Adelaide Writers Week Cancelled
Writers withdraw to support Randa Abdel-Fattah who has stated “If you are a Zionist you have no claim or right to cultural safety'
Adelaide Writers Week (AWW) has been cancelled. The decision came on Tuesday soon after Director Lousie Adler resigned.
AWW was engulfed in controversy, following its board uninviting Dr Randa Abdel-Fattah. The decision to exclude Abdel-Fattah was made on the basis that her inclusion would “not be culturally sensitive” following the Bondi massacre.
“While we do not suggest in any way that Dr Randa Abdel-Fattah’s or her writings have any connection with the tragedy at Bondi, given her past statements, we have formed the view that it would not be culturally sensitive to continue to program her at this unprecedented time so soon after Bondi,” the board stated.
Abdel-Fattah has previously posted, “If you are a Zionist you have no claim or right to cultural safety. And it is my duty as somebody who fights all forms of oppression and violence to deny you a safe space to espouse your Zionist racist ideology.” In another she stated, “To hell with you all. Every last Zionist. May you never know a second’s peace in your sadistic miserable lives.”
Abdel-Fattah claimed her removal was a “shameless act of anti-Palestinian racism and censorship” and called her supporters to boycott the AWW. Over 180 have reportedly withdrawn, four of its board members have quit, as well as Adler.
National Council of Jewish Women Australia (NCJWA) criticised those who had withdrawn and stated, “As a feminist organisation representing Jewish women in Australia, the NCJWA is shocked that so-called progressive authors do so despite Abdel-Fattah’s outrageous statements denying and manipulating the mass sexual violence directed against Israeli women on October 7.
“It is inexplicable to us, and beyond hypocritical, that supposed feminists like Helen Garner, Kathy Lette, Jacinda Arden and others are standing in solidarity with a woman who said about this sexual violence, ‘This is not a #MeToo or ‘believe women’ moment,’ even in the face of Hamas’ own evidence and a UN report saying that it was.
“We are incredulous that so many writers in Australia choose to support a rape denier, who even said ‘It was always about using the mass rape claims to whip up genocide fervour… Nobody wishes the mass rape claims were true more than Zionists.'”
NCJWA added, “It beggars belief that a rape denier and gaslighter, and a denier of safety to women because of their ethno-cultural identify should be deemed worthy of support at any time.
“It is frankly a disgrace that over 100 ‘progressive’ Australian writers should stand in solidarity with such a person at this time, after the safety of all Australians was shattered when that ethno-cultural group was targeted at Bondi on December 14.”
Many that withdrew claimed to be supporting of freedom of speech, even as Abdel-Fattah in 2024 had called for the AWW to rescind an rescind an invitation to New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman.
Adler wrote in the Guardian that the decision to disinvite Abdel-Fattah “weakens freedom of speech and is the harbinger of a less free nation, where lobbying and political pressure determine who gets to speak and who doesn’t.”
Commenting on those who have withdrawn from AWW for reasons of free speech former chair of the Sydney Writers Festival Kathy Shand, wrote in the Australian Financial Review, “They are choosing to prioritise freedom of speech even when that very freedom is being weaponised to target, attack, condemn and demonise people.”
The Adelaide Festival Board stated on Tuesday, “As a Board we took this action out of respect for a community experiencing the pain from a
devastating event. Instead, this decision has created more division and for that we express our sincere apologies. Many authors have since announced they will no longer appear at Adelaide Writers’ Week 2026 and it is the Adelaide Festival’s position that the event can no longer go ahead as scheduled for this year. This is a deeply regrettable outcome.”
The board apologised to Abdel-Fattah, “We also apologise to Dr Randa Abdel-Fattah for how the decision was represented and reiterate 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.”
It stated that all remaining members of the Adelaide Festival Board will step down – with the exception of Adelaide City Council representative whose term expires on 2 February 2026, “to allow for an orderly transition to a new Board to secure the success of the 2026 Adelaide Festival and beyond.”