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From Bondi Beach to Britain, the article argues rising anti-Semitism is being normalised by progressive politics, cultural Marxism, and appeasement—warning that history’s lessons are being forgotten.

The terrible atrocity at Bondi Beach, Australia, in which two Muslim gunmen – father and son – randomly murdered several Jews celebrating the feast of Hanukkah and injured many others, has been dominating the news.

Up until now, that is. As with the Manchester synagogue attack last October, likely this atrocity will soon fade in the mass media’s memory – until the next ‘Jew-related’ attack hits our screens.

Doubtless, such ‘isolated incidents’ will be sandwiched between the ongoing coverage of Gaza, and Western protests against Israel’s alleged genocide of the Palestinian people.

Unfortunately, the progressive politician’s tendency is to be nice to one’s enemies and nasty to one’s friends – appeasement on steroids. Islamist terrorists, being the stronger party, must be appeased – and what better way than to criticise the tiny Jewish population and the tiny Jewish state, which, we are given to understand, exercise power and influence out of all proportion to their numbers. Indeed, so powerful are they that they cannot stop people criticising, slandering and attacking them, while cunningly concealing their ancient misdeeds in that obscure historical tome, the Bible.

Significantly, the current wave of anti-Semitism is breaking not in an age of neo-Nazism, but one dominated by left-wing politics and social progressivism. Even without actual power conferred by the ballot box, Marxism rules democracies by the power of the idea – Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, or DIE as I call it.

How DEI Politics Made Anti-Zionism Respectable

The Cultural Marxist project can be traced back to 1956, to Hungary, where a popular rebellion was brutally suppressed by the Soviet masters. Between the Wars, Western leftists travelled the Soviet road to Moscow, reporting back on the marvellous outcomes of the Soviet experiment – so much better than the failing capitalism of the West, with its high unemployment and its hunger marches. But in the 1950s, the brutal reality of Communism could be seen on the TV sets of the West – a crucial difference.

After Russia in 1917, no revolution would be permitted against the Revolution; but another and arguably even more powerful revolution was ignited as Marxists continued to plug the idea of Communism as the answer to all mankind’s problems – not directly, but indirectly, by criticising every fault and alleged failing of democracy, shaping the minds of university students who would go on to influence public life, including politics, in Herbert Marcuse’s ‘long march through the institutions’.

Gradually, imperceptibly, crazy ideas – not least, that men could become women and vice versa – took over. Rather than frankly stating that Communism was better than democracy – that the ‘collectivity’ was better than capitalism – Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion were set up as laudable goals, and everything and everyone was measured against them.

This stymied opposition – people were reluctant to be accused of being against diversity, inequity and exclusion – but upon it was built a social system that banned a diversity of ideas, promoted inequity, and excluded anyone who dared to disagree.

Any criticism or even attempted debate is now treated as dangerous. Censorship, once the bugbear of the Left, is seen as the way to prevent a ‘return to fascism’ and the horrors of the Holocaust.

And yet, under this leftist domination, the very thing that leftists used to warn against – anti-Semitism – is making a comeback. As noted, the state of Israel, once seen as offering a haven to persecuted Jews worldwide, is now demonised for oppressing Palestinians, and even compared to Nazi Germany in committing genocide against them.

More conservative individuals, who may favour a welfare state but not communist-style redistribution of wealth, and who do not want to trash their nation’s history and customs, are showing signs of restiveness against this; but even while ‘pro-Palestine’ marches featuring overt anti-Semitism and violent chants have become as regular as buses, those who object – especially when they show a penchant for the flag of their own country or even the Star of David – are treated as dangerous right-wing thugs by the Left, not least by Sir Keir Starmer.

Starmer has hardly helped to combat anti-Semitism by recognising a Palestinian state and, it might be suggested, is influenced by rather more practical concerns, not least garnering Muslim votes. Despite his (belated) conversion to ‘talking tough’ about illegal immigration, it remains to be seen how words might translate into action, even as our towns and cities are transformed into places unrecognisable to our not-so-remote ancestors.

Starmer clearly prefers to ignore such concerns, resembling Canning’s ‘steady patriot of the world alone, the friend of every country – but his own’; he prefers to prioritise racial, cultural and especially sexual diversity,  leaving many who disagree feeling increasingly marginalised.

Toxic Extremes

Some are now becoming disillusioned with democracy itself. This leaves them vulnerable to wild conspiracy theories on the internet; while doing such a good job of exposing the inanities of ‘woke’ politics, this forum can unfortunately also be used to spread anti-social material and really dangerous ideas, as seen with popular right-wing figure Tucker Carlson and his apparent acceptance of Jewish conspiracy theories and those who spread them.

