On the Reading train is a trip down memory lane. Last century sat opposite F.R.Leavis .He disappeared into the toilet, leaving his briefcase on the seat. What was a young English Lit student to do ? What if Leavis had joined God’s other Great Critics in the sky?

‘That Germany has a responsibility to remember the Holocaust is beyond question. But it’s striking how little concern there is for other populations that have experienced racial discrimination or violence at the hands of the Germans.’ @adamshatz.bsky.social in Berlin: www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

Nothing new about letters / phone calls being used to intimidate arts orgs & silence artists.Lobby groups simply ramped up efforts in the last 22 months. hhttps://www.theage.com.au/culture/books/letter-to-bendigo-writers-festival-emerges-flagging-concern-over-palestinian-writer-20250818-p5mnpd.html

Killing journalists. My @smh cartoon.

Shame on me , a book person , failing to spell an author’s name correctly . Forgive me @charlottemendelson.bsky.social

@Charlottemendelsnon.bsky.social thanks for this tribute to Australia’s best literary festival .It was a joy to have you join us . “My uneasy relationship with birdlife continued, until Australia.

Sad news today of the death of Rose Wight , a brilliant Director of Adelaide Writers’ Week and the co-founder of the Festival of Ideas . She was a passionate advocate for writing and reading and her festivals were unmissable for everyone in the book business.

‘It hasn’t escaped Palestinians’ notice that Israel’s strikes against Gaza have been far less precise than its strikes against Iran and Lebanon: a measure of the contempt in which they are held.’ Adam Shatz on the world since 7 October: www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

Read this to understand the playbook that underpins the Segal report and the proposed “report card” to assess the compliance of Australian universities to the lobby’s edicts . www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Exhibit A re Israel’s policy of mass starvation? Oct 9th, 2023 then-Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant declared “I have ordered a complete siege on the Gaza Strip. There will be no electricity, no food, no fuel, everything is closed. We are fighting human animals and we are acting accordingly.”

Gazans are not being starved as a matter of fiat by the Netanyahu government ? Really ?

Dan Tehan has taken trips to Israel - at Israel's expense He is compromised by Israel's many gifts to him and their soft propaganda fed to him Dan Tehan is not a reliable source

He argued the point saying we needed to know *the facts*, suggesting what we have currently from Gaza is not reliable. Every time someone says this they should be reminded that Palestinian journalists get killed, sometimes deliberately, and Israel won’t allow access to International press.

Here’s the link to the Ha’aretz article. www.haaretz.com/israel-news/...

You can’t say you didn’t know . Adi Ronen Argov’s project documents the reality in Gaza and the West Bank on her website “The Daily File“ and collects data “Forcibly Involved”. “The children haunt me at night': A protest forces Israelis to face kids killed in Gaza.

Devastating . “Our Palestinian friends on the West Bank sometimes say, correctly, “War or no war, it hardly matters—we are living on the edge of an abyss…If Israel’s external enemies have been temporarily defeated, the rampant internal illness of this country remains to be healed.”

@cathywilcox.bsky.social nails it again! 👏👏👏

Yet again, to our shame, an Israeli newspaper is more forthright than our mass media and politicians "Under the smokescreen of Gaza's destruction, Israel has been working simultaneously on two tracks – a genocide in Gaza and ethnic cleansing in the West Bank" www.haaretz.com/opinion/2025...

@jennaprice.bsky.social well said!

"How is it even possible that the government did not check on those adjacent to #JillianSegal? How did it think it was appropriate to nominate a person to this role who so clearly supports Israel's current behaviour?" 💯 For Albo, seems that social cohesion ranks behind appeasing the Israel lobby.

To understand the deeply ideological and dangerous implications of the Segal evidence-empty report , read Australia’s literary luminary #RichardFlanagan. www.smh.com.au/national/to-...

I should add that it is an honour to be cited alongside #ProfessorBenSaul, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms while Countering Terrorism.

The Oz opinionistas matter little given the paper’s circulation but here’s a screenshot of their latest effort .Two women in Adelaide came up to me and said we like politics but more fiction please? Another attendee replied: if you want fiction buy The Australian. Gotta love our festival audience.

Watched Louis Theroux’s doco The Settlers tonight on i-view. Worth a watch. Really nice people. Very neighbourly.

Opinion | To speak of Gaza one must comply to an ever-growing list of blacklisted words, and avoid action on protected dates, lest others be "upset or intimidated", Nasser Mashni writes.

Plus ca change at The Oz… the campaign continues.

