The end of genuine, independent analysis on Syria in P&I?

April 11, 2025

Many Australians may agree with Barb Dadd’s views on Syria as they have been pushed by the mainstream media for 14 years. However, that should not be a reason to give them an airing on P&I when John Menadue, P&I’s founder, has made a point of wanting to “tackle the issues swept aside by mainstream media”. He wrote, “Consistently, Pearls and Irritations publishes informed analysis and commentary on issues that matter to Australians…”

If you google “Pearls and Irritations + Syria”, you will find a long list of articles on Syria by analysts such as Dr Jeremy Salt (former Melbourne University academic and author of The Unmaking of the Middle East); Seymour Hersh (veteran investigative journalist); Jeffrey Sachs (Professor of Sustainable Development, Columbia University); Aaron Maté (investigative journalist and author); Chris Ray (journalist who has written for SMH’s Good Weekend on Syria); Rick Sterling (journalist whose interview with Peter Ford, a former UK ambassador to Syria, was recently published by P&I); Kevork Almassian (an Armenian Syrian analyst and podcaster); and Sawsan Madina (former head of SBS Television).

Since December 2022, I have also had articles on Syria published by P&I. I take the task of writing on Syria for P&I very seriously, invariably spending days doing research and checking sources. The editors welcomed references, so I included hyperlinks in my articles.

Does Dadd’s article indicate that P&I is no longer interested in publishing genuine, independent analysis on Syria? I hope not, especially when the people of Syria are now being led by the former head of al-Qaeda in Syria, when Syria is carved up, and when Christians, Alawites, Shia and members of other minorities are being slaughtered by the takfiri groups aligned with the interim president’s regime. Sunni Muslims, who publicly oppose the massacres of civilians, are being killed as well.

These are dangerous times. We desperately need a publication like P&I to offer an alternative to the mainstream media, and so to point out the lies that keep taking our country into catastrophic, illegal wars. Professor Sachs refers to them as “phoney wars”, ones that Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu urged America to wage. Will Australia soon follow the US and Israel into a war against Iran — without any substantial opposition — because we are so poorly served by our media?

We desperately need P&I to stay true to John Menadue’s vision.