Political, media attacks on Randa Abdel-Fattah part of a coordinated effort to crush opposition to Israeli genocide, apartheid

Feb 3, 2025

The Australia Palestine Advocacy Network (APAN) stands firmly with Palestinian author and academic Dr Randa Abdel-Fattah in the face of a coordinated political and media campaign aimed at silencing, smearing and discrediting her for speaking out against ongoing US-backed Israeli atrocities in Palestine.

This attack is part of a broader effort to crush political opposition in Australia to Israeli genocide and apartheid in Palestine, mirroring similar repressive efforts in the US, where both the Trump and Biden administrations have sought to criminalise anti-genocide demonstrations and suppress opposition to Israeli war crimes.

The latest offensive against Dr Abdel-Fattah has been spearheaded by the Murdoch media and supported by Federal Education Minister Jason Clare, who has abandoned any pretense of “ending political interference in the research sector” and the operations of the Australian Research Centre (ARC).

Minister Clare’s request for an investigation into Dr Abdel-Fattah’s ARC Future Fellowship, as well as his previous pressure on the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) to “enforce its code of conduct” following an anti-racist symposium – after which Carumba Institute’s Director, Professor Chelsea Watego and Jewish Council of Australia executive officer Sarah Schwartz were also attacked and smeared by political leaders and the media – directly contradicts his promises to uphold the integrity and independence of Australian research.

The ARC has bowed to this external pressure and has directed Macquarie University to launch an investigation into Dr Abdel-Fattah, despite her distinguished academic record and significant contributions to literature, anti-racism and Islamophobia scholarship and sociology.

This investigation is clearly based purely on the egregious lies sourced from a blatantly politically motivated smear campaign driven by right-wing politicians and extremist organisations.

These are racist and cynical attempts by government, media and university administrations to suppress political thought and academic freedom by conflating anti-genocide and anti-apartheid advocacy with “hate speech” or antisemitism. 

Universities are being used as a key battleground to try to punish Palestinians, and those who speak up for Palestine.

We demand that Education Minister Clare, the Australian government, the media, and universities cease their efforts to silence dissent and stand for the rights of Palestinians, upholding academic freedom and truth in the struggle for justice and an end to Israel’s apartheid, genocide and settler colonisation in the occupied Palestinian territory.

Every academic, writer and citizen who values intellectual freedom and human rights should take a stand against this escalating repression of Palestinians and their supporters on this continent.

Speaking the truth about Israel’s genocide, apartheid, illegal occupation and the impunity it is offered by its allies, including Australia, is a legitimate and necessary act of resistance against injustice, not an endorsement of hate.