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☆ Opinion: Literary protest against the war in Gaza has gone off the rails
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-12 | by ( Opinion Ilene Prusher | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +12 min

Ilene Prusher Jordana MillerBut something about this year’s Jerusalem International Writers Festival, which was held late last month, was off. The festival’s artistic director, Julia Fermentto-Tzaisler, thought about whether the beloved book festival should happen this year at all. A shadow over the literary worldExamples abound of how fallout from the ongoing war is casting a shadow over the literary world. To be sure, these are not the only cancelations the literary world has experienced related to the war; nor are Jewish writers the only ones who have faced controversy. From the start of this war, it seems I’m much more therapist than writer,” she read in a lilting Hebrew.

Persons: Prusher Jordana Miller, Julia Fermentto, —, ”, Baillie Gifford, Suzanne Nossel, “, Nicholas Kristof, Miriam Libicki, they’re, Sir Simon Schama —, Benjamin Netanyahu, ’, John Irving, Covid, Tzaisler, Harry Potter, Noya Dan, Eshkol Nevo, I’m Organizations: Florida Atlantic University, CNN, Jerusalem CNN, Writers, PEN America, PEN, AP, New York Times, Jerusalem Writers, soccer, European Championship, Columbia University, Hay Locations: Jerusalem, Gaza, Israel, Hay, Wye, Wales, Vancouver, Scotland, Europe, British, Iraq, Iraqi

☆ Opinion | PEN America Has Stood By Authors. They Should Stand By PEN.
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-28 | by ( Pamela Paul | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

But too often, recent efforts to reform institutions have meant reconstituting them in ways that distort or fundamentally undermine their core mission. Nonprofit organizations, governmental agencies, university departments and cultural institutions have ousted leaders and sent their staffs into turmoil in pursuit of progressive political goals. The latest target is PEN America, a nonprofit organization dedicated to free expression by journalists and authors. This followed a refusal by several writers to have their work considered for PEN’s annual literary awards. According to its 21 signatories, mostly up-and-coming authors, “among writers of conscience, there is no disagreement.

Persons: George Floyd, Salman Rushdie, PEN’s, Suzanne Nossel, Jennifer Finney Boylan, ” Organizations: Nonprofit, PEN America, PEN Locations: Gaza, Israel

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology, New York University and Brown University have recently taken swift and decisive action against student protesters, including making arrests. And on Thursday, Columbia University hit its limit with student protesters who had set up dozens of tents on campus, sending in the New York Police Department to make arrests. Image At Columbia, officials cracked down on students who had erected tents on campus. Muncy for The New York TimesImage The New York Police Department arrested protesters at Columbia University. “But now we’re seeing that as an immediate response.”In her congressional testimony, Dr. Shafik revealed that 15 Columbia students have been suspended in recent weeks.

Persons: “, Santa J, Ono, ”, Nemat Shafik, Recalibrating, Rosy Fitzgerald, didn’t, Shafik, Nicole Hester, Donald J, Daniel Diermeier, Vanderbilt, “ They’re, Diermeier, —, Tracy Arwari, Ms, Arwari, Suzanne Nossel, Nossel, Amanda Andrade, Rhoades, Ezri Tyler, Tyler, Dan Korobkin, Colleen Mastony, Jacob Mchangama, Mr, Mchangama Organizations: University of, University of Michigan, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology , New York University, Brown University, Columbia University, New York Police Department, Columbia, Credit, The New York Times, Columbia University . Credit, The New York Times College, Republican, Institute for Middle, Vanderbilt, USA, Network Vanderbilt University, Pomona College, School, Pomona, PEN America, The New York Times Students, “, American Civil Liberties Union, ” Locations: Santa, Massachusetts Institute of Technology ,, Columbia, C.S, Muncy, Israel, Vietnam, Southern California, Pomona, “, Michigan, . Michigan

☆ Opinion: Our possibly short national nightmare
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-21 | by ( Richard Galant | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +19 min

“My fellow Americans, our long national nightmare is over,” President Gerald Ford said. “Our campaign is the last best hope of stopping the Trump-Biden nightmare,” the former UN ambassador said. If not, it won’t be as protracted a “national nightmare” as the two-year-long Watergate scandal that put Gerald Ford in the Oval Office. Though, depending on your point of view, the real nightmare could begin after the swearing-in. Yet, John Avlon wrote, Trump and some members of the House GOP, want to tank an emerging compromise in the Senate that would couple border security measures with aid to Ukraine.

