Authors ditch Bendigo Writers Festival over freedom of speech concerns
Participants of the event were given a code of conduct, seen by this masthead, that stated they must 'avoid language or topics that could be considered inflammatory, divisive, or disrespectful'.
The code of conduct also required compliance with La Trobe University's definition of antisemitism. La Trobe has adopted the Universities Australia definition, which several universities around the country have not accepted, saying it conflates antisemitism with criticism of the Israeli government and anti-Zionism, and therefore prohibits people speaking out.
The code of conduct applies to the La Trobe component of the festival, co-curated by Professor Claire Wright - author of Naku Dharuk The Bark Petitions, which this week was short-listed for the Prime Minister's Literary Awards. Having devised nine sessions featuring the university's academics and alumni, Wright has also resigned in protest.
Others who have also withdrawn include journalist Jess Hill, authors Thomas Mayo, Kate Mildenhall, writer Claire G. Coleman, academic Randa Abdel-Fattah, poet and activist Jeanine Leane and journalist Paul Daley.
Araluen wrote to the BWF organisers saying the festival code of conduct 'directly infringes on my freedom of speech… my cultural duty as a First Nations woman and my obligation as someone with a large platform to speak out against oppression, which includes speaking out against Israel's ongoing UN-defined genocide of the Palestinian people.'
'After Israel's latest campaign to permanently silence Al-Jazeera journalists, most recently on
Monday, when 23 were killed in a targeted strike, it is reprehensible that a writers festival should
ask anyone, let alone a First Nations woman, to self-censor,' Araluen wrote.
Dr Randa Abdel-Fattah also wrote to the BWF to withdraw, saying 'I cannot take part in any festival that asks me to endorse a framework that demands my self-censorship.'
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We all want to see peace in the Middle East, but frankly, this is not the pathway to get there,' he told 2GB. Mr Huckabee also defended the Israeli Defence Force's military conduct as 'the most ethical' despite claims of mass starvation, displacement and people being killed while searching for aid. Instead, he claimed Hamas was putting 'its civilians in front of targets that the Israelis announced in advance they're going to hit'. It comes as deputy Israeli Foreign Minister Sharren Haskel on Friday denied reports of starvation in Gaza, saying Palestinian funeral congregants were not 'looking as if they're starving' and 'actually look quite well'. 'When you look at those images . . . you see well-fed people. I'm not saying there isn't a humanitarian crisis, but there's a long way to go and describe it as a famine or starvation,' she told ABC radio. Ms Haskel went on to criticise the 'extreme' protesters and 'useful idiots' who protested Israel's military actions in Gaza during the Sydney Harbour Bridge March for Humanity.
