I was wondering where Adelaide Writers’ Week director Louise Adler has been in the past few days. She was missing in action as the country’s premiere literary event imploded after its invitation to Australian-Palestinian author Dr Randa Abdel-Fattah was withdrawn. We now know what Louise has been up to — penning a resignation letter which was also published today in The Guardian. It’s a barnstormer — a four-quadrant strafing of everyone who contributed to the crisis. She targets “the posse" who unleashed attacks on free speech in the wake of Bondi (“Joe McCarthy would be cheering on the inheritors of his tactics”; she rips into the board, which she dismisses as being “composed of individuals with little experience in the arts, and blind to the moral implications of abandoning the principle of freedom of expression”; and she quips that Adelaide’s new tourism slogan should not be Don Dunstan’s “Athens of the south” but “Moscow on the Torrens”. And she strikes an unsettling Orwellian tone in her sign-off. “We need writers now more than ever, as our media closes up, as our politicians grow daily more cowed by real power, as Australia grows more unjust and unequal. AWW is the canary in the coalmine. Friends and colleagues in the arts, beware of the future. They are coming for you.” It’s a shame Adler quit Adelaide Writers’ Week; she should be on a panel about killer editorial writing. Adler is right, of course. More importantly, she moved on from the issue of a Palestinian author being cancelled to the importance of holding on to free speech in testing times. Indeed, this is exactly when we must fight for free speech — not when it is easy but when we are challenged by what someone is saying. It’s the definition of democracy. Link to Louise's letter in the comments. Photo credit: Eddie Jim for The Age.
THEGUARDIAN.COM
I cannot be party to silencing writers, which is why I am resigning as director of Adelaide Writers’ Week | Louise Adler
I cannot be party to silencing writers, which is why I am resigning as director of Adelaide Writers’ Week | Louise Adler
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Kim Ribbink
I love her letter. While I do feel Abdel-Fattah is a bit of a hypocrite for calling for Freidman to be dropped, at the end of the day the committee held firm against that. I think the issue is less about the individual and more about the message it sends. That politicians and committees feel it's now okay to silence dissenting voices. Unless your voice is truly hate speech (and that would encompass neo-Nazis and those calling for the murder of people for whatever reason - like ICE agents), your voice should be heard in a writers' forum. We are at risk of following the US down its ugly path of silencing any voice that disagrees with a right-wing oliagarch-driven platform if we don't speak up now.
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Ali Russcat
Adelaide can now learn from this , or double down and die as a literary place of importance .
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Warren Batts
Perhaps the original decision of the board was under pinned by 'societal do-goodism' rather than any actual care, compassion or understanding .... . Stick to the business at hand is the message.
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Duncan Unwin
True free speech is a good hill to die on. That does not mean giving freedom to illiberal and intolerant hate speech but it does mean giving space to those with different and uncomfortable perspectives.
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Ian Albrecht
Louise Adler has my full support and admiration
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Tom Broadhurst
Maybe the arts doesn’t need to be at the tip of the spear of every social engineering cause. Maybe if the risk averse bureaucrats, transactional corporates and “ duh” Politicians just helped the arts and stopped thrusting all their mindless garbage upon creatives and allowed artists to do what they do best “ create” the arts might not be in the current crisis it is. Patrick White wasn’t kidding when he suggested that artists in Australia get treated like parading poodles at suburban Tupperware parties
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Happily Made Village
Moscow on the Torrens 
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Des Wade
The nerve and sheer hypocrisy of the AWW opponents to associate a writer with such profound pain and disquiet and thus to use her to tap into our grief at the Bondi outrage is beneath contempt. It is unfortunately a world-wide trend instigated and encouraged by you know who and his minions in the so-called mainstream media. Just watching the spineless, snivelling pollies bowing to their superiors is vomit inducing.
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Ann Stewart
Absolutely an excoriating indictment of what has happened and the people who facilitated it. She is completely accurate! A very, very sad time indeed.
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Amanda Burrows
Bravo Louise Adler
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Roger Miller
This decision by the board has placed the whole Adelaide Festival in jeopardy. After the resignations the board is unable to function under its own legislation. No decisions can be made or unmade, and they have a $20 million festival to deliver in 6 weeks. This is a disaster of epic proportions created by the very people who should be the champions of the organisation.
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Ben Wright
I understand why she quit. Being at full odds with your board of directors is untenable and will just burn you out. I've seen this countless times within arts orgs of all sizes, and its almost always board directors with little to no arts experience that cause it.
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Chrissie Lewis
What a shame
All those writers ... all the people who attend who get inspiration I feel like we need a break from .. the hatred, the negativity, the anger, the lack of kindness ..
giving up ! On a difficult situation you could come to some amicable arrangement .. for her to not bring aggravation .. for the focus not on hatred ... but on love ... love of literature .. I wonder what Ben Quilty would say ..