Persons: CNN —, Richard Nixon, “, Gerald Ford, Ford, Gerald Ford’s, Nikki Haley, Joe Biden, Donald Trump, Clay Jones, we’ll, Haley, MAGA, ”, Frida Ghitis, Trump, ” Haley, ” Trump, Patrick T, Brown, Daniel McCarthy isn’t, Donald Trump’s, Ron DeSantis, Vivek Ramaswamy, ” Nick Anderson, Biden isn’t, Dean Phillips, Cupp, Biden, ” Dana Summers, Karen Finney, Robert E, Lee, ” Finney, ’, Keith Magee, Julian Zelizer, Trump Samuel L, Adams, King David Border, Adolf Hitler, “ Mein, Paul Moses, Edward Alsworth Ross, Moses, Ross, … ”, — Hitler’s, It’s, who’ve, John Avlon, Scott Stantis, Mike Johnson, Alice Driver, Greg Abbott’s, Jean Carroll, Bill Bramhall, News Trump, Carroll, Danielle Campoamor, “ Carroll, —, she’s, Shawn Crowley, Robert C, Gottlieb, ” “, Jack Ohman, Gerald Auten, David Splinter, Jordan McGillis, Thomas Piketty, Emmanuel Saez, Gabriel Zucman, McGillis, Melissa Kearney, ” Elise Gould, Josh Bivens, ” Elisabeth Kendall, Peter Bergen, ” Kendall, Sheena McKenzie, Izzeldin Abuelaish, Peter Rutland, Israel ’, Nafees Hamid, Walt Handelsman, Sara Stewart, Katherine Heigl, Jill Filipovic, Jeremy Allen White, J, Chen, Suzanne Nossel, Jade McGlynn, Holly Thomas, Estee Lauder, mascara, don’t, ” Thomas Organizations: CNN, Netflix, Trump, Biden, UN, New, Republican, Florida Gov, South Carolina Gov, GOP, Democratic, New Hampshire, Agency, Aggression, CNN Town Hall, American Sociological Association, ”, ified GOP, Texas Gov, News, Brookings, Social, Administration, US, Cambridge University’s Girton College, Wesleyan University, Palestine, Times Locations: Republic, Iowa, New Hampshire, Minnesota, New, Virginia, North Carolina, mealtimes, curriculums, America, Ukraine, New York, Manhattan, Yemeni, Red, Gaza, Israel, Americas

☆ A Free-Speech Fix for Our Divided Campuses
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-17 | by ( Suzanne Nossel | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

The Israel-Hamas war has created a crisis of protest and confrontation on American campuses. At Cooper Union in New York, pro-Palestinian student demonstrators pounded on the door of a library as fearful Jewish classmates sheltered inside. A Cornell undergraduate used a campus website to post threats to attack the school’s center for Jewish life. Both Brandeis and Columbia have taken steps to penalize pro-Palestinian student groups for activity they argue violates university policies, prompting charges that they are selectively suppressing activism. As the conflict continues in the Middle East, college students are alternately emboldened and alarmed, faculty are at loggerheads, donors are irate, and college presidents are embattled.

Persons: Israel Organizations: Cooper Union, Palestinian, Cornell, Harvard, Brandeis, Columbia Locations: Israel, New York

☆ Opinion: Marjorie Taylor Greene botches the explanation
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-12 | by ( Richard Galant | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +18 min

We’re looking back at the strongest, smartest opinion takes of the week from CNN and other outlets. CNN —On the day after Republicans lost pivotal races in Kentucky, Ohio and Virginia last week, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene offered a diagnosis for her party’s ills. On Tuesday, Ohio voters passed an amendment to the state constitution that guarantees abortion rights. The disconnect may or may not cost Trump votes in 2024, but it’s hurting Republicans up and down the ballot. “Democrats will win in 2024 by making the election a choice, not just a referendum on Biden’s performance in office.

