A part of the artwork "al-Qalam," installed in a New York park in tribute to several Arab-American authors. (Credit: Photo taken from the Instagram page of the Washington Street Historical Society/@wshsnyc)
Lebanese Foreign Minister Joe Rajji announced Wednesday that steps had been taken to correct a plaque installed in a New York park as part of the “al-Qalam: Poets in the Park” project, following controversy over the nationality attributed to several writers of Lebanese origin.
“The efforts of the Foreign Ministry led to the removal of the plaque, which contained an inaccurate description of major figures in Lebanese literature,” Rajji wrote on X. He added that it would be replaced with a new plaque featuring corrected text “reaffirming the Lebanese identity of these poets and writers, who represent a cultural heritage deeply rooted in the national memory.”
The controversy stemmed from a large installation in a New York park paying tribute to writers of the “Pen League,” a group of authors who settled in Manhattan between the late 19th century and the mid-20th century after emigrating from what was then Ottoman Syria. Before the partition of the Ottoman Empire, the region included territories that are now part of Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Israel, and Palestine.
Many authors born in regions that are now part of Lebanon under Ottoman rule — including Gibran Khalil Gibran, Mikhail Neaimeh, Amin Rihani and Elia Abu Madi — settled in that New York neighborhood, where the installation is located. The installation features a sculpture rendering the Arabic word “al-Qalam” (“the pen”) in Arabic calligraphy, along with benches displaying mosaic quotations from the Pen League authors.
The plaque identified the writers as “Syrian,” sparking criticism in Lebanon and among the diaspora, with some accusing organizers of “falsifying” Lebanese identity.
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