The Adelaide festival has removed prominent academic and Palestine advocate Randa Abdel-Fattah from its lineup citing concerns over “cultural sensitivity” after a review undertaken in the wake of the Bondi terror attack.The festival covers arts, music, talks and theatre and includes Adelaide’s annual Writers’ Week next month, where Abdel-Fattah was due to appear for the second time after hosting a number of panels and sessions in 2023.In a statement on Thursday, the festival’s board said it had been “shocked and saddened by the tragic events at Bondi” and the “significant heightening of both community tensions and the community debate”.“As the Board responsible for the Adelaide Festival organisation and all Adelaide Writers’ Week events, staff, volunteers and participants, we have today advised scheduled writer Dr Randa Abdel-Fattah that the Board has formed the judgment that we do not wish to proceed with her scheduled appearance at next month’s Writers’ Week,” it said.Within hours of the board’s announcement, Abdel-Fattah issued her own statement, accusing the festival board of “blatant and shameless” anti-Palestinian racism and censorship.

She said the board’s attempt to associate her with the Bondi massacre was “despicable”.“The Adelaide Writers Festival Board has stripped me of my humanity and agency, reducing me to an object onto which others can project their racist fears and smears,” she said in the statement.“The Board’s reasoning suggests that my mere presence is ‘culturally insensitive’; that I, a Palestinian who had nothing to do with the Bondi atrocity, am somehow a trigger for those in mourning and that I should therefore be persona non grata in cultural circles because my very presence as a Palestinian is threatening and ‘unsafe’.”Sign up: AU Breaking News emailAbdel-Fattah also took aim at Australian arts and cultural institutions in general, accusing them of displaying “utter contempt and inhumanity towards Palestinians” since 7 October 2023.“The only Palestinians they will tolerate are silent and invisible ones,” she said.

The board said that while it did not suggest “in any way” that Abdel-Fattah or her writings had any connection with the tragedy at Bondi, the decision was made “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,” it said.“We understand these Board decisions will likely be disappointing to many in our community.We also recognise our request to Dr Abdel-Fattah will be labelled and will cause discomfort and pressure to other participants.These decisions have not been taken lightly.

“Our only request is that our community is respectful to our staff and volunteers who have not formed part of our decision-making process and deserve nothing but ongoing support for their excellent work.”Abdel-Fattah said she was confident that the writing community and public would respond with “principle and integrity, as they did when I was singled out in the same racist way during the Bendigo Writers Festival”.“In the end, the Adelaide Writers Festival will be left with panellists who demonise a Palestinian out of one side of their mouths while waxing lyrical about freedom of speech from the other.”By Thursday afternoon, statements of withdrawal from fellow writers and sponsors started appearing.The Australia Institute announced the withdrawal of its sponsorship for the 2026 event, which in the past had “promoted bravery, freedom of expression and the exchange of ideas”, it said in a statement.

“Censoring or cancelling authors is not in the spirit of an open and free exchange of ideas.”A former director of Adelaide Writers’ Week, Jo Dyer, posted on Bluesky that she was “appalled” at the Adelaide festival board’s decision – “a shocking decision that will and should have far-reaching consequences”.The Stella prize-winning poet Evelyn Araluen was one of the first writers to publicly withdraw.The Dropbear and The Rot author said the board’s decision was a “devastating betrayal” of the democratic ethos that has defined the festival.“I am so disappointed to witness yet another absurd and irrational capitulation to the demands of a genocidal foreign state from the Australian arts sector,” she posted on Instagram.

“Erasing Palestinians from public life in Australia won’t prevent anti semitism.Removing Palestinians from writers festivals won’t prevent anti semitism.I refuse to participate in this spectacle of censorship.”The First Nations academic and writer Chelsea Watego posted an Adelaide Writers’ Week list of 2026 confirmed writers on Instagram with her name crossed out.Late last year, Abdel-Fattah was cleared of any wrongdoing after an investigation into potential conflicts of interest and spending queries launched amid criticism of her comments on Israel.

The Australian Research Council confirmed that a suspension placed on an $870,000 research grant to Abdel-Fattah had been lifted in December,This followed a preliminary investigation by her employer, Macquarie University, launched in early 2025,She had faced sustained criticism from the Coalition, some Jewish bodies and media outlets for controversial comments on Israel, including alleging Zionists had “no claim or right to cultural safety”,The Adelaide festival’s board said its review, undertaken over the past few weeks, had looked at “current and planned operations and interactions through the lens of the current national community context and the role of Adelaide Festival in promoting community cohesion”,“Consideration of the appropriate response to such a tragedy is a human exercise that we understand is subjective in nature,” the board said.

“We also understand others will undoubtedly form different judgments,”A subcommittee has been formed by the board to oversee the ongoing review and “guide decisions about Adelaide Writers’ Week in the near and longer terms”, including the appointment of external experts,The board and senior executive will be communicating with all Adelaide Writers’ Week participants in the coming days,More than 150 local and international writers are on the lineup, including the Palestinian poet Najwan Darwish and the Greek economist and political commentator Yanis Varoufakis, who has described Israel’s actions in Gaza as “ethnic cleansing”,The Adelaide-based publisher Pink Shorts Press said it “strongly condemns” the removal of Abdel-Fattah from programming and was now considering whether it would continue its collaboration with the festival.

All its authors were scheduled to speak at the event, and a Pink Shorts Press event was scheduled for the festival grounds.“Adelaide Writers’ Festival has a long and important history of engaging in the conversations that are important to all Australians, and this kind of censorship is completely at odds with that,” the publisher said in a statement.“Abdel-Fattah has contributed so much to multicultural discourse in Australia.Open and challenging discourse within the arts is more important than ever.”Last year, Abdel-Fattah was among about 50 participants who pulled out of the Bendigo writers’ festival after it issued a last-minute code of conduct, including directions to “avoid language or topics that could be considered inflammatory, divisive, or disrespectful”.

Speakers on panels presented by the festival sponsor La Trobe University were also required to comply with La Trobe’s anti-racism plan, including the contentious definition of antisemitism adopted by Universities Australia in February.