Prince of Truth

In the aftermath of Oct. 7, the deadliest day in Israel’s history and the worst massacre of the Jews since the Holocaust, the mainstream media quickly turned on the world’s only Jewish state. From false headlines about the al-Ahli Hospital bombing to articles about Israel’s alleged genocide of the Palestinians, the campaign against the country was strong and unrelenting. 

Social media wasn’t much better: When Jews posted about Israel or Judaism, they’d face a barrage of hate, seeing antisemitic messages, posts about Jews being “baby killers” and Palestinian flags in their comment sections.  

The Jewish people were suffering. Not only had they experienced a devastating tragedy, but it seemed as if at best, nobody cared, and at worst, people were actively hating Jews in one of their lowest moments.  

Jews around the world thought: Are we completely alone in this? Is anyone going to say something? Will anyone stand up for us?

And then, Douglas Murray appeared. This articulate British journalist – who isn’t Jewish – debated pro-Palestinian and extremist commentators, visited Israel to cover the war and show the truth of what happened, and defended it to his fellow journalists, who were far from balanced or accurate. 

Murray explained the facts in a way that many Jews couldn’t, in a time when they were dealing with the emotions surrounding Oct. 7 and the tragedies that followed. He said what Jews were thinking – but couldn’t always express – in clear English. 

Finally, someone had spoken up. But why?

“I have covered most of the wars in Israel since 2006, and I’ve seen how badly Israel is defamed and slandered,” Murray told the Journal. “I knew it would happen after Oct. 7. I wanted to do whatever I could to push back against those lies. That’s the one thing that compels me: the way in which people get away with spreading untruths. Sometimes they lie about relative details, and sometimes they lie about absolutely everything.”

Murray’s entire career has been focused on seeking and spreading the truth. Though many in the Jewish community only became familiar with his work after Oct. 7, Murray has been a well-known figure in the media for decades. 

Murray’s entire career has been focused on seeking and spreading the truth. Though many in the Jewish community only became familiar with his work after Oct. 7, Murray has been a well-known figure in the media for decades. 

The journalist and author, who writes for the New York Post, The Wall Street Journal and The Spectator, has also released bestselling books, including “The War on the West: How to Prevail in the Age of Unreason” and “The Strange Death of Europe: Immigration, Identity, Islam.” In all his work, he goes against prevailing progressive messaging to show how far-left policies are contributing to massive cultural decline in the West. 

After Oct. 7 Murray commented on Israel extensively, writing in the New York Post on Oct. 12: “On Sunday, just 24 hours after the atrocities, Hamas terrorists were still killing Jews in Israel. And radical extremists were gathering in Times Square to celebrate their actions. I went over to Times Square to see that ‘pro-Palestine’ rally. But it wasn’t ‘pro-Palestine.’ It was just pro-massacre.”

Murray flew to Israel to report on the destruction first-hand. He said his first reaction when he saw the sites of the massacre was “horror. It’s hard to really understand the sheer horror and scale of what happened until you go there. When I first saw the footage of Hamas terrorists with RPGs on the main street in Sderot – a place I’ve been many times – I realized this is something very different.”

While reporting from Israel for TalkTV, Murray not only saw the devastation; he also witnessed how Israelis were staying strong despite the monumental tragedy and challenges they were facing. “There is a resilience and strength and fortitude of the people,” he said. “I spoke to many first responders from the seventh, and they are remarkable people who have made their country so proud. There is this resilience in the nation as a whole. They believe, ‘We must win.’”

Following his reporting in Israel and Gaza, Murray went on talk shows to defend the Jewish state, becoming a favorite among the Jewish community, where his messages were spread far and wide. He debated anti-Israel commentators on “Piers Morgan Uncensored,” going head-to-head with the likes of Palestinian National Initiative leader Mustafa Barghouti and Cenk Uygur of The Young Turks, who falsely accused Israel of genocide. 

