PEN America vows to defend Palestinian writers after president resigns over ‘unethical’ treatment
LONDON: PEN America pledged to keep defending Palestinian writers after its president resigned in protest over what he called the organization’s “unethical” and unfair treatment of Palestinians compared with Israelis and Jewish Americans.
The literary and free expression group issued its response after Dinaw Mengestu, an Ethiopian-American novelist and PEN America president, said he was stepping down because the organization had failed to uphold its commitment to defend free expression equally and had diminished the Palestinian experience.
“We’re grateful for Dinaw Mengestu’s leadership of and contributions to PEN America, and we respect that he’s made a decision he believes in,” the organization said.
It added that it “remains dedicated to defending writers under threat, including Palestinians” and that it “believes what has happened there is a genocide.”
