Clementine Ford has no place

at Writers' Week. That someone who is openly helped to out a private group of Jewish artists, writers and other creative people and published details about them simply to stir up trouble is  totally and utterly unacceptable. 

No doubt I will be heavily criticised for saying that. I will be told that this is about "freedom of speech" and that Ford has "every right to express her opinion".  If you do say that then you will be wrong. This was not about any form of freedom of speech. There was no need to do what was done. It was not done to try and prevent harm. It was not done for the purpose of informing people. It was not done for debate. It was done for hate.

We do have a right to express opinion in this country. I am doing it right now. That right comes with responsibilities. One of those responsibilities is not to cause harm to others. Ford knew full well that publishing that list was going to cause harm. She intended it to cause harm. She has made no secret of the fact that she is anti-Israel and pro-Palestine. She also uses her position to make sure others know what she believes...and encourage them to believe the same.

Writers' Week, as I first knew it, was a wonderful event. It was there for writers as much as it was there for readers. I am fortunate in having met many amazing writers. They did not always agree with one another. There could be some clashes at times but, with one or two exceptions, they would shake hands or clap each other on the shoulder or hug at the end of a session. They would introduce me to their friends and their not-so-friends. Their politics varied as widely as their writing styles. They went out into schools to talk about writing, not politics or issues. The events for the general public were also about writing too. It is what people wanted to know about. How do you write? Where do your ideas come from? How do you plot? What is structure? How do you build a character?

It seems that has gone now. The week now seems to be largely about people like Ford and politicians, past and present, who are there with a "message". It might stir people up - but are they reading? I suspect most of them will go to the library for the latest well written crime or romance instead.  Perhaps they will be better off for it as well.