Australian writers’ festival apologises to Palestinian author after boycott

Al JazeeraCenterEN 2 min read 100% complete by Lyndal RowlandsJanuary 15, 2026 at 07:51 AM

AI Summary

medium article 2 min

In January 2026, the Adelaide Festival in Australia apologized to Palestinian-Australian author Randa Abdel-Fattah after a mass boycott by 180 writers led to the cancellation of its writers' week program. The festival board retracted its decision to exclude Abdel-Fattah as a speaker and reinstated her invitation for the 2027 event, citing a failure to uphold intellectual and artistic freedom. The board apologized for the harm caused. Abdel-Fattah accepted the apology as an acknowledgement of the right to speak about atrocities against Palestinians and a vindication against anti-Palestinian racism. While she appreciated the gesture, she has not yet decided if she will accept the invitation to speak next year.

Key Entities & Roles

Key Player Opposition Context

Louise Adler 50% Australia ×360% Palestinians ×260% Adelaide Festival ×270% Adelaide Writers’ Week ×475% Randa Abdel-Fattah ×790%

Keywords

palestinian author 90% writers' festival 90% boycott 80% apology 70% randa abdel-fattah 70% intellectual freedom 60% anti-palestinian racism 50% adelaide writers' week 50% atrocities against palestinians 50% censorship 50%

Sentiment Analysis

Positive

Score: 0.30

Source Transparency

Source

Al Jazeera

Political Lean

Center (0.00)

Far LeftCenterFar Right

Classification Confidence

90%

This article was automatically classified using rule-based analysis. The political bias score ranges from -1 (far left) to +1 (far right).

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palestinian author writers' festival boycott apology randa abdel-fattah intellectual freedom anti-palestinian racism adelaide writers' week atrocities against palestinians censorship

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