A rally in solidarity with Australia’s Jewish Community, opposing anti-semitic activity, drew a crowd of about 10,000 to Sydney’s Domain on Sunday February 18, featuring speakers Scott Morrison, Warren Mundine and a message from Sydney’s Anglican Archbishop, Kanishka Raffel.
Rally organiser, Mark Leach rector of Darling St Anglican Church, told the crowd of the incident that inspired him to take part in organising the gathering: “This rally started because on October the ninth, there was a, in my view, extraordinarily unfortunate rally that happened in Town Hall Square that ended up down at the cathedral. And I went along dressed like I am today [in a clerical collar], and I thought someone has to stand against the genocidal hate that we will heard in these chants two days after the greatest massacre of Jewish people since the Holocaust. So I went down and I stood on the steps of the Anglican Cathedral and I unfurled an Israeli flag, and I waved my flag for about two minutes, and then I hightailed it out, chased out of the cathedral square through the streets of Sydney by a bunch of people who were full of hatred. The IDF had not even gone into Gaza yet. The blood was not yet dry in Southern Israel, and they were chanting their words of hate. And I thought, not in Australia, not in Sydney. This is not what we want to see.”
Not an empty or superficial peace
Former Prime Minister Scott Morrison focused on the October 7 terrorist attack by Hamas, as the reason to stand with the Jewish community. “
“We say never again in relation to October 7th, because on October seven the free world failed in its promise that there would be a never again. We said there would be never again after the Holocaust. But in one single day, an atrocity was committed on the people of Israel and at a level that we had not seen since the Holocaust.”
Defending the right of Jews to live in peace in Australia, and of Israel’s right to defend itself, the former PM also spoke of a two state solution. “Our presence here today is to bear witness to these acts of anti-semitism and call them out and express solidarity with Jewish people across Australia and around the world to remove the cloak of sentiment, self-declared respectability and asserted moral superiority and reveal the dark heart of anti-semitism that continues to the linger below the surface, both here in Australia and elsewhere.
“What must Christians do? We must pray for peace, but not an empty or superficial peace, devoid of justice or equality or security and hope for all people in the Middle East, but a lasting, deep, secure, and sustainable just peace. Peace is not simply the absence of conflict, which we all wish to see for Israelis and Palestinians alike, but the presence of freedom, of justice and security behind secure borders where people can live their lives free from oppression, fear, and persecution.
“This is why the state of Israel exists today. It is also why I would say that Palestine must exist. It is why a two state solution must continue to be our goal, but for this to happen, it cannot just be any two states. They must be two capable States. States that are competent and focused on the welfare, freedom, security, advancement, and flourishing of their own people, regardless of their religion, their ethnicity, language, and background states that uphold the principles of human dignity and the rule of law states that are interested in hospitals and schools rather than the tunnels and command centres for terrorists, they build beneath them to launch terrorist attacks against their neighbours and use the innocent civilians as their shield for their dastardly acts in contravention of international law: such acts betray a future for the Palestinian people and they condemn any future for a viable Palestinian state.”
Despite the factors making peace difficult the former PM exclaimed, “But I’ve always believed in miracles and I will continue to always pray for a great miracle in the Middle East.”
Sydney: a coat of many colours
A message from Sydney’s Anglican Archbishop Kanishka Raffel was the second speech at the rally that dealt with the Palestinian question beyond a mention in a fiery contribution from senator Jacqui Lambie.
Sandy Grant, dean of the Cathedral mentioned by Mark Leach, read the Archbishop’s message which began with a string note of sympathy for Sydney’s Jewish community. “Antisemitism is insidious and has a long and shameful history, including a history amongst Christians. This is deeply grievous to me, and I’m determined that will not perpetrate or tolerate such things. So I continue to urge all people, whether they adhere to a faith or not, to reject antisemitism in all its forms.
“Our desire is for our Jewish neighbours, friends and colleagues to be confident of their place of belonging as part of the city, a coat of many colours. We are committed to Jewish children in Sydney, being safe and disturbed in their schools and the synagogues, Jewish families being able to enjoy the community culture, faith, and all this city has to offer without fear, disruption, or hesitation that such common experiences should be in question. For any community in Sydney, because of their religious or cultural background, they should have no place amongst us. It’s utterly unacceptable that Jewish people are subject to attacks because of their Jewishness. We don’t accept it. We won’t accept it.