Perhaps we should have sports writers week! That could solve everything in Australia ..
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Donna Ward
I love the last line of Louise’ bio: She is on the advisory committee of the Jewish Council of Australia. 
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Diane Villani
Bravo and thank you, Louise Adler. May your message be heeded. 
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Margie Alcock
Hurrah for Louise Adler! A brave and honest move against so much ridiculous opposition. All this is a sad indictment on what is now happening in our country. I first attended the Sydney Writers' Festival when it was inaugurated at the State Library. It then moved to the Wharf venue at Walsh Bay (and also staged lectures in other areas around the city). Two decades back I went to sessions there where Palestinian writers spoke of their ordeals living in Ramallah on the West Bank where they were constantly harassed by the Israeli government and soldiers. These were highly educated and non-violent people. They were not banned from speaking out at the Festival, nor from selling their books, which we bought and read with dismay. No one in the audience behaved badly - if some had disagreed, there were no demonstrations. This was Democracy in action. Writers' festivals have many speakers and many sessions to choose from. If one is prejudiced against a certain ideology, or religion or philosophy, then there is the CHOICE not to go to any session that may offend. Or if one is interested in hearing a different viewpoint, then one may make the opposite choice. Let us hope that commonsense can prevail, but that also seems to have gone out of fashion...
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Rosemary Goldman
Not only Adelaide! This affects all of Australia and also our literary standing overseas!
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Andrew HC McDonald
Festival cancelled now.
What a total and totally avoidable cockup
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Tonic Jac
I think you missed the bit about the difference between Free Speech and Hate Speech; the latter being something that Randa Abdel-Fattah knows only too well. As for Louise Adler's juvenile rant in the pages of The Guardian, few will read it and even less care about it. I can't see anyone picking up the mace of "free speech" and starting up their own Invitees Only Festival where everyone has the same opinion and agrees with everyone else. You mention Orwell, yet he would never get an invite to the ARF, and if he did, he'd politely refuse.
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Jo Darbyshire
Thank you for hosting all these important discussions Mark. As an artist I really appreciate the space you hold for people to think about this. This debacle is the icing on the cake after the Venice Biennale fuck up. Artists/ writers/musicians are not invincible. I agree that we are the canaries in the mine. It has a real effect on us to have to be the ones boycotting these events. If we can’t get support from our Arts Ministers we are stuffed. Louise Adler is a shining light in arts administration. It’s a blow to see her resign but she did it in style!
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Mark Cooper
The left are just amazing in their ability to all fall in behind each other. A bit of pressure and that’s it
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Alex Mortensen
I hadn't realised she was against the dropping of the author. It's so good to hear why she has resigned. I hope she gains much more publicity and support of the necessity for freedom of speech - freedom of expression in all of the arts.
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Rik Jurcevic
Thanks Mark: well said, and shared.
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Christine Julie Conroy
Very well said
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Jane Cornes-Maclean
excellent. let the madness stop.
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Mabel Clarkson
If they want to hold it again
They will have to think carefully
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Mark Smith
Seems to me the Writers yielded to pier group pressure. Each not wanting to upset the other by attending.
How does this represent free speach?
Really good look!!
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Helen Patricia
Something Inside) So Strong
Labi Siffre
The higher you build your barriers
The taller I become
The further you take my rights away
The faster I will run
You can deny me
You can decide to turn your face away
No matter, 'cause there's
Something inside so strong
I know that I can make it
Though you're doing me wrong, so wrong
You thought that my pride was gone
Oh no, something inside so strong
Oh, something inside so strong
The more you refuse to hear my voice
The louder I will sing
You hide behind walls of Jericho
Your lies will come tumbling
Deny my place in time
You squander wealth that's mine
My light will shine so brightly
It will blind you, 'cause there's
Something inside so strong
I know that I can make it
Though you're doing me wrong, so wrong
You thought that my pride was gone
Oh no, something inside so strong
Oh, something inside so strong
Brothers and sisters
When they insist we're just not good enough
When we know better
Just look 'em in the eyes and say
"We're gonna do it anyway"
We're gonna do it anyway
Something inside so strong
And I know that I can make it
Though you're doing me wrong, so wrong
You thought that my pride was gone
Oh no, something inside so strong
Oh, something inside so strong
Brothers and sisters
When they insist we're just not good enough
When we know better
Just look 'em in the eyes and say
"We're gonna do it anyway"
We're gonna do it anyway
We're gonna do it anyway
We're gonna do it anyway
Because there's something inside so strong (something inside so strong)
I know that I can make it (I can make it)
Though you're doing me, so wrong
You thought that my pride was gone
Oh no (oh no), something inside so strong
Something inside so strong
I know that I can make it (make it, make it)
Though you're doing me, so wrong (doing me wrong)
You thought that my pride was gone
Oh no (oh no), something inside so strong
Oh, something inside so strong
Oh, something inside so strong
Ooh-ooh, something inside so strong
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Lorraine Boath
Hitler was an author, his book, Mein Kampf ('My Struggle') was published. He wrote it in prison, where he was serving a sentence for a failed coup he attempted in 1923. Would he have qualified to speak at an Adelaide Writers Week?
