Australian arts festival unravels after Palestinian author is dropped over Bondi attack

One of Australia’s flagship arts events is rapidly coming apart after organisers cancelled the appearance of an Australian-Palestinian writer in the aftermath of the Bondi Beach mass shooting, triggering a mass boycott and resignations at the top of the festival.

The Adelaide Festival confirmed on Monday that its chair and three board members had resigned after the decision to disinvite author and academic Randa Abdel-Fattah from February’s Writers Week.

The fallout has been swift and severe. According to local media, around 100 of the festival’s 124 invited participants have withdrawn, along with at least one major sponsor, leaving the future of the February 27 to March 15 event in serious doubt.

Festival executive director Julian Hobba said the organisation was “navigating a complex and unprecedented moment” following what he described as a “significant community response” to the board’s decision.

The controversy began last Thursday, when the Adelaide Festival announced it would no longer host Abdel-Fattah, arguing that “it would not be culturally sensitive to continue to programme her at this unprecedented time so soon after Bondi”.

The Bondi Beach attack, which killed 15 people during a Jewish Hanukkah gathering in Sydney on December 14, shocked the country and sparked renewed calls to confront antisemitism.

The backlash from writers was immediate. Those pulling out of the festival include former New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern, former Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis, British novelist Zadie Smith, Irish writer Roisin O’Donnell and Russian-American journalist M Gessen.

Varoufakis posted a video on X showing himself tearing up his invitation.

Australian-British author Kathy Lette said the decision sent “a divisive and plainly discriminatory message that platforming Australian Palestinians is ‘culturally insensitive’”.

The Australia Institute also withdrew as a sponsor, condemning the organisers’ actions as “pure, ugly politics”.

The controversy has also revived accusations of double standards. In 2024, the festival chose to retain Thomas Friedman, despite lobbying by a group of academics, including Abdel-Fattah, who objected to a column in which Friedman compared the war in Gaza to the animal kingdom.

Friedman ultimately did not attend last year’s event due to scheduling issues, according to The Guardian Australia.

Abdel-Fattah rejected suggestions of hypocrisy over her past criticism of Friedman.

“In contrast, I was cancelled because my presence and identity as a Palestinian was deemed ‘culturally insensitive’ and linked to the Bondi atrocity.”