Anti-Israel activists poisoning world against the West

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anti-israel protests are less about mourning the deaths of palestians than glorifying the demise of the world’s only jewish state. by freya leach

First published in the Daily Telegraph

On October 7, as thousands of Jewish Australians and their allies gathered around the country for solemn commemorations of the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust, hateful, anti-Jewish “vigils” and protests were taking place simultaneously. 

Speaking to a crowd of hundreds outside Lakemba Mosque, a visiting American academic Khaled Beydoun, said the quiet part out loud. October 7 is “not fully a day of mourning” but a “good day”. At the Sydney Town Hall rally, Organiser Jana Fayyad told the crowd she was proud of the "freedom fighters" in Gaza. The protestors chanted “Long live the resistance”. 

By rallying on October 7, these protesters are memorialising the rape, murder and kidnapping of innocent civilians. But this should come as no surprise. It’s been obvious to anyone with the guts to listen, that these rallies are not about Palestinians, they are about destroying Israel and turning the public against it. 

Nothing has changed since October 8 last year when Sheikh Dadoun told a rally in Lakemba, “I’m smiling and I’m happy – I’m elated…It’s a day of courage, it’s a day of resistance, it’s a day of pride, it’s a day of victory. This is the day we’ve been waiting for.”

These protests have always been about glorifying the demise of the world’s only Jewish state. 

If these rallies were about mourning the deaths of Palestinians they would be condemning Hamas who is using Gazans as human shields. Instead, they chant “Glory to our martyrs”. 

If they cared more about protecting Lebanese civilians, they would call on Hezbollah to stop firing more than 9,000 rockets into Israel and dragging Lebanon into a war. Instead, they hold up portraits of Nasrallah and proudly wave Hezbollah flags. 

If they truly wanted a ceasefire, they would call for Iran and its terror proxies to lay down their weapons, release the hostages and denounce radicalism. 

Yet after 52 weeks of protests, I have not heard a single speaker utter anything other than support for the “resistance”. 

So what’s the point of these rallies, if not to mourn Palestinians and call for peace? Their goal is to shape public opinion in the Western world; the Western front. In the Vietnam War, the Viet Cong knew they could never win militarily. Their best shot was to swing public opinion so it became untenable for the US to engage. This is the strategy being adopted. 

Khaled Beydoun, whose visa is now under review by the Minister, said, “One thing that has taken place over the course of this past year that’s been unprecedented, that’s been transformative in many respects, is that the level of global literacy around what is taking place in Palestine has exponentially risen.” 

This is what Hamas wanted when they terrorised Israel on October 7. By breaking the existing ceasefire, drawing Israel into a near-impossible war and hiding behind their dense civilian population, every death, that for Israel is a tragedy, has now become a strategy for Hamas and Hezbollah. 

We must push back barbarism’s offensive on the Western front by standing in solidarity with Israel and our Jewish community. 

Watch Freya Leach discuss how Labor is divided on Middle East policy