The director of Adelaide Writers’ Week Louise Adler, has resigned amid mounting backlash over the cancellation of Palestinian-Australian author Randa Abdel-Fattah, a decision that has triggered a growing boycott by prominent writers, including former New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern.
Adler said the move to remove Abdel-Fattah from the programme was made by the Adelaide Festival board against her “strongest opposition,” and warned that it crossed a line by silencing a writer.
In an open letter published in UK legacy media outlet The Guardian, Adler said she could not continue in her role under circumstances where political pressure dictated who could and could not speak. She claimed Abdel-Fattah’s appearance was cancelled following pressure from “pro-Israel lobbyists, bureaucrats and opportunistic politicians,” and said remaining in her position would make her complicit.
The decision has sparked a revolt within the literary community, with more than 180 participants withdrawing from the event, including Ardern. Others to pull out include Trent Dalton, Peter Greste, Hannah Kent and Evelyn Araluen.
South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas has backed the festival board, citing Abdel-Fattah’s past anti-Israel and anti-Zionist social media posts as justification for the cancellation. The board said it was not linking the author or her work to the Bondi attack, but argued that proceeding with her appearance would not be “culturally sensitive” in the current climate.
Of course Ardernie cancelled. The witch.
Wasn’t it Labour who wanted to push hate speech laws last go round? I know this lot are thinking about it too but nonetheless…..
A case of be careful what you wish for?
They ALL want the hate speech BS.
Every single one of them. It’s disgusting and infuriating.
Ardern does not even deserve to be called a writer/author.
Agree 100%
It is not surprising that a Palestinian would be anti Zionist and anti Israel.
As for “Dame” Jacinda Ardern, she is a globalist sock-puppet who should be ignored.
adern is not a writer, it was all ghostwritten for her. It’s how organizations like the World economic forum and the world health organization can hide their paying her millions for doing what she did to push their agenda. she is just a globalist puppet and always has been.
All this before the “revised” so called hate speech (censorship) legislation has even passed through the Federal Parliament. Doesn’t matter whether you like what someone has to say or not, you either have “free speech” or you don’t. Right now Australia does not have free speech, so bye bye to any claims of being a democracy, as well.
Right now the head of Australia’s so called democracy is parading around sporting a Yamaka skullcap in an appalling display of all bought and paid for
Albanese is a vile sick depraved and self serving lackey
Australia has been infiltrated taken over and is now being controlled
Absolutely sickening and appalling
Kudos to the director of Adelaide Writers’ Week Louise Adler.
As for Jabcinda: I won’t nominate her for the Pulitzer because I don’t read tokens of mysteriously gotten wealth, like her Different Kind of Power, or, How I Learned to Launder My Conscience, but she must be a really good writer according to what she’s worth.
Difficult for Jacinda to focus on these esoteric issues, when the largest country of all issues thinly masked threats of military dominance over …say..five sovereign states without a Churchill to respond.
With AI anybody can be an author
Either that or be a plagiarist
Winston Churchill was an art forger