Bella and Gigi Hadid's sister in a fight with a major American publisher over Palestine

The dispute over how to narrate the attacks of October 7, 2023 and the history of Palestine led to the withdrawal of two Palestinian-American authors from publishing a book for teenage audiences in Random House Publishing. Alana Hadid and Jenan Matari say that the changes proposed by the publisher distorted their narrative; The dispute that finally led to the transfer of the book to Interlink Publishing, a publisher owned by the Palestinians.

According to Ambassador Arjan's report, quoted by the Guardian, a book about Palestine, which was written for a teenage audience, was withdrawn from the publishing program of Random House, a subsidiary of Penguin Random House, shortly before its publication date. This happened after editorial differences between the publisher and the Palestinian-American authors of the book over their narrative of Palestinian history.

In November 2024, Random House's children's book division signed a publishing deal with Alana Hadid, a philanthropist and social activist and the older sister of Bella and Gigi Hadid, two famous models, and Janan Matri, a writer and communications strategist. The book was supposed to be published in September this year.

These two authors, who have a large audience on social networks, prepared a manuscript about the history of Palestine, Israeli occupation, Palestinian resistance and their dispersion in different countries, and in parts of it, they also discussed their family narratives of displacement.

However, they withdrew the book after protesting Random House's edits. According to the authors, these changes distorted their narrative and were applied after they thought the final version of the book was ready. The spokesperson of Random House announced that the work process was carried out in accordance with the "standard procedures of book publishing" and the publisher finally supported the authors' decision to withdraw the book.

The book "Displacement and the Palestinian American Narrative" was supposed to be the eighth title of the series "A Race to Reach the Truth"; A collection of non-fiction books for 10-13-year-olds whose purpose was to present a narrative of American history from the language of members of marginalized groups and recount the history of their communities. One of the creators of this series also announced that he objects to the treatment of the Palestine book and will no longer cooperate with the publisher to publish the next titles of this series.

"It became clear that Penguin was basically never going to let us publish the book we wanted to write, the way we wanted to," Alana Hadid said. This shows that they are willing to completely destroy a very influential collection that helps children learn history; "Just because one of its books is about Palestine."

According to Hadid and Matri, they provided the Guardian newspaper with the initial version of the manuscript and parts of their correspondence with Random House. The authors and the publisher have been at odds for months over the wording of the book, including a section about Hamas attacks on southern Israel on October 7, 2023. In the authors' manuscript, it was stated that the people who live under "colonial rule" have the "right to resist"; But Random House asked them to include arguments that the attacks that day violated international law. After the two sides reached an impasse, the authors pulled out of the book in early September.

The book is now set to be published by Interlink Publishing, a Palestinian-owned American publisher.

The spokesperson of Random House announced that this publication has other books about Palestine under publication and is still committed to "publishing the Palestinian perspective for young audiences". He also said that the publication of another book in the series "A Race to Reach the Truth" is still planned for 2028.

The dispute over this book occurred in a situation where the works of Palestinians and the works written on their behalf are facing disproportionate scrutiny and censorship. The controversy also revealed the deep divide between different accounts of the events of October 7; A gap that, according to the Guardian report, could not be filled in the context of a book that was to be published by a mainstream publisher.

Jenan Matari said: "I believe this book was a revolutionary work, and that's why it was under the microscope to such an extent. They kept trying to modify our history because they didn't want certain communities to feel uncomfortable. But anti-colonial historiography is supposed to confront the audience with uncomfortable realities.

There is no more important story to tell

The "Race to Truth" collection was designed by Saira Rao and Regina Jackson, the founders of the "Race2Dinner" program; A program that started in 2019 with the aim of providing a context for dialogue about racism with white women. In 2020, Rao and Jackson sold a book titled "White Women" to Penguin Random House, which became a bestseller. A year later, they handed over the children's book series "A Race to Reach the Truth" to this publisher.

Random House has so far published books in the series on slavery, the colonization of the Wampanoag people, the disenfranchisement of Chinese Americans, the history of Mexican Americans, and the forced assimilation of Native children.

With the continuation of this collection, Rao considered it necessary to publish a book about Palestine. "There is no more important story to tell right now," he said. "Palestine actually tells the story of all genocides and all forms of violence caused by settler colonialism."

Rao chose Hadid and Matri to write the book after Random House agreed to the book in the summer of 2024.

The authors submitted the first version of the manuscript "Displacement" in July 2025. They wrote in the introduction that the Palestinian story has long been removed from textbooks: "The deliberate erasure of our history has left generations of Palestinians struggling to explain where they came from and why nearly half of us are scattered around the world; Including ourselves who live in the United States."

This book covers the geography and history of Palestine, the rise of Zionism, the Nakbat of 1948 - when more than 700,000 Palestinians were driven from their homes - the authors' analysis of Israel as a "settler colony", US-Israel relations and the lives of Palestinians under military occupation.

