The real death toll in Gaza
John Menadue

The real death toll in Gaza

The widely “accepted” figure for Palestinian deaths in Gaza is more than 63,000. That is horrific enough , but the number is more likely nearer 300,000. And our media don’t care.

Neo-Nazis and racist rallies - why it is important the Australian media call them for what they are
Denis Muller

Neo-Nazis and racist rallies - why it is important the Australian media call them for what they are

If there was any doubt about neo-Nazi leader Thomas Sewell’s racist and anti-democratic attitudes, they were dispelled on the morning of 2 September when he gatecrashed a press conference by Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan and Treasurer Jaclyn Symes.

Miners want to go green, then we hear News Corp's 'China!' scream
Fred Zhang

Anti-China Media Watch

Miners want to go green, then we hear News Corp's 'China!' scream

Another week, another national security threat, cooked freshly with local ingredients, News Corp’s signature technique, a lot of aged China-threat cliché, and a hint of unprofessional typo.


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Speaking terrorism Part 1: The things we forget
Michael McKinley

Speaking terrorism Part 1: The things we forget

Recent events in Australia and elsewhere have returned the word terrorism to prominence in the discourse of political violence.

Give Asia a break
Teow Loon Ti

Give Asia a break

The article in Pearls and Irritation by Ju Hyung Kim titled “Asia must learn from SEATO and build its own NATO” is disquieting for its attempt to spearhead a disruption of peace and harmony in the East, South and Southeast Asian regions.

'Greatest corruption in presidential history': Trump family reaps US$5b more in crypto profits
Stephen Prager

'Greatest corruption in presidential history': Trump family reaps US$5b more in crypto profits

Your family gets higher energy prices and cuts to healthcare. His family gets billions, said Rep. Greg Casar.

Gaza’s Christians refuse to abandon churches before Israeli attack
Moataz al-Hallaq

Gaza’s Christians refuse to abandon churches before Israeli attack

Two of Gaza City’s churches are in areas where Israel has ordered Palestinians to leave before a planned attack.

The shrinking US Navy submarine force – Implications for AUKUS Pillar 1 (Part 1)
Peter Briggs

The shrinking US Navy submarine force – Implications for AUKUS Pillar 1 (Part 1)

The US Navy’s attack submarine force had been predicted to reduce to 49 in 2030.

As Florida ends all childhood vaccine mandates, doctors fear preventable diseases will 'come roaring back'
Stephen Prager

As Florida ends all childhood vaccine mandates, doctors fear preventable diseases will 'come roaring back'

Florida's decision to erase school vaccine requirements will cause preventable illness and death, said one immunologist. Not just for kids in Florida, for whole communities, of all ages, across the country.

Ambassador for war crimes denial
Marcus Reubenstein

Ambassador for war crimes denial

Arguably the most inflammatory Japanese diplomat ever despatched to Australia, former ambassador Yamagami Shingo, is at it again.

The betrayal of Palestinian journalists
Chris Hedges

The betrayal of Palestinian journalists

Western reporters are full partners in the genocide. They amplify Israeli lies, which they know are lies, betraying Palestinian colleagues who are slandered, targeted and killed by Israel.

Latest on Palestine and Israel

The real death toll in Gaza
John Menadue

The real death toll in Gaza

The widely “accepted” figure for Palestinian deaths in Gaza is more than 63,000. That is horrific enough , but the number is more likely nearer 300,000. And our media don’t care.

Gaza’s Christians refuse to abandon churches before Israeli attack
Moataz al-Hallaq

Gaza’s Christians refuse to abandon churches before Israeli attack

Two of Gaza City’s churches are in areas where Israel has ordered Palestinians to leave before a planned attack.

The betrayal of Palestinian journalists
Chris Hedges

The betrayal of Palestinian journalists

Western reporters are full partners in the genocide. They amplify Israeli lies, which they know are lies, betraying Palestinian colleagues who are slandered, targeted and killed by Israel.

How to stop Israel from starving Gaza
Jeffrey D. Sachs,  Sybil Fares

How to stop Israel from starving Gaza

Israel has crossed the clear line into the darkest crimes.

Canberra and Gaza
Gregory Clark

Canberra and Gaza

It’s time to stop just talking about the Gaza atrocities. It is time to do something about them.

