mass shooting<\/a> at Sydney\u2019s iconic Bondi Beach.<\/p>\nFifteen people were killed in the December 14 attack, which targeted a beachside Hanukkah celebration. Authorities have said the two gunmen were inspired by ISIL (ISIS).<\/p>\n
Abdel-Fattah has called her removal \u201ca blatant and shameless act of anti-Palestinian racism\u201d and a \u201cdespicable attempt to associate me with the Bondi massacre\u201d.<\/p>\n
On Monday, New Zealand\u2019s former prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, announced that she would not go ahead with her scheduled appearance at the festival, adding her name to a boycott that has swelled to some 180 writers, including former Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis and award-winning novelist Zadie Smith.<\/p>\n
But Peter Malinauskas, the premier of the state of South Australia, as well as several federal politicians and a number of Jewish groups have backed the revocation of Abdel-Fattah\u2019s invitation.<\/p>\n
Abdel-Fattah\u2019s critics have pointed to statements critical of Israel to argue that her views are beyond the pale.<\/p>\n
She has, for instance, said that her \u201cgoal is decolonisation and the end of this murderous Zionist colony\u201d, and that Zionists \u201chave no claim or right to cultural safety\u201d.<\/p>\n
In her op-ed on Tuesday, Adler said pro-Israel lobbyists are using \u201cincreasingly extreme and repressive\u201d tactics, resulting in a chilling effect on speech in Australia.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe new mantra \u2018Bondi changed everything\u2019 has offered this lobby, its stenographers in the media and a spineless political class yet another coercive weapon,\u201d she wrote.<\/p>\n
\u201cHence, in 2026, the board, in an atmosphere of intense political pressure, has issued an edict that an author is to be cancelled.\u201d<\/p>\n
Separately on Tuesday, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the country would hold a national day of mourning on January 22 to honour the victims of the Bondi Beach attack.<\/p>\n
Albanese said the day would be a \u201cgathering of unity and remembrance\u201d, with flags to be flown at half-mast on all Commonwealth buildings.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Director of Adelaide Writers\u2019 Week steps down amid wave of\u00a0speaker withdrawals and board resignations. The director of a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":235238,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[19022,1631,972,13146,50,42,44,43,40,38,41,39],"class_list":["post-235237","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-arts-and-culture","tag-asia-pacific","tag-australia","tag-freedom-of-the-press","tag-gaza","tag-headlines","tag-israel-palestine-conflict","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/235237","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=235237"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/235237\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/235238"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=235237"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=235237"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=235237"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}