Joe Watson

This 25 year old was getting ready to get married. Just days ago she went out shopping for her wedding dress and planned to wed her high school sweetheart this summer. Just last week she sent out ‘save the date' wedding invites to her loved ones. On Saturday around 3:30PM Sydney time she went out shopping, having no idea her wedding would never take place as her life was about to be cut short. Moments later she was stabbed to death by a frenzied knife man. Dawn Singleton was among 6 people killed by knifeman Joel Cauchi at Bondi Junction Westfield on Saturday. Source: Daily Mail

This afternoon, in Sydney, I briefly waved an Israeli flag off to the side of a pro Palestian protest. I was on the steps of the Anglican Cathedral. I am an Anglican clergyman. I am the child of a German Jewish mother who fled the holocaust. I wanted to make a small stand against the genocidal hatred of Hamas being supported by the pro Palestinian mob. I wanted to show the Jews of Australia that Christians (who after all are simply followers of a Jew), would stand for them, and for Israel, in the face of such hatred and contempt. On this afternoon I was chased off the steps of the Cathedral. I ran, followed by a small mob of large angry Muslims hurling abuse at me. I ran onto George St and hid behind a police van. The police dispersed the group who were looking for me. I have not been that scared in a long, long time. Why did I do it? Because Australia is surely the best country in the world! Our democracy, our free speech, our rule of law, our multi-cultural diversity and acceptance of each other, our freedom of religion, and our safety make us the envy of the world. And all of that was being eroded this afternoon. The Islamist/Jihadist strategy is to instil fear in non-muslim populations so that they will either convert to Islam, or live in dhimitude (a state of subservience to muslims). And the fear in the Jewish population in Sydney is palpable. The Police Minister, to their shame, warned the Jews to stay away from Town Hall or the Opera House because the police could not (or would not?) guarantee their safety. I took a tiny stand because we cannot, we must not, give in to such fear. We cannot fear upsetting Islamic sensibilities and so self-censor our speech and religion and policing. We, as Jews, cannot give in to the fear that our Gentile Australian neighbours will turn against us if we 'stir up trouble' by speaking up for, and standing up for our rights as citizens. We must not cede one iota of our precious liberal, secular, democratic, pluralist state. Never again means never again.

It's only a game....