‘Censorship is never the answer': Writers festival organisers call for braver spaces after Bendigo boycott

The Age

a day ago

Writers festival organisers around the country are expressing dismay over the fallout from Bendigo Writers Festival saying such codes of conduct 'stifle freedom of expression.'
'Censorship is never the right answer,' says Brooke Webb, chief executive of the Sydney Writers' Festival, adding that freedom of speech and freedom of expression underpin a civil society.
'The authors have spoken and here we are ... You invite an author because you want to hear what they want to say,' says Webb, who has led the Sydney event for five years.
More than 50 participants withdrew from the Bendigo event last week, protesting against a code of conduct sent two days before the festival was set to begin, requiring them to 'avoid language or topics that could be considered inflammatory, divisive, or disrespectful'.
That meant discussion of colonialism and violence against First Nations people, the Russia-Ukraine war, violence against women and children, and a raft of other topics would potentially breach the code. Many people immediately assumed it was directed at one particular issue: Gaza.
The code included La Trobe University's definition of antisemitism – the Universities Australia definition, which several universities around the country have not accepted – which some critics claim conflates anti-Zionism with antisemitism.
As reported by this masthead on Monday, the Jewish lobby group 5A wrote to event organisers in July raising concern over the appearance of Palestinian writer Dr Randa Abdel-Fattah. In a letter to Bendigo and La Trobe, two of the group argued Abdel-Fattah was antisemitic and would 'pose a direct threat to the Jewish community in Australia' citing previous alleged social media posts by the writer.
The letter alleged Abdel-Fattah is 'widely known for her antisemitism and anti-Israeli rhetoric … [and] perpetually dehumanises people who hold Zionist views and condemns them as not worthy of human dignity'.
Responding to the revelations on Monday, Abdel-Fattah claimed: 'La Trobe University and Bendigo Festival indulged a defamatory smear campaign against me by a pro-Israel lobby group. Ironic that the code and policies use the language of anti-racism, safety, respect and inclusion and yet were deliberately wielded to silence, manage and target me, a Palestinian-Egyptian Muslim woman.'