HUDSON INSTITUTE
Douglas Murray on a Matter of Life vs. Death
Mike Watson
April 11, 2025

Russian Jewish novelist Vasily Grosman, who was the first journalist to see the Nazi death camp Treblinka, once wrote, “Anti-Semitism is … a mirror for the failings of individuals, social structures and State systems. Tell me what you accuse the Jews of — I’ll tell you what you’re guilty of.” In On Democracies and Death Cults, Douglas Murray’s new book on the stakes and strategy of the conflict that began with the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, Murray notes that this applies neatly to the terrorists, whose leaders accuse Israel of targeting Palestinian children in one breath and in the next say, “Children are tools to be used against Israel. We will sacrifice them for the political support of the world.” READ MORE

YOUTUBE Hudson Institute: On Democracies and Death Cults: Israel and the Future of Civilization Douglas Murray examines the historical and ideological motivations that underpin the latest global wave of antisemitic violence. Using accounts of both survivors and perpetrators of the October 7 massacre, he pieces together the true story of those atrocities and their aftermath. He draws a clear distinction between Israel’s commitment to individual rights and democracy and Hamas’s glorification of death over life. In doing so, Murray demonstrates how misplaced Western sympathy for terror groups could undermine the liberal values these activists claim to support.