We Will Remember Them: For Britain and for Zion’s Sake
This Remembrance Sunday, we will wear our red poppies with pride. We will honour the fallen soldiers who died fighting for our freedom. And we understand that we must defend Britain’s Judeo-Christian values to ensure that their sacrifice was not in vain.
Remembrance is about more than looking back at the sacrifices of previous generations. It is about recognising what they fought for and understanding that the freedoms they defended must never be taken for granted. The courage to stand against evil, defend the innocent, and resist tyranny is just as necessary today as it was during the two World Wars.
We must recognise that the forces against Israel are also against the West.
Anti-Israel protesters demonstrate this with their utter disregard for remembrance.
In the past few months, anti-Israel activists have desecrated the Battle of Britain Memorial in London, destroying wreaths and chanting “From the River to the Sea” while standing on top of it. Sir Winston Churchill, a hero of World War II who was instrumental in defeating the antisemitic Nazi regime, had his statue desecrated with “Free Palestine” painted on it. The biggest insult is the release of a ‘Palestinian Poppy’ which honours Hamas and other Palestinian terrorists who have fallen in the war in Gaza.
It is shameful! The Palestinian poppy is an affront to the sacrifices of those who served our country. The Palestinian Cause continues to hijack causes and distort them for its own agenda.
We are not surprised that the Palestinian movement hates the British military.
During the First World War, it was British-led forces that defeated the Ottomans in the Holy Land, liberating Jerusalem from Islamic rule for the first time in 400 years. The Balfour Declaration was signed in 1917, while General Allenby was commanding British-led forces through the Holy Land, culminating in the decisive victory in 1918 at Megiddo.
During the Second World War, it was British forces who led the charge against Hitler and his Nazis. At certain points, Britain stood alone against Germany while the world watched on and allowed the Nazi regime to commit evil against their neighbours, and against the 6 million Jews that they murdered in the Holocaust. British forces stood against this evil from the very start of the war, all the way until the end.
Think about that for a moment. British forces were instrumental in liberating Israel’s land in WWI and helped liberate her people in WWII. And the actions of the UK helped pave the way for the Jewish state to be reborn in 1948.
Is it any wonder that the anti-Israel movement seemingly hates Britain for its actions?
We should also point out that, during the Holocaust, it was the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem who was friends with Hitler and the anti-Jewish forces in the world who sided with the Nazis. Some Islamist leaders wanted to recreate the death camps in the Middle East to exterminate the Jews just as Hitler did. Even today, those who hate Israel, particularly from Islamic movements, often mock Israel using Nazi slogans and threaten to “finish the job that Hitler started”. Meanwhile, the extreme left spreads the antisemitic blood libel that Israel is “worse than the Nazis”. A lie from the pit.
Antisemitism remains a grave threat. The Jewish community continues to face intimidation and hatred. Israel is despised not because of its actions, but because it exists as a Jewish state. Hatred of God’s people persists. And all of these things are harmful to Britain if we allow them to fester in our nation.
Once again, Britain must stand against the evil of antisemitism. We need to get our fighting spirit back again. Defending God’s land and His people is just as important today as it was back then.
At CUFI UK, we believe that honouring Britain’s fallen and standing with Israel go hand in hand.
This Remembrance Sunday, we call on Christians across Britain to wear their poppies proudly, attend remembrance services, honour our Armed Forces and challenge those who seek to undermine the freedoms for which generations of Britons sacrificed their lives.
We must not allow hatred of Israel to silence us. We must not allow our fallen to be dishonoured. And we must never become so complacent about our freedoms that we forget the cost of defending them.
Our duty to the fallen does not end with a two-minute silence. It continues in our determination to defend the freedoms they fought for and to stand against the hatred that threatens our values today.
Their sacrifice must never be forgotten. Their courage must never be diminished. And their memory must never be surrendered to those who would dishonour it.
We will remember them, and we will speak out… for Britain and for Zion’s sake!
