Former Adelaide Writers’ Week director Louise Adler has cautioned progressive Australian Jews against allowing the royal commission into the Bondi massacre to be influenced by “pro-Israel propagandists,” and urged them to resist efforts to suppress free speech.
Criticism of Pro-Israel Lobby
In a fundraising email for the Jewish Council of Australia, Adler asserted that the “pro-Israel lobby” is renewing its campaign to silence criticism of Israel, outlaw protest, and constrain free speech as the royal commission begins.
She stated this campaign has already impacted the Australian arts scene, referencing the cancellation of this year’s Adelaide Writers’ Week following an uproar over the board’s decision to rescind an invitation to Palestinian-Australian author Randa Abdel-Fattah.
Adler warned that “McCarthyites” are threatening to criminalize university students and defund public institutions that “dare to fulfil the essential promise of the arts: to inquire, to complicate, to challenge.”
Concerns have been raised regarding social media posts by Abdel-Fattah that appeared to celebrate the October 7 attacks in Israel and expressed the view that Zionists do not deserve cultural safety.
Adler argued that a narrative has been deliberately constructed suggesting that the Palestinian identity of an author is a sufficient threat to the Australian Jewish community, justifying their exclusion from public life.
She also claimed that proponents of this view have successfully influenced the Albanese government’s proposed hate speech legislation.
Adler emphasized the importance of preventing the “pro-Israel lobby” from speaking for all Jews and of addressing the racism she believes is increasing following the Bondi tragedy. She stated it is essential to present an accurate representation of the Jewish community in Australia as witnesses testify before the commission.
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