The Los Angeles Public Library was scheduled to hold an event for Read Palestine Week on December 6, 2025, where Palestinian-American author Jenan Matari and Jewish-American author Nora Lester Murad were set to have a discussion with young readers regarding their literary works and Palestinian livelihood.
According to a social media post from Matari, the event was abruptly cancelled three days prior to the date. Both authors received emails from the LAPL saying the event would not take place without offering an explanation.
Almost a year later, the city of Los Angeles is now facing a lawsuit alleging violations of the First Amendment due to the cancellation of the event. Matari and Murad are co-plaintiffs suing the city and the LAPL.
Matari, a Palestinian-American author, and Murad, a Jewish-American author, had a public discussion published today by the Literary Hub addressing the reasoning behind this lawsuit.
Murad spoke to Los Angeles about the lawsuit and the implications of the LAPL’s actions.
“They definitely violated our First Amendment rights, for sure, because they restricted our ability to speak,” Murad said. “The case is not only about that. It’s about anti-Palestinian racism, because when a Palestinian child goes to a public library, like Los Angeles Public Library, they have to be able to find books about themselves.”
The cancellation of the event immediately caused controversy, with both authors calling out the LAPL over their decision.
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According to an investigation published by the Los Angeles Public Press in February of this year, a staff member at the LAPL told the library through an email that both authors had “strong terrorist ties” and “virulently antisemitic views.”
Both Matari and Murad have been public about their opposition to Israel’s war efforts in Palestine, which the United Nations categorizes as a genocide and have taken the lives of 70,000 Palestinians according to official numbers, with independent experts saying the number could be much higher.
“As an author, hearing from Palestinians right now, while they are being genocided, not only by Israel, but by the U.S. and with our political support and our taxpayer money, to allow a public institution, whose mandate is to resist censorship, to participate in the erasure of Palestinians, feels like, it just feels incredibly urgent and important to not allow this to stand,” said Murad, who lived in Palestine for 15 years while raising her three daughters.
Staff at the LAPL signed a solidarity letter asking their employer to apologize and reschedule the event. “We, the undersigned Los Angeles Public Library staff, stand in solidarity with Palestinians and other marginalized communities facing intimidation and cultural suppression,” the statement read.
Multiple advocacy groups such as the Middle East Studies Association made statements regarding their concerns with the decision and what it represented. The National Coalition Against Censorship wrote an extensive letter to the LAPL citing concerns over censorship
In a letter from LAPL librarian John Szabo responding to staff, he stated that “Cancellation of the program was necessary to uphold the Library’s commitment to an inclusive environment free of hate, discrimination, and harassment.”
Murad responded to claims of hateful views, saying, “It’s consistent with the specific movement — and I’m going to call it that — to deploy bad faith accusations of antisemitism in order to prevent people from criticizing Israel and Israeli actions against Palestinians. That’s not what antisemitism is.”
There are few details on the lawsuit itself, as it has not been made available to the public yet. However, it is worth noting that because the LAPL is a public entity, it is subject to being sued over First Amendment violations.
While censorship claims in the lawsuit are still unclear, Murad explained that a main part of the plaintiff’s claims is discrimination.
“We filed a lawsuit because anti-Palestinian racism is all over the place and there’s a lot of censorship of Palestinians, which is dangerous because when Palestinians are dehumanized, it makes it easier to justify, you know, slaughtering them, really,” she said.
Although it is unclear whether it will be part of the lawsuit or not, a breach-of-contract was also alluded to by Murad.
“They gave us a one-line cancellation and then they didn’t respond to any of the requests that we made to have a meeting to discuss the issue, even though it was in our contract that if there is any difference of opinion, we would have a conflict resolution meeting within two weeks,” she said
Matari and Murad were going to present books that centered Palestinian experiences. Matari’s Everything Grows in Jiddo’s Garden, and Murad’s Ida in the Middle both featured a Palestinian girl as the protagonist.
Because of the context of the books, the discussions between staff and the authors’ public stance on Israel, both authors believe the motive behind cancelling the event was not content-neutral, which could be a potential violation of the First Amendment and grounds for the lawsuit.
“It’s concerning when a public institution, this is not a bookstore, this is a public institution, right, a government institution, is now censoring people based on the content of their speech,” Murad said
The Los Angeles Public Library has not responded to our inquiries and is yet to comment publicly on the cancellation of the event, the letters signed by staff and other organizations, or the lawsuit itself.