Australia Mourns Oct. 7 and the Rise of Anti-Semitism
Australians have marked one year since Hamas’ incursion into Israel killed 1,200 and divided the West.
101 hostages still remain in the hands of the Iran-backed Islamists, in spite of Israel’s attempts to negotiate their return.
Coordinated public events saw prominent political figures from the Liberals, Nationals, Independents, and some minor parties gather in solidarity with Israel’s hour of mourning.
Labour Day kickstarted the first of three remembrance gatherings hosted by Christian advocacy group Never Again Is Now (NAIN).
NAIN co-founder Mark Leach, an Anglican priest, began NAIN after Islamists harassed him for praying while briefly waving an Israeli flag at a pro-Hamas rally last year.
The movement also exists because Leach saw a problem with policing.
Australian Jews were told to stay home “for their own safety”, while Jew-hating Hamas supporters were given the freedom to walk the streets without recrimination.
Seeing the Islamist inconsistency with “one and free”, NAIN was born.
Prominent Supporters
In Canberra, those who joined Leach included former Prime Minister Tony Abbott, Claire Chandler, Jacquie Lambie, and Family First’s Lyle Shelton and Elizabeth Kikkert.
Former Labor MP Mike Kelly (Labor Friends for Israel) represented the Labor movement.
Otherwise, the Australian Labor Party and the rabidly anti-Israel Greens appear to have been absent.
Posting on X, Tony Abbott wrote,
“Today we remember Israel’s struggle with Islamist terrorism and continue to stand in solidarity with the Australian Jewish community.”
It was important to join my fellow Australians outside Parliament House to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the October 7 atrocity. Today we remember Israel’s struggle with Islamist terrorism and continue to stand in solidarity with the Australian Jewish community. pic.twitter.com/FAkpSDsB71
— Tony Abbott (@HonTonyAbbott) October 7, 2024
In a separate press release before the event, Abbott encouraged prayers for the safe return of the 101 hostages.
He also criticised Western leaders for not seeing the writing on the wall, stating,
“Israel is fighting for everyone, because ‘death to infidels’ Islam, is potentially coming for us all.”
In other words, coddling Islamism in the name of anti-Israel activism is cultural suicide. (Read more here)
Sharing more than thoughts and prayers, The Australian columnist and entrepreneur extraordinaire Gemma Tognini posted a gut-wrenching recap on X, saying,
“We must bear witness.”
This is devastating.
Please share. We must bear witness. https://t.co/8tfQenVGr6— GemmaTognini (@GemmaTognini) October 8, 2024
Family First leader Lyle Shelton lamented the loss of life.
Slamming home a counter-point to criticism on X, Shelton called Islamic terrorism “a sick death cult.”
Yes, of course. Not one of them would have been killed were it not for the Islamist massacre on October 7 and the use of them as human shields by Hamas in the necessary military intervention to ensure Oct 7 never happens again. Hamas got what it wanted: a PR victory purchased… https://t.co/R6YciEQNZ5
— Lyle Shelton (@LyleShelton) October 7, 2024
Adding fury to frustration, he condemned the October 7 victory celebrations at Lakemba Mosque, remarking,
“Questions about whether Islam really is a religion of peace need to be asked.”
Fence-Sitting
In parliament, with what could have been a strong speech, Labor Prime Minister Anthony Albanese tried to play both sides.
Appearing to placate Labor’s Western Sydney Muslim voter base, the PM side-stepped the Mohammedan elephant in the room.
Half-heartedly expressing solidarity, Albanese used his October 7 address as an opportunity to condemn Israel and sell Labor’s “humanitarian” credentials.
Reminiscent of the Labor Prime Minister’s 2023 “Anzacs were racist” speech, he over-reached.
Although he acknowledged the pain and atrocities committed by Hamas, Albanese, citing Biden, berated Israel for creating a “humanitarian crisis.”
Insinuating that 1200 Israelis weren’t worth the (unverified) “40,000 Palestinians killed”, he called for Israel to “de-escalate” by committing to a “ceasefire”.
The PRIDE-parading Labor PM then demanded “all sides observe international law.”
