When the most recent outburst of violence in Israel and Palestine erupted last month, the shock that greeted events led to a ricocheting of solidarity for all who were victim to the horror. In the past month, cultural practitioners in the Palestinian diaspora — removed from a catastrophe erupting yet again in their homeland — mobilized to ensure that the eyes of the world bore witness.

But at the same time as they organized, spoke, and shared accounts of decades of Palestinian suffering at the hands of the Israeli occupation, the rug was being pulled from beneath them. A wave of repression swept renowned institutions that succumbed to “security concerns” and began canceling or indefinitely postponing Palestinian-related events. Arab and Muslim artists had nothing to do but watch their calendars empty out.

This was the experience of the Palestine Festival of Literature (PalFest), when its annual event in London was abruptly deplatformed in October. The festival, which was due to showcase works from writers and performers such as Tamim al-Barghouti, Rashid Khalidi, Soweto Kinch, Julie Christie, and Esther Freud, was booked months prior to the current conflict. But this wasn’t enough for venues; the first to cancel was the renowned Royal Geographic Society (RGS), which said in a statement that the decision “was in no way a reflection on the event organisers, speakers or attendees, or a comment on the content of the event, but was a way of avoiding putting people at risk of harm during a time of heightened tension.”