Abdel-Fattah and nine other academics sent the Adelaide festival board a letter on 6 February 2024, requesting it rescind the invitation to Friedman, who had published a controversial column days earlier, which compared the Middle East conflict to the animal kingdom. However, in a letter seen by the Guardian, the festival board rejected this petition to remove Friedman. Asking the Adelaide Festival and Adelaide Writers Week to cancel an artist or writer is an extremely serious request, the letter stated.
Dozens of authors, journalists, media personalities and a sponsor are boycotting the Adelaide festival after it dumped Palestinian Australian author Randa Abdel-Fattah from its annual writers' week lineup, citing concerns over cultural sensitivity in the wake of the Bondi terror attack. More speakers were expected to withdraw from the festival, with speculation that other high-profile figures were coordinating their exit announcements.