Why I am still seeing the light after this darkness
You can dwell on death and despair. Or you can look at the resilience of Jewish history and the support Israel is getting from world leaders. The author, a person of Jewish faith in Australia, has expressed her feelings about the future of the country after witnessing a recent incident outside the Sydney Opera House that caused an international embarrassment. The author, who grew up in a tolerant and multicultural Australia, describes how the issue of Jewish students being afraid to attend lectures on campus and Jewish parents feeling the need to keep their children home from school due to fears of safety. The incident occurred when hundreds of demonstrators in Sydney chanted “f--- the Jews” and “gas the Jews,’ while sympathetic Australian Jews and non-Jews were told to stay away for their own safety. Despite this, the author expresses hope that despite these challenges, despite the darkness and uncertainty, the light will eventually return.
发表 : 2年前 经过 Josh Frydenberg 在 World
As a person of Jewish faith growing up in a tolerant and multicultural Australia I never thought I would feel as my grandparents did in 1933 the rising tide of European antisemitism which would consume their families in the flames of the Holocaust. But now I do.
I stand before you anguished and anxious about the future.
When fears over safety see Jewish students afraid to attend lectures on campus, Jewish parents feel the need to keep their children home from school and Jewish schools advise students not to wear their uniforms that make them identifiable outside school grounds, we know we have a problem.
And when hundreds of demonstrators in Sydney chant “f--- the Jews” and “gas the Jews” we know just how dangerous and serious that problem really is.
What happened last week outside the Sydney Opera House was nothing short of an abomination. A national disgrace that has become an international embarrassment.
Just think for a moment what just happened in our own country.
Instead of being able to show solidarity with Israel as our national icon was lit up in blue and white, sympathetic Australian Jews and non-Jews were told to stay away for their own safety as a rampaging mob was given centre stage.
No such behaviour was tolerated near the Eiffel Tower, the Brandenburg Gate or Number 10 Downing Street when they were lit up in blue and white. To the contrary, thousands rallied outside these landmarks, singing the Israeli national anthem, the Hatikvah, and showing their spontaneous support.
If that was not bad enough, it’s been reported that it was said to the leadership of the NSW Jewish community “maybe it’ll just be easier if we don’t light up the Opera House to protect you people”.
“You people”: what a disgraceful term for a community of proud Australians that have never seen a conflict between their faith and their nationality.
A community that has produced our greatest citizen soldier, Sir John Monash, governors general, governors, chief justices, chief scientists, leading business figures, among so many others.
In making my remarks tonight I had a choice.
I could dwell on the death, despair and darkness that is dominating debate.
Or I could share some of the lessons of history and what it tells us about how the light will shine again.
For more than 2000 years the enemies of Israel have been seeking its destruction.
The Babylonians, the Assyrians, the Nazis to name just a few. But history tells us that the enemies of the past are no more.
Now, despite the huge challenges ahead, I see the light returning.
When leaders across the Western world including US President Joe Biden, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz speak with piercing moral clarity in defence of Israel and rush to be by its side in its hour of need, it gives me comfort Israel has support where it counts.
When thousands of Israelis line the pavements waiting to donate blood, open their homes to fellow citizens who have lost theirs and volunteer to serve in the army before they’re even asked, it gives me hope that Israel’s debilitating internal divisions can be relegated to a thing of the past.
We are all here for the same reason – because we support good over evil and because we know Winston Churchill was right when in the heat of battle he said, “if you’re going through hell, keep going”.
These are indeed the darkest of times and every day innocent lives are being lost in both Israel and in Gaza.
We cannot lose our common humanity as Hamas makes victims of the people of Gaza too.
It is my hope that despite all that has happened the light will eventually shine through.
This is an excerpt from a speech delivered in Melbourne in support of the victims of terrorism.