The Humiliation of Douglas Murray

Another Would-be Zionist Embarrasses Himself

photo courtesy of Andy Ngo via Creative Commons

It’s been some time now since Douglas Murray embarrassed himself on Joe Rogan and like so much in our blink-and-you’ll-miss it social media era, his exchange with comedian Dave Smith may have already faded into the background noise. And yet, the exchange (if it can be called that) is instructive if only to briefly revisit and point out not only Murray’s hypocrisy but the poor way Zionists (and their pets) “argue.”

“Have You Been There?”

Murray makes a big deal of his bona fides acquired in the last 18 months of having been to border crossings and participating in photo ops and speaking gigs for Israel. He hasn’t taken the time to speak to Palestinian families to get their side of things. What he thinks matters is that he put on a helmet and a vest supplied to him by the Israelis and so now he knows the situation because he’s “been there.”

I do very much believe that going to a place where a conflict occurred (or is occurring) offers tremendous insight that cannot be gained otherwise. I learned a lot from my visit to Beirut and the Shatila Refugee Camp last summer. But to say that only those who have been there have “authorized” opinions is something that Murray himself has argued against in the past.

Murray, particularly in his defense of Israeli genocide and blocking of aid trucks, wants us to ignore our lying eyes and the thousands of social media videos that show Israeli settlers trampling and destroying aid, creating artificial checkpoints or blockages for lorries and trucks carrying aid, and the murder of babies and children in tents. We are supposed to trust him because he’s “been there.”

If you’d like a laugh, watch Rogan and Tim Dillon mock Murray’s surprise at Dave Smith not having been to an Israeli border crossing.

“You’re Not an Expert”

Murray, later in the episode, lauds Rogan and Smith for their willingness to “defy the experts” when it came to Covid. And yet on the issue of Israel, he feels the opinions of experts should be automatically preferred. “Have on more experts,” he opines. Yet, despite the fact that Murray’s undergraduate degree is in literature, and that he’s most known for his writing and speaking about immigration, he expects us to believe he’s now some “expert” on Israel and Palestine because he’s been paying attention to it for the last five minutes?

There is a place in society for experts. People who have spent their entire lives, or a good portion of those lives, studying an issue, should be heard. But they cannot be given the sole platform on an issue, nor can they be trusted over common sense, nor can they be allowed to “cancel” those who hold opposing views. When an “expert” like Tony Fauci says that only sick people should wear masks, then a few days days later says that everyone should wear masks, even outdoors, common sense has to step in and examine the contradictory statements by an “expert.”

Something that happens more often than not is experts getting bought by controlling interests. To pretend that experts are above such conflicts of interest is to ignore the numerous scandals we have seen over the years.

In any case, even if we do follow Murray’s advice to only listen to experts, he is giving us permission to safely ignore him, as no one in the world considers Douglas Murray an expert on anything but his own opinions, much less Israel and Palestine.

“There Needs to Be Equal Representation”

Murray has a reputation for attacking the “woke left” so why does he use their tactics in demanding that Rogan get more “pro-Israel” people on the podcast? Murray here is engaging in the classic “both sides” argument when it comes to Israel when the reality is that anyone who spends more than five minutes researching the matter knows that this is not a “both sides” conflict.

There is one side that bombs unarmed men, women, and children at night while they try to shelter in tents, aided by the world’s only superpower and their client states in Europe, and another side that justly and morally resists an illegal and immoral occupation of their land.

Israel has monopolized the media narrative for decades. Murray’s outburst on Rogan’s podcast is just the latest panicked bleat from the Zionist crowd. They know that they were never able to win the argument in a fair fight, so for years they used their control of the media to manipulate the narrative. Social media since October 2023 has destroyed the Zionist lies and many who were never paying attention are now awake to Israel’s crimes. Instead of engaging with people who have forgotten more about the conflict than he will ever know, Murray is content to embarrass himself on a show viewed by millions.

Let Murray’s fumble be a reminder to each and every one of us to continue to educate ourselves about Palestine, to advocate for the helpless and the voiceless, and to counter the ideas that only experts, who have “been there,” and advocate for “both-sides-ism” should be heard.

#EndTheOccupation