We urgently need your financial support. We have raised only $78,000 towards our goal of $250,000 by mid-December.

Independent media is more important than ever.

Pearls and Irritations has, for more than two years, highlighted the apartheid, ethnic cleansing and genocide in Gaza. It has also shone a light on hypocrisy – if Palestinians were white Christians the US would have brought an end to this tragedy long ago.

Our leaders in government, media, universities and churches dare not say the word “genocide” because they would then be asked to do something to stop the massacre.

By their silence they have normalised genocide.

What sort of people allow this to happen – and still speak of a “rules-based international order”? Our politicians hypocritically invoke such an order, yet ignore numerous UN resolutions and international laws that should stop the genocide.

Without fearless, independent reporting willing to name genocide, Australians would be left with silence and spin.

At P&I we will continue to raise the climate catastrophe that threatens our common home. David Attenborough prophetically tells us that we face the gravest threat for thousands of years. The greedy polluters at home and abroad must be forced to stop.

Mainstream outlets soften the political realities of climate collapse – we refuse to do so.

We will continue to draw attention to our dangerous ally that is more likely to get us into wars than defend us. With the dangerous and unpredictable Trump administration, we must seize the opportunity to carefully disengage from a country that is almost always at war. Talk of shared values with the US now rings hollow. We must redouble our diplomatic efforts to build stronger relations in our region, particularly with Indonesia and China.

Only independent media can challenge a foreign policy grounded in Australia’s interests – not Washington’s demands.

Our institutions, particularly our legal system, are in better shape than most. But the 50th Anniversary of the Dismissal reminds us that duplicity in public life by the powerful must never be discounted – and that our democratic safeguards must be strengthened, not taken for granted.

Dog whistling on migration in the past has been a cover for racism. We are seeing it raised again by desperate politicians. And our dumping of fellow human beings in Nauru is a disgrace.

We will continue to call out the failures in government integrity. Lobbyists for the powerful gambling, fossil fuels and private education and health sectors secretly pressure governments for money and influence.

Despite all the propaganda, we have a lame-duck anti-corruption commission. FOI legislation will make it even harder for the public to know what is happening behind the veil of secrecy.

In these and many other areas P&I is growing in influence because so many Australians have lost confidence in our mainstream media – particularly the Murdoch media. For the last two years the corporate media has been the platform for Zionist propaganda. Critics of the holocaust in Gaza are accused of anti-semitism.

At P&I we want to raise our voice – and your voice – even louder. We need your help more than ever.

We are only 30 per cent towards our target. We have only 19 days to go.

We do not accept advertising. We are not in the pockets of politicians and political parties. We are not under the sway of the corporate world.

We cannot do this work without you. Every contribution, large or small, protects independent journalism. We are deeply grateful to everyone who has already supported us – your generosity keeps P&I alive.

We are Australia’s independent media – and we rely entirely on readers like you.

Please donate today. Your donation via the Australian Cultural Fund is tax deductible

John Menadue Chair

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