Penguin Random House has withdrawn a children’s book about Palestine, titled “Displacement and the Palestinian American Story,” just days before its planned release. This decision follows editorial disagreements between the publisher and the book's authors, Alana Hadid and Jenan Matari, who are Palestinian American.
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Originally set to be available in September, the authors decided to retract their manuscript after Random House Children’s Books requested changes to their portrayal of Palestinian history. The authors have opted to publish the book through Interlink Books, a Palestinian-owned publisher in the U.S.
In a statement, Matari expressed concern over the editorial changes, stating, “They continued to try to sanitize our history because they didn’t want to make certain communities uncomfortable. But decolonial history is supposed to make you uncomfortable.”