'Full of tears', 1000 Palestinian children graduate from Gaza school for orphans
Brett Wilkins

'Full of tears', 1000 Palestinian children graduate from Gaza school for orphans

The children wept, as no parents were there to share the moment – their parents had been killed by the Israeli army, said one observer.

Leunig cartoon: Antisemitism or valid political comment?
Harold Zwier

Leunig cartoon: Antisemitism or valid political comment?

This article was originally published in The Age in November 2012. The republishing of the Leunig cartoon in Pearl and Irritations brought my article to mind.

Modelling consultative ineptitude at the economic roundtable
Paddy Gourley

Gourley on Government

Modelling consultative ineptitude at the economic roundtable

It’s to be hoped the federal government’s Economic Reform Roundtable being held this week signifies an intention to do more about something that truly matters – better productivity.


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The promised ceasefire and Gaza’s shattered hopes
Refaat Ibrahim

The promised ceasefire and Gaza’s shattered hopes

Since the outbreak of the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip on 7 October 2023, talk of a “nearby ceasefire” or an “imminent halt to hostilities” has never ceased.

Understanding Donald J. Trump
Patricia Edgar

Understanding Donald J. Trump

I think I am in a bad dream and soon I will wake and find Donald J. Trump didn’t happen.

Obstacles to childcare safety reform: Government is the problem
Damian Coburn

Obstacles to childcare safety reform: Government is the problem

The wheels of government (small “g” – politicians and public servants) are turning to Do Something about childcare safety.

Know thy neighbour – he's getting gun-happy
Duncan Graham

Know thy neighbour – he's getting gun-happy

What does Australia’s legacy media think you want to know about Indonesia?

Contacts, connections and collaborations: creating value in innovation ecosystems
John H Howard

Contacts, connections and collaborations: creating value in innovation ecosystems

In an era saturated with digital platforms, it is easy to mistake connections for collaborations in innovation ecosystems.

Say no to sportswashing Israel's crimes
Margaret Cassar

Say no to sportswashing Israel's crimes

Our governments have long been aware of the importance of sport to the national psyche.

The quest for 21st century Australian productivity is being held back by our archaic TAFE system
Neil Hauxwell

The quest for 21st century Australian productivity is being held back by our archaic TAFE system

It is dynamism in the workplace that leads to productivity improvement.

The city on a hill
John McCarthy

The city on a hill

Since President Trump’s inauguration, America’s friends and enemies — categories increasingly hard to define with precision — have been buffeted by the Administration’s policy vicissitudes.

Latest on Palestine and Israel

'Full of tears', 1000 Palestinian children graduate from Gaza school for orphans
Brett Wilkins

'Full of tears', 1000 Palestinian children graduate from Gaza school for orphans

The children wept, as no parents were there to share the moment – their parents had been killed by the Israeli army, said one observer.

The promised ceasefire and Gaza’s shattered hopes
Refaat Ibrahim

The promised ceasefire and Gaza’s shattered hopes

Since the outbreak of the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip on 7 October 2023, talk of a “nearby ceasefire” or an “imminent halt to hostilities” has never ceased.

Open letter to journalists on the vast undercount of deaths and serious injuries in Gaza
Ralph Nader

Open letter to journalists on the vast undercount of deaths and serious injuries in Gaza

Ralph Nader urges prominent journalists [listed below] to reject deliberate undercounting, and accurately report the number of Palestinian killed in the genocide.

Requiem for liberalism: Palestine and the exposure of Western ideals
Pam Stavropoulos

Requiem for liberalism: Palestine and the exposure of Western ideals

Continued enabling by ostensibly liberal democratic governments of the ongoing genocide in Gaza (where increased condemnation remains unmatched by tangible actions to end the carnage) reveals more than the hypocrisy of those who purport to represent us.

The response to recognition
Paul Heywood-Smith

The response to recognition

The recognition of the State of Palestine by Australia, leading, it is hoped, to full UN member state status, is an important development.

