Hi Dr. Philip, I'm Jewish. Many of my closest friends, family and community are Jewish. I love them all. I love Judaism. I host shabbat dinners, celebrate Jewish holidays, sing Jewish prayers, study Torah & Talmud, and love Jewish culture, history and expression. But I'm not a Zionist. Zionism was an ideology that said, let's create a Jewish state in a country that's 95% non-Jewish. So the Zionist movement set out to build a ‘Jewish state’ with a Jewish majority working at Jewish-only cooperatives living in Jewish-only colonies going to Jewish-only schools owned by a Jewish-only land authorities in a country of 95% percent Palestinian Arabs. What could possibly go wrong? That's why, when Zionists bought land in Palestine from the 1900s-1948, they uprooted the people living on the land because they weren't jewish. That's why, when Zionists created cooperatives in Palestine in the 1910s, 1920s and 1930s, they insisted on "Hebrew Labor", i.e., "Jews only" -- no Arabs allowed. That's why, in the 1930s, Zionists expelled Palestinian Arabs from working at Jewish companies and business. Jews only! jstor.org/stable/10.1525/jps… That's why, in 1948, Zionists militias ethnically cleansed 750,000 Palestinians from their homes. archive.org/details/birthofp… That's why, from 1949-1956, Israeli forces shot & killed b/w 2,700-5,000 overwhelmingly unarmed Palestinians trying to return to their homes after the war. Because they were the wrong religion/ethnicity (archive.org/details/israelsb… p.416). That's why Israel expelled another ~30-40,000 Palestinians from Israel from 1949-1959. palestinenexus.com/articles/… That's why Israel expelled another ~250,000 Palestinians from Gaza & the West Bank when it occupied those territories in 1967. That's why Israel continued to expel Palestinians from the occupied territories from 1968-1993, many hundreds of thousands of them. They had the wrong DNA. palestinenexus.com/articles/… The Zionists wanted to create a Jewish State with a Jewish majority in a land of overwhelmingly Palestinians. That's why Israel has become such a pariah state over the years, because it's insistence on jewish rule in a country with so many Palestinians. That's why Zionism has led Israel to become an apartheid state, according to every relevant human rights organization (@ICAHD in 2010, @UNESCWA in 2017, @YeshDin in 2020, @AdalahCenter in 2020, @btselem in 2021, @hrw in 2021, @fidh_en in 2021, @alhaq_org in 2022, @Addameer in 2022, @AlMezanCenter in 2022, @cacalqudsuni in 2022, @AdvocacyJlac in 2022, @miftahpal in 2022, @ICJ_org in 2022, @DAWNmenaorg in 2022, @amnesty in 2022), since it cannot grant the ~5-6 million occupied Palestinians Israeli citizenship. Israel chose apartheid and Jewish supremacy over democracy. Zionism also explains why Israel is now committing genocide ((according to @amnesty , @hrw , @btselem , @MSF , IAGS, @alhaq_org , @UNHumanRights , @UN_HRC , @pchrgaza , @AlMezanCenter , @WarOnWant , @PHRIsrael , @fidh_en , PHROC, @LemkinInstitute , @theCCR , @ECCHRBerlin , @unitedforrights @JURDIasso , @TheElders , @Oxfam) because, what a Zionist dream it would have been had Palestine been a land without any people on it! the ideology incentivized genocide. Judaism has existed for 3,300 years. Zionism is a 150-yr-old anti-Jewish political ideology founded on the principles of forcible displacement & genocide. Jews and Judaism will last as long as their are humans on the planet. Zionism is imploding in real time. For a deeper dive on this history, I teach courses on the history of Zionism, Jewish anti-Zionism, Palestine and the Palestinians. You can access them here: palestinenexus.com/courses

New Year's Eve, and 125 years old today is 'The Darkling Thrush' by Thomas Hardy. (And when I myself read this poem, I often find myself becoming aware of that blessèd Hope from that frail and gaunt thrush ✨️)

If only vaccines worked.