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Pip Sawyer
I have in the past when I lived and worked in Perth, and it was great. I attended a couple of events down in Margs last year and it was terrible.
While the arts have been very badly served by successive governments since their heyday when I was fortunate enough to be invited to sit on an Aus Council Board, your comparisons with two globally screened commercial events is a bit skewed.
Mass marketing, branding, the internet and digital age have popularised design and graphics over fine art and craft (including writing, books and conversation) Its a very different world
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Roger Miller
The rest of the board has stood down and issued an apology. Writers week is cancelled.
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Pip Sawyer
Such a good article Mark but it assumes that everyone is interested and participates in an elite minority activity such as writers festivals. Getting the concept of the grey zone to a much wider audience, radio, schools and universities is a very worthy cause. I hope prominent people in the arts and education like Peter Greste and Louise Adler grasp that job firmly and actively.
Freedom of soeech is core to our society but needs protection from those who would use it as a platform to foment and polarise
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Jill Yates
Yeah but surely tendancies were recognizable in the Board? This is another after-the-event reaction. A robust board would manage properly and with fortitude not just flip the narrative and destroy the gig. We should not put power in the hands of these gormless people.
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John Catchlove
The decision didn’t come from the board, it came from the premier. It’s all very well saying he didn’t influence anything, but the government started the whole thing, the government funds the festival, and the government appoints the board.
The premier said he didn’t support inviting the author, but he wasn’t trying to influence keeping her. What else are they going to do? Tell him to butt out of his own festival?
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Jim Warwood
It is a brilliant letter.
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Lee Salvemini
When the government contributed to raising humanities degrees (writing, communication and more) by 113% in 2021 it signalled the lack of appreciation and importance of the written word. This fiasco is a further representation of the intellectuals (?) running the country.
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Gareth Jenkins
Brave, hope she doesn’t ride motorbikes.
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Peter Campbell
It must be crushingly disappointing for her. AWW has been ruined and it's been such a wonderful event. The Premier could not have made a bigger own goal.
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Rodney Mclean
Read today's Australian paper for a completely different perspective on Adler.
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Emma Newton
So very well written.
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Patricia Balchin
Well said by a lady I have always admired.
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Reg Smithers
Oh please. So melodramatic. Be adults and carry on. Think of people suffering real repression.
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James Bowie
To be frank she created the mess by deliberately inviting Abdel-Fattah as it was obvious this mess would be the result.
Whether it’s her ego or commitment to Free Palestine it doesn’t matter. She has been prepared to destroy a successful event.
So I don’t think she should be lauded. Quite the opposite in fact.
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Des Gail Grogan
She is always measured in her decisions
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Brett Smyth
Another firm believer of the only common existence in the form of denial being a river.
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Chris N Lorena Hunter
It's a horror show. A political nightmare for those supporting the decision.
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John Kuzma
Adler is a voice for the jewish lobby and would have no idea of what freedom of speech is. Unless, it holds the jews and their beliefs in esteem. All you people calling for a royal commission make sure you realise that there is hatred displayed by the jews and that has to be investigated as well.
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Johanna Lydia Beasley
He was in prison at the time.Perhaps that answers your question.
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John Hammond
The hypocrisy that Orwell wrote about.
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Rohini Lardner
PEACE for all Aussies -now
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Roger Miller
https://www.adelaidefestival.com.au/news/2025/adelaide-festival-board-statement-13-january-2026
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Rob Goodyear
This whole episode shows that any moron can be on a board.
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Jenni Rose
Free speech is not hate speech nor indoctrinating young children to hate & call for mass murder. Good riddance- she's not an intellectual nor are most who are whining about the cancellation of someone inciting violence. Australia has had enough of the pally sh*t and the ones who start a war with extreme violence and terrorism, then play victims. We are all sick of these evil divisive nut jobs.
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Tarek Ben Bechir
She’s brave though. Thumps up
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Anita Triado
What a corageous woman, and a corageous Jew at that. Thank you, Louise for stnding up for what is right!
