Pro-Palestinian staffers resign from opinion magazine after magazine runs piece suggesting that the war has been brutal for both sides

As the conflict between Israel and Hamas has just passed its fifth month, pro-Palestinian activists have wasted no time in censoring and bullying pro-Israel voices out of the cultural zeitgeist.

The latest casualty was Guernica Magazine's removal of a heart-wrenching piece of nonfiction written by Joanna Chen — a British writer and translator whose family moved to Israel after her brother was killed in a traffic accident.

The piece, entitled "From the Edges of a Broken World," tells the story of Chen's move from England to Israel and her work with Road to Recovery — "a nongovernmental organization founded by Yuval Roth, whose brother was kidnapped and killed by Hamas in 1993."

Chen wrote that the organization transported Palestinian children in need of lifesaving medical care to Israeli hospitals. Before the slaughter of 1,200 Israelis on October 7, volunteers would pick up Palestinian children — accompanied by parents and grandparents — from checkpoints near the West Bank. Chen wrote, "I usually drive to the Tarkumia checkpoint, close to Hebron, a fifteen-minute journey from my house in the Ella Valley."

"Before this present war, I would pick up my passengers around 5:30 a.m., everything still shrouded in shadow when I left the house," Chen continued.

She went on to recall the horrific events of October 7, writing that "sirens filled the air" and "rockets began falling close to my village." And despite all the uncertainty surrounding the attack and the fallout thereof, Chen said that she and her husband, Raz, "donated blood at a hospital in Jerusalem, waiting in line for six hours along with hundreds of other people."

After October 7, her work with Road to Recovery came to a screeching halt. She questioned how she could carry on knowing that Hamas "had massacred and kidnapped so many civilians," adding that Road to Recovery members had even been kidnapped, including Vivian Silver, "a longtime Canadian peace activist."

Chen noted that it was difficult to square what had happened to innocent Israeli lives on October 7 with what has since happened to innocent Palestinians dwelling in a dismantled Gaza. She went on to say that she started driving children to Israeli hospitals just weeks after October 7, even though members of her family were against it.

Despite the nuance and care given to such a sensitive subject, Chen's piece was quickly removed by Guernica Magazine for reasons that are still unclear. While the piece was archived and can still be read online, the site simply reads: "Guernica regrets having published this piece, and has retracted it. A more fulsome explanation will follow."

Blaze News has reached out to Chen and Guernica Editor-in-Chief Jina Moore Ngarambe for comment, but neither immediately responded to a request for comment.

Chen's story about a war-torn Middle East apparently did not sit well with pro-Palestinian activists — many of whom are within Guernica's ranks.

Sonny Bunch — the culture editor at the Bulwark — posted four screenshots to X on Sunday, appearing to show that individuals associated with Guernica Magazine planned to resign from their posts after Chen's piece was published.

Bunch wrote, "'Lefties doing ritual resignations from opinion mags because someone wrote a slightly challenging essay' remains one of my favorite Twitter subgenres."

One such X user, Madhuri Sastry, wrote that she intended to resign as "co-publisher" from Guernica after Chen's piece was published. She also released a lengthy explanation as to why she intended to leave the outlet.

"I am resigning from my position as co-publisher of Guernica Magazine due to the publication of 'From the Edges of a Broken World.' It is, among many things, a hand-wringing apologia for Zionism and the ongoing genocide in Palestine."

"I am deeply ashamed to see this piece in Guernica's pages, and sincerely apologize to the writers, readers, and supporters who feel betrayed by this decision. I stand by my courageous staff members who have been holding us accountable every step of the way. I am sorry we have let you down," she continued.

The X user went on to say that she was not responsible for any editorial decisions and noted that she had previously flagged a separate piece by Chen, entitled "Voices of Palestine," and suggested it not be published. Guernica appears to have taken Sastry's suggestion and decided not to publish it.

Sastry concluded her statement by calling for the resignation of "the editor-in-chief [Ngarambe], as the senior most person responsible for overseeing the processes that resulted in this publication decision." She also said that though there can be no redemption for this decision, there must "be accountability."

Shortly after members of Guernica announced that they would resign, the outlet quickly removed Chen's piece. Ngarambe has not yet provided an explanation as to why the piece was removed or why she made the editorial decision to publish it if it was not reflective of the outlet's political allegiances in the first place.

Another X user summed up Chen's piece, writing, "* Declined to serve in the IDF * Volunteered to drive Palestinian children to hospitals * Donated blood for Gaza in 2014 * Had complex feelings about the war And this is beyond the pale, really??"

It is still not clear if those who threatened to resign have done so or if they merely threatened to do so.

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