SA: Israel-Syria Deal
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8C2C-2-f8A
 
“Did Damascus just betray Palestine? Syria is moving toward ‘normalization’ with Israel.
With Marwa Osman.”

Posted by: John Gilberts | Jan 8 2026 17:55 utc | 4

Journalist Suhaib Al-Masalmeh

“NetBlocks internet monitoring service: Nationwide internet blackout in Iran”

Posted by: Ornot | Jan 8 2026 18:39 utc | 6

Martyred:

https://t-me.translate.goog/s/hossamsshbat?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en

https://t-me.translate.goog/s/Ahaamd1985?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en

Reporting from Rafah

https://t-me.translate.goog/s/madinat_khanyuns?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en

Other:

https://t-me.translate.goog/s/pal74press?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en

https://t-me.translate.goog/s/P_S_PI?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en

Posted by: Ornot | Jan 8 2026 18:41 utc | 8

“Did Damascus just betray Palestine? Syria is moving toward ‘normalization’ with Israel.With Marwa Osman.”
Posted by: John Gilberts | Jan 8 2026 17:55 utc | 5

 
They don’t call the new “president” Jewlani for nothing.

Posted by: malenkov | Jan 8 2026 19:16 utc | 10

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/langlo/article/PIIS2214-109X(25)00278-5/fulltext

From the report:
 

Economic sanctions imposed by the USA or the EU were associated with 564,258 deaths (95% CI 367 838–760 677) annually from 1971 to 2021, higher than the annual number of battle-related casualties (106 000 deaths). This finding aligns with a previous Article in The Lancet Global Health showing the lethal effects of aid sanctions—economic sanctions specifically targeting development assistance in low-income or middle-income countries (LMICs)—which resulted in a 3·1% increase in infant mortality and a 6·4% increase in maternal mortality annually between 1990 and 2019.

 
As far as I know the people compiling these figures have no agenda.  Just looking at public health figures.  Found that on the Simplicius site.
 
https://simplicius76.substack.com/p/escalation-mad-trumps-coast-guard
 
It was the Lancet that first came out with estimates of the true number of deaths in Gaza.  Latest estimate up to July 31, 2025.
 
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(25)02112-9/fulltext#:~:text=On%20July%2031%2C%202025%2C%20the,Date%20accessed:%20August%2015%2C%202025

Posted by: English Outsider | Jan 8 2026 19:41 utc | 12

Ornot 14
 
Yesterday Kevork Almassian used  web spot to let Faris Modad spew hate against the Iranian Islamic Revolution. The Orthodox Church is shockingly stubborn in its interpretation of Christianity , scribing to prophet  Christ AS as Omniscient and Omnipotent instead of God.
 
Here you report  Trump trying to invest himself with religious knowledge and power and lecture Iran on Morality and Politics.
At least the Orthodox Church states their lies against God openly and is barefaced in its ignorance.  Trump travels with Lindsey Graham to shove Liberal LGBT blasphemy at his elders and betters like Ayatollah Khamenei.
 
What a true  , jumped-up little Crusader Trump has turned out to be.  

Posted by: Giyane | Jan 8 2026 22:55 utc | 14

Posted by: Ornot | Jan 8 2026 21:52 utc | 14
There were 3 articles in TASS today regarding Iran
 
1). Best relations with Russia to date they’ve ever had.
 
2). Iran will continue its peaceful nuclear program according to NPT protocol.
3)  Iran shut internet services in certain areas.
 
Thats all I know about internet.

Posted by: Trubind1 | Jan 8 2026 23:06 utc | 16

Just catching up …

IRGC say large exercises under way.
Flights being turned back from Iranian airspace.
Tensions are high.

All I know.

Posted by: Ornot | Jan 9 2026 0:55 utc | 18

@ malenkov | Jan 9 2026 1:50 utc | 20
 
Oh damnation. I thought Russia was asking its (dual) citizens to leave “Israel”. 

Posted by: malenkov | Jan 9 2026 1:52 utc | 20

Posted by: Ornot | Jan 9 2026 0:50 utc | 18
 
Certainly mixed messages regarding what’s going on “inside” Iran.
 
Both Nima & Mirandi, on the ground, in Iran have seen very little this whole time of any crazy “protests”.
 
Its really possible tho that recently there was a “whistle blow” for like a “maiden” mass orchestration where things are getting decidedly worse.
 
