Happy Christmas from all of us here at AUK – 7,729 reasons to donate to this Gaza appeal if you can

Well that’s it from us for another year dear reader. Before we head off, I must give a shout out to both Rick Bayles, our Books Editor, and Alan Fitter, our EPs Editor, who are both bidding farewell to the site after a decade of writing between them. Thank you both – we’re enormously grateful for all your writing for AUK over the years.

We obviously head into the Christmas period knowing that it’ll be the last thing on the mind of a certain people who have endured in recent weeks much more than any of us will in our lifetimes, including an estimated 7,729 children who have died and counting. If you can’t get your head around the politics of it all, can I recommend this incredibly moving diary by Ziad, a 35-year-old Palestinian, who has been recounting life in Gaza via The Guardian since Israel declared a siege. We, like Amnesty, call for a permanent ceasefire by all parties, unrestricted aid to reach the people who desperately need it, for the safe return of hostages and for an end to the Israeli government’s apartheid against Palestinians. If you are able to donate to the emergency response to what’s going on then this is a good place to do that.

A big thank you as always to you our readers who continue to stick with us, despite the numerous gremlins this year. As we always note, everyone does this in their spare time so thanks for sticking with us, bunch of amateurs that we are! We leave you with a track by one of the few bands from the bit of the world I grew up in, Wirral’s Half Man Half Biscuit with their seasonal “hit” “It’s Cliched to be Cynical at Christmas”. We return on Thursday 4th January. Have a good one everyone, take care, happy Christmas/holidays and all the best for 2024.