The board of the Adelaide Festival has announced the cancellation of their upcoming Writers’ Week.
It comes after the board rescinded the invitation of Palestinian-Australian author and advocate Dr Randa Abdel-Fattah, saying her previous comments meant it would “not be culturally sensitive” to include her in the wake of the Bondi terror attack.
The writer said the decision was a “blatant and shameless act of anti-Palestinian racism”. Many authors dropped out of the festival in response.
Multiple board members had stepped down in recent days. In a statement on Tuesday, the remaining members said they would also step down.
“We recognise and deeply regret the distress this decision has caused [and we] apologise to Dr Randa Abdel-Fattah for how the decision was represented...
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“This is not about identity or dissent but rather a continuing rapid shift in the national discourse around the breadth of freedom of expression in our nation following Australia’s worst terror attack in history,” the board said.
Abdel-Fattah
Dr Randa Abdel-Fattah is a Palestinian-Australian lawyer, author, and advocate. She has published 12 books and is a researcher at Macquarie University in Sydney, specialising in areas including Islamophobia and Palestine.
At the end of 2024, she wrote on social media: “May 2025 be the end of Israel”. She also wrote, “if you are a Zionist, you have no claim or right to cultural safety”.
The festival board did not specifically identify statements Abdel-Fattah had made when removing her from the festival.
