A New Test for Free Expression
PEN America president Dinaw Mengestu resigned following the publication of an article detailing the exclusion of Jewish and Israeli writers. The incident highlights deep ideological divisions within the organization regarding free speech and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Why it matters
It illustrates the growing tension within cultural and advocacy institutions as they struggle to balance universal free speech principles with intense political polarization.
PEN America’s president resigned over an article detailing the isolation and exclusion that many Israeli and Jewish writers feel after October 7.
Illustration by The Atlantic July 11, 2026, 7:56 PM ET Share Save On Thursday morning, PEN America, the free-speech organization, posted an article detailing the “isolation and exclusion” many Israeli and Jewish writers have felt since October 7, 2023. The authors describe being blacklisted at publishing houses, boycotted by activists, pressured to downplay their Jewishness, and called out in online witch hunts including a viral crowdsourced spreadsheet that asked: “Is your fav writer a Zionist???”
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