Another row over freedom of expression has erupted at a literary festival, when the University of Adelaide abruptly canceled a high-profile event featuring UN Special Rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese.
The move has led festival organizers and speakers to accuse the 152-year-old institution of “collapsing from fear.”
The event is part of Constellations: Not Writers’ Week, the pop-up literary festival that emerged after the canceled Adelaide Writers’ Week.
It was scheduled to take place in the university’s Elder Hall on Thursday night. But organizers said the university told them Monday that certain requirements had not been met and they canceled the reservation.
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A new venue has been secured at Norwood Concert Hall with capacity for 650 people with in-person tickets.
Albanese, a human rights lawyer, will appear via video link, alongside academics Professor Henry Reynolds and Dr Lana Tatour, to discuss colonialism.
Louise Adler, former director of Adelaide Writers’ Week, who headlined another of the festival’s events on Sunday, lashed out at the decision.
“Welcome once again to Moscow at the Torrens,” he said in a statement.
“Universities, the arts and the media were once respected as places where controversial ideas could be tested. That is no longer a given. We are witnessing relentless campaigning by sector groups and their influence over politicians… the conversations possible in the public square are being severely impoverished.”
The event’s organisers, the Association for the Promotion of International Law (APIL), said the university justified the cancellation by claiming that the booking “was not made in accordance with due process”.
In a statement, the University of Adelaide said it was not aware of the “external event” until last Friday.
“Upon further exploration of the matter, the university was unable to accept the venue booking as it did not go through the required review and approval process in accordance with the required policy and procedure,” the statement said.
“Unfortunately, this left the university with no choice but to inform organizers that it could not provide the necessary support, ensure the safety, respect and comfort of attendees, or provide quality commensurate with the university’s standards when it comes to public events of this size and scale.”
APIL disputed those claims, saying they first contacted the university on Feb. 3 and worked with Elder Hall management for weeks before submitting a formal reservation on Feb. 20.
“At no time until earlier this week was any due process issue raised,” an APIL spokesperson said.
The venue’s cancellation follows a report in The Australian that suggested a university providing a platform for Albanese – who has openly called for an end to what she describes as the “genocide” Israel is waging against Palestinians in Gaza – could be defying US sanctions.
In July, the Trump administration placed Albanese’s name on the US Treasury sanctions list, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio accusing her of “legal warfare” and “political and economic warfare” against US and Israeli interests.
“Albanians have spewed blatant anti-Semitism, expressed support for terrorism, and open contempt for the United States, Israel, and the West,” said Rubio’s July 9 statement, announcing the sanctions against Albanians.
APIL has accused the University of Adelaide of bowing to media pressure.
A member of the independent UN commission, Chris Sidoti, who will facilitate the panel discussion, said the sanctions argument was an attempt to “intimidate”, noting that Albanese speaks at universities around the world without problems.
“It is reprehensible that the University of Adelaide is falling apart for fear of potential criticism by imposing a censorship regime in Australia,” Sidoti said. “A university incapable of defending freedom of expression no longer deserves to be called a university.”
The University of Adelaide’s statement says it “prides itself on being a place where event attendees are welcome and where the exchange of ideas can occur freely.”
