SYDNEY: A leading Australian arts festival apologized Thursday for disinviting a Palestinian author, retracting claims her attendance would be "culturally insensitive" following a mass shooting targeting Jews at Bondi Beach.

The Adelaide Festival was forced to cancel its popular writers' week on Tuesday as scores of participants pulled out over the treatment of author and academic Randa Abdel-Fattah.

With many questioning whether the backlash might spell the end of the event for good, organizers changed tack and apologized.

"We have reversed the decision and will reinstate Dr Abdel-Fattah's invitation to speak at the next Adelaide Writers' Week in 2027," festival organizers said in a statement.

Australia's premier annual cultural event, which lures artists from around the world, unleashed the storm last week when it told Abdel-Fattah it did not "wish to proceed" with her appearance.

"We stated that this was because it would be culturally insensitive to allow her to participate," organizers said.

"We retract that statement. We apologize to Dr Abdel-Fattah unreservedly for the harm the Adelaide Festival Corporation has caused her."

Abdel-Fattah said she accepted the apology.

"I accept this apology as acknowledgement of our right to speak publicly and truthfully about the atrocities that have been committed against the Palestinian people," she said.

Abdel-Fattah has faced criticism over past statements, including a post on X in October 2024 saying: "The goal is decolonization and the end of this murderous Zionist colony."

Some 180 participants, including former New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern, boycotted the festival after it canceled Abdel-Fattah.

Writers' week director Louise Adler resigned in protest, saying the board had been swayed against her advice by the "extreme and repressive efforts of pro-Israel lobbyists."

Father-and-son gunmen allegedly killed 15 people in an ISIS-inspired attack targeting a Jewish festival at Sydney's Bondi Beach on December 14.

Palestinian writer

Australian festival apologizes for cancelling Palestinian author