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Jewish Authors Are Being Blacklisted by the Publishing Industry — Here’s How They’re Responding

Nova survivor Natalie Sanandaji looks at items collected from the Nova festival at “The Nova Music Festival Exhibition: October 7th 06:29 AM, The Moment Music Stood Still” on April 18, 2024 in New York City. Photo: Alexi Rosenfeld/Getty Images
Before October 7, 2023, Elissa Wald was perfectly happy in her career as a ghostwriter, using her skills behind the scenes to amplify the voices of other people. “But after the massacre and the world’s response to it,” Wald said, “I hit an emotional wall and felt I couldn’t go on with it. As much as I loved my projects, I felt it wasn’t the highest and best use of my voice at this time.”
What, then, would be a better use of her time?
Well, Elissa noticed the same thing that many of us experienced. Jews were being pushed out of literary spaces. Even those of us who never wrote about Israel were told that our voices did not count. That’s when she launched the Never Alone Substack newsletter and book club.
She also launched Judith. The magazine now features essays from some of today’s leading Jewish writers — pieces that might not find a home elsewhere in the current climate. I’m the nonfiction editor for Judith.
What Wald is doing by creating these Jewish-friendly publications and communities is an answer to an age-old question for Jews who are being marginalized from mainstream communities: Is it better to keep trying to engage with the existing literary community — a community that has made clear in many ways that Jewish voices are not wanted — or should we focus on forming our own organizations and events, as Jews did in many professions in the late 19th and early 20th centuries?
To Wald, the answer is clear.
“I think our ability to do our best work in the world is immeasurably strengthened by a stable, loving home life. Metaphorically, this translates to a strong, supportive community where we take care of each other and support each other as we navigate the ever-narrowing bridge that is the diaspora.”
Even Jewish literary advocate Erika Dreifus is coming around to this point of view. While Wald and I have been very loud in our advocacy, Dreifus has spent about a decade in quiet diplomacy to mainstream literary publications and communities.
I’ve known Dreifus for many years, and throughout that time, I’ve watched her take on a role that few others were willing to assume: pushing back against antisemitism in the literary world, even when it meant risking her place within it.
As Dreifus explained, citing Rabbi Diana Fersko, “Traditionally, when faced by antisemitism, Jews have had three choices, and one is stay and fight, and the other is create something new, and the third is do nothing. And I kind of ruled out the ‘do nothing’ option.”
Over time, Dreifus grew frustrated with the limits of quiet diplomacy. Too often, her private letters went unanswered, or responses from editors were evasive and dismissive. More recently, she has begun to publish these letters herself, including an “Open Letter to the Editor of the New York Times Book Review,” which appeared in Judith.
Still, Dreifus acknowledges that she is weary. “I’m getting really tired and giving up on some of the ‘stay and fight,’ even though I’m very tenacious,” she said. At this stage in her life, Dreifus said, she prefers to focus on deepening her own Jewish knowledge rather than expending energy on editors who are not listening. That desire to spend her time in Jewish spaces also explains Dreifus’ commitment to new initiatives. She is on the board of Artists Against Antisemitism, which is hosting its first major writers’ gathering, or mifgash, in September.
Dreifus will also be a speaker at another initiative aimed at strengthening Jewish literary voices, the Jewish Authors’ Summit organized by 70 Faces Media. I am serving as a behind-the-scenes adviser on the event, which is scheduled for October 23.
Jennifer Rubin, senior producer of digital events at 70 Faces Media, explained the purpose.
“Since October 7th, it has become increasingly clear that Jewish authors and storytellers, whether they write Jewishly or not, are in need of similar training to promote their work and reach broader audiences,” Rubin said.
Another speaker at the 70 Faces Media summit will be Jonathan Rosen, host of The Jewish Lens podcast, who has been outspoken about the failures of the children’s publishing industry in particular.
“Before October 7th, it was always, ‘We want to be inclusive of everyone, just not you,’” Rosen said. “After October 7th, it’s grown ugly and vile, with daily purity tests. Denounce your kind or be pariahs and face excommunication.”
His conclusion is that Jewish writers should stop asking for inclusion and instead build their own institutions. “When someone constantly tells you that you’re not welcome, don’t beg them. Do your own thing and make it better.”
Miri Pomerantz Dauber of the Jewish Book Council (JBC) said at a writers’ conference I attended earlier this year, that the JBC is not trying to fight antisemitism in publishing directly, but to work around it by demonstrating that Jewish books can be a sound business decision.
If a book event is canceled, they help the author find another venue. They highlight the market share that Jewish titles do have. Dauber said that the most important response we can offer is to show that Jews continue to write books — and, just as critically, that Jews (and other people) continue to buy them.
The uncertainty surrounding the Giller Prize in Canada illustrates the risks of treating Jewish voices as disposable. After boycotts and protests targeted its corporate sponsors for ties to Israel, the country’s most prestigious literary award cut loose longtime backers but has so far failed to secure stable replacements. Without new funding, the prize that once showcased the best of Canadian writing may not survive.
That dilemma — whether to stay and fight for space in mainstream forums or to build our own — has run through every conversation in the Jewish literary community since October 7, 2023. What gives me optimism, for the first time in almost two years, is seeing how many writers are choosing the second path: bypassing the gatekeepers and launching new publications, conferences, and platforms that affirm Jewish identity rather than erase it.
The sheer depth of creativity and commitment on display suggests that, even if we are excluded elsewhere, we are more than capable of building something lasting on our own.
Dreifus said one of her colleagues put it best when she said, “They’ll miss us when we’re gone.”
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War

Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests

A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan

Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.