An author event at a bookstore in Montclair was canceled after members of the local Jewish community complained about the author’s Palestinian heritage, Jenan Matari, a Palestinian author from New Jersey, said in an Instagram post.
In a notice to customers last week, Watchung Booksellers in Montclair canceled an event for the launch of Matari’s children’s book, Everything Grows in Jiddo’s Garden, citing safety concerns.
“Due to concerns from our community and the safety of our staff and customers, we are canceling the story time with Jenan Matari on Sunday, September 14,” the notice said, according to a screenshot Matari shared on Instagram.
A person who answered the phone at Watchung Booksellers declined to comment beyond the store’s official notice sent to customers.
In her post, Matari alleged that people, including a rabbi, went into the store and verbally and physically harassed employees, as well as sent emails, in an effort to cancel the event.
Snapshots of emails Matari said were sent to Watchung Booksellers protesting her book launch event called her xenophobic and “anti-Israel.”
One email described Matari as advocating for “hate, violence, death and destruction of innocent people.”
“They were physically harassing people and sending emails and calling the store all day to the point where they made their staff feel so unsafe and uncomfortable that they canceled my event,” Matari said.
The bookstore never responded to Matari after she asked the store for details on why the event was canceled. She called the accusations against her “unfounded.”
“I didn’t appreciate being framed as the danger to the community when it was actually the zionists who put the community in danger,” Matari said in her post.
Matari did not immediately respond to a message requesting comment.
Everything Grows in Jiddo’s Garden is a story about a little Palestinian girl and her Grandpa who are forced to leave their homeland, but maintain a connection to their home through gardening.
The picture book explores themes of “displacement, belonging, and an enduring connection to the land,” according to the book’s publisher, Simon & Schuster.
Everything Grows in Jiddo’s Garden is Matari’s first book, according to her author page at Interlink Publishing, an imprint of Simon & Schuster.
She has a second book, Displacement and the Palestinian American Story, forthcoming from Penguin Random House, according to her personal website.
She also authors a Substack newsletter called Bridge to Palestine and is a graduate of Rutgers University, according to her Linkedin profile.
“This book is my family history,” Matari continued in her post. “This book is my story.”
Montclair’s mayor and police chief did not immediately respond to a request for comment on complaints and threats made against the bookstore.
After her initial event was canceled, Jewish Voice for Peace of Northern New Jersey, Montclair Quaker Meeting and Word Up Community Bookshop organized a separate event, Matari said in her post.
Matari addressed other booksellers in her video.
“When you take Palestinian books off your shelves or cancel events with Palestinians … you’re robbing children of the opportunity to learn a very valuable perspective on the world they’re inheriting.”
More than 64,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza as a war with Israel that began in October 2023 after 1,400 Israelis were either killed or taken hostage by Hamas nears the two-year anniversary.
Since the war started, humanitarian aid, including food deliveries into Gaza have led to a hunger crisis on top of a renewed Israeli offensive as efforts to negotiate a ceasefire failed.
Reporting from the Associated Press was included in this article.
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