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What Choice Do We Really Have? A Diaspora Jew From Canada and Australia Confronts Betrayal
Illustrative: Supporters of Hamas gather for a rally in Melbourne, Australia. Photo: Reuters/Joel Carrett
I was born in Canada. I’ve lived in Australia for more than 30 years. I have always considered myself blessed to live in these two liberal democracies — places that once proudly upheld human rights, justice, and moral clarity. I believed, maybe naively, that as a Jew and a Zionist, I was safe here. That I belonged.
But over the past two years, something fundamental has broken. The moral compass I thought guided the nations I’ve called home has been shattered — and with it, the sense of security I once took for granted.
Australia — my home — has formally sanctioned two Israeli ministers, a move cloaked in diplomatic language but dripping with moral confusion. Our government draws false equivalencies between Israel, a sovereign democracy defending itself — and Hamas, a terrorist organization that burned babies alive, raped women, and dragged Holocaust survivors into captivity. It’s not just offensive — it’s betrayal. And, where is the public recognition that Israel is taking remarkable, unilateral steps that keep not just Israel, but the world, safer from Iran’s global nuclear intentions?
Canada, where I was raised, no longer feels like the Canada I knew. Jews are hounded on university campuses. Holocaust memorials are vandalized. Anti-Israel encampments fly swastikas with impunity. Protesters shout genocidal slogans and call it “free speech.” And through it all, governments and institutions equivocate, hedge, and hide.
To be a Jew in the Diaspora today is to be confronted, constantly, with a sense of isolation. The antisemitism we were told would “never again” return has not only returned — but is thriving. It’s bold. It’s loud. It’s mainstream.
We’re not imagining it. We’re living it.
We’re walking past graffiti accusing Jews of genocide. We’re watching Jewish students silenced by mob intimidation while university administrators look away. We’re seeing celebrities, influencers, and elected officials amplify the propaganda of those who openly call for Israel’s destruction. We’re standing at vigils for hostages and hearing the jeers of counter-protesters who deny October 7, 2023, even happened.
And the worst part? The silence.
The silence from those who once said they were our allies. The silence of political leaders too afraid to speak with moral clarity. The silence of institutions terrified of being labelled “controversial” for standing with Jews.
How did we get here?
How did it become controversial to say that Jews deserve safety? That Israel has a right to exist? That mass rape and child murder are not acts of resistance?
This isn’t about left or right. This is about right and wrong. And too many governments, too many media outlets, and too many public voices have lost the courage — or the will — to tell the difference.
As a Jew in the Diaspora, I’m tired. Tired of the doublespeak. Tired of the gaslighting. Tired of being told we’re imagining things. We’re not. We’re awake. And we know exactly what we’re seeing.
So what choice do we have?
To stay silent is to abandon our future. To apologize for our identity is to dishonor our past. And to give up on Israel — the one place where Jewish safety is not theoretical — is to betray everything we’ve learned from history.
We cannot outsource our safety. We cannot rely on others to defend us. We must stand up — clearly, unapologetically, and proudly.
This is why I do the work I do. Because we need to educate. We need to empower. And we need to fight back — against hatred, against lies, and against the slow, steady erosion of truth.
What choice do we really have?
We choose to fight. Because the alternative is unthinkable.
Michael Gencher is Executive Director, StandWithUs Australia, a 24 year-old international education organisation that supports Israel and fights antisemitism.
The post What Choice Do We Really Have? A Diaspora Jew From Canada and Australia Confronts Betrayal first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.