“While Surafend is a little-known part of our ANZAC history, I went there twice in 2010 and 2017, met locals and researched the history,” said author, historian and pastor Barbara Miller. “For the pro-Palestinian lobby of Australian teachers to denigrate the ANZAC legacy by rewriting it emphasizing Surafend, tying it erroneously to the Israel-Gaza war and belittling the sacrifice of so many Australian soldiers and their families on the eve of ANZAC Day is disgusting.”
Co-founder of the Centre for International Reconciliation and Peace with her husband Pastor Norman Miller, Ms Miller said, “The Victorian Teachers and School Staff for Palestine (TSSP) have produced their own material with which to indoctrinate our children with their anti-Israel, anti-Australian agenda. They should at least get their facts right.
“Their 40-page booklet titled Teaching for Palestine: Challenging Anzac Day will ignore teaching resources from the Australian War Memorial though it is aligned with the national curriculum. The teachers are reportedly concerned with imperialistic and militaristic views.
“What happened at Surafend? The war was over and the ANZACs were camped near the Bedouin village of Surfend on 10 December 1918. The troops were tired of the British protecting the Arabs who had a long record of thieving and other harassment.
“When a NZ soldier, Leslie Lowry, was robbed while asleep and murdered chasing his attacker, the Kiwis were annoyed at no response from the British command and asked the Shiekh to surrender the perpetrator.
“Failing this, the Kiwis removed the women, children, and elderly and attacked the village killing somewhere between 40 and 120 men. It is not proven that the Australians took part but they knew about it and so were complicit.
“General Allenby was furious, and, as no one owned up to it, he stripped all the men of their medals and ordered the New Zealand and Australian governments to pay reparations so Surafend could be rebuilt.
“In October 2010 and on the centenary of the Battle of Beer Sheva in 2017, Norman and I led teams of Australian and New Zealand Christians and others to the site where Surafend had been (as it was destroyed much later) and said sorry for our nations’ actions to locals.
“We presented a handwritten apology in 2010 and an apology engraved in gold on a plaque in Arabic, Hebrew, and English in 2017. We did this because of our commitment to reconciliation and our work to bring Jews and Arabs together.
“So where are the teachers wrong?
The ANZAC legend should not be “dismantled” and linked to the killing at Surafend, because while horrific, it is totally out of character with the ANZAC spirit of fighting valiantly in the Middle East with honour.
Contrary to teacher Lucy Honan’s assertion, children should not be taught the ANZACs left a long and violent historical imprint in Palestine. Surafend is only one example and it was part of the Ottoman Empire at the time of the incident above.
The League of Nations, the precursor to the United Nations, created Mandatory Palestine under British rule from 1920 to 1948 so the ANZACs cannot be held responsible for the British creating a prison at Surafend for Arab activists. The British were dealing with Arab and Jewish insurgents.
The ANZACs cannot be held responsible for the Arab residents of Surafend fleeing or being evacuated during the Arab-Israeli war of 1948 when several Arab nations attacked Israel after it declared nationhood and Arab nations told the Arabs living in Israel to get out of the way. No casualties were recorded.
Surafend was not in the West Bank or Gaza but in the north near Rishon Le Zion.
“Pippa Tandy, a member of TSSP, said in The Australian that people link ANZAC Day to our Australian identity. So, the aim of TSSP is to dismantle, denigrate, and destroy the identity of Australians who commemorate ANZAC Day. This shows their real intent. Australians don’t glorify war but honour and respect the sacrifice of our soldiers and their families.
“TSSP want to destroy Australia and the values that hold our nation together encouraging us to be anti-patriotic and ashamed of ourselves. They would rather support the values that led Hamas to murder, burn, rape, and pillage on October 7 with their stated aim to repeat it again and again.”
Well Happy New Year and maybe you have made some new year resolutions or have had, as Norman would say, some new year revelation. Maybe you’ve decided to journal. If so, these journals are designed to help you. This is what one reader, Gina Wileman, said re the Sermon Notes Journal:
Usually, I collect biblical “Pearls of Wisdom” on little pieces of paper, which eventually get misplaced. Or sometimes I text messages to myself during church services, whenever the pastor’s messages resonate with personal experiences—and they’re often forgotten. But using this journal makes it much easier to keep my thoughts tucked into one place. I love how simple and easy it is to use. Plus the cover makes me smile. Love it!
Here is the link to this book – https://www.amazon.com/dp/0648472272. For those in Australia, you can order off my book website if you can’t order off amazon.
Re the Bible Study Journal, one reader, CreativeIIBY wrote Discover God’s promises by meditating on his word and pondering on questions that will guide you to become more aware of applying it into your life. This book is a great gift as well to friends or anyone you want to have deeper walk with God. I love the cover, it’s a beautiful journal and I highly recommend checking the other books as well created by the author through the link on the first few pages, this journal became a tool for me to get to know more amazing works of the author.
There is also a prayer journal. One reader, Susan Jagannath, says: Do you keep thinking that you will start your prayer journey today? Or tomorrow? I found that keeping a prayer journal is the best way to remember to pray, as well as to look back and find that your prayers have been answered in miraculous ways. The link is https://www.amazon.com/dp/0648472280. All 3 are only $6.99 US each.
Prophetic Word by Apostle Norman Miller for 2022
Free Worship by Tabernacle of David Cairns & Prophetic Word by Apostle Norman Miller for 2022 delivered 8.1.22. The free worship has didjeridoo sounds in the background. The prophecy is at 5min 24 secs. Norman read from Rev 3:20.