I'm still waiting for the PM to appoint a Special Envoy to Counter the Toxic Foreign Influence of the Israel Lobby.

Joining the dots is always important : check out the Henroth Fund ( aka John Roth married to the Envoy to foster antisemitism) which donates to Advance Australia. What on earth was the Labor government thinking when it agreed to work with that lot ? www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

Let’s hope that the current government does not yield to this massive over reach . Even if you are so blinkered as to be only concerned with Jewish issues, exceptionalising Jews will foster antisemitism rather than defeat it . www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Mandatory viewing …And the Israeli government continues to describe the IDF as “ the most moral army in the world “. zeteo.com/p/watch-now-...

This is the right end to a very sorry saga, but it’s a terrible day for the board and CEO of Creative Australia who have disgraced themselves throughout this ordeal. The leadership & board of Creative Australia needs a clean out to rebuild trust within the artistic community and Australian public.

An Olympic worthy backflip after an appalling own goal by #CreativeAustralia. Requires the consumption of a large slice of humble pie.After the Latouffe débâcle and the MSO capitulation perhaps the #IsraelLobby will think twice about messing with artists? www.abc.net.au/news/2025-07...

I blame the indefatigable charm machine that is Savva Savas ( www.threefoodmemories.com ) for this trip down memory lane. Be warned, he doesn’t take “no” for an answer. pod.link/1591996058

Always worth reading Amin Saikal www.theage.com.au/world/middle...

No - he shifted under the pressure of his own staggering weakness: the incapacity to formulate coherent policy, the spectacular ignorance and destructiveness & above all the stupefying egocentrism that drives him to appear in command of events when he is just awash in the chaos he creates.

‘Laila had given ten years of her life to fighting for her son, and now, in what she decided would be the final act of the fight, she put her life on the line.’ Ahdaf Soueif on her sister Laila’s struggle for the release of her son, Alaa Abd el-Fattah: www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2025/ju...

Impunity is fuelling Israel’s spiralling aggression 🌎 Ben Reiff

Useful to look to legal experts to understand the facts and decipher the barrage of misinformation .https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/jun/16/australias-claim-that-israel-has-a-right-to-defend-itself-against-iran-is-inconsistent-with-our-rules-based-order?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

This front page always makes me laugh .

The complete eradication of Rafah - a city with a quarter of a million residents - should and will be remembered as a crime against humanity, amongst the worst modern urbicides

.@[email protected] For those who don’t have access #GideonLevy goes on to write “The sanctions must be directed at the entire government, from Netanyahu, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court, to the least senior government minister.

[email protected]@bluesky.social #GideonLevy “ the Gaza Strip & Israel are desperate now for international sanctions that will lead to an end to the slaughter in Gaza.We can't wait any longer.Mumbling like the five countries won't suffice….

When even Thomas Friedman calls out the atrocities perpetrated in Gaza by the Israeli govt one has to wonder why the Australian Zionist lobby has not expressed any criticism in 20 months of slaughter & destruction. Israeli Government Is a Danger to Jews Everywhere www.nytimes.com/2025/06/10/o...

"We must not allow the weaponisation of antisemitism to crush legitimate criticism of the ongoing genocide and ethnic cleansing in Gaza and West Bank. To criticise the Israel genocide is not antisemitic. It is a plea for justice and peace." @johnmenadue.com #auspol johnmenadue.com/post/2025/05...

"I am getting very sick & tired of having to go onto news programs because journalists aren't allowed in to point out what is happening here... this is a televised slaughter. History will not judge us kindly." I spoke today to Dr Tom Potokar, UK surgeon in Gaza: Full intv: zeteo.com/p/televised-...

Large cohorts of Jewish people reject attempts at conflating Zionism with Judaism and criticism of Israel with antisemitism. Emma Thomas reports #auspol #nswpol michaelwest.com.au/nsw-antisemi...

The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.Her father, Lang Hancock, told me that Australia needed a strong leader like his friend “Nici”. It took me a moment to realise he meant Nicolae Ceaușescu.

There’s been much to be inspired by this weekend : kindness prevailed over hate, social justice over nukes and so much more . And then the gift of this headline and truly hilarious thought bubble from “sista” Reynolds #auspol

Yes! As well as Australian Trumpists, the other big losers in the election: - #MurdochGutterMedia - Gina Rinehart - Advance and the #AtlasNetwork - Christian Nationalist culture warriors - the Institute of Public Affairs and other far-right junk tanks. #auspol