Hot on the heels of the Adelaide Writers Week debacle, the WOMADelaide board is being pressured to oust Techno DJ Sama’ Abdulhami. What’s the scam?
The scam is the broken record of a playbook used by those who think free speech is only allowed for those with whom one agrees. In this case, it’s Zionist agitators “Never Again is Now” running a mail-in campaign to remove one of this year’s headline acts from WOMADelaide in March.
Like the Adelaide Festival Board’s letter to Randa Abdel-Fattah, which indirectly linked her cancellation to the Bondi massacre, the campaign refers to Sama Abdulhami – a vocal supporter of Palestinian rights – as “particularly troubling in light of the Bondi Beach Terrorist attack.”
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Open in new tab For context, Sama’ Abdulhami‘s family was once ousted from Palestine for participating in a peaceful protest, and when she was 13, the IDF took over their apartment block, forcing the family to live on the roof.
She is a strident supporter of the Palestinian cause, as is Abdel-Fattah. They have the right to be heard. As does, incidentally, New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman, whom Abdel-Fattah asked to be removed from the Adelaide Writers Week in 2024.
To paraphrase the immortal words of Voltaire (or his biographer, to be exact),
I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.
Vale Adelaide Writers Week. A literary icon succumbs to Israel pressure
