Two years since the cruelty and evil of October 7, the grief and trauma remain with so many families.
We honour the victims. We stand with survivors. We condemn the terror that tore countless lives apart.
To our Jewish community: you are seen, valued, and supported. To all who still suffer: you are not forgotten.
I hope and pray for comfort for the bereaved, healing for the wounded, freedom for the hostages still held, and, above all, enduring peace between enemies.
From Tasmania, we send love, solidarity, and hope.
As a Christian, I believe every innocent life is sacred in God’s eyes. The ongoing war has brought heartbreaking loss of life in Gaza, even as Israel continues to mourn the atrocities of October 7.
I stand firmly with Israel’s right to security and survival, and I condemn the evil terrorism that sparked this conflict. At the same time, I grieve deeply for every innocent man, woman and child whose life has been cut short, whether in Israel or in Gaza.
My prayer is for peace, true peace, for every person living in Israel and in a future Palestinian state: safety for families, freedom from terror, and the chance for children on both sides to grow up in hope, not fear.
But peace must mean two peoples living side by side, not the creation of a state whose leaders yearn for Israel’s destruction. A Palestinian state can only come with leaders who reject the chant “from the river to the sea,” which is a call for there to be no Israel.
From far away in peaceful Tasmania, I can only humbly pray that God will bring comfort to the bereaved, healing to the wounded, and grant extraordinary courage to leaders to walk the harder path toward a just and lasting peace for every person who longs for a safe and secure home.
And, that for those of us lucky enough to call Tasmania home, we can have the fortitude and dialogue to discuss this issue without repeating the enmity that caused this tragic war abroad.
Michael
Related article: https://michaelferguson.com/2025/01/responding-to-re…sefire-in-israel/
