"Dozens of writers, four board members, and a sponsor have withdrawn from a top Australian arts festival after it cancelled an Australian-Palestinian author's invitation in the wake of the Bondi Beach mass shooting. The Adelaide Festival confirmed in a statement on Monday that the chairperson and three members of its board had resigned after it disinvited Randa Abdel-Fattah from February's Writers Week."
"The Adelaide Festival board had announced on Thursday that it would disinvite Abdel-Fattah from its February event because it would not be culturally sensitive to continue to programme her at this unprecedented time so soon after Bondi. The shooting, which killed 15 people at a Jewish Hanukkah celebration at Sydney's Bondi Beach on December 14, prompted nationwide calls to tackle anti-Semitism."
About 100 of the 124 scheduled participants, four board members and a sponsor withdrew from the Adelaide Festival following the board's decision to disinvite Australian-Palestinian Randa Abdel-Fattah from February's Writers Week. The chairperson and three board members resigned. The festival runs from February 27 to March 15 and its executive director said the organisation was navigating a complex, unprecedented moment after the community response. The board said disinviting Abdel-Fattah was necessary because it would not be culturally sensitive to programme her so soon after the Bondi Beach mass shooting, which killed 15 people and prompted nationwide calls to tackle anti-Semitism. Abdel-Fattah called the disinvitation anti-Palestinian racism and censorship. High-profile pullouts included Jacinda Ardern, Yanis Varoufakis, Zadie Smith, Roisin O'Donnell and M Gessen.
Read at www.aljazeera.com
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