Peter Dutton: Am Yisrael Chai
Opposition leader Peter Dutton sends a Chanukah message to the Australian Jewish community.
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton visited the synagogue and community days after the attack. (Con Chronis/AAP PHOTOS)
“This Chanukah, there is much that will weigh heavily on the minds of Jewish people in Israel, around the world, and here in Australia.
There’s the plight of the hostages who remain in Hamas’s captivity. There’s the chilling reality that in Israel’s hours of need since 7 October 2023, some of its allies have shamefully behaved more like adversaries and demanded standards of Israel which they would never expect of themselves in similar circumstances. And there’s the sordid moral inversion of the International Criminal Court that has criminalised Israeli leaders for taking the fight to those terrorists responsible for the greatest loss of Jewish life on a single day since the Holocaust – terrorists who will never rest until the Jewish state is exterminated.
This Chanukah, celebrations will also be overshadowed by the sheer magnitude of anti-Semitic incidents that have plagued Western democracies, including here in Australia. As fear has permeated our Jewish community, decent Australians have looked on in shock and with disgust at the intimidation, vilification and crime directed against people of Jewish faith. In a frightening way, Australians who have read about the history and horrors of the Holocaust have, for the first time, grasped how that catastrophe eventuated. They have seen, with their own eyes, a type of hate that, if left unchecked, unleashes greater evils.
From the hate-filled mob that gathered on the steps of Sydney Opera House to the firebombing of Melbourne’s Adass Israel Synagogue, intolerable incident after intolerable incident has been tolerated due to a vacuum of political leadership. Australians are alarmed by what has transpired on our soil – not only because it’s an attack on one segment of our community, but because it’s also an attack on our democratic values and liberties, especially freedom of belief.
This Chanukah, I reiterate to Jewish Australians – and indeed all Australians who cherish our way of life – that a Dutton Coalition Government will provide moral clarity, deliver strong political leadership, and act decisively to restore law and order.
The ancient origins of Chanukah – the rededication of the Temple and the miracle of the menorah that burned for eight days with only enough oil for one day – is a story of victory over oppression and the importance of hope. In that spirit, may the ordeals of the last 14 months be all the more reason for Australia’s Jewish community to commemorate Chanukah as a confident statement of your solidarity, strength, faith and hope.
As you do, I say with you, Am Yisrael Chai.”
That’s a great Chanukah message from Peter Dutton. He speaks with obvious knowledge (not just quickly gained information to include in a formal message to the Jewish community that we see so readily from Australian political leaders) and sincerity. Actually, I never thought I’d see the day I’d be writing nice things about P. Dutton, which just shows how wrong I was.