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Readers’ Writers Against Genocide (RWAG) is urging supporters to boycott Adelaide Writers’ Week (AWW) 2026 in solidarity with Palestinian-Australian author Dr Randa Abdel-Fattah. The call follows the Adelaide Festival Board’s (AFB) decision to withdraw her invitation, citing concerns that her participation would be culturally insensitive in light of the Bondi massacre.

“The targeted cancellation of one single author – a Palestinian Muslim Australian author – is blatant racism and censorship. To associate her words and ideas with the Bondi massacre is dangerous and defamatory; to claim that her presence would be ‘culturally insensitive’ is a violation of her human rights,” RWAG stated in a social media post on Instagram.

Almost a month ago, gunmen opened fire at a Jewish holiday celebration at Sydney’s Bondi Beach, killing at least 16 people and injuring 40, in what Australian officials described as a “targeted antisemitic attack”.

On Thursday, Dr Abdel-Fattah received a letter from AFB withdrawing her invitation to the Writer’s Week scheduled to run from February 8 to March 15.

The letter said, “In a period of national mourning and heightened community tension, we have considered our current and planned operations in light of the broader community context. As the Board responsible for the Festival organisation and all Writers’ Week events, staff, volunteers and participants … the Board has formed the judgment that it would not be culturally sensitive to proceed with your scheduled appearance at next month’s Writers’ Week.”

Further, her profile was quietly removed from the Writer’s Week website, informing everyone of the decision.

“Whilst we do not suggest in any way that Dr Randa Abdel-Fattah’s or her writings have any connection with the tragedy at Bondi, given her past statements, we have formed the view that it would not be culturally sensitive to continue to program her at this unprecedented time so soon after Bondi,” the statement included.

RWAG, while giving us a lesson from history, is reminding us that the beginning of political interference in the arts or censorship of writers’ work is when “democracy is at risk.“

Encouraging everyone to write to the chair of the AFB, Tracy Whiting, to protest their decision, they stated they “believe in the power of words to reflect and shape the world; to shift hearts and minds; and to drive social change.”

“We also know the importance of freedom of artistic expression and the contestation of ideas.”

RWAG also requested that everyone boycott AWW and purchase books by authors who have withdrawn from the event, forgoing both appearance fees and festival book sales.

In an exclusive interview with 7 News Adelaide, Dr Abdel-Fattah stated that the cancellation of her appearance at the Writer’s Week reflects the “normalisation of anti-Palestinian racism by public institutions in so-called Australia.”

Calling it an egregious act of anti-Palestinian racism, the writer stated that it was an outrageous linking of her identity and her presence with a terrorist attack that she had absolutely nothing to do with.

“It also reflects an absolutely obscene contempt that the festival has for its writers, for the public, for its community, for booksellers, when they know full well that there will be a groundswell of support and boycott,” she commented.

Stella Prize-winning Jewish Australian historian, Clare Wright, wrote to the festival’s director on Thursday to formally withdraw, Rolling Stone Australia reported.

Wright said she was “appalled at the moral cowardice, wrong-headedness and short-sightedness” regarding the move.

“As a Jewish Australian, I am shocked and insulted that the board could exploit the tragedy of Bondi to weaponise its much-loved and respected literary festival,” Wright wrote.

According to the author, over 100 writers have withdrawn from the festival following their decision.