 I read that the internet stopped (according to West) when Pavalli started his “appeals” to the masses.
Could also be the reason for halting incoming air traffic.  Who knows what’s pouring in.
 
On top of that, there are real water & economic issues.
In any case,  Iran has seen worse,  they will get through this trying time.
 
I have 2 possible reasons for believing USReal has been halted in their assault on Lebanon Plan… well 3…
1). As mentioned… obviously Iran dead serious they will protect Lebanon as they are fed up.
 
2). Lebanon very decisively reported that Hezbollah “phase 1” of arms removal was complete. Israel strongly objected of course, but apparently, did not win that political round at the meeting.
 
3) Mohammed OD reported  (could be a false generated report as it came from USReal) but he stated the report claimed that an Egyptian Warship entered Gaza waters.  Was warned by USReal to leave,  Then USReal fired a couple of shots, and then it left.
 
He doesn’t know if true.  But it does follow, as US is trying to get to Phase 2… Egypt was also a guarantor…
 
Its very possible US did green light a Lebanon adventure,  many in US want a direct Iran conflict,  but not anyone in the ME does. And certainly not Egypt.
 
It is possible that Egypt was sent by US to send a message… get on with Phase 2… Trump wants his hotel in lights by the end of 2026…
 
Trump does just want $$$…. But there are others (Graham ect… that suddenly appear to have a lot of power out of nowhere the last few days calling shots). 
in any event,  not everything is in the hands of the US psychopaths…. Iran still may go ahead and strike first.

Posted by: Trubind1 | Jan 9 2026 2:31 utc | 22

Trubind1 23
 
‘Trump does just want $$$…. But there are others (Graham ect… that suddenly appear to have a lot of power out of nowhere the last few days calling shots).’
 
What you describe as power, Trump might see as expendability when all his mountain  of batshit is exposed as Israeli Lies.
 
After listening to Alex Krainer, talking with Nima at Dialogue works about Trump being the World’s Policeman and Scott Ritter slamming Trump as the Jewish mafia and Prof. Jeffrey Sachs posing as the custodian of International Law, I think we have a Movie.
 
But as a Muslim, I don’t do Movies. 
It isn’t my job on Earth to allow my emotions to be  tweaked by Hollywood Jews , hither  and thither. 
 
It’s difficult to imagine how either US , UK or Israel could get stupider than they already are without their banking system or infrastructure imploding. Yet again.
Allah sustains All of His Creation, good or bad.
But the Western idea of Externalising all of .our emotional difficulties and trying to sort them as if they existed outside our own psychologies, is bollocks.
 
Our souls / psyches  are satisfied by only one thing, the urgent need to bank some Pleasure  of Our Creator, before our worldly  life imminently  expires. This understanding is rare in the West and  Normal in the Global South. So, if we blow ourselves up in spritual/ psychological frustration, it is likely that the regions of the World’s humankind that survive nuclear obliteration will be  better equipped as human beings than us Western couch potatoes sitting in the dark in the Hollywood Political Cinema.
 
 
 

Posted by: Giyane | Jan 9 2026 3:49 utc | 24

Alex Krainer , talking with Nima, basically suggested that Britain, with its offshore banking industry and drug factories in the Caribbean and Canada, is trying to do to the US what it previously did to China in the opium wars.
 
Yes, I know, I have been lipreading the Goldfish, lapping round the goldfish bowl, in training to  take over the household.
 
Yes, the British Colonial system of Financial Control over the money markets is  corrupt  as hell. And Trump wants to own it and, yes,  police it. That’s the kind of man that runs the US, true peacemakers.
 
Uncle Sam, you are top of Epstein’s list.
Prince Edward was controlling Epstein from Buck Pall. Sarc ⚠️ warning 
 
 

Posted by: Giyane | Jan 9 2026 7:21 utc | 26

No media link for this one.
 
“According to Kurdish sources familiar with the clashes, the majority of Kurdish terrorists who entered Iran through the Iraqi border in the last few days to fuel the unrest, have been killed in Ilam Province and Kermanshah by IRGC forces”

Posted by: Republicofscotland | Jan 9 2026 10:16 utc | 28

There’s nothing religious about zionism, it’s an antisemite, secular, fascist, imperialist, colonialist proxy for American Caesar.

