© 2021 Greek Community Tribune All Rights Reserved

Adelaide Festival apologises to Palestinian author

February 2026 The Adelaide Festival Corporation, which oversees Adelaide Writers’ Week, has apologised to Palestinian Australian author Randa Abdel-Fattah and says she will be invited to speak at its next event in 2027. This year’s Writers’ Week was cancelled after more than 180 authors and participants withdrew from the event. That followed a decision to cancel an invitation to Abdel-Fattah over her commentary on Israel and Zionism. After a new Adelaide Festival board was installed last week, the corporation said it had reversed its previous decision to exclude Abdel-Fattah and retracted its previous statement. ”Intellectual and artistic freedom is a powerful human right. “Our goal is to uphold it, and in this instance Adelaide Festival Corporation fell well short.” In a post on social media, Abdel-Fattah said she accepted the apology and would consider the board’s invitation to participate in the 2027 festival. The lawyer representing author Randa Abdel-Fattah, who was excluded from the Adelaide Writers’ Week, has served a second concerns notice on the SA premier. Her lawyer served the first concerns notice to Peter Malinauskas last week over comments he made in a press conference. In a further statement, new Adelaide Festival Board chair Judy Potter said it also wished to apologise to Ms Adler “that the incredible Adelaide Writers’ Week program she had worked so hard to curate for 2026 has been cancelled as a result of the events that have unfolded over the last week after the announcement of the decision to rescind the invitation to Dr Abdel-Fattah”. Ms Adler resigned as director of Adelaide Writers’ Week last week. Adelaide Festival chief executive Mr Hobba said the “sincere apology” was issued today “in good faith” that “retracted the statements that were of most concern” for Abdel-Fattah. “We recognise the harm of the situation and what it’s done to her,” he said. ”I’m sorry that she won’t get to come to talk to an Adelaide literary audience about the novel that she’s written”.
Greek Tribune Adelaide, South Australia
© 2021 Greek Community Tribune All Rights Reserved

Adelaide Festival apologises to Palestinian

author

February 2026 The Adelaide Festival Corporation, which oversees Adelaide Writers’ Week, has apologised to Palestinian Australian author Randa Abdel-Fattah and says she will be invited to speak at its next event in 2027. This year’s Writers’ Week was cancelled after more than 180 authors and participants withdrew from the event. That followed a decision to cancel an invitation to Abdel-Fattah over her commentary on Israel and Zionism. After a new Adelaide Festival board was installed last week, the corporation said it had reversed its previous decision to exclude Abdel-Fattah and retracted its previous statement. ”Intellectual and artistic freedom is a powerful human right. “Our goal is to uphold it, and in this instance Adelaide Festival Corporation fell well short.” In a post on social media, Abdel-Fattah said she accepted the apology and would consider the board’s invitation to participate in the 2027 festival. The lawyer representing author Randa Abdel-Fattah, who was excluded from the Adelaide Writers’ Week, has served a second concerns notice on the SA premier. Her lawyer served the first concerns notice to Peter Malinauskas last week over comments he made in a press conference. In a further statement, new Adelaide Festival Board chair Judy Potter said it also wished to apologise to Ms Adler “that the incredible Adelaide Writers’ Week program she had worked so hard to curate for 2026 has been cancelled as a result of the events that have unfolded over the last week after the announcement of the decision to rescind the invitation to Dr Abdel-Fattah”. Ms Adler resigned as director of Adelaide Writers’ Week last week. Adelaide Festival chief executive Mr Hobba said the “sincere apology” was issued today “in good faith” that “retracted the statements that were of most concern” for Abdel-Fattah. “We recognise the harm of the situation and what it’s done to her,” he said. ”I’m sorry that she won’t get to come to talk to an Adelaide literary audience about the novel that she’s written”.
Greek Tribune Adelaide, South Australia