Online literary magazine Guernica’s editor-in-chief has resigned over the retraction of an essay by an Israeli writer that caused several outraged staffers to quit.
The essay, titled “From the Edges of a Broken World,” featured a discussion of coexistence in the Middle East. Author Joanna Chen wrote about her experience attempting to bridge the divide between Israelis and Palestinians and how her efforts were derailed by Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack and then the subsequent war in Gaza.
Guernica then retracted the story, replacing it with a note on the website that acknowledged that the magazine “regrets having published this piece, and has retracted it.”
Since the essay was published, more than 10 members of the magazine’s all-volunteer staff and resigned from their roles, including former co-publisher Madhuri Sastry.
However, on Friday, Guernica’s editor-in-chief Jina Moore resigned for a different reason, in protest of the retraction of the piece.
“Many critics have said the essay normalized the violence Israel has unleashed in Gaza. I disagree,” Moore wrote in a blog post. “I saw the piece as an example of the difficult work that Guernica is known for: capturing, with complexity and nuance, how such violence is normalized, and how a violent state extracts complicity from its citizens.”
Moore continued that she understands that “many readers did not see the essay this way, and I have learned from many thoughtful critiques.”
“But it has become clear to me that Guernica’s commitment to writing on war, injustice, and oppression has evolved. The magazine stands by its retraction of the work; I do not,” Moore wrote. “Guernica will continue, but I am no longer the right leader for its work.”
