Hadid and Matari withdraw Palestine youth book after dispute with Random House
Alana Hadid and Jenan Matari withdrew their book for young readers, Displacement and the Palestinian American Story, in early September 2026, just before its scheduled release that month. The withdrawal followed an editorial dispute with Random House Children's Books, a division of Penguin Random House The Guardian.
The publisher signed the book deal with the two authors in November 2024. The book was promoted for release in September 2026 as the eighth volume in Random House's Race to the Truth nonfiction series for readers ages 10 to 13.
Hadid is a philanthropist and activist and the older sister of models Bella and Gigi Hadid. Matari is an author and communications strategist.
Their manuscript covered the history of Palestine, Israeli occupation, Palestinian resistance and diaspora, interwoven with their families' stories of displacement. The account drew on personal family history to explain broader historical events for a young audience.
The disagreement centered in part on a passage about the 7 October 2023 Hamas attacks in southern Israel. According to the authors' account, their manuscript argued that people under colonial domination have the right to resist. Random House urged them to incorporate arguments that the 7 October attacks violated international law.
The authors said they objected to edits by Random House that sanitized and misrepresented their views and that were introduced after they thought the book had been finalized. A Random House spokesperson said the process followed standard bookmaking procedures and that the publisher supported the authors' decision to pull the book.
The authors plan to release the book through Interlink Books, a Palestinian-owned publisher in the United States. A co-creator of the Race to the Truth project said she objected to the treatment of Displacement and would not pursue future installments in the series with the publisher. Random House said a Race to the Truth book remained on track for 2028 publication.
