Penguin Random House drops Palestinian writers’ book days before publication

Summary

• A children’s book about Palestine was dropped by Penguin Random House days before its scheduled publication following an “editorial dispute” between the publisher and its Palestinian-American authors over the portrayal of Palestinian history, The Guardian reported on Thursday.
• Random House Children’s Books, a division of Penguin Random House, agreed to publish the book in November 2024 with Alana Hadid, a philanthropist, activist and sister of models Bella and Gigi Hadid, and Jenan Matari, an award-winning author.
• Matari announced the dispute on Instagram, saying that working with Penguin Random House — one of the world’s largest publishers — had been the “ultimate dream”, but that she would not continue if doing so meant betraying her community.

AI Generated Summary

A children’s book about Palestine was dropped by Penguin Random House days before its scheduled publication following an “editorial dispute” between the publisher and its Palestinian-American authors over the portrayal of Palestinian history, The Guardian reported on Thursday.

Random House Children’s Books, a division of Penguin Random House, agreed to publish the book in November 2024 with Alana Hadid, a philanthropist, activist and sister of models Bella and Gigi Hadid, and Jenan Matari, an award-winning author. Displacement and the Palestinian American Story was scheduled for publication in September 2026.