It has been difficult to focus on much other than the terrible events in Palestine in recent weeks. It is beyond comprehension that the Israeli Government could have made the war even worse, but with the announcement that it will attempt full occupation of Gaza it has done just that.

I was enormously relieved to hear from our Gaza correspondent Refaat Ibrahim last Friday. As you know, virtually all the news coming from inside Gaza is written by Palestinians, living in the conditions on which they report. With Refaat’s permission, I have included his cover note with his article, to give you an idea of the circumstances he faces daily. Despite all he endures, he works on. His article arrived before the news of the Israeli Government decision to fully occupy Gaza.

Those of us who live in Canberra marched from Civic Square across Commonwealth Avenue Bridge on Saturday. Not quite the Harbour Bridge but we filled it, adding our thousands to the hundreds and hundreds of thousands standing up for Palestine globally.

John's very powerful piece, that led our Sunday publication, makes clear the terrible end game Netanyahu has always been working towards. He calls on our national leaders to shed the pretence, call the war what it is - ethnic cleansing, genocide, apartheid and occupation, and act accordingly. Australians are rising to their feet and demanding it.

You would have seen considerable coverage of the group of former Australian diplomats who raised their voices last week demanding a comprehensive range of actions from our Government, including: recognition of a Palestinian state and demilitarisation of Gaza and the West Bank.

The increasingly erratic behaviour of the US president will remain a focus, as the impacts of his slew of destructive change continues. Nobel Prize winner Paul Krugman has been warning of disastrous economic consequences for some time, make sure you see today’s piece on the prospects of recession in the US and the global ramifications.

On the domestic front we will follow the continuing build-up to next week’s National Economic Reform Roundtable.

On a happy note I am sure the Pearls and Irritations community will join in congratulating Chris Bonnor and Lyndsay Connors who have been jointly named the Public Education Foundation ‘Outstanding Advocate for Public Education’.

Both continue to make a huge contribution to public education. Lyndsay reminds us that we should see a “strong and socially representative public school system as a pillar of our democracy”. You can read more on the past, present and future of public education here.

Until next week.