Will arts boards and politicians never learn? The cancellation of this year’s Adelaide Writers’ Week, following the decision to uninvite Australian-Palestinian writer, academic and advocate Randa Abdel-Fattah, comes in the wake of a series of arts-related controversies, triggered by the events in Gaza.

Dr Abdel-Fattah – who was scheduled to discuss her novel Discipline – was removed from the lineup, with the board citing concerns of “cultural sensitivity” after the Bondi terror attack on 14 December.

As a result, 180 authors withdrew from the festival. Director of the event, Louise Adler, quit on 13 January, saying she could not “be party to silencing writers”. Most of the board also resigned.

Randa Abdel-Fattah. Photo courtesy of Macquarie University

So how and why did this happen? Some have accused South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas of pressuring the board. He denies this, saying that a letter he sent to the board on 2 January was in response to a request for his opinion. However, he has said that he did not agree with Abdel-Fattah’s inclusion in the program, arguing it was “not in the public interest”.

The fallout could...