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Centuries of tension between Abraham’s descendants fuel modern antisemitism, culminating in attacks on Israel and abroad, challenging Western multicultural ideals and calling for a return to love and moral courage.

The three Abrahamic faiths, of Judaism, Christianity and Islam all claim Abraham as one of their forebears. Abraham’s Judaic and Christian families stem from their son Isaac, but the Islamic families stem from Abraham’s earlier surrogacy with his wife Sarah’s Egyptian handmaid Hagar, who gave birth to Ishmael some 14 years prior to Isaac’s birth.

Ishmael grew up apparently as a “wild donkey of a man” – a life lived malevolently against everyone.

Ancient Roots of Modern Conflict

The hatred between Isaac’s and Ishmael’s progeny now occupies some 3500 years of history. Today, large sections of the Arab world simply want to destroy Israel; this was evidenced in the 1948, 1967 and 1973 wars, where Israel was attacked by vastly larger Arab armies, and miraculously not only survived, but defeated their enemies. I personally saw the burned-out Jordanian tanks and military trucks in the West Bank and Negev when I visited Israel some years ago.

The thin slice of disputed land in the centre of the Middle East is democratic Israel. It is surrounded by enemies on all sides, notably by the terrorist organisations of Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis, all seeking Israel’s annihilation. Their stated manifesto is the destruction of Israel and to kill every Jew; the state sponsor of this terrorism is Iran.

More recently, following the Nova festival attack in Israel on 7 October 2023 and the two ensuing years of heightened drama, war, bloodshed and perpetuated false narrative, we again see the tentacles of antisemitism reach our own shores at Bondi Beach in Sydney earlier this month, with 15 Jews celebrating Hanukkah shot to death by two Islamic militants.

How could this happen on our own shores?

Israel Under Siege

This long-perpetuated hatred of just .02% of the world’s population is on some levels hard to understand. This is because we in the West largely exist by the multicultural mantra of “live and let live.” But many other countries don’t think as we do. When parents teach their children that Jews are dogs and worthy of death; when schools and mosques perpetuate this ancient hatred, we have an endless supply of jihadist combatants ready to perpetuate their hatred wherever they can.

Students of history will also recognise Christianity’s own antisemitism “skeletons in the cupboard” history. Past generations labelled Jews as “Jesus-killers”. Did you also know that it was largely antisemitism in the third century that fuelled the changed day of worship for Christians from Saturday to Sunday?

The Roman emperor, together with various councils, declared that people must not Judaise by resting on the Saturday Sabbath, but rather worship and rest on the first day of the week, Sunday.

(From the Council of Laodicea in AD 363, we read among the sixty canons decreed: Canon 29. “Christians must not judaize by resting on the Sabbath, but must work on that day, rather honouring the Lord’s Day; and, if they can, resting then as Christians. But if any shall be found to be judaizers, let them be anathema from Christ.” A History of the Councils of the Church, p. 316)

The theological arguments for the change to Sunday worship pale into insignificance when compared to the political expediency of rife antisemitism. Historians note that for the first two centuries, over 90 percent of practising Christians still celebrated Saturday Sabbath!

The historical rise of Islam as a religious and political entity, together with its tenets, laws and objectives, such as “convert or die,” are completely incompatible with Western multicultural ideals.

Internationally, Israel’s current troubles are really a wake-up call for all of us. As one political commentator put it, “Israel is the canary in the coal mine for all of us.” The war they’re fighting will one day be our war for survival.

What is surprising in Israel’s defence is that last year, when Iran fired some 1,000 projectiles consisting of intercontinental missiles and radar-evading drones, Israel shot them all out of the sky using their Iron Dome and David Sling defensive missiles. War analysts still wonder how this was possible!

Responding to Hate with Love

How can we end this antisemitism? Politicians, of course, are busy trying to placate an uneasy public. Australian gun laws and immigration policies are currently in the limelight, but they’ll do little while we allow mass demonstrations featuring hateful chants, fuelled by fiery, hate-filled sermons by imams. Even if we were to deal with these dangerous ideologies in the interim, according to the Bible, these will make little difference to the brewing hatred that has existed for millennia.

The prophecies surrounding Jerusalem, and the Middle East in general, foretell a time of world war, with all nations gathering around Israel for battle. Antisemitism will have reached international fever pitch, and as the prophet Zechariah once conveyed, “Jerusalem will become a cup of staggering for all nations.”

When Western nations are fast losing their original Judeo-Christian ethos in favour of an identity crisis that often focuses on race and gender, then we allow history to again turn our former rise to glory into the sands of yet another vanquished and enslaved civilisation.

This lingering antisemitic hatred doesn’t look good, either now or into the future.

The antidote is in Jesus’ words: “Love your enemies. Do good to those who persecute you. Pray for those who malign you.”

The opposite of hate is love, and this is manifested in kindness, compassion, courage and care. As a nation, our identity must return to our Christian roots. Any other platform or identity is automatically doomed to failure, attested to by the recent bloodshed on our own iconic Australian beachfront.

Appeal for the Bondi Terrorist Attack Victims

Celebrate Israel, in partnership with the Canberra Declaration and other supporters, have organised a relief fund appeal for the victims and families of the Sydney Bondi Beach terrorist attack.

Our giving team is called Celebrate Israel Australia on the platform and is part of a much larger appeal run on the Charidy giving website. All donations are tax-deductible and will be administrated by the Jewish United Support Fund.

The relief fund will provide direct financial support, helping families begin to rebuild their lives after this tragedy. Assistance is especially needed to cover essential commitments when the family’s primary breadwinner has been killed. Find out more about this appeal on The Daily Declaration here.

Please stand alongside the Jewish community as a visible demonstration of God’s love to them at this critical time of need. So far, far, as of writing, over $17,000 has already been donated, and we prayerfully seeking to raise $100,000.

Please share this appeal button with your church networks and friends.

Give by clicking the green button below.

DONATE TO JEWISH RELIEF FUND

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Image courtesy of Adobe: Stolpersteine memorial.