PEN America President Resigns Amid Controversy Over Report on Israeli and Jewish Writers

On July 10 2026, novelist Dinaw Mengestu announced his resignation as president of PEN America, the free-expression nonprofit founded in 1921. Mengestu said he stepped down after the organization released a July 9 investigative piece titled “A Silent Moratorium,” which examined harassment and professional challenges faced by Israeli and Jewish writers since the Oct. 7 2023 Hamas attacks and Israel’s subsequent war in Gaza. He argued the report could portray the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement as discriminatory rather than protected political speech.

PEN America President Dinaw Mengestu Resigns

PEN America has long positioned itself as a defender of writers worldwide, opposing cultural and academic boycotts while affirming the right to employ such tactics. In 2024, former president Suzanne Nossel resigned amid criticism that the organization had failed to speak out for Palestinian writers during the Gaza conflict. The organization’s annual gala that year was hosted by Seth Meyers, who later described 2024 as “a year PEN America will always remember as super chill and laid back.” The July 9 report was authored by editorial director Lisa Tobin, chief communications officer Geraldine Baum, and a third contributor, and it drew on interviews with more than 30 Israeli and Jewish writers and literary professionals.

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The “A Silent Moratorium” investigation documents “rising isolation and exclusion” of Israeli and Jewish authors, citing online harassment, difficulty selling new projects, and a “chilling of their ability…to write and create freely.” The authors note that the interviewed writers reported impacts on their reputations, livelihoods, and self-censorship.

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PEN America responded by rejecting Mengestu’s interpretation of the report. In an email, the organization said it “has long opposed cultural and academic boycotts, but we have always drawn a clear line between disagreeing with a tactic and defending the right to use it.” The group also emphasized its past opposition to anti-BDS legislation and its defense of writers punished for supporting the movement. Following Mengestu’s departure, board executive vice-president Tracy Higgins was named interim president, and PEN America announced that a new president will be selected by the board and confirmed by a vote of its members.

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Reactions to the resignation were sharply divided. Writers Against the War on Gaza praised Mengestu’s “principled decision,” while author David Zweig questioned the logic of resigning over a refusal to blacklist authors based on nationality, writing, “Imagine running a free expression org and resigning because it refuses to blacklist authors based on their nationality.” Gal Beckerman, writing in The Atlantic, argued that highlighting suppression of Jewish writers falls squarely within PEN’s watchdog mandate. Other commentators accused the organization of double standards, suggesting that its focus on Israeli and Jewish writers ignored broader concerns about Palestinian voices.

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The report’s authors present the investigation as a documentation of anti-Jewish prejudice within the publishing industry, whereas critics such as the author of the Book and Film Globe piece claim the investigation itself “perverts and distorts” legitimate criticism of PEN America and reduces the Gaza massacre to a “compelling cause.” No source provides quantitative data on the prevalence of anti-Jewish incidents beyond the interview sample, leaving the broader scope of the alleged bias unclear.

PEN President Resigns To Protest the Uncovering of Antisemitism

• “We have the responsibility to be conscious and aware of how our work can impact and influence those debates, and especially if that means producing work that might actually restrict or limit or suppress what is constitutionally protected speech.” — Dinaw Mengestu

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• “In this piece, we share the stories of Jewish and Israeli writers who feel that the mainstream literary world is increasingly shutting them out because of their identity, nationality, or views,” — Report authors

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• “They describe an environment that has impacted their reputations and livelihoods, led people to self-censor, and created an overall chilling of their ability to write and create freely.” — Report authors

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• “What PEN America fails to understand is that boycott is a form of dialogue.” — Dinaw Mengestu (Instagram)

PEN America President Dinaw Mengestu Resigns

• “Imagine running a free expression org and resigning because it refuses to blacklist authors based on their nationality,” — David Zweig

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Tracy Higgins will serve as interim president while PEN America conducts a board-led search for a permanent leader. The organization plans to present a slate of candidates to its membership for a vote later in 2026, signaling an upcoming transition in its leadership amid ongoing debates over free-expression policy and the treatment of writers linked to the Israel-Palestine conflict.

PEN America President Dinaw Mengestu Resigns