Michael Leunig

First they came for the Palestinians

A Michael Leunig cartoon from 2012, that holds its relevance.

After the genocide in Gaza
Peter Blunt

After the genocide in Gaza

So what happens next, sports fans, fellow Australian citizens? Now that Israel is starting to run out of Palestinian children and women to kill, hospitals to smash, and people to starve.


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.

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Latest on China

Breaking: Chilling ‘News Virus’ sweeps Australia
Fred Zhang

Anti-China Media Watch

Breaking: Chilling ‘News Virus’ sweeps Australia

Chikungunya is a virus first identified in 1952 in what is now Tanzania, carried by mosquitoes, long since a globetrotter.

China’s consumption weighed down by weak expectations
Yang Yao

China’s consumption weighed down by weak expectations

China’s economy registered a respectable GDP growth rate of 5.3% in the first half of 2025.

Why Western hegemony is over
Jeffrey D. Sachs,  Josephine Ma

Why Western hegemony is over

The tariff truce between China and the United States is set to end in August. What do you forecast will happen after that? And what will happen to trade relations between China and the US for the rest of US President Donald Trump’s second term?


John Menadue

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More from Pearls and Irritations


Latest letters to the editor

Recognition of Palestine matters-II

Jeff Kildea — Sydney

In answer to Margaret Callinan’s comment on my article, the current debate is not about recognising Palestine as a nation, but about recognising it as a state. There is a difference. The Australian Government’s recognition proposal limits the borders of the state of Palestine to Gaza and the West Bank. That is what is wrong in principle and a colonialist imposition.
Outside interference-II

Jeff Kildea — Sydney

In response to my article, Simon Tatz writes, The only resolution is one determined by the Palestinian and Israeli people. That was my point. Please reread my articles.
Uni codes of conduct versus academic free speech

Gideon Polya — Macleod, Melbourne, Victoria

Excellent article by Greg Barns. A science academic for four decades, I strongly objected to Codes of Conduct constraining academic free speech, and 25 years ago published a detailed critique entitled “Current censorship and self-censorship in Australian universities” that concluded “We should publicly insist that universities that constrain free speech are not fit for our children”. As illustrated by the shocking Bendigo Writers Festival censorship debacle, free speech-constraining codes of conduct are now in place in Australian universities and threaten academic free speech and Australia’s $40 billion per annum education export industry. The Big Eight universities and numerous other...
Forensic examination of Western duplicity

Les Macdonald — Balmain NSW 2041

This is one of the most perceptive and revealing examinations of the vast gap between our vaunted values and our real world practice that I have seen anywhere. Her analysis is couched in academic discourse and logic, but with the vital addition of the other human attributes that must exist together with it if reason is to be brought back to any objectively observable reality. I am grateful to Pam for her clarity of thought and her willingness to deal objectively with the differences between who we claim we are and who we actually are! She unflinchingly examines the...



Latest from Al Jazeera

Most Americans support international recognition of Palestine: Poll
A Reuters/Ipsos survey shows 59 percent of US respondents say Israel's military campaign in Gaza has been excessive.
Abdullah left Gaza for treatment in Turkiye, but it was too late
After reaching a hospital in Turkiye, four-year-old Abdullah Abu Zerka died of malnutrition. His sister still fights on.
Winds complicate wildfire battles in Spain; Portugal suffers third death
Firefighters are battling 21 blazes in western Spain, while a man in Portugal was killed while fighting wildfires.
Trump calls on Fed Gov Cook to resign over mortgage allegations
The resignation calls intensify Trump’s attempts to yield influence over the central bank.
Ugandan official denies reports that it will take US deportees
US government documents obtained by CBS had said Trump signed deals with Uganda and Honduras to take foreign deportees.
US expands sanctions targeting International Criminal Court
United States expands attacks on International Criminal Court amid growing scrutiny over Israeli abuses in Gaza.