Publisher cancels book over illustrator’s antisemitic comments about Bondi

University of Queensland Press has cancelled the publication of a children’s book over comments by the book’s illustrator, Matt Chun, in which he claimed that victims of the Bondi Beach massacre were not innocent.

The University of Queensland announced last week that it would not proceed with the publication of Bila, A River Cycle, written by Jazz Money and illustrated by Chun.

The university said the decision was due to comments Chun made in an online article that “do not align with the University’s policies and values including in light of its adopted definition of antisemitism”.

In an article titled We don’t mourn fascists - Liberal capitulation and the Chabad shooting at Bond, Chun wrote in Substack on January 1: “Whiteness, Jewishness, and the backdrop of Bondi Beach were enough to bestow every person killed with default innocence and virtue. White, Jewish settler victimhood demands exceptional, heightened grief.”

Dymocks booksellers pulled other works by Chun from its shelves in January.

Chun’s history of antisemitic and anti-Israel campaigning includes his leading role in doxing a WhatsApp group of Jewish creatives.

Following the decision to cancel Bila, several authors said they would terminate their contracts or refuse to work with UQP in future. They include the Indigenous and pro-Palestinian poet Evelyn Araluen, the Palestinian Australian author Randa Abdel-Fattah and the Indigenous author Melissa Lucashenko. Others who ended their relationship with UQP were Natalia Figueroa Barroso and Sara Saleh.