Alana Hadid, an activist whose grandparents were displaced from Safed and became refugees in Syria, spent two years preparing a children’s history of Palestine with Palestinian-American author Jenan Matari, whose own family history includes displacement linked to 1948.
Their book, ‘Displacement and the Palestinian American Story’, was meant to reach readers aged 10 to 13 in September. Instead, Hadid and Matari terminated their agreement with Penguin Random House in early September 2026, shortly before its scheduled release.
The authors had signed the deal with Penguin Random House Children’s Books in November 2024. The book was planned as the eighth volume of ‘Race to the Truth’, a historical series for children aged 10 to 13 that seeks perspectives from writers in marginalised communities on subjects including slavery, colonisation, racial discrimination and forced displacement.
Hadid and Matari’s manuscript covered Palestinian history, the Israeli occupation, Palestinian resistance and the experiences of Palestinian communities in the diaspora. They argued that people living under colonial domination have a right to resist, and compared the Hamas attacks in southern Israel on October 7, 2023, to a slave uprising after decades of suffering and repression that they said had been ignored.
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The central dispute concerned that account of October 7. In a revised manuscript sent before publication, Random House had inserted the sentence: ‘These actions were a violation of international law’. The authors objected, saying the publisher had altered the manuscript without their approval after they believed it had been finalised.
They also opposed suggestions to remove the word ‘Jewish’ from passages about Zionist militias involved in the destruction of Palestinian villages during the 1948 Nakba. Among the proposed changes was the removal of the phrase ‘Jewish gangs’ in a description of those militias.
In August, the publisher proposed a note on October 7 and suggested moving the intended readership from 10 and up to 14 and up. Hadid and Matari refused the editorial demands.
“It became clear that Penguin was never actually going to allow us just to write the book we wanted to write,” Hadid said.
She said the dispute showed the publisher was prepared to put at risk “such an important series, which helps children learn history, just because of a book about Palestine.”
Matari said: “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.”
Penguin Random House said it had followed standard editorial procedures.
The fallout has extended to the wider series. Saira Rao, a co-creator of Race to the Truth, objected to the handling of the Palestine volume and said she would not pursue future instalments with Random House.
Interlink Books, a Palestinian-owned US publisher, is preparing to publish ‘Displacement and the Palestinian American Story’ in 2027.
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