German writer quits PEN International over Gaza killings

Admin I Monday, Nov.20, 2023

BERLIN – German writer Regula Venske has resigned from her position as secretary general of the London-based writers’ group PEN International in protest over a recent statement on the war in Gaza.

“I was horrified to read the statement, whose lack of empathy for the Israeli victims of the Hamas massacre on October 7 deeply shocked and depressed me,” Venske said, adding that she felt powerless to influence statements from PEN International’s secretariat in London.

PEN International, an international writing advocacy group with chapters in numerous countries around the world, has issued calls for an immediate ceasefire, the release of all hostages and the protection of civilians in Gaza.

PEN International also criticized several European countries, including Germany, for “unduly curtailing the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly” with government efforts to ban rallies and “restrict peaceful pro-Palestinian protests.”

In a statement announcing Venske’s resignation, the PEN Centre Germany noted that the group has issued it own separate statements on the conflict which more explicitly condemned the brutal attack on Israel by the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

Venske was previously president of the PEN Centre Germany from 2017 to 2021. She has been secretary general of PEN International since the autumn of 2022.