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Australia

Australia at a Crossroads:

Oct 19, 2018

The pulse of the land at the uttermost parts of the earth In the early hours of September 25, 1918, on the moonlit southern shore of the Sea of Galilee, white and aboriginal Australians executed the last horseback charge in military history to capture a small but fiercely-defended train station – Tzemach. Weeks later, World War 1 was over, and for the first time in nearly seven centuries, the Jews’ ancient homeland was free from Muslim control. As this article goes to press, the centennial of this little-known but critical Battle of Tzemach is being marked at the restored site, 11 months after the 100th anniversary of the famous victorious charge at Beersheba of the Australian 800 Light Horsemen. Beersheba began the liberation of the Land of Israel; Tzemach secured that liberty. ***** Last year—in the run up to Beersheba —I came to Australia to motivate for the recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. Multitudes of Aussies longed to see their country “lead the charge” as the first to move its embassy to this city. My 2017 journey took me to every major center around Australia, and from Elcho Island in the north, through Alice Springs, to Tasmania way down […]

Needed: A Rented Office and an Australian Flag

Jun 20, 2018

Over the last few years, in the lead-up to the Beersheba centenary, I have actively promoted the view that Australia—in timely fashion and emulating its famed Light Horsemen—could once again lead the charge, recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and place its embassy there. In 2016, I sat in the Australian Embassy in Tel Aviv and asked then-Ambassador to Israel, David Sharma, why it was that his country would not take the initiative and do the right thing in Israel—as it had with every other one of its embassies and high commissions around the world—by placing its embassy in the designated capital. He replied that it was “not Australian statecraft” to do so. A few months later, I put the question to former Prime Minister Tony Abbott during a ‘chance encounter’ at Jerusalem’s Holocaust Memorial Museum. His response was very different: “If I was prime minister I would do it today.” Later that year, as we approached 100 years marking the Battle of Beersheba and the celebrated legacy of the 800 Light Horsemen, people around Australia responded to this voiced hope: that on this pivotal issue of the embassy move to Jerusalem, their nation might again show the maverick brand of […]

Whose Land? 2

Mar 14, 2018

Whose Land? is a two-part documentary film looking at the legitimacy of the State of Israel in International Law. This unique documentary features in-depth interviews with a team of highly qualified lawyers and historians. It is presented by Colonel Richard Kemp CBE and produced and directed by multi-award winning filmmaker Hugh Kitson. Part 1 of Whose Land? – entitled Foundations (94 minutes) – was released in Australia in August 2017 and in the UK, New Zealand and South Africa in November at the time of the 100th anniversary of the Balfour Declaration. It currently awaits release in the USA and Canada. It is available for live-streaming anywhere in the world through www.whoseland.tv Foundations looks at both the history and the legal issues that led to the establishment of the modern State of Israel in 1948. Included is a demographic snapshot of the Holy Land in the 19th century. What historical records are there of a Palestinian Arab nation whose capital city was Jerusalem? We look at the roots of the modern Zionist movement, a detailed look at the Balfour Declaration and the Paris Peace Conference – and the relatively unknown agreement forged by Arab and Jewish leaders over their territorial […]

The charge of Beersheba reenactment aftermath

Jan 5, 2018

The centenary of the charge of Beersheba created enormous interest in Israel. I estimate some many millions of shekels were spent on preparation for the event. With grandstands, field preparations, streets adorned with banners and flags of Australia, New Zealand and Israel, not to mention the enormous cost of security with the Prime Ministers of Australia and Israel and countless VIP’s present. While on the subject of flags, we did get some criticism from the ABC Insiders program, surprise, surprise, for carrying the Israeli flag during our ride. However we carried the Israeli flag with pride, out of respect for our host Nation and its great support for our event. In addition, it symbolised something of the special relationship between our two nations and our unique shared history. I must say though other ABC coverage was excellent. Our journey was publicised as a “ride for peace” and our tour “in the steps of the Light Horse” took us through the length and breadth of Israel. We had a contingent of Kiwis with us and acknowledged their role in the battle for Jaffa at Ayun Kara and Tel El Saba. Peace for Israel means security and we must stand with all […]

Australian Embassy Petition

Aug 21, 2017

Over the last twelve months a series of meetings has been held at which Australian pro-Israel Christians have focused on the important ways in which we can express pro-actively our support of Israel, especially in these days when there is virulent international condemnation of a nation that is so tiny, yet huge in the heart and purposes of God. As the United Nations continues to demonstrate its at times bizarre irrelevance and hostility in matters relating to Israel, 2017 is shaping to be a critical, historic and indeed prophetic year for Australia – and Aussies – to be seen as strong and dependable in standing shoulder to shoulder with Israel. This year is significant for its many anniversaries for the Jewish world: 120 years since the first Zionist Congress; 100 years since the Charge of the Light Horse Brigade in Be’er-sheva; 100 years since the Balfour Declaration; 70 years since the UN partition vote; and 50 years since the miraculous Six Day War and the reunification of Jerusalem. Those of us who are Christian supporters of Israel now have a unique opportunity to reaffirm our unwavering commitment to stand with Israel and the Jewish people, building on the first ever […]

