Academic Subjection

An event featuring UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese, scheduled for today at the University of Adelaide's Elder Hall as part of an alternative literary festival panel on settler colonialism and the Israel/Palestine conflict, was abruptly cancelled by the university citing unmet booking approval processes (with some reports mentioning health and safety concerns). Festival organisers criticised the last-minute decision as undermining free speech, and the event was relocated to Norwood Concert Hall.

In my view, the real motivation likely stems from pressure tied to Albanese's outspoken criticism of Israel (including genocide accusations in Gaza), combined with recent US sanctions against her and fears of potential repercussions like funding risks or backlash, especially given prior similar controversies at Australian universities and the politically charged hoo-haa following the cancelled Adelaide Writers' Week over related Palestine/Israel issues.

The abrupt timing and procedural excuse feel like a convenient cover for avoiding controversy or external influence from pro-Israel groups or institutional caution.

I sent the university’s vice chancellor. I’ve also written Education Minister Jason Clare about it, not that I think he gives a flying fuck.

Here’s the text of the letter:

Dear Vice-Chancellor,

I write regarding the University’s decision to cancel the venue booking for an event featuring Francesca Albanese. I will not be polite about it because I’m livid. because what your institution has done is not a minor administrative decision or a harmless act of caution. It is an act of cowardice dressed up as responsibility, and it is, in fact, quite hurtful to many.

Before you attempt to dismiss my objection as ignorance or prejudice, let me be clear about who I am. I am an Israeli-born Jew. My parents were Holocaust survivors, and although raised in Sydney from age 3, I returned in the early 70s and served four years in the Israel Defence Forces, a result of Zionist brainwashing. I still carry the scars and bits of shrapnel in my right leg as a result. I understand better than most what antisemitism looks like, what it sounds like, and how it operates. I also understand the difference between genuine antisemitism and the cynical weaponisation of that accusation to silence political criticism. What your university has done falls squarely into the latter category.

Universities are supposed to be places where ideas are examined, challenged and debated. That is the entire point of their existence. When a university begins cancelling bookings because certain political groups dislike what might be said, it abandons that mission and reduces itself to little more than a risk-management bureaucracy. A campus that cannot tolerate controversial discussion is not a university in any meaningful sense of the word.

The justification being circulated, that this cancellation somehow protects the safety, respect, and comfort of attendees, is not only dishonest but also offensive. As a Jew, I resent being used as a prop in this sort of political theatre.

What makes this particularly galling is the hypocrisy. Universities routinely host speakers whose views are controversial, provocative or uncomfortable. That is normal and necessary. Yet somehow, when the subject involves criticism of Israeli government policy or discussion of international law relating to Palestine, the rules suddenly change. The bar for cancellation becomes extraordinarily low. That double standard is obvious to anyone paying attention.

If the University genuinely believed in academic freedom, the response would have been simple: allow the event to proceed and let critics attend, protest, question, and debate. That is how open societies deal with disagreement. Silencing the speaker before she even opens her mouth is the behaviour of institutions that have lost confidence in their own principles.

Lastly, you need to understand that every time an institution like yours pulls this kind of stupid, divisive stunt, it only serves to dial antisemitism up a notch.

The University of Adelaide should be ashamed of this decision. It reflects neither moral courage nor academic integrity. It reflects fear, and perhaps even inherent bigotry within your organisation. 
Sincerely,
Ron Baumann.

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