Posted by: Squeeth | Jan 9 2026 11:22 utc | 30

`Ukraine and World Affairs: Weekly Update, 9th January 2026: May be Useful to Some: Ukraine and World Affairs: Weekly Update  Cover Gaza and ME

Posted by: The Busker | Jan 9 2026 13:09 utc | 32

Posted by: GreatLakesObserver | Jan 9 2026 13:07 utc | 32
 
Loved the “occupied territories time” quip!!
Perfect… can’t wait 😛 

Posted by: Trubind1 | Jan 9 2026 13:18 utc | 34

Not sure why… but really like the “Handala” name for this group.  It sounds poetic, rolls off the tongue easily & has a positive vibe.
 
just thinking out loud

Posted by: Trubind1 | Jan 9 2026 13:30 utc | 36

One thing interesting about the Trump interview with the NYTimes was his remark that he liked to own things, that you can’t do the same things with a lease or contract that you can with ownership.  This is what I have said about his position on Gaza.  He does not give a shit about Palestinians or who is killed or forced out – he just wants to own the place and now that he feels he does, he is satisfied.   He feels no need to talk about Israel breaking the ceasefire; the ceasefire is now irrelevant.  He doesn’t care about the aid situation; starving Palestinians are irrelevant.  The work of rebuilding is assigned to some of his “people” and if it involves putting some Palestinians into slave-labor tent camps, that is irrelevant; they will be working to improve his and his buddies’ strip of land on the Mediterranian and how the laborers live is irrelevant.
 
He is simply no longer interested in further discussions about the matter.  As long as the contractors build some nice hotels and techno-parks on his property, the rest of the details are completely irrelevant.  His attitude toward humans not related to him (or the ones not giving him money) is a cruel, blase, deeply-held conviction that their lives are not worth even thinking about.  Not for even a second.  
 
Here are some items about Gaza today.  Because I care and I won’t shut up about it.
 

4 martyrs and a number of wounded as a result of Israeli shelling on a barracks and a house in the Asqoula area, east of Gaza City.
 
Urgent | Warplanes launch a series of raids in Gaza City
 
18 martyrs since dawn yesterday, Thursday, in the Gaza Strip in Israeli raids that targeted tents of displaced people. 
 
https://t-me.translate.goog/s/youseffares19?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en
 
——————-
 
GAZA CITY—Eleven-year-old Hamsa Housou lay dead on a cold metal table at the morgue in Al-Shifa hospital. Blood covered her face and the upper part of her striped pajamas as one of her relatives gently wiped her mouth and cheek with a damp cloth, crying as he did so. She had been asleep in her bed early Thursday morning when she was fatally struck by Israeli gunfire. Her family’s home in Jabaliya, west of the so-called yellow line, is in an area designated as safe.
 
“We were sleeping, and suddenly, around 5 a.m., there were bangs—loud bangs and shells,” Hamsa’s uncle, Aouni Housou, said, standing over her small body. “I live upstairs, and there was screaming. We ran downstairs and they said the girl had been injured. We went to see her and she was covered in blood.” It took half an hour for an ambulance to arrive. When they finally reached the hospital, Hamsa had died.
 
The eleven-year-old was just one of as many as 14 Palestinians, including five children, killed in Israeli attacks across the Gaza Strip over the past 24 hours [the number is now 18  killed – Teri]
 
[…] Over the course of a single day—overnight on Wednesday into Thursday evening—the Israeli military targeted residential homes, schools sheltering displaced Palestinians, and tent encampments. In Mawasi Khan Younis, an area close to the sea, two separate airstrikes killed four Palestinians in their tents on the beach, according to the Palestinian news agency Wafa. Another Palestinian was killed when Israeli forces bombed a tent sheltering displaced people in the Al-Attar area of Khan Younis. In the Jabaliya refugee camp, two Palestinians were killed when Israeli forces struck the Abu Hussein School, which was sheltering several displaced families. In the Al-Tuffah neighborhood northeast of Gaza City, an Israeli airstrike slammed into a residential building, killing two and wounding five.[…]
 
https://www.dropsitenews.com/p/israel-gaza-attacks-surge-ceasefire-children-killed
——————
 
The Gaza Health Ministry has warned of a sharp rise in birth defects and premature births in the Gaza Strip, linking the trend to widespread malnutrition and severe shortages of medical supplies.
 
Dr Ahmed Al-Farra, head of the paediatrics and obstetrics department at Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis, said hospitals are recording a monthly increase in cases of congenital abnormalities and early deliveries, particularly between the 30th and 36th weeks of pregnancy.
 
