Donald Horne coined the phrase “The Lucky Country” in 1964. I had the pleasure of meeting him a few years before he passed away in 2005. He was a great visionary and a treasure trove of knowledge.

Growing up in Sydney all my life I felt that this was really a lucky country; a place where you could freely express yourself, with plenty of opportunities for a career, social life and of course we are blessed with enormous natural beauty from the outback to the sea. You probably couldn’t ask for much more out of life. I remember growing up in the inner city, as a Turkish boy, I attended Erskineville Mosque to learn Arabic and Quran. I played in the back streets of Newtown and I was as carefree as a bird. That upbringing shaped my identity and my values, particularly my sense of justice and human rights.

That’s probably why I completed a Masters in Peace and Conflict Studies and joined the Sydney Peace Foundation. In my 7 years on the board I met some very influential peace builders. I also worked closely with the Alternatives to Violence Project. And along with millions of others, working to make Australia a wonderful place to live.

But these past two years has revealed something we had denied or refused to accept for so long. We trusted in democracy and in freedom of speech, although we still experienced racism and other issues, we fought against it and continued to work across communities to on programs and initiatives to build and strengthen our social cohesion. Yet, that seems to have been all a waste of time.

The Genocide in Gaza has revealed an ugly truth. The world is intrinsically corrupt, and all their fancy talk about human rights and justice and the ‘D’ word, is a falsehood. And Australia is amongst the worst of offenders.

February’s visit by the Israeli president and war criminal, Isaac Herzog underscores this more than ever. During his short visit we witnessed unprecedented scenes, which placed our whole notion of D for Democracy and our moral and ethical core into question.
We might as well burn our Constitution and while we’re at it, throw out the Yellow Pages and the 2026 Truckies’ calendar to boot.

We have become a nation, once known for its fair dinkum and no BS attitude, now a Genocide complicit servant of a foreign entity. We have given up all our notions of human rights and freedom of speech, freedom of movement, freedom of religion and freedom of conscience; all for a rogue pariah state, hell bent on destroying peace in the Middle East and determined to carry out the 21st century’s most cruel, callous and calculated genocide witnessed live on social media.

The NSW state government working with the NSW Police Force issued a total ban for protesting in over half of the city of Sydney, making us no better than North Korea.

All because they wanted to prevent peaceful protests against a man who has openly said that “All Palestinians are at guilty” including women and children, so they need to be murdered by Israeli bombs and missiles signed personally by no other than Herzog himself.

We saw ugly scenes of police brutality, where peaceful protestors were punched and kicked by heavily booted police officers. People were thrown to the ground, pinned with crushing knees and punched while being handcuffed by several police at once. The police are not here to protect us, they only serve their masters in the government, the wealthy business leaders, who also serve Israel’s interests and are being used to keep us “under control”

The scene that shocked me the most (and never would I have expected it in Australia) was when a group of Muslim men were peacefully praying deep in contemplation, they were descended upon, man handled, assaulted, thrown to the ground, while in mid prayers. It was utterly disgraceful behaviour.

So where are our rights? Who is next? Would Australia remain silent if a group of Jews were praying and were accosted during mid prayers? Where are the Presidents of the Jewish or Christian bodies decrying the actions of the police? It doesn’t matter which religion, we should all send our condemnation, unequivocally and together as one voice.

What we saw was a flagrant abuse of one’s right to pray. This was not about national security or a potential breach of the peace. This was police brutality and arrogant and misuse of political power against the citizen. The Premier doubled down and defended the police, although he saw the footage of peaceful protestors being violated. Yet refused to condemn their actions.

Every Australian should be concerned about what we all witnessed on our screens. The government has shown its true colours and where its loyalty lies. They are telling us when it comes to Israel we will put them before you any day of the week. No qualms, no buts, Israel is our priority. They have sold out to the Zionists.

Chris Minns, Jacinta Allen, Anthony Albanese, are complicit in this genocide. We need to be prepared for the day when they come for you, me and our community. But don’t be intimidated because we have God on our side. Don’t give up the struggle. Keep fighting, speak out and stand tall against injustice. God willing.