{"id":502831,"date":"2026-01-09T03:27:11","date_gmt":"2026-01-09T03:27:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/502831\/"},"modified":"2026-01-09T03:27:11","modified_gmt":"2026-01-09T03:27:11","slug":"dozens-of-writers-boycott-adelaide-festival-after-it-dumps-pro-palestine-academic-randa-abdel-fattah-adelaide-festival","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/502831\/","title":{"rendered":"Dozens of writers boycott Adelaide festival after it dumps pro-Palestine academic Randa Abdel-Fattah | Adelaide festival"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dozens of authors, journalists, media personalities and a sponsor are boycotting the Adelaide festival<\/a> after it dumped Palestinian Australian author Randa Abdel-Fattah from its annual writers\u2019 week lineup, citing concerns over \u201ccultural sensitivity\u201d in the wake of the Bondi terror attack.<\/p>\n

More speakers were expected to withdraw from the festival, with speculation that other high-profile figures were coordinating their exit announcements.<\/p>\n

Writers Helen Garner, Chloe Hooper and Sarah Krasnostein, Miles Franklin winner Michelle de Kretser, authors and commentators Jane Caro and Peter FitzSimons, the co-founder of Cheek Media, Hannah Ferguson, the journalist and academic Peter Greste, ABC radio presenter Jonathan Green, First Nations academic and writer Prof Chelsea Watego and reporter Amy Remeikis were among those confirmed by Friday morning to be boycotting the annual writers festival.<\/p>\n

Australian authors Bri Lee and Madeleine Gray said they would not participate unless the festival reversed its decision and reinstated Abdel-Fattah.<\/p>\n

Abdel-Fattah, a Macquarie University academic, was due to appear at the festival for the second time next month after hosting a number of panels and sessions in 2023.<\/p>\n

But in a statement released on Thursday, the festival board said it had formed the view that it \u201cwould not be culturally sensitive<\/a> to continue to program her at this unprecedented time so soon after Bondi\u201d.<\/p>\n

The board said that while it did not suggest \u201cin any way\u201d that Abdel-Fattah or her writings had any connection with the tragedy at Bondi, the decision was made \u201cgiven her past statements\u201d.<\/p>\n

Abdel-Fattah previously faced sustained criticism<\/a> from the Coalition, some Jewish bodies and media outlets for controversial comments on Israel, including alleging Zionists had \u201cno claim or right to cultural safety\u201d.<\/p>\n

The former NSW premier and federal foreign affairs minister Bob Carr told Guardian Australia he would remain a speaker and supported the board\u2019s decision.<\/p>\n

Despite being a vocal critic of Israel\u2019s invasion of Gaza, Carr said he believed some of Abdel-Fattah\u2019s previous statements had been counterproductive to the Palestinian cause. He said the board had made the right call.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Adelaide<\/a> writers\u2019 festival has supported hearing Palestinian voices, its record on this is unimpeachable,\u201d Carr said, adding that given the circumstances at Bondi, the board\u2019s decision was not unreasonable.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe board should be supported, and people sympathetic to the Palestinian cause should continue to participate in [the festival].\u201d<\/p>\n

Burial Rites author Hannah Kent described the decision to axe Abdel-Fattah as a \u201cgross act of discrimination and censorship\u201d as she announced her withdrawal in a social media post.<\/p>\n

Remeikis condemned the board\u2019s \u201cdeliberate choice to silence a prominent Palestinian-Australian academic without offering any clear or convincing rationale\u201d.<\/p>\n

Wright, who was co-curator of the 2025 Bendigo writers\u2019 festival, which experienced a similar mass walkout, said she was \u201cappalled\u201d at what she described as the \u201cwrong-headedness and short-sightedness of the Adelaide festival board\u2019s decision\u201d.<\/p>\n

Public policy thinktank the Australia Institute on Thursday withdrew its sponsorship for the 2026 event, which it said in the past had \u201cpromoted bravery, freedom of expression and the exchange of ideas\u201d.<\/p>\n

Speaking to ABC radio on Friday, Abdel-Fattah said the decision showed the \u201cegregious and unabashed anti-Palestinian\u201d views that she said had become normalised.<\/p>\n

It was an \u201cobscene attempt to associate me with an atrocity \u2026 that it goes without saying that I had nothing to do with,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI cannot believe in 2026, that I, a Palestinian who has witnessed my people\u2019s livestream genocide for two years, am now having to say publicly \u2018I have nothing to do with the Bondi atrocities\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

Abdel-Fattah asked the festival to apologise, retract its statement and reinstate her invitation.<\/p>\n

Asked about the boycott, Abdel-Fattah said it was \u201cheartening to see the wave and momentum that is built in solidarity\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat makes this particularly egregious is the board would have known that this was going to happen,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

On Thursday, the academic said she was confident that the writing community and public would respond with \u201cprinciple and integrity\u201d.<\/p>\n

Last year, Abdel-Fattah was among more than 50 writers and hosts who pulled out<\/a> of the Bendigo writers\u2019 festival after it issued a last-minute code of conduct<\/a>, including directions to \u201cavoid language or topics that could be considered inflammatory, divisive, or disrespectful\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the end, the Adelaide writers\u2019 festival will be left with panellists who demonise a Palestinian out of one side of their mouths while waxing lyrical about freedom of speech from the other,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

In 2023, the Adelaide writers\u2019 week director, Louise Adler, resisted pressure to withdraw invitations to two Palestinian writers<\/a> over their views on Ukraine and Israel.<\/p>\n

The Stella Prize-winning poet Evelyn Araluen was one of the first writers on Thursday to publicly withdraw from the lineup in support of Abdel-Fattah.<\/p>\n

The author of Dropbear and The Rot described the decision as a \u201cbetrayal\u201d of the democratic ethos that has defined the festival.<\/p>\n

Sign up: AU Breaking News email<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cErasing Palestinians from public life in Australia won\u2019t prevent antisemitism. Removing Palestinians from writers\u2019 festivals won\u2019t prevent antisemitism. I refuse to participate in this spectacle of censorship.\u201d<\/p>\n

The festival board was contacted for comment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dozens of authors, journalists, media personalities and a sponsor are boycotting the Adelaide festival after it dumped Palestinian…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":502832,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[99,50],"class_list":{"0":"post-502831","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"tag-israel","9":"tag-news"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115863017707496870","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/502831","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=502831"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/502831\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/502832"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=502831"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=502831"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=502831"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}