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Rick Mack
If you want to know our future, look at the UK where any hint of criticism of Israeli actions can land yo in detention, handled by officers in the Met trained by Israel., And we have Jillian Segal as the Anti-Semitism envoy, a voice to parliament with a message from a diseased regime.
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Elizabeth Ecks
Brilliant of her
One small discrepancy in the post. Randa Abdel Fattah was born in Sydney. She is an Australian. Not a Palestinian
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Dejan Djakovic
Everything to protect Israel from criticism.
When chosen people kill it is acceptable.
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Tony La Posta
When will the Zionist and their Flunkies pay for the Harm they are doing ?
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Ailsa Leibrick
Given that Dr Randa Abdel-Fattah has advocated for the end of Israel and made calls with other writers have a Pro-Israeli writer cancelled from the event - I think it's fairly hypocritical of Adler and other writers to quit or remove themselves from the event when someone they like is removed from the line up.
Where was that concern about the importance of differing opinions/views that she talks about in her resignation letter when that Pro-Israeli writer was in the firing line?
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John Stephen Jones
The Premier has a lot to answer for, bowing to pressure from Pro Israeli Jews. As Louise says, different views have to be respected. As a descendant of people killed at Aushwitz she will know. You are not antisemitic to consider the Gaza situation as genocide. My Jewish friends know this.
The Israeli state started life following the violent activities of the Irgun, which today would be deemed a terrorist organisation. This is often forgotten.
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Bruce Brislane
Due diligence and research moron , have you seen the racist tweets from the Hamas loving Palestinian author/ terrorist ??? Probably not 
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Sarah Hill
Abdel-Fattah was banned because she spread hatred. Hatred is destroying our country.
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Philip Brooks
This is NOT about Free Speech it's about DECENCY and RIGHTEOUSNESS. WHEN has TOLERENCE of EVIL gone WAY TOO FAR. Seven reasons why Randa Abdel-Fattah deserved expulsion from the Writers Festival. She has said & done the following towards Jews.
* Doxed Jewish people, risking their lives & destroyed their livelihoods
* Announced that Zionists have "no claim or right to cultural safety" This is a clear threat.
* Called her academic peers "white supremacists"
* Led kindergarten children in genocidal chants against Israel & Zionists at Sydney University
* Made genocidal calls for Israel to be ended in 2025.
* Called for "an end to the death cult of Zionism"
* Campaigned to have a pro-Israel voice silenced from the 2024 Adelaide Festival & succeeded.
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Brien Timu
All this to stop people saying Israel is an Apartheid State committing War Crimes and Genocide in Palestine.
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Jack Hearps
Liberal Senator Henderson has used her fb account to push Israel's Zionism as pure ... and link far right Zionism as being (Jewish) and any comments against Israel government or Zionism as anti seminism etc etc etc drawing genocide protests as being anti seminism etc .. thus we now can confirm her snouts in that trough of deceit.. fails to mention the large number of Austraian Jews who are not Zionists etc etc 
... must be a neo liberal, national, one nation strategic thingy ... 
must be cash in this for sure.
... must be a neo liberal, national, one nation strategic thingy ... must be cash in this for sure.- Reply
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Michael Gregg
Was I the only one who saw this as a woman being forced to speak with a cardboard box over her face? (From: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-01-13/adelaide-writers-week-director-louise-adler-resigns/106214928)
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AJ O'Grady
Zionist interference in Australia is out of control.
The antisemitism envoys demands/report was criticised and lampooned before the events in Bondi. Now they are law and Australian Australian's freedoms and values are trashed. Ask yourself who really were the victims in Bondi?
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Peter Kelly
It's really important to keep the pressure on the Jews. We all know that this is what the righteous indignation is all about.
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Humphrey Hollins
What about the Cairns Writers Festival? Would be a change from hearing the strumming of banjos all bloody day. It is time to draw a line in the sand with the Jewish lobby. The right like to talk of Australian values but destroying free speech on behalf of a tiny minority has to stop now.
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Stephen Urquhart
The Jews did it
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Chris Green
This is all part of the Zionist lobby's attempt to increasing control in Australia and it's is deeply concerning. They are quietly increasing their influence over government and the media stopping any negative news about Israel and keeping Australians in the dark and preventing free speech.
They have politicised this tragedy to advance their agenda and Australian politicians are running scared incase they are accused of antisemetism.
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John Masters
We need another RC into the power of the Jewish lobby
For 0.5% of the population they run roughshod over the 99.5%
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Jenny McOnie
...and the hysteria surrounding this "Palestinian" writer who was actually BORN IN SYDNEY...racists cowing down like the cowards they truly are...
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Roddy Hammond
Shalom
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Roddy Hammond
Always the victim
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Tony Bennett
Wonder why 
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