In a press statement issued on Thursday, Al-Farra said most newborns are arriving with critically low birth weights, often below 2,000 grams [about 4 1/2 pounds – Teri], as a result of maternal malnutrition during pregnancy, especially in the first trimester. He explained that the lack of nutritious food and essential supplements, including iron, is preventing normal fetal development, particularly of the nervous system.
 
He added that polluted drinking water and prolonged exposure to smoke from burning firewood are among the leading factors contributing to birth defects in pregnant women.
 
According to Al-Farra, doctors are now seeing rare and severe congenital conditions, including tumours present at birth, heart and digestive system malformations, incomplete brain development, and cases of babies born without an anus or with disconnected intestines.
 
He said some newborns die within days of birth, while others require urgent surgical procedures or prolonged intravenous feeding in order to survive, placing additional strain on Gaza’s overstretched health system.
 
Al-Farra noted that neonatal mortality rates have risen dramatically during the war, increasing from nine deaths per 1,000 live births to around 35 per 1,000 live births over the past two years, underscoring what health officials describe as a deepening humanitarian and medical crisis in the Gaza Strip.
 
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20260109-doctors-report-surge-in-premature-births-and-congenital-defects-in-gaza/
 

In Iran:
 

Israeli Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu has revealed that Israeli agents are currently active in Iran.
 
In an interview with Israel’s army radio, Eliyahu discussed Israeli operations in Iran over the past year and claimed that activities are ongoing, according to Israel Hayom newspaper.
 
He said, “When we struck Iran last year, we were on their territory and knew how to prepare the ground for the attack. I can assure you that our people are working there right now.”
 
Referring to Iran’s internal situation and possible Israeli involvement, he added “Are they now acting directly to topple the regime? No. Are they acting to ensure that Iran cannot threaten us from all other aspects? Yes.”
 
Earlier this week, Eliyahu called for action against “terrorist elements in the Bedouin diaspora,” saying the issue “is no less serious than jihadist terrorism.” He also urged that “the same measures used against Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists” be applied against those causing unrest.
 
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20260109-israeli-minister-reveals-our-agents-are-operating-in-iran-now/
 

Posted by: teri | Jan 9 2026 14:59 utc | 38

Thank you to all.
In the last thread on Palestine I have posted info on NOTAM in Iran, the readiness for strike. Iran has engaged total defence.
Interesting today:
I feed and love many little street animals for ever.
I had to fight with local fashists who like to kill, I won by the way ( Leviathan in Serbia does a good job), anyone who would hurt a little animal. Welcome to me. you will suffer.
Be aware that Iran is at the ready…
And btw, we around the world are ready for destruction of Israel. So much hatred and disgust for them.
You in USA, keep accepting that the Israelitrained force by the shit shitting fat orange can enforce your complicity, you will get killed, stupid weaklings.I posted enough in previous  Palestine thread for info. On NOTAM
Iran is ready, and so am I here.
Thank you all

Posted by: stranger | Jan 9 2026 15:37 utc | 40

Russian government is  falsely fighting the proxies of USA with which they are negotiating.
Oligarchs from both sides are negotiating. 
Have you seen Dmitriev pasty bustard statements, leading right into Islamophobia trend, now  being promoted by Israel entity in USA. Same4 by the bastard there.
It stinks of treason.

Posted by: stranger | Jan 9 2026 16:31 utc | 42

Actually not a treason.
Russia is willingly cooperating with USA in dividing the spheres of influence. In our world.
They will not be forgiven for the Palestine which they both shamelessly  sold to genocidals.
So many crimes, well both of them will have to be punished…
 

Posted by: stranger | Jan 9 2026 16:51 utc | 44

While US threatens Iran if protesrors are hurt, video of protestors firing on authorities is published :

https://t.me/pal74press/141657

Posted by: Ornot | Jan 9 2026 18:19 utc | 46

@ malenkov | Jan 9 2026 15:03 utc | 40
 
I just think if we don’t pay attention, nobody will.  And the Palestinians are still there suffering while the rest of the world seems to have lost interest.  I figure that when we post something here, it might at least get passed on to several other people who will then pass it on to still others….
 
Hey, has anyone heard from Julianna lately?  I’m not keeping up with all the threads.
 

