7 October 2023: What really happened? Part 1
Eugene Doyle

7 October 2023: What really happened? Part 1

At dawn, on 7 October 2023, Hamas fighters blast over 100 holes in the walls and fences that separate the Gaza Strip from Israel.

Message from the editor
Catriona Jackson

Message from the editor

If you do a Google search for the US federal health department (Health and Human Services) site, as I did this week, a big red banner pops up (over a homepage filled with happy snaps of Trump and Kennedy, and the Make America Healthy Again slogan).

Chris Hedges – Statement by the National Press Club ( 4 October 2025)
National Press Club of Australia

Chris Hedges – Statement by the National Press Club ( 4 October 2025)

Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Chris Hedges' forthcoming address to Australia's National Press Club on Gaza has been cancelled, as revealed in an article published during the weekend. The National Press Club has responded in a media statement.


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South Korea’s anti-China protests
Jeffrey Robertson

South Korea’s anti-China protests

This week, South Korean authorities expressed concern regarding the potential impact of anti-China protests during APEC.

This is not a drill: Bravery as strategy in the face of American tragedy
Ben Manski

This is not a drill: Bravery as strategy in the face of American tragedy

In recent memory, the prospect of a president preventing Congressional elections from taking effect has been unimaginable. But today, it is not at all hard to imagine that this could happen.

Palestinians out by 7 October?
Alison Broinowski

Palestinians out by 7 October?

No wonder Israel’s prime minister was grinning. He had his fourth meeting this year with President Trump. He also got what he came for: permission to finish the job.

The malignant minds taking over the American health sector
Joey T. McFadden

The malignant minds taking over the American health sector

“He enjoyed showing people how he put baby chickens and mice in the blender to feed his hawks.” It was a striking description of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., written by his cousin, Ambassador Caroline Kennedy.

Individualism and desire – are we really in control?
Alexander Douglas

Individualism and desire – are we really in control?

In an age of influencers and online echo chambers, the French literary theorist and anthropologist René Girard (1923-2015) feels strikingly relevant.

Nation's innovation surge continues a long tradition
Christopher Tang

Nation's innovation surge continues a long tradition

Many in the West mistakenly think that China lacks innovation, but this view is outdated.

Orwell foresees the 21st century
Richard Cullen

Orwell foresees the 21st century

George Orwell completed his most famous novel 1984 in 1948, shortly before his early death at 46. A few years earlier, in a remarkable short 1945 essay, Orwell foresaw a future world order overseen by America, Russia and China.

Dementia president: Could it be that Trump has truly lost his mind?
Robert Reich

Dementia president: Could it be that Trump has truly lost his mind?

Given his behaviour, it could very well be that the president of the United States is going nuts.

Latest on Palestine and Israel

7 October 2023: What really happened? Part 1
Eugene Doyle

7 October 2023: What really happened? Part 1

At dawn, on 7 October 2023, Hamas fighters blast over 100 holes in the walls and fences that separate the Gaza Strip from Israel.

Chris Hedges – Statement by the National Press Club ( 4 October 2025)
National Press Club of Australia

Chris Hedges – Statement by the National Press Club ( 4 October 2025)

Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Chris Hedges' forthcoming address to Australia's National Press Club on Gaza has been cancelled, as revealed in an article published during the weekend. The National Press Club has responded in a media statement.

Palestinians out by 7 October?
Alison Broinowski

Palestinians out by 7 October?

No wonder Israel’s prime minister was grinning. He had his fourth meeting this year with President Trump. He also got what he came for: permission to finish the job.

Hedges Report: NPC Australia caves to Israel Lobby, cancels talk on our betrayal of Palestinian journalists
Chris Hedges

Hedges Report: NPC Australia caves to Israel Lobby, cancels talk on our betrayal of Palestinian journalists

The National Press Club of Australia cancelled my talk on how the media, by amplifying Israeli lies, have betrayed Palestinian journalists, 278 of whom have been assassinated by Israel.

No justice or peace for Palestinians in Trump’s Plan
John Menadue

No justice or peace for Palestinians in Trump’s Plan

The Trump Plan is designed to reframe the issues in favour of Israel. Palestinians have been betrayed again.

Israel’s interception of the Gaza aid flotilla is a clear violation of international law
Donald Rothwell

Israel’s interception of the Gaza aid flotilla is a clear violation of international law

The Israel Defence Force has intercepted a flotilla of humanitarian vessels seeking to deliver aid to Gaza, taking control of multiple vessels and arresting activists, including Greta Thunberg.

What do Palestinian Australians think of the Trump peace plan?
Shaoquett Moselmane

What do Palestinian Australians think of the Trump peace plan?

Irrespective of what Hamas’ decides, Trump’s peace plan is a bitter pill to swallow. Damned if you do and damned if you don’t.

Erasing Gaza's ecosystem
Richard Cullen

Erasing Gaza's ecosystem

Israel is rightly known for its technological prowess, not least when it comes to making war.


John Menadue's book on Israel's war against Gaza

Israel's war against Gaza

Media coverage of the war in Gaza since October 2023 has spread a series of lies propagated by Israel and the United States. This publication presents information, analysis, clarification, views and perspectives largely unavailable in mainstream media in Australia and elsewhere.

Download the PDF

Latest on China

South Korea’s anti-China protests
Jeffrey Robertson

South Korea’s anti-China protests

This week, South Korean authorities expressed concern regarding the potential impact of anti-China protests during APEC.

Nation's innovation surge continues a long tradition
Christopher Tang

Nation's innovation surge continues a long tradition

Many in the West mistakenly think that China lacks innovation, but this view is outdated.

China’s youth: Between collectivism and the new individualism
John Frew

China’s youth: Between collectivism and the new individualism

On a recent trip through China, I was struck by the contrast between its classrooms and its city streets.


John Menadue

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More from Pearls and Irritations


Latest letters to the editor

Another 20th century giant has left the building

John Mosig — Kew, Victoria

As we slide deeper and deeper into the vortex of the 21st century, we’re farewelling more and more of the people who, through their intellect and character, have shaped the way we view the world in which we live. Jane Goodall joins Curie, Fleming, Gandhi and Einstein in that honoured pantheon. Through her work among our nearest cousins in their natural state, she confirmed we are risen apes, not the fallen angels our egotistical backstory would have us as. Whether this revelation is going to help us with the problem of living with each other and stabilising the climate...
How can something that has never existed end?

Les Macdonald — Balmain NSW 2041

I totally understand Amy's concern but I think it is based upon an assumption that doesn't accord with historical fact. The truth is, the framers of the US Constitution were not creating a democracy. They were very clear that they were creating a republic. They deliberately wrote that constitution to prevent democracy, but to create an image that could be sold as democracy. All that has really happened under the Orange Donald is that any pretence of democracy has now been utterly eliminated.
Western application of law of the sea

Les Macdonald — Balmain NSW 2041

The UN convention on the law of the sea (which is international law), in force since 1994, has been entered into by 170 state parties and covers such matters as freedom of navigation. Under Article 19 of the United Nations Law of the Sea Convention, a warship can sail within the 12 nautical-mile territorial sea of another nation's coastline “so long as it is not prejudicial to the peace, good order or security of the coastal State. The US has refused to sign on to the convention but uses it constantly against China, which has signed on to...
Silence is golden

Bob Pearce — Adelaide SA

Recently, a friend shared with me this quote, “When you put a clown in a castle he doesn’t become a king, but the castle becomes a circus. I have, for some time, been concerned how news about the US/Trump is dominating our local news, invading our news sovereignty if you like. I have imposed my own silence by tuning out local news which may work to the advantage of our local politics but I do miss the sports results.



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