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She waits by a phone
that never rings

Roger Franklin

May 13 2024

2 mins

That truth is the first casualty of war is an acknowledged fact. Much less well known, at least according to Australian academic Randa Abdel-Fattah, is that the Gaza conflict has laid bare the ABC’s guilt as an agent of “anti-Palestinian racism in its purest form”.

This accusation may come as a surprise to viewers following the national broadcaster’s coverage of the October 7 outrage and resulting Gaza war, but Ms Abdel-Fattah has the proof: she hasn’t been invited to share her thoughts on air as often as she would like. This alleged snubbing has left her very, very miffed, as she writes on X, formerly Twitter (emphasis added):

I’m an ARC Future Fellow in Sociology, multi-award winning author of 14 books, former lawyer, an Australian Muslim Palestinian Egyptian intimately connected with grassroots community — and yet in the past 7 months I have had a mere 1 invitation for an interview across all platforms of our national broadcaster. That was @abcnews in October 2023. Since then nothing. ABC radio — zero invites ABC Q&A — I have not been invited back onto the program since May 2021 and not for want of my name being pitched. There has only been 1 other Palestinian guest, @iamthenas, and he has only been invited once despite the fact Gaza has been a topic in multiple episodes.
 
This is deliberate, calculated censorship and erasure. There is no question about my qualifications to speak on what is happening, on my scholarly expertise and lived experience. I can run circles around the people on this episode of Insiders for example. This is anti-Palestinian racism in its purest form. It is racial segregation by our national broadcaster which platforms Anglo guests to offer their ideologically loaded opinions whilst Palestinian experts are excluded and deliberately ignored.
 
That I am not surprised by the ABC’s institutional racism (hello @antoinette_news) is not the point of this tweet. My point is that we will keep on writing the record of the ABC’s role as handmaiden to genocide. We will keep on recording this history of racial segregation and the names of the people who make the decisions and the bystanders who chose silence over principled journalism.
 
So ABC, are you brave enough to invite me?
 
X being what is, fellow users’ comments and advice flowed thick and fast. The one below amongst the first and most uncharitable responses:
 
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Roger Franklin

Roger Franklin

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