PUBLIC FORUM | Resisting Repression: Defending Palestine Solidarity

Should a Palestinian author be banned from a Writers' Festival over “cultural sensitivity” concerns?Are calls for freedom “FROM THE RIVER TO THE SEA” a form of hate speech?Across Australia, the right to speak for Palestine is under attack. Join Free Palestine Melbourne for an urgent panel discussion on the growing repression of solidarity — and how we fight back.PanelLouise Adler was the Director of Adelaide Writers’ Week from 2023 to 2025. She spent over 30 years in publishing, most recently as Publisher at Large for Hachette and 17 years as CEO of Melbourne University Publishing. She was President of the Australian Publishers Association, Chair of the PM’s Literary Awards and of Creative Victoria’s Strategy Taskforce.Noura Mansour is a Palestinian educator, community organiser, strategist, writer and director at Democracy in Colour.Nick Hanna is a leading criminal defence lawyer who has acted in many high profile civil liberties cases in NSW. He hosts The What & The Why, an investigative journalism project exposing the role of the Israel lobby in undermining democratic rights in Australia.Hannah Thomas is a lawyer, activist, former Greens candidate and survivor of police brutality.