Alana Hadid pulls Palestine book after publisher challenges justification of October 7 attacks

Alana Hadid and Jenan Matari have withdrawn their book about Palestine aimed at young people from publication after Random House asked them to revise their claims about October 7, The Guardian reported on Thursday.

The disagreement centres on a passage describing October 7 in which Hadid and Matari argue that the attacks were legitimate as people under "colonial domination" have a "right to resist." Random House asked them to incorporate arguments that the attacks violated international law. Hadid and Matari refused and therefore withdrew their book.

“It became clear that Penguin was never actually going to allow us just to write the book we wanted to write,” said Hadid. “It says a lot that they’re willing to tank an entire very powerful series that helps children learn history, just because of one book about Palestine.”

The section on October 7 argued that international law authorized Palestinian resistance “by any means necessary”, saying the attacks came after “decades of ignored suffering and repression”.

When the authors received the revised version prior to publication, they noticed that Random House had added to the section: "These actions were a violation of international law."

The authors objected to a number of other changes including the removal of 'Jewish' as a descriptor in several places, as well as the removal of the term "Jewish gangs" for pre-state Zionist militias.

The authors became increasingly frustrated with Random House's proposals, at one point likening October 7 to a slave uprising. They then accused Random House of being too favourable to Jews over Palestinians.

Random House had previously signed the book deal in November 2024 with the book scheduled for release in September this year.

This story broke just a day after Irish author Sally Rooney revealed that her books were effectively banned in the UK due to her open support of Palestine Action, a proscribed organization. Rooney had previously stated that she would use all money earned in the UK to support the group, leading her publishers to withhold royalties as part of anti-terrorism financing laws.

Her publisher, Faber, said: "Current legislation in the UK has led to circumstances where Faber cannot pass on UK earnings to Sally Rooney for her work. To sell a writer’s work and not be able to pass on earnings is an unconscionable situation for a publisher."