A Brief History of Jews in Australia

Apr 20, 2017

The first Jews in Australia came literally on the first day of European settlement on the continent – 26 January 1788. Among the 827 convicts on the English First Fleet who began Australia’s European settlement was a small number of Jewish convicts, estimated by historians at between eight and 14, transported from England to Botany Bay, near Sydney, for relatively trivial crimes. The first free Jewish settler to arrive in Australia, however, came in 1816. The first Jewish religious society in Australia, a burial society, began in 1817 and the first Jewish religious service took place about the same time. Jewish Community and Religious Life. Organised Jewish religious life in Australia began in the 1830s in Sydney, with the formation of the first permanent congregation. The first synagogue, Beth Tephilah, was established in 1837. Hobart Synagogue was the second to be built in 1845 and is the oldest synagogue still in use in Australia—and the southern hemisphere—home to the Hobart Hebrew Congregation. Jewish Refugees and Holocaust Survivors. The Australian Jewish community was transformed in the 1930s and 1940s by the arrival of approximately 8,000 Jewish refugees from Nazi Germany Austria and Czechoslovakia and, slightly later, by approximately 35,000 East European survivors […]

Australia and Israel: For such a time as this

Jan 14, 2017

The contemptible UNESCO resolutions concerning Jerusalem’s Temple Mount and the burial grounds of Israel’s founding fathers in Hebron have shown again how fierce and unrelenting the effort is to delegitimise Israel by disputing or seeking to sever its ancient roots in—and millennia-long ties to—this land. That such international positions are taken against the Jews’ indigeneity is appalling enough. What defies belief is that Judea-Christian nations (like Australia and Israel and America for example) whose cornerstone is the same Bible that authenticates Israel’s claims to its land, to Jerusalem and to the Temple Mount have not rallied to stand with Israel against this assault on the origin of all Christians and Jews. Can Australia be different? Foreign Minister Julie Bishop describes her nation’s relationship with Israel as warm and close. Aussies hardly need me to note that there is so much more that has gone into this mateship than just diplomacy and co-operation. An enormous amount of Australian blood was shed to help liberate the Jews’ historical homeland in World War I, and to keep the Nazis from reaching this land and killing its Jews in World War II. Ties have continued to deepen between the two countries and, during the tenure […]

Israel needs the ‘spiritual ANZACs’ to also be “earthed”

Jun 7, 2016

Purpose of this article: To communicate to Aussie and Kiwi Christians who wish to stand with God’s purposes for Israel the importance of being ‘spiritual anzacs’—plugged into the battle for the Land – and pointing to the tie-in with the upcoming elections in Australia. The four years encompassing the 100th anniversarof the Great War (2014 to 2018) have seen a marked growth of pride in the legacy of the ANZACs among young and old Australians and New Zealanders alike. Widely held is the perception that these countries were forged into nations in the terrible furnace of World War 1. By many accounts, ANZAC Day has become a more patriotic event than Australia Day and Waitangi Day respectively. Christians have hardly been immune, and a growing number also hold a Biblical perspective on the subject. Quoting Genesis 12:3—the foundational principle pertinent to those who bless the seed of Abraham—they ascribe the prosperity and peace experienced by their nations since the 1920s to the heroic fighting and sacrifices of the men of the Australia and New Zealand Army Corps; specifically to the fact that their diggers formed the point of the British Empire spear that liberated Israel’s land from centuries of Islamic […]

Anzacs, Israel & Australia’s destiny – a need for balance

Apr 1, 2016

Photo of Anzacs from AWM: “Australian light horsemen riding waler horses. The soldiers are of the original contingent of the Australian Imperial Force and the photo was taken prior to their departure from Australia in November 1914. The soldier on the right is Trooper William Harry Rankin Woods, 1st Light Horse Regiment, who died of wounds on 15 May 1915, one of the first light horsemen to die during the Battle of Gallipoli.” I recently re-read an article I wrote in 1992 entitled ‘The Anzacs and Israel’ which had been published in several Christian magazines and circulated around Australia and New Zealand. It portrayed a somewhat patriotic ANZAC perspective – which I now realise was not entirely balanced. At that time I was working as a local guide at Christ Church in the Old City of Jerusalem specialising in British, European and Protestant involvement in the Eastern Mediterranean 1798-1948. This article reflected my attempt to present the significant contribution which ANZAC soldiers had played in helping to lay the foundations for the establishment of Israel – as part of the bigger geo-political picture. This perspective was aided through also conducting In Step with Allenby and the Light Horse tours from Jerusalem, down […]

Salting Australia for 2017

Feb 10, 2016

Dear Aussie brothers and sisters in Messiah. Prayerful (gentile) New Year’s greetings from a wintery Land of Israel. 2017 will be on us before we know it, with a remarkable confluence of events set for that year that could powerfully impact Australia’s future before God: the 100th anniversary of the Beersheba battle that freed up Israel’s land for Jewish settlement the 50th anniversary—Golden Jubilee—of the Six Day War that restored the heart of that land to Jewish control an International Sovereignty Congress planned in the Hague in support of Israel’s legitimate claim to all this land as the Israeli sovereignty campaign gathers momentum the intensifying UN push to pull off the Two State Solution, which seeks to rob Israel of this very same heartland – the cradle of Jewish nationhood. As strongly as I sensed that Australia’s membership on the UN Security Council in 2014 was significant then in regard to the escalating battle over this land, I sense preparations to mark Beersheba in 2017 are also key. It’s a once in a century opportunity to honour that decisive victory with another. And what real value can there be in celebrating the liberation of the land without using the occasion to […]

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