Sydney Writers Festival invite for barrister Philippe Sands who took on Israel

A barrister who represented Palestine in a case against Israel at the International Court of Justice has been ­invited to the Sydney Writers Festival.

British-French writer and barrister Philippe Sands.

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A barrister who represented Palestine in a case against Israel at the International Court of Justice and argued for the immediate withdrawal of Israel from the ­occupied territories has been ­invited to the Sydney Writers Festival.

The program for this year’s festival is still under wraps, but The Australian has been able to independently ascertain Philippe Sands has been asked to the event. Mr Sands, whose mother was Jewish and French, has also written extensively on the Holocaust. One of his books, The Ratline, is about the hunt for an escaped Nazi, Otto Wachter.

The guestlist for this year’s festival has come under scrutiny after the chair of the board, Kathy Shand, quit just weeks ahead of its release. Israel did not send a representative to the ICJ to counter Mr Sands’ argument, and the Israeli government does not ­accept or recognise the findings, saying the process disregards the “thousands of dead and wounded ­Israelis who have fallen victim to … hatred and terrorism”.

The Ratline by Philippe Sands.

Mr Sands did not respond to a request for information about whether he had accepted an invitation to attend this year’s festival, but The Australian understands he has been asked to speak on the topic of anti-Semitism, alongside local Jewish writers such as former editor of The Age Michael Gawenda.

The Australian also understands that Ittay Flescher, who has for 20 years divided his time between Melbourne and Jerusalem, has been invited to discuss the peace process in Israel.

His book, The Holy and the Broken, is published by HarperCollins, owned by the publisher of The Australian.

Flescher argues that the Holy Land must be shared by Jews, Christians and Muslims. He has said that he woke on the morning of October 7, 2023, to the sound of sirens over Jerusalem and later witnessed devastation in Gaza.

Shand’s decision to step down has sparked concern. She is known to have loved the event and attended hundreds of sessions since she joined the board 11 years ago.

Shand’s Instagram page is filled with pictures of people engaging with writers and ideas.

Australian businesswoman Kathy Shand, former chair of The Sydney Writers Festival. Picture: LinkedIn

Shand has told friends that she made the “extremely difficult” decision to quit as chair just ahead of this year’s program launch because she was concerned about the festival’s reputation.

She believes that some of the invited speakers – not Sands or Flescher – have expressed deeply anti-Semitic views on their social media accounts.

Robert Watkins of Ultimo Press, who immediately replaced Shand, has countered this, saying the organisers want a respectful exchange of ideas, and have ­invited both Jews and Palestinians to speak.

The Australian cookbook ­author Lisa Goldberg was not invited, and on Instagram said: “The resignation of Kathy Shand as chair of the Sydney Writers Festival highlights the depth of the crisis in the arts world. This needs to be a wake-up call. I used to love the (festival). Over the past few years, I have found too many sessions seriously uncomfortable. Not because there were views with which I didn’t agree, but because there was often no balance.

“I withdrew my support as a patron just before the 2024 festival for this reason and also because it is simply not acceptable to showcase authors/moderators whose sessions and/or social media are full of hate speech. A literary festival is meant to provoke thought and conversation; providing a platform to share hate and vitriol should never be OK.”

Watkins declined to be interviewed ahead of the program’s release on March 13.