An exclusive extract from Joe Aston’s book The Chairman’s Lounge tells the inside story of how Richard Goyder and his board allowed Alan Joyce to fly Qantas into a reputational disaster. afr.com/work-and-careers/man…

Exclusive: A leaked recording of an "official: sensitive" meeting within the Bureau of Meteorology reveals the agency is essentially broke and dipping into future funding to pay for its current operations, @SquigglyRick reports. satpa.pe/H82UQf0

In which @jocaseau leans even harder into literary best-of lists - this time from a South Australian perspective! And of couse I’ve got lots of time for anyone who describes @angeokeeffe’s The Sitter as a “perfect book”… inreview.com.au/inreview/boo…

What an absolute belter of a review of my memoir from the highly respected “The Saturday Paper” Gratitude ripples through Jilya. The highly anticipated memoir from Nyamal psychologist Dr Tracy Westerman is a fascinating insight into a remarkable life. An international trailblazer in the fields of cultural competency, suicide prevention and Indigenous mental health, her work will be studied for generations to come. Her work, and her evidence-based expertise, shows the world what “Yes” looks like. With a childhood nurtured within the remote Pilbara landscape, Westerman travels the world carrying a bit of Country. Attending to children removed from their traditional lands, some isolated in concrete cells for 22 hours at a time, she began to travel with an “artillery” of dirt and spinifex, so that every day the kids could wake up and put their feet in red dirt. This practical, cultural layer of therapy has made positive impacts in prisons, schools and psychiatric wards. She explains that “for Aboriginal people, grief is not just about death; it’s about Country, spirit, and where we are from”. Guided by lived experience, instinct and cultural understanding, research and irrefutable evidence are central to the success of Westerman’s Indigenous Psychological Services. Designing and implementing cultural assessments, practical treatments and preventive action plans, she tackles the big issues this country has failed to acknowledge for too long. Her service to all Australians offers a clear path to breaking through generational disadvantage to close the gap. In a world that has never championed or understood Indigenous excellence or even relevance, Jilya takes us to remote and high-risk communities where the normalisation of suicides and incarceration creates a cycle of child removals. For each case study, Westerman merges clinical and cultural complexities to show that critical outcomes that represent measurable change are achievable. While successive governments over 25 years have not funded Westerman’s programs, donations from individuals who recognise her vital leadership and the value of Aboriginal subject-matter specialists have enabled her to set up the Westerman Jilya Institute for Indigenous Mental Health. In only four years, the organisation has given 55 psychology scholarships to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students who face barriers and experience disadvantage. Jilya is an inspiring example of the importance of self-determination. From humble beginnings, Westerman is the epitome of Aboriginal excellence who champions the empowerment of all Indigenous Australians. “Everything I do, I am skills building. I am trying to work myself out of a job!” she writes. The book shows us that her dream can be a reality. thesaturdaypaper.com.au/cult…

Australians are much the same. The TV commentators had no idea.

All emerging writers schemes should include writers over 40 – writers can emerge at any age, and women writers especially are frequently prevented from taking up writing until later in life (as we well know)! theguardian.com/stage/articl…

@InReviewAU is out, bearing my feature on the remarkable @AlexFrayne and his sublime new @WakefieldPress coffee table masterpiece, Distance and Desire : inreview.com.au/inreview/boo…

Lovely review, thanks Samela

The bravery of Sam Neil with facing John Howard whilst his compatriots make a tactical withdrawal. Does this man know no fear?

Sure can. Its other name is 100-day cough. A terrible disease. Whooping cough boosters are vital.

Listen to Phillip speaking to Geoffrey Watson re #NACC Bitterly disappointed with the outcome of NACC blunt decision of not proceeding with #Robodebt RC outcome Transparency is what so many Aus voted for 👇👇👇👇 Listen below @PhillipAdams_1

What use is the NACC? abc.net.au/listen/programs/l… via @ABCaustralia

Ursula K. Le Guin wrote her sci-fi masterpiece, The Dispossessed, as an anguished response to the Vietnam war. 50 years later, in a similar political moment, its power endures. @ConversationEDU Great essay by Alexander Howard @Sydney_Uni theconversation.com/the-disp…

Grappling with a novel synopsis? We asked 10 literary agents for their advice on this notoriously difficult beast. bathnovelaward.co.uk/the-nov…

Far better than eclipses, comets or meteors...a heavenly cabaret of moving shapes and colours