Eichah and the death of multi culturalism

In a few days the Jewish people commemorate Tisha B’Av, the 9^th day of Av. It is one of two major fast days, no eating or drinking for a little over 24 hours. It is a solemn day, a sad day as it is in remembrance of various calamities that befell us on that date. They include the destruction of both Temples, in the years 586 BCE and 70 CE, the expulsion of the Jews from England, Spain and France, the approval of the Final Solution and the beginning of the deportations from the Warsaw ghetto to Treblinka.

This year it will of course have special significance being the first Tisha B’Av to occur after the 7 October pogrom in Israel. It is sometimes hard to identify with these commemorations, given that so many of the events  to which they refer occurred so very long ago. But this year is different. This year, we were reminded at Passover that the words from the seder “that in every generation they rise up to kill us” aren’t just something from an old text, but rather identify a reality that is as apt today as it was in each generation. Our ancestors knew, or understood, that their time in  the Diaspora was temporary, that in each country a time would come when we would be forced to leave or it became untenable due to the antisemitism and subsequent discrimination. Watching what is going on in the West has opened our eyes to this in ways that reading about never could, even for those of us of the second generation. The fantasy of multiculturalism has proven to be just that, a fantasy.

We are informed that there is a probable terror alert. That is, I would suggest, directly attributable to the Australian government’s duck and weave statements and inaction in respect of the demonstrations, tentifadas and other actions taken by pro-Palestinian mobs. Had they made clear statements that the appalling actions of some were not to be tolerated in our supposed “one and free” society, they may have been nipped in the bud. However, the government’s stance has been one of overarching appeasement. Hence the rampaging mobs go forth unhindered, hence the rise in unfettered “free” speech which is hate filled and hate driven. This, coupled with Penny Wong’s appalling omission of relevant facts when speaking about the Binskin report, itself an action which has never been taken by Australia against any other country, ally or not, does nothing but elevate levels of vitriol and hatred against Jews here. Omission is as devastating as commission. Wong ought to know better, but in her feeble support of Israel and even feebler condemnation of the exponential rise in antisemitism, one is neither shocked nor surprised. Facts matter and her actions tell her that certain votes matter more than others.

We have hate filled speeches coming from Muslim leaders and we have Sydney university students calling for an end to the State of Israel. The Ambassador of Iran’s has called for the dismantling and destruction of the State of Israel and, instead of facing expulsion, he is summonsed by the government for a low level fireside chat and a wet slap over the wrist. By contrast, Israel’s ambassador is hauled in for a dressing down at ministerial level for yet another lecture about restraint.

Officeworks’ employee, that one of the two strikes out but you are still employed, is emblematic of all that has gone wrong with both the government’s and business’ weak and weasel worded approach to the exponential rise in anti semitism. As for the universities, their approach is to side with the Hamas supporters and too bad for the few Jews who can’t attend campus due to those mobs. Jews are being gaslit and told that acts are not antisemitic and not to be so, well, touchy. Odd that every other group is able to decide what is offensive to them, just not the Jews.

In the meantime, Iran is waging psychological warfare on Israel, Hezbollah continues to fire missiles and rockets into Israel’s north from where over 80,000 have been displaced. In Gaza, the IDF continues to find munitions and tunnels under schools run by, you guessed it, UNRWA. The very same which has just dismissed nine employees for taking part in the October 7 massacres.

In the meantime, when I attend shul on Monday night and start counting down the hours to the end of the Fast, and when I read the haunting book Lamentations which details the destruction of Jerusalem, my thoughts will turn to today, and I will wonder, as I often have over the last 10 months, whether the time for Jews here in Australia is over. I wonder if our welcome has run its course, as it did in so many other places before and whether the bubble of multiculturalism has finally burst. Multiculturalism is a great idea betrayed by reality.