Amazon rejects two Oct 7 books for violating guidelines, later reverses decision

Read this article in:

Over the past several weeks, two books that recounted the atrocities committed by Hamas terrorists in Israel on Oct. 7. 2023 were banned from being sold by Amazon on its website. However, the company later reversed these decisions.

One of the books initially rejected by Amazon, "Testimonies Without Boundaries," was written by Israeli author Alon Penzel. He told the Times of Israel (TOI) that the book, which recounts the stories of 60 different victims and witnesses of the attack, was banned by Amazon for two weeks.

“I can’t tell you exactly for sure 100% why they did it,” Penzel said. “They didn’t actually give an explanation why they blocked it except for violation of their company guidelines.”

Israel Hayom reported that it was only “after Jewish Insider inquired about the rejection” that Amazon “made the title available on its site.”

In addition to Penzel’s book, journalist Mark Patinkin’s book, "The Holy Land at War: A Journey Through Israel, the West Bank and Gaza," was also initially rejected by the world's largest online retailer.

The Holy Land at War “is broader in scope than Penzel’s” book, but is “informed by October 7” and “includes diverse perspectives from interviewees on both sides of the conflict,” the TOI reported.

In a New York Post op-ed, Patinkin wrote that he “appealed the Amazon book ban four times and got four repeat rejections with zero explanation.”

After the media began to cover the ban, which “caused some social-media outcry,” Patinkin explained that “Amazon ‘coincidentally’ unbanned” the book.

Patinkin suggested he “was a victim of a biased gatekeeper, perhaps after Amazon higher-ups flagged the Gaza war as a controversial subject,” but noted that “there’s no way of being sure, since the company’s review team is a black box."

An Amazon representative told the TOI the company’s initial rejections of the books were a result of “error” rather than bias.

“We have content guidelines governing which books can be listed for sale, and invest significant time and resources to ensure our guidelines are followed. When we make an error, we work quickly to correct it.”