Who Will Now Speak Up?

Marching against the rising tide of anti-Semitism:

Sometimes the old truths need to be repeated over and over again until they lose their sense of familiarity, and become fresh and vibrant in our hearts and minds. What was so very famously said some 80 years ago needs to again be repeated until we wake up and come back to our senses.

The German Lutheran Pastor Martin Niemöller at first did not oppose the Nazis when they came to power, but he soon turned against them. He was arrested in 1937 and spent the next eight years interned in concentration camps. In 1946 he released the famous poem, “First they came.”

A main version of it goes like this: “First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out – because I was not a socialist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out – because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out – because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me – and there was no one left to speak for me.”

It was because so few people spoke out, including most German Christians, that the Holocaust was allowed to run its diabolical course. After the Allies defeated Hitler and liberated the camps, the vow was made that this would never happen again.

Well sadly it IS happening again. Since the barbaric and beastly jihad attack on Israeli men, women and children on October 7 of last year, the West has witnessed a flood of anti-Israel, anti-Jewish and pro-Hamas protests, and the scenes have become so intense that many Jews now fear for their safety, be it in Melbourne or London or New York.

That is why I and many thousands of other concerned and committed Melbournians rallied outside of the Victorian Parliament in Melbourne today. Even the cold and the rain could not keep people away, as folks of all differing ethnic and religious backgrounds came together to fight against this ugly increase in anti-Semitism.

Thus there were Jewish leaders, Christian leaders, Aboriginal leaders and others all there, speaking against this diabolical evil which has stained our country. Pastors, Rabbis, politicians, and others united to condemn this ugly new Jew-hatred which is so very much on the rise.

Indigenous leader Warren Mundine spoke so very well. He reminded us ‘that the problem is not the Nazis. There have always been Nazis. The problem is all those who stay silent and do not speak out.’ Federal Liberal Senator Sarah Henderson gave a stirring speech, and pointed out the obvious double standards going on here:

Yesterday the State Labor conference was held, with anti-Israel protestors seeking to gate crash it. Labor got the police to immediately deal with the anti-Semitic hate mob. Well done. However, where are the Labor leaders like Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Victorian Premier Jacinta Allen when the same violent protests and occupations are taking place on our university campuses? Students are not able to engage in their studies and Jewish students are running scared, but Labor is doing nothing about this.

Of interest, there were no Labor speakers at this rally. I wonder why? Christian Pastor Dale Stephenson spoke out against the flood of anti-Jewish hatred, saying Christians are proud to stand with the Jews. He concluded his talk with a brief sentence in Hebrew, which led to another Jewish song being sung.

Victorian Liberal Senator James Paterson spoke about the “elephant in the room”: “Just over there are people counter protesting this rally, counter-protesting a rally against anti-Semitism. And the material they used to promote their protest is frightening: blood-stained writing, a jackboot stomping on the Star of David. For the last six months they’ve had this city to themselves, but on the one weekend the Jewish community and their friends show up they are here to try to intimidate us.”

They sure were. A rather small but very noisy and disruptive gang sought to shut down our rally. Thankfully the police and riot squad were well-prepared, keeping them away from our rally. But that did not stop them from pushing their demonic agenda. One elderly woman was actually shoved to the ground and kicked repeatedly by this feral mob.

Israeli flags were burned. And the usual nasty bile was being screamed over and over again: “intifada, intifada” and “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” and so on. Just like at our prolife rallies, these noisy and angry groups come with drums and loudspeakers, seeking to drown out the peaceful crowd.

As such, there were six of this militant mob who were arrested. None on our side of course were dragged away by the police. There was no need for that. We sang Jewish songs and Christian worship songs, we had a moment of silence for the victims, and we behaved in a decent and loving way – something that cannot be said about the ferals seeking to trash our meeting.

The organising group for the rally was Never Again is Now, co-founded by Mark Leach. Their website says this about them:

The rally, which will be held in other capital cities, was put on by Never Again is Now, (NAIN), is a Christian grassroots movement educating and mobilising Christians to actively stand against the most ancient of racial hatreds, antisemitism.

 

We are committed to ensuring that no such evil finds a home in our beautiful country of Australia. We stand on Australian Values of respect, compassion, freedom, truth and love. We know that the history and politics of the Middle East is complicated and contested. However, we firmly believe that there is never an excuse for antisemitism. Whatever our views might be on the war in Gaza, we believe Australians must stand together in solidarity with our Jewish friends and neighbours.

 

We believe that decent, peace loving Australians oppose antisemitism, and want a safe, inclusive, and cohesive society for all. We look forward to working with anyone of any religious, or non-religious, background who wishes to join us in this stand.

 

Ultimately we have two key objectives:

-We want to be a comfort to the Jewish community – to tell them that they are not alone. We care about the rise in UN-Australian antisemitism, stopping and pushing it back.

-We demonstrate that the Jewish community is loved by Christians (and all people) and are safe in Australia because all people with moral clarity see what is going on. https://www.neveragainisnow.com.au/whoarewe

Coming home it was interesting to see the mainstream media reports. Some sought to make it all about moral equivalence, implying that there were two equal sized groups there, both intent on causing a ruckus. Other more balanced reports made the contrast between the two groups much more clear.

The print media also sought to highlight what makes for news: noisy and violent confrontations. That sort of thing sells newspapers and drives up media ratings. But the real story of a large crowd of peaceful and loving members of the public seeking to stand up for our Jewish friends was too often lost in the sensationalism and jarring headlines.

As but one case in point, simply go to the ABC News website story on this rally. Three photos are included in their report: all three are pictures of the small but nasty anti-Jewish mob. Not one pic of the large, peaceful pro-Israel and pro-Jewish crowd. This is of course so typical of the ABC and so much of the lamestream media. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-05-19/several-arrested-after-clash-in-palestinian-israel-protests/103867110

I am glad that I went, and I was thankful that I could see for myself what really took place there, instead of what an oftentimes skewed and biased media coverage presents. Sadly, this was the first real pro-Jewish and pro-Israel rally held here, in contrast to regular noisy and irate groups screaming out their hatred of the Jews and seeking to bring back what we sought to eliminate last century.

I thought we meant it when we said, “Never again.” Sadly, this is not the case with a minority of hate-filled and often violent protestors who do most certainly seem to want to have it happen again. We just have not learned the lessons of history. And we are now paying the price for that.

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