Following this, Albanese dropped a “they’re both as bad as each other, but Israel is worse” bomb, from which he then reprimanded Iran for meddling.
To this, he added a condemnation of terrorism — in general — and told Hamas his government wants to see the hostages released.
Fumbling the ball in a big way, Albanese’s convoluted condolence speech concluded with lip service to the Holocaust, antisemitism, hate, Hamas, Houthis, and Hezbollah.
Seeing Albanese’s speech for what it was, Opposition leader Peter Dutton rejected any bipartisan agreement, stating,
“On Saturday, I wrote to the Prime Minister suggesting that we should arrive at a bipartisan position and bring a motion before the House to mark the anniversary of October 7.”
“This motion was supposed to be about October 7,” Dutton explained.
“I proposed to the Prime Minister a motion which was balanced and objective.”
Instead, “this government has sought to walk both sides of the street… [Albanese] is trying to please all people in this debate.”
Dutton then linked the rise in antisemitism to the lack of Labor’s clarity on crucial issues.
This has, he said, given rise to openly hostile mistreatment of Australian Jews, especially in Universities.
“The Prime Minister is trying to speak out of both sides of his mouth, and that is not something that we will support in relation to this debate.
“Today is the day when this parliament was meant to mark what should be a solemn moment — when 1,200 people lost their lives.”
Instead, Dutton concluded, “the Prime Minister has rejected that position for his own political domestic advancement.”
As I’ve previously argued, Western multi-ethnic social cohesion cannot survive what multiculturalism allows.
To quote former British Home Secretary MP Suella Braverman, “Multiculturalism has failed.”
Multiculturalism is why we have people celebrating the Oct. 7 atrocities.
Tony Abbott is right to warn about such an event happening here in Australia.
Quoting Konstantin Kisin, scale-wise, “October 7 was twelve times as bad as September 11.”
Unless there is a bipartisan rejection of multicultural utopianism, an October 7 attack in Australia is not a matter of if, it’s a matter of when.
Of equal significance, the genocidal jihadism unleashed upon southern Israel last October is happening to Christians in other countries as well.
Examples include Pakistan, Nigeria, Egypt, and parts of the world dominated by Islam.
How does a nation negotiate with a people group hellbent on its total and complete annihilation?
If Israel’s dead or captured daughters, dads, mums, and young men were ours, we’d be demanding our government to get them back, by all rational means possible too.
The broader context of this geopolitical contest is Islam vs. Israel.
Weak responses, as well as platitudes like “Islam is a religion of peace”, or dismissals such as “criticism of Islam is racism”, won’t cut it.
Once mass immigration’s judicial jihad reaches its goal, the West is next.
Never again is now.
___
Image courtesy of Lyle Shelton.
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Well done Rod.
Thanks, Bill. In our arena, on both the Putin, and Pro-Hamas issues, we seem to be voices in the wilderness. Never let it be said, though, that we only wrote, and spoke, about that which would make us rich, and popular. Psalm 115:1.
Thanks Rod. What you have reported must be said.
I think people not addressing the bigger picture here, is an indictment on the modern church’s compromise with the “go along to get along” spirit of the age. The issues in the ME atm give the Church an opportunity to show solidarity with the victims of Islam – across the globe. That includes Muslims, who – for the majority I like to think – may follow a violent political ideology masquerading as another ‘Christ,’ are not violent themselves. This is a Kairos moment for the church and, like COVID, it’s failing to maximise its Gospel potential in protestia.
At last someone who sees reality and is not fooled by the false platitude that ” Islam is the religion of peace ” and that multiculturalism has ” enriched ” Australian society when in fact it has divided ! In the 7th century AD Mohammed used the threat of the sword to convert persons. Later the 800 Christian Martyrs of Otranto were beheaded when they refused to convert to Islam . What has changed since in parts of Africa, etc ? No criticism of Islam is allowed (remember the fatwa on Salman Rushdie ? ) , nor are people allowed to leave the religion. We are the “infidels “. Once they destroy the Jews of Israel , they will come after us.
Good people attended the NAIN Rally. Tony Abbott is very sincere and spoke well in memory of the victims of 7 October 2023, but, the Meeting was omitted on most TV News Programmes .