The threats that currently face Israel represent dangers to democracies worldwide, decorated former Australian Army Colonel Michael Scott CSC says.
It is for this reason that Scott, who served 30 years in the Australian Defence Force including two years with UN peacekeeping forces in Israel, has written and released A Light Still Burns: Israel and the Values Worth Defending.
The book – a collection of essays including some pieces that have been published by The AJN – represents Scott’s transition from his military service to founder and CEO of the 2023 Foundation, a global charity combating antisemitism.
Scott, who describes himself as a “non-Jewish, secular, apolitical veteran and unapologetic Zionist”, believes threats to Israel and the Jewish community also threaten Australia and Western democracies.
“I can see with a level of clarity that evades most non-Jews across the West, that those that threaten Israelis have wider purposes or wider intentions,” he said.
“After 9/11, the attacks on the Twin Towers, I was an American because I felt that the threats to the US were threats to the interests in Australia. And after October 7, I was Israeli,” he said.
The former army officer said he was shocked by the lack of empathy from non-Jews following October 7. “We not only saw the worst slaughter of Jews since the Holocaust, but we saw the worst victim blaming in the history of our species,” he said. “I made the decision that I wouldn’t be a bystander.”
Scott described what he said at the moment “is a level of enemy propaganda that is off the charts, and it’s peddled by institutions that I formerly trusted”.
“In my judgement, the best way to overcome gaslighting and projection of Orwellian levels is through lived personal experience to help people empathise and relate, to see and experience the truth for themselves,” he said.
He said his Zionism started in his early twenties, defining it not as a political term but as belief “in the political and cultural self-determination of the indigenous people in their ancient and ancestral homeland”.
“I grew up in rural Queensland. My nearest neighbours were First Australians. I grew up not seeing colour, I just saw friends, and that’s a position I’ve taken through the whole of my life,” Scott said.
His understanding of Israel strengthened during his peacekeeping deployment, where he formed deep personal connections with Israelis, Druze, Orthodox and secular Jews, as well as Arab Christians and Muslims.
The book is deliberately accessible, with short chapters designed to be read in bite-sized chunks. He particularly hopes the book will help Jewish Australians have conversations with non-Jewish friends and even their own children about Israel.
“I heard from so many of my friends in the Jewish community that it was very difficult for them to speak with their non-Jewish friends, or even, in many cases, even their own children. So the book is written in a less threatening manner that provides a little bit of information on quite a few subjects.”
He acknowledged that well-meaning people who identify as progressive often don’t realise they are feeding antisemitism, and advocates for patience and strategy rather than confrontation.
“We won’t get anywhere if we try to reason with unreasonable people. That’s a guaranteed way of burning our emotional energy,” he said.
“Rather than picking fights with people that are antisemitic, let’s try and turn it around and have quiet conversations with those people that may be amenable for quiet conversations and building trust a teaspoon at a time.”
Scott warns the situation will likely worsen before it improves. “I think it is going to get worse before it gets better,” he said, quoting Dylan Thomas: “I choose not to go gentle into that good night. I’ll rage against the dying of the light.”
To the Jewish community, Scott offers a message of solidarity. “You’re not alone. I am with you in good times and bad for as long as it takes until we prevail.”
Having recently returned from a Project A mission to the Holy Land, he encouraged Australian Jews feeling overwhelmed to visit Israel. “I’ve felt a stranger in the country of my birth, that is Australia, since October 7, where I’m not seeing my values represented in our parliament, in the media, or in our universities. Both times I’ve been across to Israel, I’ve come back recharged,” he said.
Scott will launch A Light Still Burns at an event hosted by Zionism Victoria on the evening of December 4 in Caulfield. The book is available through Amazon and Apple in print and audio formats.
Book launch: events.humanitix.com/in-conversation-with-michael-scott
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