After Uygur called Murray a “monster” who didn’t care about the Palestinians, Murray snapped back, “You say I don’t care about the death of Palestinian children. Yes, I do care. I care very deeply about it. But I also know that the responsibility for their deaths lies on Hamas, which has misgoverned their society for the last 16 years and now has been leading the country into being in a war with Israel. So, yes, it’s on Hamas.” 

The video got over 2 million hits. 

In a March 21 video that went viral, Murray sat down with journalist Jane Dutton of South Africa’s “Eyewitness News,” who claimed that what was happening in Gaza was genocide. Murray countered back, “I don’t think at all that what’s happening in Gaza is genocide. I think it’s an unbelievable smear against Israel.” Dutton pushed further, saying that the smear on Israel is “self-inflicted.” Murray asked her if she believed Ukraine was committing genocide, and she said no, asking him if he thought Russia was committing genocide against the Ukrainians.

“Russia’s committing a war of hostile aggression, for sure, although it doesn’t seem to be attempting to eradicate the Ukrainian population as a whole, which is, of course, what genocide is,” he said. Dutton retorted, “Which is what Israel seems to be doing.” 

Murray asked her, “Why would Israel be committing genocide in Gaza?” and then explained, “If you start a war, which is what Hamas did on the seventh of October … there are repercussions. There are repercussions to Russia starting a war against Ukraine. Russia’s lost a lot of troops. There are repercussions for Hamas starting a war against Israel.” 

The conversation continued when Dutton falsely claimed that Israel was illegally occupying Gaza, and that the war started because of Israeli settlements in Judea and Samaria. “You just did it again,” Murray said. “You threw in a false fact. We are not where we are today because of settlements in the West Bank that are disputed. That’s not why Hamas broke out of Gaza on the seventh of October and massacred people they hate. It’s not because of the West Bank … They did it, by their own admission, because they wanted to massacre every Jew they could get their hands on, and Hamas has said they will do it again and again … So don’t distract from the crime of Hamas. Don’t do that.”

Dutton is just one of many journalists who has chosen to ignore facts, instantly side against Israel and spew lies to the public. From the outside, it looks like Israel’s supporters are losing the information war, as there seems to be an endless wave of fake reports about the country, always putting it in a negative light. 

But Murray, who has been in a similar fight for years against progressivism in the West, is convinced he is making a difference. To him, there is a reason to keep fighting.

“My view is that 1,000 lies can be corrected by one truth. Obviously social media is testing my theory in real time, but I still believe it.” 

“I think I make a lot of headway,” he said. “My view is that 1,000 lies can be corrected by one truth. Obviously social media is testing my theory in real time, but I still believe it. Whenever I’m in a debate with someone who is fervently anti-Israel, I tend to find that audiences appreciate you introducing new facts or little known or unknown facts to the debate. They appreciate that people are pushing back against this. Is there a percentage of the population who simply won’t listen? Absolutely. But the majority of the public is still available. They do listen. And it’s to them that I speak.”

When it comes to Israel, Murray said there are people who “absorb the mainstream media each night, and then they call for the killing to stop and think it’s being done by Israel. In such moments, it’s very important that a voice speaks up and gives courage to others to speak up as well. I have a favorite quote: ‘All I have is a voice to undo the folded lie.’”

Sometimes the lies and criticism come from the Jewish community itself, like when Senator Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) spoke up against the Israeli government, or Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) demanded “No more money to Netanyahu’s war machine to kill Palestinian children.” Why does Murray think this is happening?

“Chuck Schumer, whom I respect, is probably playing a domestic political game in the U.S.,” Murray said. “He’s an intelligent man, and he must know that every Israeli leader would be doing the same thing as Netanyahu [in the aftermath of Oct. 7]. If America had thousands of citizens taken hostage – relative to its size – and tens of thousands murdered in one day, America would be doing much more than Israel is doing, and Schumer knows that. I think it’s about a domestic political game playing out in America, which I regret, because this issue is above politics.”

As a staunch defender of the West and its values, Murray is compelled to support Israel because, as he said, it’s on the front line of the civilized world, defending the West. “Israel has recognizable ethics and culture,” he said. “It’s different, as all countries are, but it’s part of us.” What baffles him – and many others – is the fact that Westerners in America and Britain are supporting every country in the Middle East except for Israel.

