CAMERON MILNER: Two years on from October 7, Hamas’ legacy lies in Australian society’s virulent anti-Semitism

Two years ago, Israel was living in peace and 1200 people had not yet become the victims of the worst crime against Jews since the Holocaust.

The past two years have taught us all so much about we should stand for in Australia, our way of life, our shared values and the enemies of that within our own borders.

Hamas’ terrorist attack was only the beginning of two years of the worst anti-Semitism in living memory on our shores.

The very worst of Israel-hating bile from not only protesters on the Opera House steps, but also from the political leadership of our country.

Anthony Albanese has mouthed platitudes in support of the Jewish community, but then folded as Muslim crime gangs, paid by Iran, torch restaurants, homes and synagogues.

He kept playing tennis in Cottesloe while a synagogue in Melbourne lay smouldering.

Do we wonder why we have so many problems when our PM is so reluctant to stand up and defend our laws and our land?

Albanese has outsourced his moral leadership to Penny Wong and Tony Burke ever since October 7, 2023.

He’s always been a flat-footed procrastinator, but the other two have jumped at the opportunity to back away from Israel and peddle the false narrative that Gaza was heaven on earth before Israel moved to defend itself from further terrorist attacks.

We should take time out to reflect on Australia’s direction as a nation

Gazans have been living under the tyranny of Hamas since 2006 when, through armed insurrection, the corrupt Palestinian Authority head Mahmoud Abbas was exiled to the West Bank.

In 2022, the UN estimated 1.5 million Gazans were starving every day. Hamas intercepted and stole 90 per cent of all food aid being delivered. Yet Wong and Burke were nowhere to be seen or heard decrying these crimes against humanity.

The war against Hamas may well now be in its final chapter due to Israeli determination and President Donald Trump.

It’s a timely reminder that peace comes through strength, peace is worth fighting for and the price of peace is eternal vigilance.

We will of course be served up plenty of Albanese/Wong/Burke revisionism. It will all be down to Albo’s speech at the UN, and two years of backsliding then condemning Israel was all somehow worth it.

While Albanese had a plan full of wishful thinking to remove Hamas from a future Palestinian state, Trump had direct engagement with Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Egypt to get the real work done.

Plenty of time has been spent at the increasingly useless UN assembly decrying Iran’s nuclear program. It took Israel and Trump’s bunker busters to actually destroy them.

It will be Trump’s actions, not Albanese’s words, that will hopefully finally deliver peace.

In coming days, the remaining hostages may once again walk free and Hamas may have to submit to a Muslim Brotherhood-led peace force in Gaza. But we should also take time as a nation to reflect on where the hard left under Albanese has taken Australia.

We aren’t a country that stands shoulder-to-shoulder with the only democracy in the Middle East.

We’ve let imported hatreds and prejudice loose on Australian communities — not just Australian Jews, but all of us.

The Albanese Government has normalised anti-Semitism in Australia and cravenly chased Muslim votes in key seats rather than defend our nations shared values.

Tony Burke offered a ministerial concierge service for Gazans arriving with no security checks from ASIO at Sydney International Airport all while crime gangs funded by Iran run rampant in Sydney and Melbourne.

Penny Wong, strongly rumoured to finally be stepping down from the Senate, has lead the international charge against Israel.

She visited Israel reluctantly after the October 7 attacks but rather than visiting the place where women and children were raped, burnt, murdered and taken hostage she took selfies with unelected officials in the West Bank.

Albanese may be riding high in the polls and have a record breaking parliamentary majority but it hasn’t provided him with an extra ounce of moral clarity.

Since when has Australia been too timid to calling out terrorists abroad or at home?

Hiding behind not wanting to offend Muslims isn’t an excuse for not condemning Islamic inspired attacks on home soil or the jihadi calls of hate preachers in Western Sydney mosques as fundamentally un-Australian and against our shared values.

As we pause as a nation to reflect on the anniversary of October 7 it shouldn’t just be to remember the 1200 people who lost their lives in Israel, but also on the Australia of today.

As a nation we’ve defended democracy in world wars. We are opposed to terrorists.

Yet under Albanese we seem to have lost our moral compass. We’ve let our capitals’ streets be turned over to hate marchers.

While we remember those who lost their innocent lives we should also take time out to reflect on Australia’s direction as a nation. We should use the anniversary of October 7 to reset as a nation and defend our shared national values both abroad and at home.