Persons: Marjorie Taylor Greene, CNN’s Manu Raju, Donald Trump, Roe, Wade, Trump, ”, Kate Bedingfield, Joe Biden’s, Youngkin, ” Bill Bramhall, Bedingfield, They’ll, Julian Zelizer, Biden, ” Clay Jones, ” Clay Jones Republican Lanhee Chen, — don’t, Chen, “, ” Mary Ziegler, Davis, Republicans don’t, Comstock, Nikki Haley, Ana Marie Cox, Ron DeSantis, Vivek Ramaswamy, Dick Cheney, ’ Haley, Haley, Ramaswamy, ‘, Haley “, ” Patrick T, Brown, ” Roxanne Jones, DeSantis, Todd Graham, Bill Bramhall, Mary Ellen O’Connell, ” “, ” John Spencer, he’s, Al Qaeda, Peter Bergen, Israel, Hani Almadhoun, Suzanne Nossel, Frida Ghitis, Walt Handlesman, Ivanka Trump, Elliot Williams, Letitia James, Williams, ” Williams, Nick Anderson, Ian Berry, Bob Dylan, Anna Lee, I’d, William, I’ll, Bethany McLean, Joe Nocera, Dr, Kent Sepkowitz, ” Sepkowitz, ” Don’t, Corey Mintz, DoorDash, Paul Rieckhoff, Jill Filipovic, Shannon Watts, Jade McGlynn, Keith Magee, King Charles, Sara Stewart, Priscilla ’, Barbra Streisand, CHANEL, Presley Ann, Patrick McMullan, Holly Thomas, James Brolin, Barbra’s, Thomas Organizations: CNN, Republicans, Trump, “, White House, State Senate, Biden, ” Clay Jones Republican, University of California, Department of Justice, Florida Gov, Republican, Senate, Content Agency Israel, Hamas, University of Notre Dame, Modern War, Twitter, Facebook, ISIS, Content Agency Trump, New York, Trump Organization, “ Trump, —, Tribune, Agency, College of, Getty, BBC Locations: Kentucky , Ohio, Virginia, Georgia, “, Mexico, Ohio, State, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Kentucky, Mississippi, Florida, Miami, Hialeah , Florida, Trump, Israel, Gaza, Hamas, West, Mosul, Raqqa, Manhattan, New York City, Ukraine, Malibu , California, Greenwich Village

☆ Opinion | The Problem of Campus Speech Is Even Harder Than You Think
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-08 | by ( Jesse Wegman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +9 min

Examples abound of abhorrent speech by students and faculty members, mostly aimed at Israel, Jews and even Jewish students — and yet abhorrent does not equal criminal. By imposing speech codes that ban what they deem offensive speech without clearly defining it, they have encouraged illiberalism in an environment designed to cultivate the liberal arts. Administrators continue to face intense pressure to make statements and take sides, whether from students, faculty members, donors or lawmakers. “There’s no answer that will please everybody,” Erwin Chemerinsky, the dean of the Berkeley School of Law and an expert on free speech, told me. Obviously there are legal red lines to a culture of free speech: threats, intimidation and harassment, to name the obvious ones.

Persons: Harry Kalven Jr, “, ” Erwin Chemerinsky, Mr, Chemerinsky, he’s, Suzanne Nossel, ”, Nossel, —, Ron DeSantis Organizations: Cornell University, don’t, University of Chicago, Universities, Berkeley School of Law, Civil, PEN America, University of North, Texas Locations: Israel, Vietnam, Berkeley, University of North Carolina, Florida

☆ Book-Burning Bans Are the Wrong Way to Fight Religious Hatred
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-22 | by ( Suzanne Nossel | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

In Baghdad, a man holds a Danish flag and a Quran during a protest against Quran-burning incidents in Denmark, July 22, 2023. Photo: ReutersThere are few sights as alarming as a book set alight. Igniting the printed word in order to destroy the ideas contained therein runs counter to our notions of enlightenment, deliberation and reason. It can also carry a message of contempt for those who consider the burned book sacred. But while there’s no need to condone book burning and plenty of reasons to condemn it, it shouldn’t be punished by law.

