Gaza Genocide Book Pulled from Australian Library, APAN Speaks Out
A Palestinian advocacy group has condemned the decision by a library in Sydney, Australia, to withdraw a book about Israel’s genocide in Gaza. Waverley Library removed the book titled How to Sell a Genocide by American media critic Adam Johnson from its collection shelves. The withdrawal came after a complaint from a survivor of an attack targeting a Jewish festival at Bondi Beach last December, in which 15 people were killed.
President of the Australia Palestine Advocacy Network (APAN), Nasser Mashni, condemned Waverley Library’s decision. Mashni urged that access to books discussing the war in Gaza should not be restricted. “Libraries have an obligation to provide access to a diverse range of published works, including works that may challenge views or make some members of the community feel uncomfortable,” Mashni said, as reported by Arab News on Wednesday (19/8/2026).
Mashni said hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have been killed, injured, and displaced from their homes. He stressed that the use of the term genocide in the book was intended to describe what Palestinians have experienced, not to offend any particular party. “History has taught us very clearly what happens when books begin to be banned,” he said.
The book’s author, Adam Johnson, also condemned the library’s decision. He rejected the notion that using the term genocide to describe Israel’s actions in Gaza is an extreme view. “That it upsets some people is unfortunate, but reality often does make people uncomfortable,” Johnson said.
He stressed that the term genocide is not merely his own term or personal conclusion. A number of international organisations and human rights bodies have stated that Israel’s military actions and policies in Gaza meet the elements of genocide under the 1948 Genocide Convention. “But genocide is not my word, or a personal conclusion. The fact of genocide in Gaza is a broad consensus among human rights advocates and is a common view among those tasked with studying and determining such matters,” Johnson said.