Our blog features essays, book reviews, coverage of FTB titles, and noteworthy news of American Jewish experience by our publisher.
Shelf censorship: How US publishing boycotts Israel and its supporters
Posted on August 4, 2025
Influential figures in the American publishing industry face growing discrimination and blacklisting over their Jewish identity and support for Israel. by Liel Leibovitz Published on 12-26-2024 “Today it takes real courage to publish proudly Jewish authors or books about the Jewish experience” | Photo: Getty Images When Bernard-Henri Lévy landed at Ben-Gurion Airport on Oct. […]
Are Jews Being Written Out of the Book World? – Hadassah Magazine
Posted on July 1, 2025
Watch as Hadassah Magazine Executive Editor Lisa Hostein and a panel of best-selling authors and publishing insiders discuss the increasing incidents of exclusion, antisemitism and anti-Israel bias in the book industry. Taking part in the discussion are Zibby Owens, podcaster, author, founder and CEO of Zibby Media and publisher and editor of the new anthology On Being Jewish Now; Lisa Barr, […]
Reporting Antisemitism in the Literary World – from the Jewish Book Council
Posted on June 2, 2025
If you know of a local bookstore that has questions about navigating difficult situations and creating a safe space for Jewish authors and readers, share the bookstore resource guide created by The Artists Against Antisemitism in partnership with Jewish Book Council. Jewish Book Council is dedicated to supporting and uplifting Jewish and Jewish-interest books and authors through marketing […]
The publishing industry is canceling Jews
Posted on May 2, 2025
Following the path of old Hollywood, it is time to make our own successes. Books. Credit: Pixabay. ARNON Z. SHORR Arnon Z. Shorr is a master storyteller whose films, books and comics frequently delve into Jewish identity tradition and folklore, blending action-packed narratives with deep reflections on heritage. His latest comic book is The Beast […]
Essay from Actor Michael Rapaport: A Message to My Haters up North
Posted on April 1, 2025
A Canadian politician is trying to bar me from the country where I’m scheduled to perform a few gigs. I’m offering her front-row seats. MICHAEL RAPAPORT SPEAKS AT RALLY OUTSIDE ‘THE HOSTAGES AND MISSING SQUARE’ ON DECEMBER 16, 2023, IN TEL AVIV, ISRAEL. (ALEXI J. ROSENFELD VIA GETTY IMAGES) By Michael Rapaport I’ve seen a […]
Jewish authors confront growing backlash in literary world
Posted on March 3, 2025
Calling Jewish writers Zionists as an epithet and the reason to be excluded from the annals of publishing unless we denounce our attachment to our identities is frightening. By Joan Leegant – December 21, 2024 In May, a color-coded Google spreadsheet titled “Is your fav author a Zionist???” began circulating online. Its creator scrutinized the […]
Blacklisted for Israel support, author draws strength from Holocaust survivor grandma
Posted on February 2, 2025
Bestselling writer Lisa Barr – targeted by hecklers and review bombers – vows that though she wants to ‘curl up in a ball’ after Oct. 7, she will ‘fight back constructively’ Bestselling author Lisa Barr never expected to call her newest novel “eerily relevant” to modern times. Historical fiction, “The Goddess of Warsaw” is a […]
The Resistance: Five People Standing Up to Book Banners
Posted on January 2, 2025
For many, defending the freedom to read has come at a steep cost. We recently talked with five librarians and educators who are standing up to the would-be censors. By Andrew Richard Albanese and Nathalie op de Beeck | Sep 16, 2024 With the American Library Association’s annual Banned Books Week set to begin on […]
Ad for Israel Book Canceled
Posted on December 2, 2024
Ad for Israel Book Canceled Because ‘Customers Might Complain’ Magazine rejects advertisement for Bernard-Henri Lévy’s work because it will give booksellers ‘trouble they haven’t asked for and don’t wish to have.’ By Francesca Block October 23, 2024 A prominent trade publication refused to advertise a new book because it feared the word Israel in its […]
Book Publishing and Antisemitism
Posted on November 3, 2024
When a list of Jewish authors is circulating with instructions to boycott them, publishing cannot remain silent by Kathleen Schmidt; May 13, 2024 I debated whether to wade into these waters, but the “yes” outweighed the “no” in my gut, so here we are. I will preface this post by saying I am not getting […]