Letter from 11 South Australian cultural leaders labels cancellation of Palestinian-Australian’s participation a ‘grave mistake’ which brought festival into disrepute

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The South Australian premier has denied exerting pressure on the Adelaide festival board to disinvite Randa Abdel-Fattah as a speaker at Adelaide Writers’ Week, while reiterating that he agreed with the decision.

The board dumped the Palestinian Australian academic as a speaker on Thursday, citing “cultural sensitivity” after the Bondi attack.