The author had just begun introducing her first children's book this summer when the cancellations began. First, Chevalier's Books called off her appearance after what the author described as pressure from area residents. The employee who had booked the appearance refused to cancel it, and the bookstore terminated her employment. Two days later, another employee resigned in support.
Next was the New Jersey incident. Watchung Booksellers in Montclair was planning to host her next reading but abruptly canceled, stating in an official communication it was "to ensure the security of our staff and patrons".
Root Cause for These Cancellations
The children's book in the grandfather's garden, a children's story about a Palestinian child learning about her cultural background through her family traditions, rooted in his own father's traditions from Palestine.
Across the country and a couple of months earlier, another author was traveling to the city for her first ever educational appearance for her publishing debut. She received a call mid-flight: the Arabic and Hindi language school had called off her visit because of a recent article on her website where she had written about her relatives being lost in Israeli airstrikes in Gaza.
"I never found representation in children's books as a child, and I was preparing to present my book with young readers who may never have seen themselves in children's books either," the author said.
Growing Trend of Censorship
These experiences are representative of a surge of censorship that has spread through the United States in recent times, discussions with multiple writers reveal. Canceled appearances, restricted materials, and coordinated harassment campaigns have proliferated through schools, public libraries, and retail stores, targeting authors who have either focused on Palestinian life, have supported cultural representation, or been affected by the backlash merely because of their religious background.
For the Palestinian American authors, the trend reinforces of an disturbing and unique situation: that their mere presence is considered problematic, and sharing idyllic stories that represent their upbringing – however innocent – can trigger coordinated efforts alleging of seeding antisemitism and hatred.
Academic Study on Cultural Stories
Based on recent analysis by author and educator the scholar, there have been 114 English-language children's books explicitly centering cultural stories available to school-aged children. There has been an increase in the past decade – nearly half of cultural publications over recent decades were published between 2019 and 2023. However this growth comes from independent publishing, with 32% of new books self-published as mainstream companies remain reluctant gatekeepers.
"There's a clear attempt to reject the people," the author said. "Despite making progress this industry and there's more books being published, it's like … we cannot prevent people from reading your story. So they attempt to prevent people from connecting with authors, or connecting the authors with the stories that they create."
"Freedom of speech isn't afforded to all people in this nation, especially if you're of Palestinian heritage," she added.
Banned Books Week
The designated period of October is Literary Freedom Week in the United States and is a time designed to spotlight censored voices. However pro-Palestinian authors are finding themselves at the forefront of a new form of literary censorship, though the publications being contested do not promote specific viewpoints or encourage division. They tell simple stories of family gardens and olive trees, of young people navigating personal identity and language, of family traditions maintained across generations, causing writers to come to the conclusion that it's their existence that appears to be the provocation.
"Beyond disconnecting us from our homeland and from our people," the author stated, "now they're trying to disconnect us from our stories."
Legislative Actions and Government Regulations
What started with angry emails and sudden event cancellations is also becoming incorporated into state policy. Recently, the state's leadership the official signed a legislative package as legislation aimed at addressing prejudice and religious discrimination in educational settings. The legislation creates an regulatory body and an oversight position, and requires districts to investigate and take corrective action when "discriminatory content is used in educational settings or staff training".
The concern present in the community of children authors is that the broad terminology could be employed to categorize their books and their stories as problematic, providing government authorities regulatory justification to continue restricting Palestinian narratives from schools, and perhaps witness these limitations grow in additional regions and various institutions.
Author Experiences of Censorship
Earlier this month, Hannah Moushabeck received a call about an upcoming speaking engagement at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, where she had been invited to speak about her publication Homeland: My Father Dreams of Palestine and the censorship attempts targeting it. University administrators told her that her publication violated North Carolina's regulatory requirements and neutrality law because it "failed to present multiple perspectives to the story". Moushabeck could participate in the event, officials explained, but she was not permitted to presenting from her book.
However, this wasn't the initial instance with censorship this writer had to endure. Moushabeck said she's had multiple appearances cancelled over the past year and the threats became physical at her family member's school in the location previously. "I was required to come at the school at early morning and enter via the back with a security escort," the author said. An acquaintance joined her for extra security while school security and police were present. "I recall having to conduct my presentation and maintain composure on my demeanor and remain composed, because I wanted to avoid my young relative to witness that we were at risk."
Additional Cases of Restrictions
At another institution, a Quaker school in Philadelphia, Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow was scheduled for an all-day visit to launch her book her narrative – a tale about friendship between a Black girl and a Muslim classmate who practices her faith. A couple days before the October 2023 event, administrators declared a delay.
"They felt that in the time that we were in, it was a safety precaution," the author recalled. Subsequently was months of rescheduling without confirmed plans, culminating in cancellation in early this year after approximately Jewish parents demanded the school remain "a safe space for Jewish students".
"I felt like the microscope was on me as soon as they realized that, well, this is a Muslim author and she expressed views about the region," Thompkins-Bigelow, who practices her faith, said. "There's pressure to demonstrate that you're innocent of being an antisemite if you have any kind of views about the region. Even mentioning, 'Here's a link to support Palestinian kids' – that is considered controversial."
Social Media Consequences
Autumn Allen experienced comparable treatment previously when two of her scheduled appearances were called off, including one in the Sharon city school district shortly before the appearance.
The author, who writes young adult novels and children's stories, was planned to discuss her publications when parents began flooding the institution with complaints after reviewing event information. But the content of her writing {wasn't the issue|wasn