Posted by: teri | Jan 9 2026 21:22 utc | 48

see the 2:39 video at the first/second link. Once a pathological nation. always a pathological and mass-murdering baby-killing genocidal nation
 
see the 27-second video at the third/fourth link. 
 
 
 
https://x.com/RamAbdu/status/2009587427619541114
Ramy Abdu| رامي عبده  @RamAbdu 
 
“Israeli Quadcopters were emitting baby sounds, playing sounds of screaming women.”
 
 
https://x.com/AJIunit/status/1863553707897680291
Al Jazeera Investigations  @AJIunit 
 
“Quadcopters were emitting baby sounds, playing sounds of screaming women.” 
 
Palestinians in Gaza say Israel has been using small quadcopter drones, equipped with loudspeakers, to lure them out of their homes and then shoot them. #GazaCrimes
 
——————-
 
https://x.com/AliAbunimah/status/2009596476398411810
Ali Abunimah  @AliAbunimah 
 
The same @EUinIsrael officials who express outrage and horror whenever an Israeli settler is scratched maintain their cruel, stony, sociopathic silence whenever their favorite trade and genocide “partners” do this to Palestinians.
 
 
https://x.com/RamAbdu/status/2009592442568192153
Ramy Abdu| رامي عبده  @RamAbdu 
 
🚨The collapse of homes bombed by Israel continues to claim innocent lives. A house just caved in on children who had returned to their previously destroyed home amid harsh weather and Israel’s ban on bringing in shelter materials.
 

Posted by: michaelj72 | Jan 10 2026 1:18 utc | 50

Posted by: michaelj72 | Jan 10 2026 1:18 utc | 51
 
“Israeli Quadcopters were emitting baby sounds, playing sounds of screaming women.” 
That’s something predators do to lure out there prey. These are not animals, these are monsters.

Posted by: David G Horsman | Jan 10 2026 3:02 utc | 52

Yet Another Video Showing Armed Militants Attacking Iranian Police in Kermanshah
 
https://x.com/angeloinchina/status/2009829531264405565
 
“The usual suspects immediately come to mind: remnants of ISIS cells, Kurdish separatist groups, Baluchi insurgents – or, most plausibly, Israeli-directed networks operating under the familiar false-flag of ‘protest crowd…”

Posted by: John Gilberts | Jan 10 2026 4:34 utc | 54

see the 2:34 video at the link
 
 
 
https://x.com/OunkaOnX/status/2008938480332587386
Ounka  @OunkaOnX 
 
A review of over 35,000 BBC reports found that Israeli deaths received 33 times more coverage per fatality, along with far more emotive language
 
 
https://cfmm.org.uk/bbc-on-gaza-israel-one-story-double-standards/
CfMM’s new report concludes that the BBC is systematically biased against Palestinians in Gaza war coverage. 
 
Analysis of 35,000+ pieces of BBC content shows Israeli deaths given 33 times more coverage, per fatality, and significantly more emotive language 
 
– Palestinian deaths treated as less newsworthy: Despite Gaza suffering 34x more casualties than Israel, BBC gave Israeli deaths 33 times more coverage per fatality and ran almost equal numbers of humanising victim profiles (279 Palestinians vs 201 Israelis). 
 
– Systematic language bias favouring Israelis: BBC used emotive terms 4 times more for Israeli victims, applied ‘massacre’ 18x more to Israeli casualties, and used ‘murder’ 220 times for Israelis vs once for Palestinians. 
 
– Suppression of genocide allegations: BBC presenters shut down genocide claims in over 100 documented instances whilst making zero mention of Israeli leaders’ genocidal statements, including Netanyahu’s biblical Amalek reference.
 
– Muffling Palestinian voices: The BBC interviewed significantly fewer Palestinians than Israelis (1,085 v 2,350) on TV and radio, while BBC presenters shared the Israeli perspective 11 times more frequently than the Palestinian perspective (2,340 v 217).   
 
…..The study, conducted by the Centre for Media Monitoring, analysed 3,873 articles and 32,092 broadcast segments from 7 October 2023 to 6 October 2024, alongside comparative analysis of 7,748 articles on the Ukraine conflict. During the analysis period, 42,010 Palestinians and 1,246 Israelis were killed – a 34:1 ratio that provides crucial context for assessing the impartiality of the BBC’s coverage. It also used extensive case studies extending into 2025. 
 