“Israel is the one country in which Americans could live in the Middle East. I’ve spent enough time in other countries to know this difference. A lot of people don’t. Israel is a core part of the West. When people ask me, ‘Why do you support Israel?’ I say, ‘Why would you support every other country but Israel?’”

“Israel is the one country in which Americans could live in the Middle East,” he said. “I’ve spent enough time in other countries to know this difference. A lot of people don’t. Israel is a core part of the West. When people ask me, ‘Why do you support Israel?’ I say, ‘Why would you support every other country but Israel?’” 

If Israel is a front line of the West, then why is Western media so anti-Israel? Murray believes that, in part, “it’s a numbers game,” he said. “There are 1.6 billion Muslims and under 20 million Jews, so advertising revenues play a part. There is also the fact that Israel has this disadvantage of being a relatively comfortable war zone to report from, so it’s a deep paradox. It’s not like reporting from Syria or Yemen; there are very few brave journalists who have made it into these war zones. There is also this ridiculous thing where, ‘If it’s Jews, it’s news.’” 

Murray has seen the large-scale demonstrations against Israel and Jews, with tens of thousands marching in the street in his native England, as well as hostage posters ripped down and extremists spewing antisemitic, anti-West rhetoric. In February, protesters projected their genocidal slogan, “From the river to the sea” on Big Ben, and the U.K. reported that 2023 was the worst year for antisemitism since 1984, when it initially started recording the data. 

Even though it seems bleak in Britain, with many Jews there wondering if they should leave, Murray is optimistic that his country can be saved from antisemitism and progressivism because the majority of people don’t buy into it. “I’ve done everything I can and will continue to do so,” he said. “Most people do not go along with those extremists. I have great trust in the British people, whom I believe have been pushed down more and more, but have not disappeared.” 

Murray also empathizes with British Jews, who have felt unsafe living there, especially post-Oct. 7. “I believe my Jewish friends when they say they can’t come into London on a Saturday [because of the protests],” he said. “We should listen to Jews when they say, ‘I am not safe.’ It’s a remarkable thing how few people seem to have sympathy for that. If any other minority said that, I think we’d speak up and say something, and I don’t think we’d doubt their testimony.”

While much of the world is gaslighting the Jewish people, Murray is validating them. Since Oct. 7, he’s been invited to speak at Jewish events and dealing with cancelations and mobs for supporting Israel. He was set to speak at a fundraiser at the Apollo Theatre in London for IDF-drafted students, but the event was canceled by the venue and relocated to a synagogue. Afterwards, he posted on X, “Wonderful event to a capacity audience in London. Shame on the Apollo Theatre for bowing to the mob. But London’s Jews will not be intimidated and neither will I.”

Protesters recently tried to disrupt a speaking event Murray held in Sydney, Australia, chanting, “Douglas Murray, you can’t hide, you’re supporting genocide.” When Murray went on Sky News to comment on what happened, he said, “First of all, I don’t feel like I’m hiding … I think that’s kind of a waste of a day, not least because I could not hear them … It’s really pathetic.”

“That isolation is terrible, for the Jewish people and so many who care about Israel and see there is this lack of empathy.”

Murray’s courage to stand up against the mob, to call out their lies, is a breath of fresh air that empowers the Jewish people and makes them feel like they have a friend in this fight. The fact that he is being embraced by Jews is “wonderful and deeply touching,” he said. “It saddens me that Jews feel alone and without allies. I think that’s a terrible thing. I spoke to one person in Tel Aviv who said they were there for the #MeToo and BLM movement, but none of those people were there for them since Oct. 7. Maybe it’ll never be reciprocated. That isolation is terrible, for the Jewish people and so many who care about Israel and see there is this lack of empathy.”

However, by using his voice, Murray knows he is strengthening the Jewish people. And he is proud of it. He said, “If I can, in any way, give people comfort or solace, that pleases me more than anything.”

Kylie Ora Lobell is the Community Editor of the Jewish Journal.