In a strongly worded letter, the South Australian Premier, Peter Malinauskas, has called for the removal of Palestinian writer Dr. Randa Abdel-Fattah from the 2026 Adelaide Writers’ Week program, citing her past “anti-Semitic” comments and the potential for her participation to “provoke disunity” in the wake of the Bondi terror attack.
The three-page letter, dated January 2, 2026, and addressed to the Adelaide Writers’ Week board, expresses the Premier’s view that Dr. Abdel-Fattah’s inclusion is “not in the public interest.” He argues that her “statements and actions” have been “widely construed as anti-Semitic” and that her participation is “likely to provoke disunity.”
The Premier’s stance is bolstered by the resignation of Tony Berg, a businessman and a governor on the Australia-Israel Chamber of Commerce, who had expressed concerns about the festival’s program prior to the Bondi attack.
In the letter, Malinauskas states, “I am of the view that the statements and actions attributed to Dr. Abdel-Fattah go beyond reasonable public debate, being anti-Semitic and hateful at worst and deeply offensive and insulting at best.” He further asserts that “behaviour and speech that is insulting, racist in any form, promotes religious discrimination or hate speech is never acceptable.”
The Premier’s office has emphasised that the government “condemns and rejects all racist or anti-Semitic behaviour, remarks or sentiment, including the above remarks and actions attributed to Dr. Randa Abdel-Fattah.”
The Adelaide Writers’ Week board is now faced with a difficult decision as it navigates the sensitive and politically charged issue. The festival, which celebrates diverse literary voices, finds itself at the centre of a heated debate over the boundaries of free expression and the responsibility of cultural institutions to maintain social cohesion.