The authors also recorded their family history. According to them, Hadid's grandparents were expelled from the city of Safad a few days after her father's birth and became refugees in Syria. Mutari and his wife's relatives were displaced from Deir Yassin and Ain Karim after the massacre of more than 100 Palestinians in Deir Yassin in April 1948.

Hadid said: "I just wanted the children to see us as human beings."

According to the authors, tensions escalated in June 2026; When the book was sent to reviewers and pre-orders were available, Random House did not provide the authors with the final version. After receiving a copy of the book, they discovered that the publisher had changed the section about the events of October 7 without their knowledge.

In a chapter titled "The International Right of Armed Resistance", the authors cited a resolution of the United Nations General Assembly that emphasized the right to self-determination of people under colonial rule and the possibility of reclaiming this right "by any means at their disposal".

In this chapter, Hamas's use of prisoner exchange to free thousands of Palestinians imprisoned in Israel was also discussed; People whom the authors described as practically "hostages of the government". They wrote about the 2011 exchange in which Gilad Shalit, a captured Israeli soldier, was freed in front of more than a thousand prisoners: "This exchange was one of the most famous examples and showed Palestinians that resistance can lead to real results."

The manuscript went on to say that on October 7, Hamas forces "entered Israel in a coordinated attack." About 1,100 Israelis, including 37 children, were killed, and civilians and soldiers were captured "for use in exchange," the authors wrote.

The section on October 7 was short, but the authors argued that international law permitted Palestinian resistance "by any means necessary" and that the attacks came after "decades of suffering and neglected oppression."

The manuscript stated: "Palestinians, like other oppressed peoples in the past, have demanded freedom in the face of overwhelming military power. The violence in this land did not start with what happened on October 7; "That day was another moment in the long history of people's struggle for freedom."

The authors said they had added the October 7 death toll to the text at the request of Random House and assumed the wording of the section was finalized in May 2026. But in the updated version they received, one of the publisher's editors added: "These actions violated international law."

Emails show the authors objected to the addition, saying it contradicted their analysis of international law. They also claimed that changing the text without their approval was a breach of their contract. An editor at Random House wrote in an e-mail that without this phrase or a similar phrase, the publisher would "lose credibility with readers, including those who are open-minded to our point of view," and the book would not be published.

Negotiations on how to describe the events of October 7th continued for weeks, and Random House's head of publicity, legal department and head of children's books were also involved in the talks.

Meanwhile, Random House proposed other changes that the writers disagreed with. In July, one of the publisher's top executives suggested removing the word "Jew" in several sections; For example, in the phrase that the writers of the Zionist militias involved in the destruction of Palestinian villages during the Nakbat called "Jewish criminal groups".

The Random House official wrote: "Our concern is not with the accuracy of the wording, but with whether repeating it would necessarily help to clarify the matter."

In response, the authors called the stance "disgraceful" and said it was unacceptable for an editor to declare that accuracy was not the main issue. One of the editors also replied that they did not mean to question the accuracy of the word, but they wanted to know whether repeating the adjective "Jew" is necessary considering the context of the text or not.

A Random House official once again asked the writers to add more details about October 7. In an e-mail, it was suggested that a phrase with this theme be included in the book: "Some human rights organizations and commentators have described the actions of Hamas on that day as a violation of international laws; Others interpret legal and historical issues in a different way."

But the writers gradually got tired and frustrated with the work process. "We cannot imagine that in a book about the history of slavery in America, a black author would have to condemn slave revolts or consider them a violation of international law," they wrote in one email.

In an email to his literary agent, Mutari wrote: "It has become abundantly clear that Penguin is more concerned with the feelings of Jews than with the lives and lived experience of Palestinians."

However, the documents show that Random House repeatedly reiterated its commitment to publishing the book. One of the officials of these publications said that they are committed to publishing "an essential and understandable book about the Palestinian-American experience for a young audience"; According to him, this point of view has not been sufficiently reflected in children's non-fiction works. This official also said that the editors want to try to resolve the differences in good faith.

In August, Random House suggested that the authors' text remain unchanged, but that a publisher's note with some suggested wording about October 7 be added to the book, and that the audience age group be changed from 10 and over to 14 and over. The publisher also announced that if the two sides cannot resolve their differences, the authors can submit the book to another publisher and keep their advance payment.

The spokesperson of Random House said: "Discussion and discussion about the text and its revision is a standard part of the book publishing process. We made suggestions to ensure that the intended audience of the book, that is, people aged 10 and above, have enough information to understand the subject and face the questions raised in it; Especially considering that many readers are facing this issue for the first time.

He added that the publisher had provided early digital copies to people active in the publishing industry, and the words "uncorrected and non-final version" were written on them. According to him, the process was stopped after the authors raised their concerns. The spokesperson emphasized: "We will not publish a book that the authors do not feel satisfied and comfortable to publish."