Last Monday night I was part of a panel discussion on the future of Palestine with a fascinating group.

They were: Mussa Hijazi, a Palestinian community leader and lawyer; Jack Waterford, former editor of The Canberra Times and P&I columnist: Greens Senator for NSW Mehreen Faruqi, and ALP MP for Chifley, Ed Husic.

I emphasised the importance of free and independent media and of a robust protest movement and talked about the shift from tiny demonstrations in late 2023 and early 2024 to mass global protests that we are seeing now to stop the Israeli genocide.

Despite overwhelming public opinion, the full-scale occupation of Gaza seems unstoppable as does the killing. Next week, many of us will return to the streets for a national day of protest demanding more from our government, and sending a clear signal to Palestinians that they are not alone. We will bring you further details.

Even as the atrocities fill our TV screens and social media feeds, examples of petty censorship continue. Last Friday we relayed the story of a group from Bundeena NSW. They were planning a meeting to discuss Palestine and screen a film. The venue invitation was cancelled after an intervention from the Jewish board of deputies.

You may have been surprised to see Bertrand Russell’s name on the author list yesterday. A loyal reader dug out the 31 January 1970, newspaper clipping, believed to be the last written words from the great philosopher, pacifist and public intellectual. Russell said: “No people anywhere in the world would accept being expelled en masse from their own country; how can anyone require the people of Palestine to accept a punishment which nobody else would tolerate?” Russell’s words are as relevant today as they were 55 years ago.

Over the weekend Michael Keating investigated the causes of the productivity slowdown as we head into the government’s three-day Economic Reform Roundtable. David Armstrong headed his fortnightly Asian Media Report with the fascinating question: Why is Donald Trump punishing India so much more harshly than China for buying Russian oil?

This morning, don’t miss Joe Camilleri’s assessment of the Trump-Putin meeting in Alaska and what it will mean for the long-running war in Ukraine. Tomorrow, Jack Waterford asks: What on earth was the Department of Finance thinking when they allowed consultant PwC back into the Commonwealth Government tent, and what does it say about APS accountability?

Until next week.