Pro-Hamas Writers’ Coalition Celebrates Hezbollah Attacks on Israel
Smoke and fire rise in northern Israel following attacks from Lebanon, amid ongoing cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, seen from the Israeli side on June 3, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Ayal Margolin
Writers Against the War on Gaza (WAWOG) — a group of authors, novelists, journalists, and essayists opposed to Israel’s defensive military operations against the Hamas terrorist group in Gaza — celebrated Hezbollah drone and rocket launches against the Jewish state this week.
On Thursday, the group shared a news article from Al Jazeera discussing the Iran-backed terrorist group Hezbollah’s launch of more than 200 missiles and drones into Israeli airspace from Lebanon. Beside the article, WAWOG posted a photo of the Hezbollah projectiles as they appeared to be intercepted by Israel’s Iron Dome air defense system.
“Happy 4th of July,” the group wrote on X/Twitter, seemingly celebrating the assault on Israel.
Happy 4th of July. https://t.co/jPwvTTIqsi pic.twitter.com/qOqw9RsXvM
— Writers Against the War on Gaza (@wawog_now) July 4, 2024
WAWOG formed in October, weeks after Hamas, the Palestinian terrorist group that runs Gaza, launched the ongoing war against Israel by slaughtering over 1,200 people across the southern portion of the Jewish state. On Oct. 26, the organization issued a statement condemning Israel of attempting to “commit genocide” in Gaza and erecting an “apartheid state” in the West Bank. The letter rejected the notion that Hamas’ indiscriminate massacre of Israelis was “unprovoked,” arguing that it was a necessary act of self-defense on behalf of Palestinians. The fiery missive also dismissed the suggestion that Israel’s critics are motivated by antisemitism as “specious” at best.
“We stand with [Hamas’] anticolonial struggle for freedom and for self-determination, and with their right to resist occupation,” the letter read.
On its official website, the coalition of writers expresses support for Palestinian “right to armed resistance,” a slogan often parroted by defenders of Hamas’ terrorism against Israeli civilians. The organization claims to draw inspiration from so-called “heroes of the resistance” such as Souha Bechara, Basil al-Araj, and Georges Abdallah — internationally recognized terrorists with charges ranging from murder to armed attacks against the Jewish state. The organization also asserts that justice for Palestinians can only be achieved through the “complete dismantling of ‘Israel,'” an explicit call to eradicate the only Jewish state in the world and commence genocide against Jews.
WAWOG boasts an impressive roster of influential writers and artists including Roxanne Gay, George R.R. Martin, Ocean Vuong, and Susan Surandon.
In recent months, WAWOG has tried to rally the entire literary community against Israel, demanding writers declare allegiance to “Palestine” and vilifying authors who support Zionism. The organization recently spearheaded a protest against the PEN America World Voices Festival, citing its leaders’ unwillingness to condemn Israel for “genocide” and “apartheid.” After leftist activists, including WAWOG, successfully pressured many high-profile writers to drop out of the conference, the PEN America canceled its annual event.
PEN America CEO Suzanne Nossel penned a letter lamenting the unwillingness of left-wing writers to tolerate nuanced or dissenting viewpoints on contentious topics such as the Israel-Hamas war.
“We share the anguish over the loss of life and devastation of the war. We are listening to our critics,” she wrote. “We now face a campaign that casts our struggle to reflect complexity, uphold our identity as a big tent organization, and show fealty to our principles as a moral abdication. The perspective that engaging with those who hold a different point of view constitutes an impermissible act of legitimization negates the very possibility of dialogue.”
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