Packed Audience Hears Why We Should Stand With Israel
Mark Birbeck explains why Our Fight and BFOI organised their first public meeting last week. Speakers Allison Pearson and Mick Hume argued that to defend civilisation's gains, we need to stand with Israel--the only country prepared to fight for its values.
Last Thursday saw Our Fight's first public meeting, organised in partnership with British Friends of Israel. The main hall in the venue–JW3, the Jewish community centre in north London–was completely filled, and more people joined the live stream in another room, as well as online.
The packed audience was a mix of Jews, Israelis, non-Jews, and non-Israelis, all united by the concern that anti-Semitism is on the rise, and that rise is a problem for us all. To ignite the discussion we heard inspiring and moving speeches from Allison Pearson and Mick Hume.
Anti-Semitism
For much of this last year, the Our Fight campaign has been working to win wider support for the struggle against anti-Semitism.
We realised very soon after 7.10 that the main language of anti-Semitism today is against Israel and is anti-Zionist. But that understanding soon segued into a further realisation that the values many people are struggling to defend in the West are the very values that Israel is demonstrating in its existential wars.
It is humbling to witness a society that has family, service, loyalty and nation at its centre, fighting to defend those ideals. And we felt that persuading people that Israel is on the frontline in the fight for civilisation–and so an ally, not a pariah–would be key to stemming the growth of anti-Semitism and the influence of the newly energised Islamoleft.
Since 7.10 we have seen many core civilisational values lost or challenged. We saw the value of empathy evaporate within days, as friends and family of pogrom victims were shunned, and progressives danced outside the Israeli embassy.
We have seen patriotism attacked on every march, as anyone with an Israeli or British flag has been pushed, shoved or spat on–even as Palestinian flags flutter in their thousands.
We saw the notion of truth spurned by everyone from newspapers to broadcasters, from trade union motions to international courts, with accusations of genocide, starvation, and civilian targeting–all of which would collapse under the most cursory of glances, were anyone to take the trouble to look.
And perhaps most dangerous and insulting of all of the values that are being overturned, we have seen the crucial lessons from humanity's darkest years–the Holocaust–being used to taunt Jews and Israelis.
Anyone who is concerned at the undermining of these values needs to recognise that one of the few nations prepared to stand up for those ideals is Israel.
Marker
This first meeting has put down a marker, and sent a message to all those who think they can win the battle to isolate Israel, that there are people in Britain who know it is they who are civilisation's enemies, and Israel is our ally in its defence.
If you missed the meeting, then please head to our YouTube channel, and hear Allison Pearson and Mick Hume make the case for a bold stand with Israel, in order to defend the gains of civilisation. And please share widely.
