Last week, the Los Angeles Public Library (LAPL) Van Nuys Branch held “Read Palestine Week,” which coincided with an international action that encourages people to read works by Palestinian and Palestinian diaspora authors, as well as nonfiction books about Palestinian culture, history and cuisine.
The LAPL will often hold themed week-to-month-long events with book displays, readings and workshops highlighting various cultures and topics, including Latinx Heritage Month, Jewish American Heritage Month and Banned Books Week.
With the backdrop of the Oct. 7th attacks by Hamas, the subsequent year-long brutal retaliation by Israel on Gaza and further bombing in Lebanon, the week-long event created contention between pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli supporters.
Read Palestine Week started on Nov. 29, the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, and ended on Dec. 5 with a “Palestine Zine Making Workshop.”
“I would love to see my local library replicate this next year,” said Maahum Chaudhry, who decided to bring her four-year-old son after hearing about the workshop from some friends in a mom group.
“So much of what’s been in the news this past year has not been elevating Palestinian voices,” said Chaudhry. “So to have a collection of books that are essentially straight from the source is, I think, the way most people should go about trying to learn about what’s been happening if they’re not familiar. And what better place to do that than to come to the library and find a book about something you don’t know?”
For Read Palestine Week, the Van Nuys Library curated a display with titles such as “Zaitoun: Recipes from the Palestinian Kitchen” by Yasmin Khan, “Things You May Find Hidden in My Ear” by Palestinian Poet Mosab Abu Toha, the children’s book “Homeland: My Father Dreams of Palestine” by Hannah Moushabeck and “Orientalism” by Palestinian American theorist Edward Said.
However, the library received pushback from several Israel supporters, who criticized the display as “promoting lies” and said it made them “feel unsafe.”
Pro-Israel Protestors Remove Books From Circulation
“My wife is a librarian for the LA Public Library, and I want her to feel safe when she goes to work,” said Rabbi Moshe Samuels who protested the week-long event.
Samuels said the display featured items that “implied that Israel as a state should not exist,” including free bookmarks with a watermelon print covering the entirety of present-day Israel and Palestine.
The watermelon became a symbol for the Palestinian cause after public displays of the Palestinian flag (red, black, white and green) were outlawed for several decades in Israel.
Other materials, he said, referred to what he believes to be a “war on Gaza,” as a “genocide.” Although the United States and Israel call the massive killings and atrocities a result of “war,” international institutions including Amnesty International and the International Court of Justice have declared it to be a “genocide.” Samuels believes the LAPL is taking a political stance on a contended issue by presenting materials that declare genocide as fact.
Critics also claimed that some of the zines and selected titles such as “Palestine’s Children: Returning to Haifa & Other Stories” by Ghassan Fayiz Kanafani, promoted violence.
Kanafani was a prominent Palestinian author, politician and activist born in Mandatory Palestine in 1936. At age 12 his family was forced out by Zionist paramilitaries during the Nakba, 1948 Palestine war, and settled in Damascus, Syria. Kanafani later joined and became a spokesman for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) a Marxist-Leninist group that advocates for revolutionary Palestinian struggle, including through violent resistance. Kanafani was assassinated by the Mossad, an Israeli national intelligence agency, in Beirut in 1972.
“I don’t feel like it is a safe culture if Los Angeles Public Library is handing out materials advocating that the only way to reach a resolution to this intractable problem is through acts of armed resistance against civilians,” said Samuels.
“This does get personal,” he added, recalling that when he was in school in Jerusalem he was “100 yards away from two car bombs that went off on the sidewalk that I walked on four times a day.”
When questioned if he thought public libraries should be able to carry controversial literature within their catalogs, Samuels said he was “definitely against censorship of literature,” however, “putting it on display for a week is more than just having it in circulation.”
The day before the zine workshop, supporters of Israel dismantled the display. They removed all the items from the table and checked out every Palestinian book, preventing those who may have been interested in the literature from having a chance to read them. Not only were history and theory books removed from circulation, but also children’s books, poetry, novels and cookbooks.
A spokesperson for LAPL did not comment on the matter other than to say they cannot prevent anyone from checking out books.
Their action was viewed by others who attended the workshop as a form of censorship – suppressing the perspectives of Palestinians by removing the presentation of their literature.
“It makes you question why someone doesn’t want knowledge shared. What are you trying to hide?” said Chaudhry.
“I hope they [LAPL] do this [event] again,” she added. “I hope that they’re not discouraged by what happened.”
A Show of Solidarity
Growing up, Chaudhry said she always thought of libraries as a “safe space for everyone.” However, when she was turned down by her local library this past year when offering to help them with some Ramadan programming, she questioned: “Is this a ‘safe space’ for someone who visibly looks Muslim?”
Chaudhry had a warm smile, thick-framed glasses, a headscarf and shoulders wrapped in a keffiyeh. At the workshop, she said she felt safe and breathed a sigh of relief when others were also wearing keffiyehs.
Despite the ominous feeling as visitors passed the empty display and a substantial police presence to attend the hour-long zine workshop, the event was joyous and calm.
Around 30 people attended the workshop – from children to grandparents. Many of those present came to show support for Palestine, given the actions of the day prior.
Several Israel supporters, including Samuels, were also welcomed into the workshop. Although visibly frustrated, they peacefully observed the event. One woman sat outside the library wrapped in an Israeli flag.
At the front of the room Ziba Pérez, a LAPL young adult librarian and zine librarian, showed guests how to fold a blank piece of paper into their own mini booklet.
“Zines are great because they’re for everyone, by everyone,” said Perez, who has been working with zines since the 90s. She added this was the first of many zine workshops, which will coordinate with the library’s monthly or weekly themes.
Stacks of old magazines, stationery supplies and Palestine-related stickers covered the tables, which visitors used to create their vibrant DIY (do-it-yourself) zines. Various zines by Palestinians and pro-Palestinian voices were also available for visitors to take home.
Andrea, who did not share her last name because she works for a different LAPL branch, said she came to show support.
Her zine was called “Gaza press heroes” and highlighted Palestinian journalists such as Motaz Azaiza, Bisan Owda and Plestia Alaqad, who have been risking their lives to report from Gaza.
Andrea said she was discouraged from talking about “the genocide” or showing support for Palestine at work and was banned from wearing clothing that said “Palestine” or “Gaza” on it.
“They’re censoring words,” said Andrea. “So to see this [workshop] happen. … it’s inspiring to see that it’s possible without getting shut down.”
For more information about the zine library visit: www.lapl.org/zines