Their god is not willing, Penny

Andrew L. Urban I 8 January 2025 I Spectator Australia

How many Palestinians does it take to change a light bulb?

None! They sit in the dark forever and blame the Jews for it!

Those who follow Middle East affairs will know that ‘god willing’ is the wish – the mantra – constantly uttered by all Muslims, including radical Islamists. But god isn’t willing, judging by history. Israel has won every single war of over half a dozen started by its neighbouring enemies in the Arab world since its inception. And in 2024, Israel decimated Iran’s terror proxies in response to yet another onslaught, launched on October 7, 2023 by Hamas, followed by Lebanon-based Hezbollah and Yemen-based Houthis.

Undeterred, Australia’s Foreign Minister, Penny Wong, wears the political bling that signals her allegiance to the current fashion, demonstrated by voting in favour of antisemitic UN resolutions and her regrettable statements in relation to Israel. Her Prime Minister, seemingly reliving his student activist years, added his silence to the breach of loyalty and failure of moral clarity. Their ill-informed acceptance of the illegal decision of the International Criminal Court to issue arrest warrants for Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant is proof of their animosity to Israel (and their lack of respect for the rule of law).

‘The Palestinian Arabs have wasted the past century trying to destroy the Jewish homeland while Israel has gone from strength to strength. To prevent the next 100 years of war, they must understand the Jewish state is not going anywhere. They must internalise that terrorism and massacres will not be rewarded,’ writes Robert Gregory, chief executive of the Australian Jewish Association, in The Australian (Dec. 28, 2024)

‘The West must stop infantilising the Palestinians and shielding them from the consequences of their actions. There should be no rebuilding of Gaza until the society there commits to peaceful coexistence.’

While Penny Wong agitates for a two state solution, the Palestinian leadership abhors the idea. They want a one state solution, Israel not included. Australia now stands as a University student flag bearer for what is nothing more than an impotent slogan. There are more than enough useful idiots in international affairs; Australia’s Labor and Greens parties do not need to swell their ranks.

As Middle East Forum President Daniel Pipes wrote in a letter to the Editor in the Wall Street Journal (July 21, 2021):

‘As a historian, I regret to report that conflicts typically end not with goodwill gestures but with one side giving up on its war goals. Think: 1865, 1945, 1975, and 1991. Handsome apartments and late-model cars will not spur Palestinians to accept Israel; this will happen only after they recognise the futility of their dream to eliminate the Jewish state. Israeli victory, not Palestinian prosperity, leads to peace.

That view is echoed by Alex Nachumson. Writing in the Jewish News Syndicate (Nov. 14, 2021), he stressed:

‘The only way this conflict ends is with the reversal of vicious, violent Palestinian rejectionism, which has to be dealt with as the foundational pillar that ensures the endurance of the conflict.

In other words,?accept reality and Israel’s right to exist or forever burn in the purgatory of rejectionism. The leadership prefers to keep Palestinians as victims and losers. That’s how they maintain power and resources, thanks to the naiveté of the West.

Australia could help end the tragic cycle of Arab-Israeli wars by changing its anti-Israel policies (a declaration of cold war against the Jewish homeland) and start by defunding UNRWA. The Palestinian Arabs are the world’s biggest per capita recipients of aid. We can see how that aid has been spent on tunnels and weapons, not on the welfare and flourishing of the Palestinian people. Just the lifestyles of the wealthy leadership.

The smug, misguided Penny Wongs of this world are bringing shame on Australians and doing nothing to end the misery of the Palestinian people or the resolution of the conflict.

Time will soon tell if Labor’s cynical calculation that it can hold Muslim-heavy seats by an aggressive antisemitic stance on the road to a second term in government bears fruit.

Australians should hope not, because that fruit is rotten.

Author: Andrew L. Urban