Israel, hasbara, antisemitism and Iran
Sara Dowse

Israel, hasbara, antisemitism and Iran

Not long after the Hamas attack of nearly two years ago, I began perceiving a pattern. With Israel’s reprisal accelerating and Gazan deaths climbing, the near unanimous support for Israel in countries like Australia was starting to crumble.

Re-engineering consciousness in Gaza: How the occupation is turning a structured, educated society into a fragmented and dehumanised one
Refaat Ibrahim

Re-engineering consciousness in Gaza: How the occupation is turning a structured, educated society into a fragmented and dehumanised one

Before the genocide unfolding in the Gaza Strip, Palestinian society was among the most educated and disciplined in the Arab world.

The media’s Israeli atrocity treadmill
Jonathan Cook

The media’s Israeli atrocity treadmill

News outlets are so busy chasing Israel’s latest crime in Gaza — currently its horrific attack on Nasser Hospital — they never pause to piece together the bigger story of genocide.


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

Miners want to go green, then we hear News Corp's 'China!' scream
Fred Zhang

Anti-China Media Watch

Miners want to go green, then we hear News Corp's 'China!' scream

Another week, another national security threat, cooked freshly with local ingredients, News Corp’s signature technique, a lot of aged China-threat cliché, and a hint of unprofessional typo.

A tale of two lists: How geopolitics shaped the attendance of China’s parade
Wanning Sun

A tale of two lists: How geopolitics shaped the attendance of China’s parade

On 3 September 2025, a large-scale parade will be held in Tiananmen Square to mark the 80th anniversary of what has been dubbed by Beijing the Victory of the Chinese People’s War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War.

Beijing invited me to their special celebration. Here's why I'm happy to go
Bob Carr

Beijing invited me to their special celebration. Here's why I'm happy to go

When Australians at their Bakelite radios heard of China’s victory over Japan in 1945, they knew this was the triumph of an ally. World War II had started with the Rape of Nanjing in 1937 and the Chinese lost 20 million people resisting the invasion.


John Menadue

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More from Pearls and Irritations


Latest letters to the editor

Climate criminal Australia's huge CO2 emissions

Gideon Polya — Macleod, Melbourne, Victoria

Important and revealing article by Peter Sprivulis. I have been a career biochemist for the last 50 years and researched energy transduction in plants that over hundreds of millions of years generated huge fossil fuel resources. The atmospheric levels of greenhouse gases (GHGs; notably CO2, CH4, and N2O) from unrestrained fossil fuel and other exploitation are at record highs, are increasing at record rates (notwithstanding “we are tackling climate change” political rhetoric), and existentially threaten humanity and the diosphere (see Gideon Polya, “Climate Crisis, Climate Genocide & Solutions”, 843 pages, 2020). Yet the Australian Government’s “Australian Energy Statistics...
The fog of espionage

Hal Duell — Alice Springs

The fog of war plays a distant second to the fog of espionage. We are witnessing this writ large in the unfolding drama being played out over the alleged Iranian involvement in the recent terrorist attacks against Jewish targets here in Australia. When considering the pros and cons of the arguments being presented, it is important to keep in mind one crucial truth. The various Zionist/Israeli lobbying groups, voicing their opinions and attempting to influence both public opinion and state policy, have a long and proven record of framing the narrative. Saying something first, and loud enough and often...
Labor sets sail in the same policy boat

Bruce Wearne — Ballarat Central

Thank you, Annabel Hennessy, for calling out the persistent policy cruelty of our political “leadership” and its impact upon many stateless refugee neighbours in our midst. The legislation referred to, as background to the Nauru deportation proposal, presents us with the same lethargic compliance we have endured from Liberal-National Coalition hard-heartedness. Are we to allow Australia to take the same new normal path pioneered by the Trump administration to “win” by withholding justice from Kilmar Abrego Garcia? How long will it be before the Labor Party (and its equally lethargic Parliamentary opponents) realise that a healthy Australian democracy has...
Subs deal

Max Bourke AM — Campbell ACT

Noel Turnbull certainly sets out a valid alternative, but I would have thought the whole submarine saga is going to be undermined by drones in any case as the Navy is already developing long-range underwater drones! They will certainly be fully developed well before we ever see the mythical AUKUS subs, or at least my grandchildren see them!



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