It would be an understatement to say that the events of 7 October changed the focus of my life.
While I’m not Jewish, I’ve been an increasingly passionate supporter of Israel and the Jewish people for at least two decades, and was a co-founder of the Israel Institute of New Zealand in 2017. But as committed as I thought I was – the extent of that commitment was challenged following the horrific events of that morning back in early October.
The sheer brutality and animalistic savagery of the Hamas massacre, torture and rape of over 1,200 mostly Jewish people, that day, transformed my support of the Jews from being largely academic to gut wrenchingly real – and there was more to come.
Over the next few weeks and months the world turned into a bizarre parody of commonsense and reason. Despite the overwhelming and obviousd culpability of Hamas, Israel was being portrayed in protests around the globe as the aggressor and protaganist – while the murderous terrorists in Hamas were portrayed as victims and freedom fighters.
This course of events hardened my resolve to stand up for Israel and Jews worldwide, and to unmask the evil stench of antisemitism that is, once again, infecting the hearts and minds of the confused and the gullible.
Along the way I’ve made some great new friends – particularly through my posts on LinkedIn which have exploded beyond New Zealand and into a huge new audience in every part of the globe. Many of these people have become online friends and are a godsend – providing both strength and sanity in an insane new world.
But as real as the challenges facing the Jews had become – it all ramped up yet another level, last week, with the posting of flyers like the one pictured below around the campus of Auckland University. This latest event brought it all home (literally) and reinforced, to me, that NOWHERE is safe for Jews anymore.
Why? Because David is a friend of mine and a fellow founder of the Israel Institute. He’s somebody who I know personally and for whom I have enormous respect – and seeing him attacked right here in New Zealand underscores the reality that no Jew is completely safe anywhere outside of Israel.
If you haven’t yet spoken up in support of Israel – you need to start doing so now. The enemy is not in some far off place in Europe, the US, or the Middle East – he’s at the gate and he’s every bit as real as the Nazis of the 1930s.
Don’t wait until it’s too late because, this time, ‘we didn’t know’ won’t be an excuse….
Ashley Church