Locations: Baghdad, Danish, Denmark

☆ This PTA Mom From Escambia County Is Suing Her School District For Banning Books - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( Michelle Goldberg | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

in bright-red Escambia County, Fla., knows that coming out as a public face in the fight against book banning could make her life difficult, but she’s made peace with it. “I don’t want my business to suffer,” the optometrist and mother of elementary school-age girls told me. I’m not one to keep my mouth shut.”Durtschi is part of a groundbreaking lawsuit, filed on Wednesday, against the Escambia County School District and Escambia County School Board for their sweeping school library censorship. In addition to Durtschi and another Escambia County parent, the plaintiffs include the free expression organization PEN America, Penguin Random House and a group of authors of children’s and young adult books. The suit seeks to have Escambia’s book restrictions declared unconstitutional for targeting specific viewpoints and for infringing on the rights of students to receive information.

“The attack on books, the attack on teaching, the attack on libraries, in – how can I put this – Florida, has never been more dangerous, never been more important to fight,” he said. Rushdie spoke at the PEN America Gala in New York City, praising the literary and free speech advocacy group for its latest efforts to block politicians and local officials seeking to ban literature concerning race and gender identity. PEN America, along with book publisher Penguin Random House and several parents and authors, filed a lawsuit on Wednesday challenging Florida’s Escambia County school district’s removal of certain books on race and LGBTQ issues from school libraries. “I was really proud to hear yesterday that PEN America, together with my publisher Penguin Random House, has taken this step of bringing a lawsuit in Florida,” Rushdie said. “Tonight, we recognize the courage of an Iranian writer, and we’ve done so over and over (with) writers from all over the world.

☆ Salman Rushdie Makes Surprise Appearance at PEN America Gala
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( Jennifer Schuessler | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

“We see free speech threatened on all sides, from the left and the right,” Suzanne Nossel, who has been PEN America’s chief executive since 2013, said in an interview before the gala. But this is a really important time to shore it up as a cultural and constitutional value. That’s part of what the gala does.”The gala itself has been affected by the complexities of the current moment. “As a free speech organization, we must go to the utmost lengths to avoid sidelining speech or being seen to do so,” she said. “Nothing puts you at ease at an event like seeing Salman Rushdie,” he said to titters.

☆ There’s No Quick Fix for Social Media
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( Suzanne Nossel | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Social media is in crisis. Elon Musk’s Twitter is still afloat, but the engine is sputtering as users and advertisers consider jumping ship. Many view this moment of reckoning over social media with grim satisfaction. Advocates, politicians and activists have railed for years against the dark sides of online platforms—hate speech, vicious trolling, disinformation, bias against certain views and the incubation of extremist ideas. Social media has been blamed for everything from the demise of local news to the rise of autocracy worldwide.

☆ More than 1,600 books banned during 2021-22 school year, report finds
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-19 | by ( Jo Yurcaba | Jo Yurcaba Is A Reporter For Nbc Out. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +8 min

More than 1,600 books were banned in over 5,000 schools during the last school year, with most of the bans targeting titles related to the LGBTQ community or race and racism, according to a new report. PEN America, a nonprofit that advocates for free expression in literature, released a report Monday, the start of Banned Books Week, that shows the sweeping scope of efforts to ban certain books during the 2021-22 school year. Books were banned in 5,049 schools with a combined enrollment of nearly 4 million students in 32 states, the report found. Friedman pointed to a case in Walton County, Florida, where a popular children’s book called “Everywhere Babies” landed on a banned books list last spring. The most frequently banned books were “Gender Queer: A Memoir,” by Maia Kobabe, followed by “All Boys Aren’t Blue,” by George M. Johnson and “Out of Darkness” by Ashley Hope Pérez, the report found.

"Salman will likely lose one eye; the nerves in his arm were severed; and his liver was stabbed and damaged." Stunned attendees helped wrest the man from Rushdie, who had fallen to the floor. The Iranian government said in 1998 it would no longer back the fatwa, and Rushdie has lived relatively openly in recent years. 1/25 A general view shows UPMC Hamot Surgery Center, where novelist Salman Rushdie is receiving treatment after the attack, in Erie, Pennsylvania, U.S., August 12, 2022. "I felt like we needed to have more protection there because Salman Rushdie is not a usual writer," said Anour Rahmani, an Algerian writer and human rights activist who was in the audience.

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