Sydney Library Pulls Controversial Gaza Book Amid Survivor Complaints

On August 18, 2026, Waverley Council confirmed that *How to Sell a Genocide: The Media’s Complicity in the Destruction of Gaza* by U.S. writer Adam Johnson was taken off the shelves of Waverley Library in Bondi Junction. The book, published in April by Pluto Press, argues that U.S. media “systematically sanitised Israel’s war crimes” and labels the Gaza conflict as genocide.

The Sydney Morning HeraldThe GuardianThe Independent

The removal followed a report by the Jewish news service JWire that a survivor of the December 2025 Bondi Beach massacre posted on Facebook that seeing the title on the library’s “What’s Hot” shelf was distressing. Waverley Library serves Bondi and surrounding eastern-Sydney suburbs, home to one of Australia’s largest Jewish communities and located minutes from the massacre site.

The Independent

Earlier this year, the New South Wales parliament amended the state Library Act to safeguard libraries from “US-style” book-banning campaigns, a move championed by Arts Minister John Graham.

The Sydney Morning Herald

Arts Minister John Graham said the amendments are intended to protect libraries from coordinated attempts to ban titles.

The Sydney Morning Herald

Mayor Will Nemesh and Special Minister of State John Graham were later asked to justify the removal under the new legislation; no response was recorded at the time of reporting.

The Guardian

• The Bondi Beach massacre in December 2025 resulted in 15 fatalities.

The Independent

• Reports to the Australian Library and Information Association indicate more than 300 attempts to remove over 180 titles from Australian libraries since 2023.

The Sydney Morning Herald

Waverley Council declined to disclose how many complaints were received, the criteria used to decide on removal, or the timeline for the review. The book remains listed in the library catalogue and can still be reserved, but no public statement has clarified whether the removal is temporary or permanent.

The Sydney Morning Herald

• “The book has been removed from library shelves for review, and council will further consider processes to ensure closer oversight of book selection.” — Waverley council spokesperson

The Guardian

• “They seem to be objecting largely based on the title using the word ‘genocide’,” — Adam Johnson, US writer

The Guardian

• “A book of this sort has no place on the shelves of a library, especially one within minutes of where Australians were slaughtered in large part due to the dehumanisation of Jews precisely through this sort of libel,” — Alex Ryvchin, co-chief executive of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry

The Sydney Morning Herald

The council has said the book will stay removed while a review of selection processes is conducted. No specific deadline for the review’s completion has been announced.

The Guardian