The 92nd Street Y, a prominent Jewish cultural and community center in Manhattan, canceled a reading by Pulitzer-winning author Viet Thanh Nguyen—just five hours before the event—because of his stance on Israel. “Given the public comments by the invited author on Israel and this moment, we felt the responsible course of action was to postpone the event while we take some time to determine how best to use our platform and support the entire 92NY community,” a spokesperson for the Y told Reuters. Nguyen publicly called Israel’s siege of Gaza after the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas ”wrong” and he also opposes Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories.
