New Life – Letters to a Post Christian Nation -7 – The Jews in Australia

 

Dear Fellow Citizen,

What do you think of Israel? A few years ago, that would have been a largely irrelevant question in Australia, and much of the Western world, for most people. But today it is one of the key questions. If you are one of the white middle class, middle aged, people who attend Glastonbury you chant your hatred of Israel. If you are one of the mobs on the streets of Melbourne or Sydney shouting ‘From the River to the Sea, Palestine shall be free’ you are calling for the eradication of Israel – and if you are a supporter of Hamas, the eradication of all Jews.

Why such hatred for Israel? Why the focus on Israel and the Jews? It’s not just because of Gaza – after all many more people have been killed and displaced in Sudan than in Gaza – and yet there are no marches on the streets for the Sudanese, no celebrities posting their endless opinions on how the Sudanese could be free.

The hatred of Israel and of the Jews has been thousands of years in the making. The Jews were expelled from their land by the ultimate colonisers, the Roman Empire. The Romans even turned their country into a province and gave it a Latin name – Palestinia. They were determined to eradicate the Jews from the land – from the River to the Sea. After all the pogroms, exiles, wars, persecutions and ultimately the Holocaust of the 20th Century, it is astonishing that the Jewish people have survived at all.

But they haven’t just survived – they have flourished. In almost every land they have gone to. And when the Jews flourish – invariably the wider population benefits. Jewish individuals constitute less than 0.2% of the global population (approximately 15–16 million people), yet they account for over 20% of Nobel Prizes, a disproportionate achievement often attributed to cultural emphasis on education, intellectual pursuit, and resilience in diaspora communities.

Maybe that is why they are so hated? Jealousy?

The Jews arrived in Australia with the arrival of the First Fleet in 1788 – where there were at least 8 Jewish convicts. Over the next 60 years around 800 more arrived – mostly from the working-class areas of London. Free Jewish settlers started coming in the 1820’s. By 1901 there were 15,000 Jews mostly in Sydney and Melbourne.

Today, Australia’s Jewish population is approximately 120,000, with 99,956 identifying as Jewish by religion in the 2021 census, though estimates suggest a higher number due to underreporting. The community is centred in Melbourne (46%) and Sydney (39%).

After the Second World war thousands of Holocaust survivors came with the result, that apart from Israel, Australia had the highest per capita Holocaust survivor population. I think of that when I visit the Jewish Museum in Sydney and am proud of my adopted land. Which is why it was shocking to witness a couple of years ago an anti-Israel demonstration in Sydney which included chants of ‘gas the Jews’ (although some said it was ‘where are the Jews’ – hardly less intimidating). Jewish people were advised to stay out of the CBD. Since then, anti-semitism – in universities, in media and on the streets has risen enormously. Why has this happened?

Much of it has to do with Islam. The hatred of the Jews and Israel in the West is no longer driven by far-right extremists (though that still exists). The hatred is driven by religion (the increase in Muslim immigrants being a key factor) and by the post-modern absurdity of left-wing progressives thinking it is cool to support Islam and attack Israel. Which is why you end up with such anomalies as ‘Queers for Palestine’ – given that any openly homosexual person in Gaza is likely to end up dead! The only country where homosexuality is legal in the Middle East is ironically Israel.

I was proud of my native country, Scotland, which was the only country in Europe (perhaps along with Iceland and Finland) never to have had anti-Jewish laws. But Scotland too has fallen prey to the virus of anti-semitism – aided and abetted by the former First Minister of Scotland, Humza Yousaf, endlessly tweeting anti-Israel tweets. A few years ago, a gay Jewish activist I knew in Scotland told me he was getting out of the country. When I asked him if it was because of homophobia, (he and I had had a couple of robust discussions on this subject!) he said no – it was because of the new wave of anti-semitism.

Now of course we have to be careful. Not every criticism of Israel is anti-semitic. Nor does being pro Jewish mean you have to support Benjamin Netanyahu. But it is also true that anti-semitism easily hides behind legitimate political criticism. If you doubt that – ask yourself when you last saw marches on the streets of Australia for the Nigerian Christians being slaughtered? Or the 150,000 Sudanese you have died since 2023? Ask yourself why the Jewish Museum in Sydney (and many synagogues and Jewish schools) have to have armed guards and the kind of security that an airport has?

As I sit writing this, in front of me on my desk is the Shema in Hebrew and English – “Hear O Israel! The Lord is our God! The Lord is One.!” Taken from Deuteronomy 6:4. Why is it there? To remind me of the fact that God first revealed himself in and through the Jews, that Jesus was ‘of the line of David’; and that as a Christian I owe a great debt to the Jewish people.

And so does Australia. Jews have made significant contributions to Australian society in politics, arts, business, and military, including General Sir John Monash, Sir Isaac Isaacs (Governor-General, 1931–1936), and Mark Dreyfus (current Attorney General). Others include Simcha Baevski (Sydney Myer) (1878–1934): A Russian-born Jewish immigrant, Myer arrived during the gold rush and founded the iconic Myer department store chain. And Sir Isaac Isaacs (1855–1948): Australia’s first native-born Governor-General (1931–1936) and the first Jewish vice-regal representative in the British Empire. A barrister and High Court judge, Isaacs helped draft the Australian Constitution, leaving a lasting legal and political legacy. Isaac Nathan (c.1792–1864): Known as the “father of Australian music,” Nathan composed Australia’s first opera, Don John of Austria, and was the first to transcribe Indigenous Australian music. He arrived in 1841, enriching the colony’s cultural life.

Christians have different theological perspectives on Israel and the Jews. For example, is the current nation state of Israel a fulfillment of biblical prophecy? I have no desire to go down that particular rabbit hole in this letter – but suffice it so say that is not the key question. What we really need to ask is do we want to be in a nation with a rich Judaeo-Christian heritage and culture? The heritage and culture on which Australia was founded? Then we must stand up for the Jews (not the same as always standing up for the Israeli government), appreciate what they have given us, and pray for the salvation of Israel and the peace of Jerusalem (Psalm 122).

And we must also remember that it is the Jew, Jesus Christ, who is the only one who can bring that peace. He is the one who breaks down the dividing wall of partition between Jew and Gentile, as that other Jew, Paul, reminds us in his letter to the Ephesians. It is only when the whole earth is filled with his glory that there will be peace ‘from the River to the Sea’… (see. Psalm 72)

Yours,

David

Scots Kirk, Hamilton, Newcastle.

Letters to a Post-Christian Nation 6 – Education. New Life