progressive paradox

The Progressive Paradox

15 January 2026

1.4 MINS

Censor Everyone, Complain When Censored.

Randa Abdel-Fattah is a typical progressive… offended by everything and ashamed of nothing.

The Palestinian author is crying foul after being dropped from the Adelaide Writers Festival.

Why was she ditched from the speaking line-up?

Well, where do I start?

Where to begin.

Dangerous Doxxer

Right after October 7, she swapped her profile picture for a paraglider in Palestinian colours.

Then she tweeted she hoped Israel would cease to exist.

She helped circulate the personal details of prominent Jews so they could be harassed.

She insists all of Australia should be “culturally unsafe” for Zionists. I could go on, but you get the picture.

So, when someone pointed out that maybe she wasn’t really festival material, she was removed.

Victim Mentality

Cue the crocodile tears:

It’s censorship!

It’s racism!

Randa Abdel-Fattah said she was the victim of a…

“Blatant and shameless act of anti-Palestinian racism and censorship”

Well, well, well. The irony is spectacular.

Cancel Culture

You see, it has now emerged that just last year, Randa Abdel-Fattah succeeded in having a Pulitzer Prize-winning Jewish author dumped from the festival…

Randa Abdel-Fattah was one of 10 people who complained that Jewish author Thomas Friedman’s writing was offensive to Palestinians.

And it wasn’t the first time she had agitated to stop ideological opponents from speaking.

Back in 2017, she signed a petition opposing Ayaan Hirsi Ali’s Australian speaking tour because she disagreed with the way Hirsi, who’s an ex-Muslim and a feminist, characterises Islamic oppression of women!

So Randa Abdel-Fattah doesn’t mind trying to censor those she disagrees with — especially when those people are Jews, or ex-Muslims.

But when she is de-platformed, she claims she is a victim of censorship and racism.

The hypocrisy is breathtaking.

And now for the bonus round…

A number of speakers — among them former ABC personality Jane Carro and SHM columnist Peter FitzSimons — are now boycotting the festival in support of Abdel-Fattah.

Wait a moment. How many of them boycotted the festival in support of Jew Thomas Friedman when he was removed from the speakers’ list?

If you guessed “none”, you clearly understand the progressive mind.

___

Republished with thanks to The James Macpherson Report. Image courtesy of Adobe.

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7 Comments

  1. c9f04e6a2286335a3562407f45431a3a1c481453ecabb64ce69b13cd0d14a5a3?s=54&d=mm&r=g
    Col 15 January 2026 at 8:23 am - Reply

    Wait a moment.

    When was Thomas Friedman when was removed from the speakers’ list?

    If you guessed ‘never’, you clearly understand the mindset of someone deliberately loose with the facts.

  2. 318835585c3a6a1b07b771bb0e8aa4c2967b48c577e7e02d33f7e81d69b177b2?s=54&d=mm&r=g
    carolynes 15 January 2026 at 8:32 am - Reply

    Thank you for the clarification. After hearing a news report last night I still had no idea what happened.

  3. e8bb2e62d2c730e997dece78954b123bc9765acb72ef0bf9d6c1df64bf9b6810?s=54&d=mm&r=g
    James 15 January 2026 at 10:11 am - Reply

    Why was this terrorist supporter invited in the first place? The only conclusion that can be drawn is that yet another icon of high culture has been taken over by radical leftists

  4. c9f04e6a2286335a3562407f45431a3a1c481453ecabb64ce69b13cd0d14a5a3?s=54&d=mm&r=g
    Col 15 January 2026 at 1:34 pm - Reply

    Freedom prevails!

    We can’t live in a free society where one powerful lobby group is able to control our freedom of speech. Great to see the festival have chosen freedom of speech above being bullied with the threat of losing their funding.

    We defend the vital rights of all Australians to freedom of conscience, freedom of speech and freedom of religion. These freedoms are foundational to an inclusive democracy and are the lifeblood of our nation. We oppose any legislation which effectively denies or limits these freedoms.

    Protect our freedom and democratic rights. Seems the festival have taken a leaf straight out of the Canberra Declaration! And good on them!

  5. e6fc5a416d896b71090ef429b8d1a333a920f23772b5aac3d9de24d3c44b35b0?s=54&d=mm&r=g
    Leonie Blume 15 January 2026 at 2:04 pm - Reply

    Yet even the Sydney Morning Herald confirmed that Thomas Friedman did not voluntarily withdraw from the Adelaide writer’s festival.

  6. c9f04e6a2286335a3562407f45431a3a1c481453ecabb64ce69b13cd0d14a5a3?s=54&d=mm&r=g
    Col 15 January 2026 at 2:21 pm - Reply

    The SMH did not confirm that Thomas Friedman did not voluntarily withdraw from the Adelaide writer’s festival, all they did is report that he claims that he didn’t.

    So who’s word do you take?

    https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2026/jan/11/adelaide-festival-did-not-not-dump-jewish-columnist-from-2024-program-despite-request-from-randa-abdel-fattah-and-others

    The Adelaide festival board did not dump a Jewish columnist from its 2024 lineup at Adelaide writers’ week, despite being lobbied by a group of 10 academics – including Randa Abdel-Fattah – to do so.

    Can you imagine the outcry if Friedman had’ve actually been removed at the time? He would have been the first to lead the protests. But clearly that was not the case.

    https://www.indailysa.com.au/news/just-in/2026/01/11/writers-week-spin-under-fire

    Seems that at the time, both the festival and Freidman were happy with that arrangement. He did not protest or complain back then, or claim that he had been removed – because he hadn’t been.

  7. 0420391077f8111996bb838f71e47c0f9bd9c371f65b3429541324068047dbf1?s=54&d=mm&r=g
    countess antonia scrivanich 15 January 2026 at 11:55 pm - Reply

    Defund Festival. Nothing but woke, delusional female authors who write rubbish. I regularly receive these books as gifts to “enlighten” me . They are so boring , they go straight into the rubbish bin the minute the person leaves ! This woman is a pro -Palestine propagandist who has written about 13 books on the topic and on Islam for small children to adults. She is Australia’s expert on “Islamophobia” (gained her doctorate writing a book about the topic –published by Routledge ) . She has received in excess of $800, 000-00 research grant from The Research Council of Australia for 2023-2027. She celebrated the killings of Jews on 7 October 2023 and supports the Intifada and “From the River to the Sea “. She casts herself as a “victim” because she was sacked from appearing at The Adelaide Writers’ Festival and has threatened to sue the Labor Premier of S.A unless he apologises, which I think is funny.

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