But the Left has made anti-Zionism respectable, and anti-Semitism is only a step away. Already, the two are beginning to shade into each other. Right-wing ‘influencers’ are suddenly discovering that Hitler was not so bad after all – that he has been misrepresented by Jews, who have a vested interest in demonising him in order to justify their ‘appropriation’ of ‘Palestinian’ land, facilitated in this project by their alleged dominance of the media.

Even while making anti-Semitism respectable, they may warn against a resurgence of Nazism – but the Jews are the new Nazis, after all.

We have, of course, been here before. The Great War was followed by the ‘Roaring Twenties’, an age dominated by sexual relaxation and frantic fun – although also eugenics, which has never gone away, and is now marketed as ‘choice’.  Back then, Communism was treated by the left-wing intelligentsia as a marvellous development and indeed an inevitable one – not so much revolution as evolution.

Now, the media fails to mention Communist dictatorships, allowing all criticism and condemnation to fall upon democracies, which are portrayed as failing; paradoxically, their very openness leaves them open to criticism, even while Communist countries clamp down on free speech. Complaints about ‘divisiveness’ have become common, even though division is an essential aspect of democracy as the electorate divides peacefully at the ballot box – a feature notably lacking in Communist dictatorships.

At the same time, an almost frantic effort is made at raising spirits with unlimited ‘fun’ – not a million miles away from Weimar Germany, which, it must be remembered, preceded World War II, the extermination of the ‘unfit’ and the Holocaust.

The Holocaust was preceded by a rise in anti-Semitism, and although leftists have routinely attributed anti-Semitism to ‘the Right’, the many patriotic demonstrations have been marked by pro-Israel, pro-Jewish sentiment. In stark contrast, left-wing marches against Israel and ‘Zionists’ have been marked by violent rhetoric.

If such violence were to be replicated by conservatives, it would be a gift to the present UK Government: given the double standards of ‘two-tier Keir’, nothing would suit him better than to be ‘forced’ to step in and arrest and/or silence his critics, as he did after the Southport demonstrations.

Starmer is troubled by the unrest, not the cause of the unrest – for him, the biggest threat is not the action, but the reaction. With a complete lack of self-awareness, he accuses opponents of divisiveness, when that is exactly what he himself does.  

He seems unaware that one of people’s biggest fears is that they are being ‘replaced’ by immigrants, many of them illegal, from cultures antagonistic to the idea of democracy and free speech – not to mention all the social policies that leftists promote – who are more likely to vote for his Party. However, there are signs that this uneasy coalition of socially conservative Muslims and the ‘progressive’ Left may be fracturing.

These are legitimate concerns on the part of conservatives, not prejudice – their fears are based on actual criminal activity, not fevered imaginings. But ironically, Starmer’s brand of leftism has helped pave the way for prejudice by treating different sections of society as monolithic blocs: instead of each section of society being seen as a collection of good, bad and indifferent human beings, some are treated as entirely blameless, and others entirely blameworthy; in so doing they have opened the door to those who may simply reverse this order.

Historical Cycles

Where we go from here is anybody’s guess, but history acts as a warning. The United Kingdom – increasingly now a disunited Kingdom – has always harboured a certain suspicion of ‘strong men’, violent demonstrations and especially of anti-Semitism, all of which were regarded as strange and foreign. But this is a battle between Western democracy and a kind of religious fascism, and the last thing we need is right-wing racism redirecting the conservative movement towards real fascism.

At this time of year, when once again we celebrate God being born as a man among men – when He chose to become a member of His Chosen People – we would do well to remember how close this world has come to eliminating His earthly kin.

Until fairly recently, we took ‘never again’ seriously; however, with the nation in such a volatile state, governed by those who appear to despise their own people, there is no knowing where all this may lead.

Bondi Beach was shocking, but given previous terror attacks, it was hardly surprising. All those politicians expressing shock at the atrocity appear to have forgotten previous attacks. Until recently, at least, it has been the fashion for politicians – including Starmer – to compete in Holocaust remembrance, but when it comes to serial terrorist attacks, nobody, it seems, is prepared to say ‘never again’.

Clearly, they have failed to learn that anti-Semitism is the virus that never dies – that it just goes dormant until people suffer a memory lapse, at which point they forget the past and so are condemned to repeat it. As to the future, it all depends on whether we take ‘never again’ seriously, or are willing to say ‘never again’ to ‘never again’.

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Image courtesy of Adobe.

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, over $29,000 has already been donated, and we prayerfully seeking to raise $100,000.

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

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