A 46-year-old Australian writer and academic who has glorified Hamas, denied claims of Zionists to “cultural safety” and doxxed Jewish creative professionals, and who has been removed from a prominent Australian literary festival, touched off a wave of boycotts against the weeklong event.
The organizers of Adelaide Writers’ Week said they believed that the participation of Randa Abdel-Fattah would be “culturally insensitive” in the wake of the Dec. 14 mass shooting on Bondi Beach by a father and son motivated by “Islamic State ideology.” The gunmen killed 15 people and injured dozens more during a “Chanukah by the Sea” celebration.
Three board members resigned on Saturday as a result of the decision, following the boycott of more than 70 scheduled participants.
“Whilst 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,” a statement from the festival’s board read.
The festival is scheduled to run from Feb. 28 to March 5.
While the statement pointed to no particular rhetoric or action by Abdel-Fattah, she made a social-media post on Dec. 17, three days after the Bondi massacre, slamming those “quickly surrendering to the agenda of those who are using a horrific act of antisemitism to entrench anti-Palestinian racism.”
Abdel-Fattah’s post continued, saying, “Now is the time to insist on principles, not abandon them. To see through the shameful and dangerous political exploitation of the murder of 16 people by Zionists, white supremacists, the far right to advance their racist, violent, oppressive agendas.”
South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas said he does “not support the inclusion of those who actively undermine the cultural safety of others, who celebrate the death of innocent civilians or those who dox other artists simply because of their faith or cultural background.”
Abdel-Fattah’s legal team announced on Jan. 11 that it is demanding organizers provide every statement Abdel-Fattah made that went into the decision to remove her from the festival lineup.
The day after the Hamas-led terrorist attacks in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, Abdel-Fattah published an image on Facebook of a man parachuting, with the parachute itself in the colors of the Palestinian flag. Hamas terrorists had used paragliders to enter Israel the day before.
In February 2024, Abdel-Fattah was linked to the promotion of an incident in which a WhatsApp group of Jewish Australian creatives and academics had their personal conversations and information leaked.
In April 2024, video showed Abdel-Fattah leading young children in chants of “intifada” and other anti-Israel slogans in what was billed as a “kids’ excursion” to Sydney University.
She has made other inflammatory social-media posts, including one claiming that Zionists have “no claim to cultural safety.”
Among those withdrawing from the festival as a result of Abdel-Fattah’s removal are Pulitzer Prize-winning American Percival Everett, along with British author Zadie Smith and former Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis.
