An award-winning pro-Palestinian writer has sensationally quit her publisher after claiming they 'capitulated to a smear campaign' by cancelling and pulping thousands of copies of a children's picture book.

Randa Abdel-Fattah's resignation email to the University of Queensland Press (UQP), was published to social media on Thursday.

Her letter, shared by the podcast Lamestream, cited the publisher's decision to pulp all copies of Bila, a river cycle, written by First Nations poet Jazz Money and illustrated by Matt Chun.

It followed reports by Rupert Murdoch's The Australian newspaper that Mr Chun had gone on a 'tirade against Jews and Zionists' in a newsletter titled 'We Don't Mourn Fascists' following the Bondi Beach terror attack.

'I am shocked by UQP's shameful and cowardly decision to capitulate to, and thereby legitimise, yet another Murdoch-driven smear campaign by cancelling Bila,' Dr Abdel-Fattah wrote.

'I want you to imagine that one day people will study this moment. (People) will... read books chronicling how institutions and the arts responded to a genocide.

'And they will read about a publisher pulping 5,000 picture story books written by a brilliant, generous, principled, fierce First Nations poet to appease a racist, pro-genocidal media and political elites. 

'It should never have come to this.'

A statement issued by the University of Queensland confirmed that Bila, a river cycle had been cancelled as a result of Mr Chun's statements.

'In late January, the University paused the scheduled publication of 'Bila, a river cycle' by Jazz Money and illustrator Matt Chun to allow time for statements made by the illustrator Matt Chun in an online article to be considered,' it read.

'The University has determined the statements made by Matt Chun do not align with the University's policies and values or with its adopted definition of antisemitism.

'As a result, this publication of 'Bila, a river cycle' will not proceed.

'The University regrets the impact this matter has on the author of 'Bila, a river cycle', Jazz Money. We have enormous respect for Jazz and her work and we would welcome the opportunity to work with Jazz again in the future.'

The Daily Mail contacted Mr Chun and Ms Money for comment. Ms Money wrote a statement, shared via Lamestream, saying the UQP decision was 'awful'.

'It's environmentally reckless, it's disrespectful of Aboriginal storytelling, and it sets a chilling standard that any perceived activism for Palestine puts livelihoods at risk,' she wrote.

In Mr Chun's article, he claimed 'misinformation disseminated' following the Bondi shooting where 15 innocent people were killed.

'On 14 December, an event hosted by the Zionist Jewish-supremacist organisation Chabad was targeted by shooters on Bondi Beach,' he wrote.

'While this was immediately and widely reported as an 'antisemitic attack' at an 'innocent Hannukah gathering', Chabad is in fact a network of centres and institutions which actively, publicly, and extensively helps to facilitate the ongoing Zionist and Euro-American imperialist holocaust of Palestine. 

'Progressive organisations and community leaders hurriedly produced an avalanche of formal public statements, rushing to co-sign the Zionist rhetoric of 'rising antisemitism', 'terrorism', and 'social cohesion'. 

'The shooting was immediately condemned as an antisemitic hate crime, a framing shared by major Australian Palestine solidarity groups, 'antizionist' collectives, and Benjamin Netanyahu.' 

Authors Natalia Figueroa Barroso and Evelyn Araluen have also said they will be leaving UQP after the children's book was pulped. 

Dr Abdel-Fattah said her 2025 novel Discipline, which draws on themes about the war in Gaza, was at risk of suffering the same fate as Bila, after the book - and her pro-Palestinian support - was contested several times.

'I cannot bear to publish my next book (which I am currently writing) with a publisher that has empowered bullies to move against a First Nations, queer woman poet,' she said.

'And that holds its authors of colour in such contempt. My god, the irony.'

The author, who has also been the target of The Australian's scrutiny, was due to speak about Discipline at Adelaide Writers' Week this year.

However, she was uninvited over 'cultural sensitivity' concerns in the wake of the Bondi Beach terror attack due to her activism.

Jewish academics also wrote to Bendigo Writers Festival last year complaining about her presence on a panel about censorship in media and literature. 

Her appearance at this year's Newcastle Writers' Festival in March was then criticised by Jewish groups and NSW Premier Chris Minns. 

She said the events should have made UQP anticipate what would happen to Ms Money and Mr Chun.

Dr Abdel-Fattah also noted there was no outrage for Palestinian lives lost in Israel's ongoing war with Hamas, compared to fury about Mr Chun's article.

'(Writers and the public) can see through the weaponisation of accusations of antisemitism to censor and punish voices that denounce and oppose... Israel,' she wrote.

'And they can see the travesty that these machinations are being waged against a children's book written by a First Nations writer, and are being indulged by a publisher that has burnished its reputation through publishing First Nations writers.'

She said UQP chose Rupert Murdoch and 'pro-Israel lobbyists' over authors, saying 'this is why Discipline will be my first and last book with UQP'.

'It chose the side of the bullies, the powerful, and the resourced, over marginalised minorities,' the author added.

She then thanked members of the team who 'do not deserve to be tarnished by this ugly, racist decision'.

The Daily Mail has contacted Rupert Murdoch's NewsCorp for comment on Dr Abdel-Fattah's claims.