacist ideology of Zionism, a system and practice that they understandably oppose.
At one point during the extraordinary weekend, festival organizer and award-winning author Susan Abulhawa spoke directly to the haters that she assumed were in the audience spying to find proof of their accusations. She invited them to join in the celebration of Palestinian joy. If they stayed, they couldn’t have missed it. At every turn, friends old and new were embracing and congratulating one another on their books. The sessions uplifted Palestinian dance, performance, art, and especially literature. In the children’s room, kids of all ages drew and painted and enjoyed stories. We ate vegan Palestinian food together in a loud, crowded restaurant that oozed pride and love.
The Palestine Writes festival was itself what the ADL and JCRC said they wanted–a space for open dialogue that is respectful and conducive to a positive learning environment for all students, regardless of their backgrounds. Ask the many Jews who took part in the festival, Jews who have been welcomed as part of the Palestinian movement for liberation for decades. Whether the ADL and JCRC want to admit it or not, there are Jews working side by side with Palestinians for the liberation of both peoples from Zionism and Israel’s apartheid system.
Nora Lester Murad is a writer, educator, and activist who spoke at the 2023 Palestine Writes Literature Festival in Philadelphia. Her young adult debut, Ida in the Middle, (Crocodile/Interlink, 2022) won the 2023 Arab American Book Award. For more, visit www.NoraLesterMurad.com.
