Published: 29 January 2025
Last updated: 29 January 2025
There are times when shining a light in a particular direction in a particular way illuminates a truth that was intimated, but not entirely clear.
We now have such a light shining on the protests that engulf our cities each week, disrupt the peaceful atmosphere of our multicultural communities, and claim not to be anti-Jewish or antisemitic, merely pro-Palestinian.
The protests called for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas – and we now have a ceasefire. They called for a withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza – and we now have a timetable for that. And they called for an increase of humanitarian aid into the territory – and that is now happening.
Yet the protests are continuing. Why?
Well, to the Jewish community and much of the wider world, the reason is clear. The protests were never just about a ceasefire, an Israeli withdrawal or humanitarian aid, since if they were, the protestors would be putting down their banners and going home. And very many of the protestors are still there.
Part of a long-term strategy fed by radical Islam and its unholy alliance with the far Left, the protests seek to eradicate from the world its only Jewish state.
In a world with 57 Muslim countries and a single Jewish one, in a region with 315 million Muslims and just 7 million Jews in Israel (in a country of 10 million), and in a Middle East of 9.9 million square kilometres with just 21,000 for Israel (that’s less than a third the size of Tasmania), the ethnic cleansing of Jews from the region is the protestors’ goal.
I have not seen one call for a two-state solution; the desired outcome is a one state solution and it doesn’t include Jews.
When they display symbols of the Israeli flag with a red X through it, or an Israeli flag in a trash can, or a ‘From the River to the Sea’ slogan, they are calling for the genocide of the Jewish population of Israel.
Where would they have those Jews go?
And by that logic, shouldn’t the protestors themselves – almost exclusively non-Indigenous Australians – pack up and leave Australia since their non-biblical claim to live in Australia, and their recent personal or familial emigration here, is a far greater act of occupation (or simple chutzpa) than Jews living in their ancestral homeland, a land to which they have prayed to for millennia?
The protestors seem to ignore the uncomfortable fact that before Hamas attacked Israel in October 2023 and slaughtered over 1,200 mainly civilian Jews, and kidnapped 250, there was no Israeli presence in Gaza. Israel moved in after it was attacked.
The protestors have made no call for the release of the hostages – which include children, old people, Holocaust survivors. I have not seen one call for a two-state solution; the desired outcome is a one state solution and it doesn’t include Jews.
And if humanitarian aid is their concern, let us consider their angst for just one other conflict in a nearby country. Given the far greater calamity in Sudan, for example, in which 61,000 have been killed in Khartoum state alone since October 2023, and according to Amnesty International 9 million people are displaced, where is their call for action in Sudan?
At this stage, allow me to complicate things with a nuance. Like most Jews, I am both a Zionist and pro-Palestinian. As a Zionist, I believe in the state of Israel as a Jewish homeland for the Jewish people. History has taught us that Jewish statehood is an essential element of Jewish security. The Holocaust demonstrated that we have over six million proofs for statehood from the last century alone.
The Zionism of many Jews, mine included, is entwined with supporting self-determination for all peoples. As a result I also believe that the Palestinians should have their own state , whilst noting that unlike the Jews, the Palestinians have never previously had statehood – prior to Israel, the region was ruled by the British, before them the Turks, before them various empires and so forth. The Palestinians have a legitimate call and cause for statehood and this should be fulfilled, in line with non-violence towards their Jewish neighbour.
Like many Jews I abhor many elements of both Netanyahu’s coalition and his ideology. Yet I am nuanced enough to differentiate, as I am here in Australia, my love for a country from my disdain for a government and some of its policies.
There is no such nuance in the protests. They say they want one thing – a Palestinian state – but they really want two things. They also want the region to be Judenfrei.
If they genuinely wanted peace, they would pause their protests and watch the ceasefire and its aftermath; they would balance their calls for an end to Israeli hostilities with calls for both the unconditional release of hostages and a change to the Hamas charter to destroy Israel. They would be as concerned about Muslims in countries as far and wide as Sudan, Iran and Myanmar as they are in Israel and the Palestinian territories.
As the Pullitzer Prize winning author Thomas Friedman wrote, “Criticising Israel is not antisemitic and saying so is vile. But singling out Israel for opprobrium and international sanction out of all proportion to any other party in the Middle East is anti-Semitic, and not saying so is dishonest.”
If you criticise Israel alone, then you are showing your true colours. You are a racist agitator who seeks to destroy the world’s only Jewish state.
As an Australian non-indigenous coloniser you live on Aboriginal land but apply a double standard only to the Middle East’s Jewish minority.
You tolerate and justify Hamas’s murder, rape and kidnapping in the name of resistance, and you deny the right to self-defence to just one ethnic minority.
It's time to hold up a mirror.
Comments13
Gordon Rouse1 March at 10:32 pm
Given this article defames me and my fellow protestors, I would hope you will allow us the right to respond.
Firstly you state that we should be packing up our protests as a ceasefire has now been achieved. This does not recognize that the ceasefire itself is still very fragile. Insufficient AID is still a problem, more babies are freezing to death and Netanyahu seems to using every possible pretense to try to sabotage the ceasefire to save his Coalition. There is also the huge Pachyderm looming in the room – an attempt to ethnic cleanse Gaza and turn it into a resort for rich Christian Zionists. There is still plenty of good reasons for us to protest.
