I hope you have had time to read our offerings on the terrible shootings at Bondi this week. Amidst a thicket of coverage, here and overseas, many readers were struggling to process the tragic events.

On Tuesday George Browning crystallised what many were feeling when he said: “No, Mr Netanyahu, Mr Albanese is not responsible for any antisemitism in Australia, you are. You are similarly responsible for its growing presence in the US, Britain, Europe and many other places throughout the world.”

Later in the week respected Jewish feminist Sara Dowse talked of the events from her perspective, concluding that: “What we need is greater, more nuanced understanding of an age-old European prejudice culminating in the Holocaust, itself giving rise to a militarised Zionist state as refuge for Jews in what had been British Mandate Palestine, but a subsequent hell for its Palestinian inhabitants. What we don’t need is more censorship, or a would-be commissar’s overseeing a program of indoctrination.”

Greg Barns and Kym Davey (((INSERT LINK PLS))) made the case for a Royal Commission into the events, particularly the operations of the ASIO. A new P&I writer Sasha Klumov Attard (((INSERT LINK PLS))) this morning cuts thought the clamour around Antisemitism Envoy Jillian Segal’s report. He says: “A government can do two things at once: protect a community facing real threats and refuse to let that fear be weaponised into a partisan battering ram.”

Our aim, in all the coverage, is to deliver clarity and sense.

We have left you an early Christmas present, a new _Pearlcast_ to listen to while you wrap presents or hit the road. The conversation, with John Menadue, Karen Middleton, Greg Barns and I, offers a frank assessment of a year that delivered political power without reform, global upheaval without clarity, and growing unease about where Australia is heading next.

Next year we will accelerate the work we laid the foundations for this year, better, broader communications reaching further to find new readers and authors. There will also be more integration of arts and culture articles into our daily offerings.

But now we need a break. I suspect you do too! This is the last day of publishing until 5 January when a Best of 2025 series will begin. We will return to business as usual with fresh articles your inbox from Tuesday 20 January.

But for now, please accept heartfelt thanks from me and the small, but strong P&I team. You have kept us up to the mark this year, always wanting to know and understand more!

We wish you the best for the Christmas period and beyond.

Until next year.