Why Australians Ought to Stand with Israel

There is no contradiction in an apolitical, non-Jewish, secular Australian veteran standing publicly, firmly and unashamedly with Israel and the global Jewish diaspora.

That sentence may seem obvious to some. To others, it will seem surprising, confronting, even suspicious. Why should a non-Jewish Australian, with no religious attachment to Judaism and no ethnic connection to the Jewish people, speak so openly in defence of Israel? Why should a man formed in the Australian profession of arms, who has served his country in uniform across several theatres, concern himself with Jewish safety, Zionism, antisemitism, Gaza, Lebanon, Iran, or the increasingly febrile atmosphere in Western cities?

The answer is simple. There is no contradiction. There is only continuity.
I stand with Israel because I stand with liberal democracy under pressure. I stand with the Jewish diaspora because I stand with the right of decent citizens to live, worship, study, work and raise their children without fear. I stand with Israel because I have seen enough of the world to know that civilisation is not the natural state of mankind. There is only a thin veneer of the civil. It is built. It is defended. It is inherited. And when it is not defended, it is lost.

The contradiction is not mine. It belongs to those who claim to be anti-racist while indulging the world’s oldest hatred. It belongs to those who claim to be anti-colonial while denying the Jewish people any connection to their ancestral homeland. It belongs to those who claim to defend human rights while excusing, minimising or contextualising the murder of Jewish civilians. It belongs to those who claim to oppose fascism while marching beside people who glorify death cults, theocracies and terrorist organisations. It belongs to those who claim compassion while creating permission structures for violence.

That is the contradiction. It is theirs, not ours.