At the London Review of Books, more than six hundred writers and artists have signed an open letter on the situation in Palestine: “In Gaza, neither the occupying power, Israel, nor the armed groups of the people under occupation, the Palestinians, can ever be justified in targeting defenseless people. We can only express our grief and heartbreak for the victims of these most recent tragedies, and for their families, both Palestinians and Israelis. Nothing can retrieve what has already been lost. But the unprecedented and indiscriminate violence that is still escalating against the 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza, with the financial and political support of Western powers, can and must be brought to an end.” The LRB has also posted a new podcast about the war, featuring Amjad Iraqi, Michael Sfard, and Adam Shatz in discussion.
Jewish Currents has published dispatches from three Palestinians in Gaza.
At the New Yorker, Kyle Chayka writes about how social media has abdicated responsibility for the news: “A little over a decade ago, social media was heralded as a tool of transparency on a global scale for its ability to distribute on-the-ground documentation during the uprisings that became known as the Arab Spring. Now the same platforms appear to be making conflicts hazier rather than clearer. In the days since Hamas’s attacks, we’ve seen with fresh urgency the perils of relying on our feeds for news updates.”
For the Yale Review, Meghan O’Rourke writes about her mentor Louise Glück and the importance of the book form to her lyric poetry: “She told me that she couldn’t write poems; she wrote books.” Glück also intentionally varied her style from book to book. “Trace the arc of her books,” O’Rourke notes, “and you’ll find a new formal mode, or challenge, driving each one.”
Tonight at NYU, join Bookforum editor-in-chief Michael Miller for the launch and a discussion of Sasha Frere-Jones’ memoir Earlier. The event, co-sponsored by Public Books and NYU’s Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute, is free to attend; non-NYU guests must RSVP.