Australian writers’ festival director quits, Jacinda Ardern, others boycott after Palestinian author barred

Adelaide Festival is facing a boycott after cancelling an appearance by Randa Abdel-Fattah. Photo / Getty Images

The director of a leading Australian writers’ festival resigned in protest on Tuesday after the board cancelled an appearance by a Palestinian-Australian author.

Scores of participants, including former New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, have boycotted the Adelaide Festival over a decision to exclude Randa Abdel-Fattah.

Writers’ Week director Louise Adler joined the exodus, blaming the “extreme and repressive efforts of pro-Israel lobbyists”.

“The arts have allegedly become ‘unsafe’ and artists are a danger to the community’s psycho-social wellbeing,” she wrote in an open letter published by The Guardian newspaper.

“But let’s be clear, the routine invocation of ‘safety’ is code for ‘I don’t want to hear your opinion’.

“In this instance, it appears to apply only to a Palestinian invitee.”

Australia’s premier annual cultural event, which lures artists from around the world, unleashed the storm last week when it told Abdel-Fattah it did not “wish to proceed” with her appearance.

Adler said the board had made this decision despite her “strongest opposition”.

Abdel-Fattah has faced criticism over some statements including a post on X in October 2024 saying: “The goal is decolonisation and the end of this murderous Zionist colony.”

The festival board said it was “shocked and saddened” by the December 14 mass shooting at a Jewish festival on Bondi Beach, which killed 15 people, and its decision to exclude Abdel-Fattah was not taken lightly.

But the shunned author and academic said it was a “blatant and shameless act of anti-Palestinian racism”.

It was a “despicable attempt to associate me with the Bondi massacre”, she said in a statement.

Ardern on Monday joined some 180 artists and participants who have pulled out, a festival spokesperson told local media.

-Agence France-Presse