Turning to the Middle East, the Archbishop added: “We recognise that there are many who are hostages still being held by terrorists and pray for their safety and release. We pray for their families in shock, anger, and fear. We pray for the families of all those who were wickedly murdered on October seven, and we also mourn with those who mourn the deaths of thousands of citizens in Gaza since the war against Hamas began, we grieve for all who are displaced from their homes and who have no homes to return to. We long for peace with justice for all. I pray for the peace of Jerusalem for the day when swords will be beaten into plough shares.”
They wanted to add their voice
First Nations leader Warren Mundine spoke of a history of Aboriginal peoples standing “shoulder to shoulder” with Australian Jewry, and honoured a Christian who stood up for them. “
The legendary and great aboriginal leader, William Cooper. Yeah, William Cooper was born in the colony of Victoria in 1860… At the near age of 78 – mate, I’m only 60 and I still can’t walk around – several weeks after Kristallnacht in Germany, William Cooper led a delegation of the Australian Aboriginal League to Melbourne’s German consulate to deliver a petition condemning the cruel persecution of the Jewish people by the Nazi government of Germany in 1938. It’s the only known protest of its kind in the world against the terrible night of anti-Semitic violence leading up to one of the darkest periods of human history.
“The protest by Australians Aboriginals took place while they were suffering under the segregation regime of the state and territory governments, the Aborigines Protection Acts, but they saw persecution of other people as well, and they wanted to add their voice.”
We have hit a new low
Senator Jacqui Lambie also honoured Cooper in her fiery speech, but roused the crowd in condemnation of the effects of anti-semitism. “Last year I asked the Australian people on the floor of the Senate how they would feel if their kids were afraid to go to school like some of yours this year.
“Wasn’t that shameful? How would they feel if people were sticking swastika stickers on their businesses? I tell you how they’d feel in Tasmania. It wouldn’t go down.
“Well, how would they feel if their teenagers were attacked in the street because they looked a certain way. This is what is happening to the Jewish kids, their families, and businesses since the Hamas terrorist attack on October the seventh.
“I hope this awful hateful behaviour would stop. As a matter of fact, I wish it’d never bloody started and these people in this country should know better. Just last week, the names and personal details of almost 600 of your own Jewish Australians, musician artists, and the academics were published online.
“We’ve hit a whole new level, haven’t we? Australia This week, Victorian police are pursuing a protection order for a Jewish couple who has sent a photo of their five-year-old son with the words, and I quote, I know where you live.
“Oh my goodness. We are in the gutter, haven’t we? Australians? We have hit the gutter.”
The apple of God’s eye
A speech by Michelle Pearse, CEO of the Australian Christian Lobby, featured a mini-Bible study on Jews and Christians. “Whilst those who hate the Jewish people justify the barbaric violence against them, we’ll not remain silent, but we will, as the Bible says, console those who mourn in Zion. As a Christian, I’ve been raised with the knowledge of the Jewish people. When God called Abraham, he said, I’ll make you into a great nation. I’ll bless you. I’ll make your name great and you’ll be a blessing. I’ll bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you, and all the peoples on the earth will be blessed through you.
Much of God’s character and their nature is revealed to us in the Bible through his relationship with the Jewish people. In Zechariah, it says, ‘for whoever touches you, touches the apple of his eye.’ In Isaiah 54: 10, it says, ‘though the mountains be shaken and the heels be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken, nor will my covenant of peace be removed, says the Lord who has compassion on you.’ The story is one of unrelenting devotion to his people. In Deuteronomy 7:6, it says, ‘for you are a people holy to the Lord your God, the Lord your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be His people, His treasured possession.’
” God’s desire we see has always been to dwell with his people through the arc of the covenant to the establishment of the temple.
“The story has centred around God being present with the Jewish people, and Christians believe that through Jesus, God with us, that we have been grafted into this story.”
Pearse returned to the main theme of the rally, quoting from Australia’s citizen book “‘Australians believe in peaceful disagreement and above all the right to be safe and free from violence and intimidation.’
“Are we losing what it means to be Australian? As we see these values undermined by those who seek to intimidate the Jewish people through acts of intimidation and antisemitism, and also against anybody that stands with them.
“We all have a right in this nation to be free from violence and intimidation, and today we stand with the Jewish people for your right to dwell in safety and for all Christians who believe in the Bible, those who have read the stories, we stand with you because of that truth, but it’s more than that. We love you because God loves you. You are the apple of his eye. You are his chosen people, and I am very sorry for what you have been through. In response to the rise of antisemitism, the Australian Christian lobby launched a petition to stand against hate in Australia. In just a short amount of time, we had 11,000 people sign this petition. Your name might be in here. We’ll be presenting this petition to Julian Lisa, and we continue to stand against hate. We stand with you, never again will we be silent. Never again is now. Thank you.”
