Randa Abdel-Fattah is a Palestinian/Egyptian-Australian academic and award-winning author, currently a Future Fellow in the Department of Sociology at Macquarie University, and a prominent pro-Palestine commentator.
In the wake of Hamas's 7 October 2023 attack on Israel, in which Hamas fighters crossed the border on paragliders, she changed her social media cover image to a person with a parachute in Palestinian colours. She later told the ABC: "At that point, I had no idea about the death toll... So it was just a celebration of Palestinians who have been living under siege for multiple years," adding, "Of course, I do not support the killing of civilians."
In January 2026 the Adelaide Festival board rescinded her invitation to Adelaide Writers' Week, saying it would not be "culturally sensitive" to program her "so soon after Bondi". A letter from SA Premier Peter Malinauskas to the board, released on 18 January, cited the parachute image and her comment that Zionists "have no claim or right to cultural safety", and said her statements and actions "go beyond reasonable public debate". More than 180 writers withdrew, director Louise Adler and the board resigned, and the 2026 event was cancelled; she rejected the board's apology. Sydney Writers' Festival included her in its 2026 program, and the new Adelaide board reinvited her for 2027 (ABC, SBS).
She sent the Premier defamation concerns notices in January 2026, then said in July that "pursuing defamation against a sitting premier has proven to carry prohibitive cost and risk" (ABC).
Affiliations
Macquarie University — Future Fellow, Department of Sociology
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