A media debate has recently arisen regarding the appearance at a poetry festival on 15th October 2002, of the Poet Laureate of the State of New Jersey, Amiria Baraka, known in the past as Leroi Jones. At the festival, Baraka read out a poem he wrote called “Somebody Blew Up the United States”in which he hints that Israel had had prior knowledge of the September 11th, 2001 attacks, “and therefore 400 Israelis stayed home from work at the Twin Towers”. Following this incident, the Governor of New Jersey demanded that Baraka resign his position as the State’s Poet Laureate and return the $10,000 prize he had received in July 2002, when he received this honor. The poet refused to resign or to take back his accusations against Israel, and he said that he was allowed to criticize Israel and that this criticism had nothing to do with antisemitism as those who wish to divest him of his Poet Laureate status claim.
