A Ukrainian woman whose son was killed in the war just weeks ago has told of her hurt created by Writers’ Week giving a platform to a controversial author.
A Ukrainian woman has publicly protested against the inclusion of controversial Palestinian-American writer Susan Abulhawa at Adelaide Festival Writers’ Week, just weeks after she says her son was killed on the frontline by Russian forces.
An emotional Nataliia Bakhurynska joined several members of the South Australian Ukrainian and Jewish communities at Tuesday afternoon’s session.
They stood in solidarity with signs condemning “hate speech” as Ms Abulhawa took to the stage to discuss “fiction in politics”.
But for Ms Bakhurynska, the denunciation of what she called Ms Abulhawa’s “pro-Putin propaganda” was more personal.
“My son defended Ukraine for six months and he died one month ago,” she said.
“It’s hurtful that this woman who wants to talk about human rights issues and protecting Palestinian women’s rights can at the same time proclaim Russia’s propaganda about war.”
During the public session, another Ukrainian protester Valentine Shimaniuk approached the stage to verbalise his disapproval at Ms Abulhawa’s presence.
The incident was met with unrest and booing from the crowd, prompting security to escort him from the area.
Ms Bakhurynska said that was a sign “Putin’s propaganda was working”.
Read the article by Todd Lewis and Lauren Thomas-Nehmy in The Advertiser.