THE WORLD

I'm very conscious as I sit in my nice new home, documenting generally pleasant experiences, that I'm extraordinarily lucky not just to live in Perth but to not live in so many other parts of the world. Whether its farmers suffering from floods in New South Wales, or people's lives being upended by Trump and his crew in the USA, or women living under the Taliban in Afghanistan, or those involved in wars in Sudan or Ukraine, or the people who have lost everything - homes, jobs, family members - in Gaza.

I feel completely inadequate in my response to these scenarios. All I can do is make modest donations to organisations such as Amnesty International or Oxfam or the UNHCR (the United Nations' Refugee Agency). That sounds like virtue signally but I really don't know what else to do.  I read to keep myself informed but just knowing doesn't feel enough. However if you want some recommendations about what to read, here are some of the people whose research and writing and work captures my attention:

USA politics: Robert Reich

Israel/Palestine: Antony Loewenstein                       : 

Journalism in trouble spots: Amnesty International Media Award Winners

For those of you who haven't discovered Substack, it's a great source of writing on world issues and independent journalism. And of course, the good old Guardian always offers good news coverage and interesting opinion pieces.

Of all the world's trouble spots, the one that seems to be so utterly heart breaking is Gaza. The actions of Hamas on 7 October 2023 were unfogiveable but the Israeli government's actions since have been worse. It's as if the country of Israel is suffereing PTSD and can't see that in their seach for safety after the horrors of World War 2, they are replicating the behaviour of their oppressors. Michelle de Kretser's acceptance speech for the 2025 Stella Prize is worth reading and as are articles by journalists such as Thomas Friedman who says that the current Israeli government is a dangers to Jews everywhere. And that's a repeat of a world that we don't want.

And just when I'd finished writing this post, the world got worse. I can understand that a nuclear armed Iran would be an existential threat to Israel but negotiation by assassination and bombing just doesn't seem to be the way to go. Has World War 3 started and I've been too busy unpacking boxes and moving furniture to notice?

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