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PEN America

PEN America Sells Out, Again

July 13, 2026 Chris Hedges, Scheer Post. , , ,
PEN America, an organization founded to defend persecuted and censored writers, has once again made a mockery of itself with its call to protect Israeli writers from discrimination. Yes. Israeli writers. Its most recent screed, “A Silent Moratorium,” is so tone deaf and embarrassing that it triggered a widespread backlash. PEN America’s president, Dinaw Mengestu, resigned in protest. Mengestu told The New York Times the post is the most recent in a series of moves he felt are counter to the organization’s values and could harm efforts to preserve freedom of expression.

PEN America Claims To Support Free Speech

August 4, 2025 Kori Davis, Mondoweiss. , , , ,
On March 25, PEN America fired me for living up to their mission. This termination came only three days after I published an article in Mondoweiss titled “Why was I investigated for sharing an article critical of Zionism by the ‘free speech’ organization PEN America?,” three years into my tenure on the membership and National Engagement team. Nine months earlier, after I shared an article on unlearning Zionism to our internal listserv, PEN leadership sent my colleagues and me an email stating that workers could be terminated for discriminatory action.

PEN America Self-Destructs

March 24, 2024 Chris Hedges, Scheer Post. , , , ,
PEN America, once an important defender of rights for writers, editors and artists, has, under the direction of former State Department official Suzanne Nossel, abandoned its mission, destroyed its credibility and provoked a revolt among its members.  Its refusal to condemn the genocide in Gaza and Israel’s targeted killings of writers, academics and journalists, has seen numerous writers withdraw from the annual PEN World Voices Festival in New York and Los Angeles, scheduled for April and May. PEN America has not only failed to denouce the genocide but provides platforms to Israelis who use racist and dehumanizing language to describe Palestinians.
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