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A fiery rant in our Parliament

The Speaker of the House of Representatives granted Greens leader Adam Bandt “indulgence” to speak two days ago. Mr Bandt rose and, in a monotone, said:

“This house is united in condemning Antisemitism and condemning Islamophobia, and we also condemn the invasion of Gaza.”

In a rapidly rising and menacing tone, he went on to say:

“I will not be lectured to about peace and non-violence by people who back the invasion of Gaza. Children are dying because the Israeli army has engineered a famine.”

Amid shouts from both sides of the House, the Speaker instructed Mr Bandt to resume his seat.

Facts, Mr Bandt, facts! Where are your facts? Has the Israeli army really “engineered a famine”? Never in the history of warfare has an army fed its enemy or gone to such immense lengths to notify its enemy about where it will attack, so civilians can get out of harm’s way.

The U.S. Special Envoy for Middle East Humanitarian Issues, Ambassador David Satterfield, reported on 27 March 2024:

Israel does not impose limits on the amount of aid entering Gaza. All aid entering Gaza undergoes Israeli security screening at either Nitzana or Kerem Shalom Crossings. From there, aid is sent to the Gaza Strip.

To date, over 20,00 trucks on the ground have delivered over 375,000 tons of aid. That includes 240,960 tons of food, 27,760 tons of water, 19,510 tons of medical supplies, 39,080 tons of shelter equipment, 200 tanks of fuel, and 385 tanks of cooking gas.

Israel assesses a stable food supply in the southern Gaza Strip, where markets are evidently bustling and stocks are piling up in aid agencies’ warehouses.

Israel is taking proactive measures to expand delivery efforts in northern Gaza, where only 10-15% of the Gazan population remains despite evacuation orders. This includes the re-opening of the Karni crossing point.

It is important to note that, according to the laws of war, countries are not required to supply their enemies with food, water, electricity, and gasoline, all of which support the enemy’s capacity to fight. Yet, even during heavy fighting, Israel continues to supply Gaza with electricity, water, food, and medicine despite having endured the most brutal massacre ever to occur on its soil. But for the brutality of the October 7 terror attacks by Hamas, Israel would not have cut off such supplies for a week.

Before the October 7 attack

When I was in Israel in early October 2023, our ICEJ tour group visited the Australian War Memorial at Beersheba. On our way back to Jerusalem, our bus came to a complete halt as the road was blocked by thousands upon thousands of people. They seemed peaceful, just walking purposefully along the road.

Our guide explained: “It’s knock-off time. These are the Gazans who have permission to work in Israel. There are about 17,000 Gazans who cross the border every day to work in Israel because, since Hamas took over administration of the Gaza strip in 2005, the people have been driven to poverty. Israel allows them to work, at Israeli rates of pay, so they can feed their families.”

Soon after our tour left Israel on the night of October 7, we were advised that many Gazans working in the kibbutzim near the border were the very ones involved in the massacre of those who had given them jobs. They knew the houses, they knew where to find people. Those who escaped testified that they recognised those who came to kill and destroy them.

Do we so easily forget?

The massacre on October 7^th was planned well in advance. Over 560 km of tunnels and munition factories were built using the billions of dollars in humanitarian aid provided by the United States and Qatar for the Palestinian people.

The terrorist groups Hamas, Hezbollah and the Palestinian Liberation Organisation, all backed by Iran, share the same goal. The destruction of Israel.

The war would end if Hamas surrendered and released all the hostages. Israel did not start this war, nor does it want it, but it has no choice but to eliminate this threat to its citizens and the security of its nation.

When will the government say the Palestinian activists have gone too far?  

Our universities have become unsafe for Jewish students, while Jewish businesspeople have had their shops graffitied and trashed.

Now it’s revealed the Prime Minister’s office in Marrickville has been unoccupied since January because of continuous pro-Palestinian protests. This is our national leader. Why is this tolerated?

The Prime Minister expressed his concern, but it appears little has been done to deal with the ever-increasing boldness of the protesters.

In Parliament on Tuesday, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton agreed with Mr Albanese’s concerns.

He told The Australian that “any violent protester” who broke the laws and attacked a Jewish person on campus or sought to intimidate an MP should be “dealt with by police”.

“The fact no one has been arrested for the hundreds of thousands of dollars of damage to electorate offices just encourages the next criminal protester to trash another office,” Mr Dutton said.

Between a rock and a hard place

The Prime Minister, the Foreign Minister and the Greens have contributed greatly to this community divide by their hypocrisy. On the one hand, they claim to support the right of Israel to defend itself; on the other hand, they call for a ceasefire and recognition of a Palestinian state.

As the situation escalates and more and more funds are needed ensure security for all our citizens and repair the damage to our social fabric, will our political leaders have the integrity and courage to abide by their oath of office to faithfully serve the people of Australia, to restore law and order and give us the peace and stability Australia has always enjoyed?

Don’t stand by and watch it all fall apart

As an escalating unease spreads across our nation, now more than ever, we need to be well-informed and proactively uphold what is morally and ethically the right thing to do.

Now is the time to support and encourage our political representatives to take a stand for righteousness.

A nation is exalted by the righteousness of its people, but sin heaps disgrace upon the land. ~ Proverbs 14:34 (TPT)

Although this verse calls the nation to righteousness, this is only achieved by each individual accepting that responsibility. The only standard we can have for righteousness is the one God gives us, to love Him with all our hearts and love our neighbour as ourselves.

As Julia Gillard recently stated in Josh Frydenberg’s brilliant documentary Never Again: “Come on, Australia. We are better than this [antisemitism].”

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