Are « The Jews » being blamed for the cancellation of the Adelaide Writers’ Festival?

Michael Gawenda, former editor of The Age, has this to say:

“In an interview on the ABC, (Louise) Adler … included in her warning the need to act against people with “fat chequebooks” who want – and in some cases have succeeded – in determining what is kosher and what is not for the arts institutions to which they have given large sums of money”.

Who are these fat chequebook-flourishing miscreants? There was a time when their generosity was something to celebrate, a time when « it was unimaginable to believe, at least publicly, that this generosity was based on a desire by these Jews to force Australian cultural institutions to do their nefarious (sic) bidding,” writes Gawenda. 

According to Gawenda, these generous philanthropists are hardly the “powerful secret Zionist Lobby” who wield their evil power over Australian politics. In fact those who chose to contribute were proud to be identified for their contribution to the Arts sector in Australia. To say this “secret society’ influenced the cancellation of the Festival is rather a stretch, given Adler’s contempt for what she calls the “pro-Israel Lobby”.

So now this fictitious Lobby is copping blame for politicising the Bondi Pogrom in order to influence the cancellation of a writer, who has gushed hatred towards Jews in her writing. In fact it was the former Festival Board who advised this cancellation to observe « cultural sensitivity » towards those still grieving over the Bondi Pogrom. It seems we can’t have it both ways: allow free speech, however hate-filled, and observe a decent interval before once again blaming “The Jews”.

from Substack “Gawenda Unleashed” 20 January 2026