Never Again means standing with Israel

The Holocaust was the largest and most brutal outworking of antisemitism the world has ever seen. More than this, it was the largest genocide against any people group in history. It was an attempt by the forces of evil to wipe out the Jewish people once and for all.

Between 1940 and 1945, six million Jews were murdered at the hands of the Nazis. Europe’s Jewish population was 9.5 million at the time, meaning that two out of every three European Jews were murdered. Such was the devastation of this genocide that in 2024, some 79 years later, there are still fewer Jews alive today than there were before the Holocaust began. The tiny global Jewish population is taking a long time to recover from such a tragedy.

Antisemitism, or Jew hatred, is what fuelled the Holocaust. It also fuelled the Hamas massacres of 7th October 2023. It is antisemitism that fuels the global movement of hatred against Israel that has infected hearts and minds of people in all the major areas of influence, from the halls of power in Westminster, to the newsrooms of broadcasters, and to the lecture halls of the world’s most prestigious universities.

Awareness of antisemitism has increased over recent years, largely because of the increase in antisemitic incidents. Many are speaking out against it, but few understand how to truly combat antisemitism.

Christians are better equipped than most thanks to the Bible. We have a God’s-eye-view on antisemitism which helps us recognise that antisemitism is different to all other forms of racism. There is a spiritual element to antisemitism because it specifically targets the people God chose to fulfil His plans and purposes.

The Bible helps us understand that the only effective way of standing against antisemitism is to stand up for the things of God. This includes standing up for Israel’s cause.

Israel is the world’s only Jewish state. More than this, Israel is the only nation on earth that was created by God Almighty. God promised that He would gather His people, who had been scattered across the world, and replant them in their own land. God promised to bless Israel. Why? Because God made a covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob that cannot be broken. God promised that through these people a Messiah would come to the earth. Jesus came, He has risen, and He will return to that nation, because the Bible says so.

For all this and more, Satan is stirring up the hearts of men to hate Israel because he wants God’s plans to come to nothing. Israel is targeted in every sphere: militarily, politically, and economically. Even when Israel is forced to defend itself from pure evil, it is Israel who is demonised.

This year, and every year, we honour the memory of those who were murdered in the Holocaust by standing with Israel. The land of Israel was the hope for so many Jews who died at the hands of the Nazis. Little did they know that Israel would be reborn from the ashes of the Holocaust just three years later. It was a miracle. Israel is and always will be the hope for the Jewish people because the God of Israel has given them that hope.