The report reveals a systematic omission of key historical and contemporary context that has acquired an institutional quality at the BBC. Whether this be overlooking the genocidal rhetoric of Israeli leaders – now referenced in war crimes charges against them – or properly scrutinising Israeli claims and denials in the face of ethnic cleansing and other war crimes, the BBC have simply underreported what is now overwhelmingly being seen as a ‘live-streamed genocide’ and crimes against humanity……….
 
 

Posted by: michaelj72 | Jan 10 2026 7:09 utc | 56

FRANCESCA ALBNESE, UN SPECIAL REPORTEUR oPT

Likely raped to death. A doctor. A stellar surgeon. The embodiment of Palestinian ethics. Likely raped to death.
 
The racism of Western media who are not covering this, and Western politicians who are not denouncing this, together with the thousand other testimonies and allegations of rape and other forms of mistreatment and torture that Palestinians have suffered in Israeli jails, is absolutely sickening.

 
https://x.com/FranceskAlbs/status/1858304872963010840
 

Posted by: Menz | Jan 10 2026 8:14 utc | 58

AIDNMARKI
 
2024 BBC interview with South Yemeni separatist leader Aidarous al-Zubaidi, from the documentary “American Mercenaries: Killing in Yemen.
 
The STC facilitated UAE-sponsored assassinations in South Yemen and recruited senior al-Qaeda figures to carry them out.

 
https://x.com/aldnmarki/status/2009695724599152902
 

Posted by: Menz | Jan 10 2026 8:41 utc | 60

“teri” ( Jan 9 2026 21:22 utc | 49 ):
She’s posting in the latest open thread.
 

Posted by: Sunny Runny Burger | Jan 10 2026 13:59 utc | 62

see the 2:39 video at the first/second link
 
see the 13:51 video at the third link
 
see the photo at the fourth link. lol 🙂
 
 
 
 
https://x.com/MaxBlumenthal/status/2009848004778615060
Max Blumenthal  @MaxBlumenthal 
 
Argentina gave sanctuary to Nazi war criminals after the Holocaust in WWII 
 
Today, the country’s Patagonia region has become a haven for Israeli war criminals who participated in the Gaza Holocaust 
 
And under Javier Milei, they even receive special access to social benefits
 
 
https://x.com/TheGrayzoneNews/status/2009837749935784008
The Grayzone  @TheGrayzoneNews 
 
Under Javier Milei, Argentina has given state benefits to Israeli expats, while Patagonia has become a haven for ex-IDF soldiers fearing Gaza war crimes charges 
 
As Patagonia burns, journalist Sebastian Salgado recalls how Israelis have set fires in the region
 
 
https://x.com/TheGrayzoneNews/status/2009837751441461656
The Grayzone  @TheGrayzoneNews 
 
Watch our July 2025 report on Israeli war criminals hiding out in Patagonia, where ultra-Zionist Argentine Pres. Javier Milei is holding a fire sale of his country’s southern lands
 
———————
 
https://x.com/Partisan_12/status/2009710515895873548
The Resonance  @Partisan_12 
 
An Iranian lights his cigarette on a burning Israel flag.
 

Posted by: michaelj72 | Jan 10 2026 19:56 utc | 64

Three board members resign from Adelaide festival as Randa Abdel-Fattah sends legal notice
 
Resignations follow withdrawal of more than 70 participants in writers’ week after Palestinian Australian author disinvited
 
The Adelaide festival is facing an unprecedented leadership crisis after three board members resigned this weekend.
 
 
The journalist Daniela Ritorto, the Adelaide businesswoman Donny Walford and the lawyer Nick Linke have stepped down since the board’s controversial decision to dump the Palestinian Australian author Randa Abdel-Fattah from the 2026 writers’ week program.
 
 
The sudden departures follow the withdrawal of more than 70 participants of next month’s festival events.
 
It remains unclear how the board will be able to reach a quorum, potentially paralysing its legal authority to make decisions for the 2026 event.
 
Under the Adelaide Festival Corporation Act 1998, the board must adhere to strict gender composition rules. With Linke’s departure, only one man, Adelaide airport’s managing director, Brenton Cox, remains. The act requires a minimum of two men and two women on the board.
 
The board has made no public comment since announcing the cancellation of Abdel-Fattah last Thursday.
 
More….
https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2026/jan/11/three-board-members-resign-from-adelaide-festival-as-randa-abdel-fattah-sends-legal-notice-ntwnfb
 

Posted by: Menz | Jan 11 2026 7:33 utc | 66