Prophetic Word for Malaysia for 2022
by Ps Barbara Miller
My introduction was not recorded. In praying about a New Year message, I saw a chasm between 2 large rock-like cliffs. I sensed this was a chasm between 2021 and 2022 and that there was going to be a big change. What supported you in 2021 won’t support you in 2022. Some trends of 2021 won’t continue into 2022. We don’t want to take old patterns that aren’t working into the new year. I asked the Lord if this was from Him and I asked for a scripture and I received Isaiah 43:18-19. This was the first vision.
I was praying particularly for a word for the Malaysian church and specific pastors. I saw a rock with a crevice of jewels in it. I got the words “hidden treasure” and “double doors” and the scripture of Isaiah 45:1-3 came to me. I had a prophetic word for them based on this scripture. The last part of it was about them raising up the Tabernacle of David.
There were a number of confirmations. They showed me a treasure chest of jewels they had prepared for an altar they had built for the Tabernacle of David they had decided to establish. God is good. We enjoyed a time of worship and fellowship with our Malaysian family.
BDS Boycott of Sydney Festival
As the founders of Indigenous Friends of Israel in 2015, Munganbana Norman and Barbara Miller were concerned about the BDS boycott of the Sydney Festival by Palestinian activists backed by Hamas, a terrorist organization. The reason cited is a $20,000 grant from the Israeli Embassy in Australia though it is not unusual for foreign governments to support art. Also, the Sydney Dance Company were due to perform the dance Decadancecreated by Israeli choreographer Ohad Naharin and Tel Aviv’s Batsheva Dance Company.
While over 20 performers and/or organizations pulled out, including Arab and Muslim performers, the Sydney Festival organizers did not bow to the pressure and continued. The Decadence performers received a standing ovation to a sold-out audience on the opening night on 6 Jan. The Palestinian Justice Movement Sydney claimed that Israel is a racist apartheid state.
Initially Munganbana Norman, as an Indigenous artist, wrote personally to the Indigenous artists a warm, non-challenging letter outlining the numerous ways the Jewish community in Australia have supported the Indigenous community. Unfortunately, Aboriginal senator Pat Dodson, a former Catholic priest, was patron and cultural advisor to one of these groups so we wrote him a letter too, receiving no reply though he is a friend. A minder of one performer rang Norman and told him that the artist was greatly distressed as she had been badgered by a number of phone calls from Lebanon so he would not be passing on the letter.
We were approached by an organisation in the USA who are allied with many in the entertainment and arts industry who assist performers who are boycotted for performing in Israel and had a zoom meeting with them as they wanted to put out an op ed in an Australian newspaper about the issue. They had seen an earlier press release we had done which was published in The Times of Israel.
Please check and like our Indigenous Friends of Israel Facebook page as we update it almost daily. https://www.facebook.com/likeIFI/
The ABC reported on 13 Jan that Sydney Festival chair David Kirk has apologised for the event’s handling of a funding controversy saying re the artists “They feel compromised, many of them, and many of them are being pressurised to withdraw their performances from the festival,”
The ABC reported in the same article that Israel’s Deputy Ambassador to Australia, Ron Gerstenfeld, said “agents of chaos” had been bullying artists into supporting the boycott.
“We heard a lot about people being targeted, being threatened, through social media of course but also through other means,” he said.
He said Boycott Divestment and Sanctions (BDS), the organisation behind the boycott, had run an aggressive campaign.
New Years Eve Prophetic Message to Malaysian Christians
by Apostle Norman Miller. A key scripture for 2022 is Isaiah 22:22
Fire at Old Parliament House – Press Release
By Munganbana Norman Miller 4.1.2022
Munganbana Norman Miller is concerned that a giant boomerang with “No Discrimination in the Constitution” on it that he donated to the Museum of Australian Democracy at Old Parliament House Canberra may have been damaged when the door was set on fire last Thursday. He has not been to see where it was located because he lives in Cairns. The museum is closed for repairs. He made and painted the boomerang himself.
Munganbana said, “It is disappointing that numerous heritage that was contained in the Museum has been treated with such disdain by protestors who did not have the approval of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy or the local Ngunnawal elders for the protest or the smoking ceremony which was a guise for them to undertake a criminal action of setting it on fire.”
“As we come to the 50th anniversary of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy, we respect peaceful protest and acknowledge the important contribution it has made,” said Miller. Now is the time for the Uluru Statement of Voice Treaty Truth to be established.”
“I am an Aboriginal artist and the giant boomerang I donated to the museum had on it ‘No Discrimination in the Constitution.’ It was part of a grass roots campaign I waged at my own expense by travelling around Australia collecting signatures for the removal of discrimination from the constitution and the acknowledgement of First Nations people in it,” said Munganbana.
“It was called the Miller Boomerang Petition and, on 27 November 2013, I handed the boomerang with over 360 signatures on the back, as well as a normal petition, to then Speaker Bronwyn Bishop and MPs Ken Wyatt and Warren Entsch. On 8 February 2016, I handed Warren Entsch MP and the then speaker and clerk of the house the final signatures. This is recorded in Hansard,” he said.
“I decided to donate the boomerang to the museum so it would be in a prominent place where it will be available to future generations who have an interest in our robust democracy. I hope it will stimulate discussions re changing the constitution and promoting Voice Treaty Truth. These need to come from a grassroots level up not top-down.
I have another giant boomerang with ‘Voice Treaty Truth’ on it that I made and painted. I took part in the co-design for the voice consultations in Cairns and I am also concerned we make progress re Closing the Gap to reduce the gap in socio-economic outcomes for First Nations people compared to the rest of the community,” said Munganbana.
Response to Anti-Vaxxers
I gave this message nearly a year ago – 21 Feb 2021 but it is still an issue that people are grappling with today so, as I don’t think I’ve put the link in our newsletter before, here it is.
