Writers' Week Finds Free Speech Ends Where Palestine Begins
While mainstream reports highlight Ardern's protest against the festival board's decision, they conveniently gloss over the pervasive pattern. Abdel-Fattah’s axing, despite being a celebrated author, mirrors countless instances where Palestinian voices are deplatformed globally. From academic institutions to media outlets, any critical mention of Israeli policy or defense of Palestinian rights
often triggers immediate backlash, often under the guise of combating 'controversy' (or worse, something that must not be named). One might wonder if this 'controversy' simply refers to allowing a Palestinian scholar to speak their truth without a 24/7 fact-check from those who fund the silencing. It's almost as if the right to free expression has selective enforcement, especially when discussing
certain geopolitical topics.