The issue of a one-state versus two-state solution is becoming a boring academic argument that is not worth our emotional effort. Our movement is concerned with justice for Palestinians and Israelis. Palestinians are the ones displaced, who were forcibly removed from their homes in 1948, they are the ones living under occupation, whether it is at the pointy end of a gun in the West Bank or in an open prison in Gaza where their ability to travel, or develop their economy is controlled by Israel. There is, and has never been an intent from Pro-Palestinian sympathisers to ethnic cleanse Israelis from their homes in Israel. It is the Palestinians who are losing their homes to settlers. It is the Israelis who have sabotaged the hope for a two-state solution by supporting settlers and settler violence in the West Bank. With the two-state solution becoming more distant, then the only other solution is one where Palestinians return to becoming full citizens in their own land, in the same way that Indigenous Australians became citizens of Australia in 1962. Palestinians should be able to live peacefully with the sames rights as Jewish Israelis, and they should have the right to return to the land of their grand-parents. This is the one-state solution and it says nothing about ejecting Jewish inhabitants from the land, it is simply a call for political freedom from the River to the Sea!
The notion that this war began on October 7th is wearing very thin. I refuse to believe such ignorance exists among Zionist Jews. They must be surely aware of the tension that was building up in occupied East Jerusalem leading up to October the 7th and the unprovoked shooting of Palestinian protesters through the fence in Gaza. This only a snap-shot of the oppression that began even before 1948.
This charge of being a coalition of unholy alliance between radical Islam and the left seems to ignore the broad base of this movement. I cannot comment on the religious beliefs of my Muslim brothers and sisters at these rallies, and it seems rather bigoted to assume that they are radicals because they are Muslims. Neither can I know fully what beliefs the Christians, Jews and Sheiks in these rallies subscribe to. It is all irrelevant.
Finally we need to address this ‘look over there’ argument about antisemitism. We know that oppression occurs in other countries, yet Israel is supposedly an ally of Australia and Western Democracy. This is a conflict where the Western world is complicit in arming Israel and failing to hold it to account for its oppression. Australia played a huge role in the formation of the state of Israel beginning when the Light Horse Calvary jumped the trenches in Beersheba and put the Ottomans to flight in World War 1. We have always had a vested interest in the Colonial state of Israel, yet like all colonial projects, it is based on dubious moral foundations. The colonial history of both Australia and Israel cannot be undone, but we can move towards a just solution.
Our Pro-Palestinians movement is always seeking peace and reconciliation under just terms.
Annamarie6 February at 01:20 am
Clear and well stated. Many of the things that I have also been saying.
dA31 January at 11:34 am
Well said.
Tal Spinrad31 January at 09:19 am
Well said. Like any of the Jew hatred over the last several thousand years, the stated reasons are not reasons at all. They are excuses to justify the hatred that predate the actions of hatred. That is why that no amount of argument or adjustments to our actions will stop the hatred.
Anne Senior31 January at 07:27 am
Brilliant and truthful account of the whole situation well done cousin Jeremy.
Jennifer31 January at 04:16 am
We are demonstrating for an apartheid-free region and equal rights for all between the river and the sea.
John Wayne31 January at 02:54 am
Excellent piece Jeremy
Michael Burd31 January at 12:23 am
Excellent article notwithstanding I don’t necessarily agree with every point particularly about your negativity about Netanyahu . I am pleased you acknowledge the main issue that all our woke Jewish communal organizations have been in denial ( apart from AJA).that is at this point of history the Left Islam alliance this includes the many leftist Jews are our diasporas number one threat
Whilst the far right will always be antisemitic they are not organized do. It have political support or support from the media , academia , trade unions or the young generation.
It is a shame it has taken the events of 7/10 to wake many or most of our communal leadership to this reality .
Michael Burd
Max30 January at 11:06 pm
Appalling misinformation, reactionary, racist and inflammatory article. A new low for TJI
Naomi Vallins30 January at 10:37 am
Moshe, why is it that just in recent days both Jordan and Egypt have flatly refused to take in Gazan Palestinians as Trump has suggested?
Miriam Feldheim30 January at 07:31 am
This opinion fails to appreciate that this fragile ceasefire could fall apart at anytime before all the hostages are returned. Which is why just as the pro-Palestine rallies continue in Australia, the families of the hostages in Israel are continuing their campaign to ensure all the hostages are returned whether they are alive to be reunited with loved ones, or to be laid to rest on home soil. At the same time we condemn Hamas for their attacks and antisemitism, we need to condemn the Jewish extremists driving the agenda and calling for Israel to return to war and subjugating Palestinian people under Israeli governance. Your implied support for a two-state solution is hollow without criticism and opposition to the extremists on both the Palestinian and Jewish side of these traumatic events we are experiencing.
Erica30 January at 05:19 am
At last, a brilliant and nuanced piece. Thanks!
Moshe Duskis29 January at 03:54 am
Sorry Jeremy, your logic is flawed, as most Israelis, including me, do not believe in a one state or two state solution. Both are highly flawed and lead to more of the same. There is only one solution, to keep hold onto the Jewish state, and let the Arabs, who keep causing this 100 year war, settle Palestinians (Arabs) into the rest of their already established lands. When they do the sky is the limit for Arabs and Jews alike.