The Adelaide Festival finds itself at the center of a storm, issuing a public apology to Palestinian-Australian academic Randa Abdel-Fattah and extending an invitation to participate in the 2027 Adelaide Writers’ Week. But why the apology, and what's the story behind this?
Abdel-Fattah, in response to the apology, celebrated it as a victory, acknowledging the collective effort against anti-Palestinian racism, bullying, and censorship. She is still considering the invitation for the 2027 event.
In a formal statement, the Adelaide Festival Corporation admitted their prior exclusion of Abdel-Fattah from this year's event, citing cultural insensitivity. They have since retracted that statement and issued an "unreserved" apology to Dr. Abdel-Fattah, recognizing the importance of intellectual and artistic freedom. This is a crucial point: The festival acknowledges they fell short in upholding these rights.
The apology follows a statement from former board member Tony Berg, previously the managing director of Macquarie Bank. Berg accused former Adelaide Writers’ Week director Louise Adler and Abdel-Fattah of a selective approach to free speech. Adler resigned over Abdel-Fattah's cancellation, which led to the cancellation of the 2026 writers’ festival.
Berg expressed astonishment at Adler's claim of resigning for free speech, and at Abdel-Fattah's outrage over being 'cancelled'. He referenced a 2024 incident involving controversial New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman, who was scheduled to appear but didn't.
Here’s where it gets interesting: Ten academics, including Abdel-Fattah, had urged the festival board on February 6, 2024, to rescind the invitation to Friedman, who had published a contentious column. The board responded three days later, emphasizing its support for artistic freedom but stating that Friedman would not participate due to scheduling issues.
Berg claims Adler led the demand to retract Friedman's invitation. He says that after Friedman was invited, Abdel-Fattah led a group of academics demanding Friedman be deplatformed. Berg stated he understood why over 170 authors declined invitations to AWW 2026 based on free speech grounds.
But here's where it gets controversial... Berg believes those authors should understand that the people they stand with have undermined free speech in the past. He supports free speech, unlike Adler and Abdel-Fattah, whom he believes take a selective approach.
Adler responded to Berg's allegations, accusing him of breaching board confidentiality. She expressed surprise at the breach, suggesting it was indicative of how the former board operated. Abdel-Fattah disputes Berg's claims, stating she and Adler did not lead the charge to cancel Friedman. She clarified that she was one of 10 academics who wrote a researched letter about the harm of racial tropes.
Abdel-Fattah also announced on Wednesday that she would be pursuing defamation action against South Australian premier Peter Malinauskas over comments he made earlier this week. She will continue her defamation proceedings against Malinauskas on Thursday. The premier denies direct interference but stated he did not support including Dr. Abdel-Fattah in the Adelaide writers’ week program.
Greens arts spokesperson Senator Hanson Young believes the premier also needs to apologize.
What do you think? Does this situation highlight a genuine clash over free speech, or are there other factors at play? Do you believe the festival's actions were justified, or do you see a different perspective? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
