
EXCLUSIVE Douglas Murray: Only an October 7th-style attack against a Western country would wake up the pro-Hamas mob at Glastonbury to the existential threat Israel faces
Speaking to special correspondent David Patrikarakos, the bestselling author and broadcaster drew a sobering parallel between the music event and Hamas 's attacks on the Nova music festival on October 7, 2023.
Mr Murray argued that only by witnessing a similar terror attack on young Westerners would Glastonbury's 'moral reprobates' finally grasp the threat Hamas poses and Israel 's existential struggle.
This year's Glastonbury courted controversy when punk-rap duo Bob Vylan led a televised crowd in chants of 'death to the IDF' – sparking a police investigation and condemnation from Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
'The festival at Glastonbury has long been a sordid and immoral affair', Murray said.
'There's always support for anyone who displays a hatred of the West. It is a shame because I think music should be a non-political place.
'The fact that somebody can get a crowd to chant death to the IDF is morally despicable. We all know what that really means.
This year's Glastonbury courted controversy when punk-rap duo Bob Vylan led a televised crowd in chants of 'death to the IDF'
'The IDF is a citizen army, and Israel is the only Jewish state in the world. It means they're wishing death upon thousands of brave, young men and women who fight for their country and the survival of their people.'
The Spectator columnist highlighted Bob Vylan's other chant - 'you want your country back, f*** that' – labelling it hypocritical from supporters of a supposedly anti-colonialist cause.
The author argued: 'This is a man who is saying that he's against colonisation – but has expressed a desire to colonise my country, Britain.
'He expressed that desire while morons are flying Palestinian flags – presumably because they too are interested in the indigenous rights of the Palestinians.
'Well maybe the indigenous rights of the British people are worth protecting too. But they don't care about that because the standard only applies if it's anti-Western, anti us, in favour of literally anyone else.'
According to Mr Murray, this naive 'anti-western cult', spawned by modern social justice movements, has chosen Palestine as its 'great fetish'.
The bestselling author first tackled this anti-Western ideology in his 2022 book, The War on the West.
His latest work, On Democracies and Death Cults, explores how these worldviews have shaped the Israel-Hamas conflict.
'The great fetish of these people's lives is the Palestinian people', Murray told the podcast.
'But what exactly do they think will happen if their pet fetish is ever allowed to win?
'The best-case scenario would be another Arab state in the region – which would be no more successful than say, Jordan.
'Palestine would likely be another outpost of the Mullahs, as long as they're still in power in Tehran. You'd just have yet another failed Arab state.
'You won't get an outbreak of world peace and love, as these people seem to believe. It's as if were Palestine to get a state, something magical would happen.
'Suddenly this unicorn would arrive and rights would be given to people all around the world, and trans people would be freed and there would be no more racism and injustice.'
Exasperated, the cultural critic concluded his attack on the festival by issuing a grave warning.
'One wishes to resist the nastiest urges but… maybe the only thing that would ever wake up these moral reprobates at Glastonbury is if something like what happened at the Nova music festival happened to them or one of their friends.
'Not more than 18 months ago, a music festival like Glastonbury had hundreds of Hamas terrorists come into it.
'I heard first-hand how women were gang raped, shot in the jaw and tortured. I pray to God these people never have to discover the consequences of their own semi-thought.'
To listen to the exclusive interview with Douglas Murray, search for Apocalypse Now, wherever you get your podcasts.
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Daily Mail
44 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Hollywood A-lister's son cuddles up to blonde bombshell at star-studded event... can you guess who?
Russell Crowe 's sons made a rare public appearance this week, stepping out with their A-lister dad for an awards ceremony. The Gladiator star was joined by fiancée Britany Theriot and sons Charles, 21, and Tennyson, 18, at the Golden Bee Awards in Malta on Sunday. Russell turned more than a few heads, looking trim and terrific in an all-black look that consisted of an immaculately tailored suit paired with a crisp black dress shirt and vest. It appears that Russell's eldest son chose the occasion to debut a new relationship, with the ' nepo baby ' standing close to a blonde bombshell on the red carpet. The mystery blonde appeared chuffed to be in the company of Charles and his famous family, beaming broadly as she posed for photographers. From A-list scandals and red carpet mishaps to exclusive pictures and viral moments, subscribe to the DailyMail's new showbiz newsletter to stay in the loop. She looked smart in a dark blue dress that featured brass buttons and a frilled hem, and accessorised with a similarly coloured leather clutch and a pair of pearl pendant earrings. She finished her look with a light rose shade on her lips and a manicured brow. Russell's youngest son, Tennyson, was also in attendance and brought his partner Jess Renshaw, who looked stylish in a classic black gown. While little is known about Charles' mystery blonde, Tennyson sparked concerns about how fast his relationship with Jess was moving. Then 17 years old, Tennyson shared a loved-up photo of the pair together in January 2024, coupled with a diamond ring and white and pink heart emojis. A source claimed to New Idea at the time that while Russell was fond of Jess, he was concerned the couple were too young to say 'I do'. 'She is a sweetheart and it's pretty clear that she has swept Tennyson off his feet,' an insider told the publication. Russell turned more than a few heads, looking trim and terrific in an all-black look that consisted of an immaculately tailored suit paired with a crisp black dress shirt and vest Russell's youngest son, Tennyson, was also in attendance, and brought his partner Jess Renshaw, who looked stylish in a classic black gown 'But Russell will certainly be a little surprised if it's true that his 17-year-old son is getting engaged. It's nothing to do with Jess, but just that Tennyson is just a kid.' Russell shares Tennyson and Charles with ex-wife Danielle Spencer. After tying the knot in April 2003 during a ceremony at his farm in Nana Glen, the couple went their separate ways in 2012 and finalised their divorce six years later. It comes after Russell ignited rumours he is set to tie the knot with Britany in Rome. The pair sparked speculation they are engaged when Britany was seen sporting a diamond ring. Claims are circulating they are eyeing up an Italian wedding after reportedly visiting a church during their latest visit to the city. The couple, who started dating in 2020, visited Rome last year when Russell performed with his band The Gentlemen Barbers at the Forum Theatre. They were spotted sightseeing during their lavish getaway and reportedly visited a church in the city. 'Italy was always going to be their wedding destination. Every time they go there, they come back more in love,' an insider told Woman's Day. 'It's always been their dream to get married there.' Russell and Britany frequently visit Italy together and first sparked engagement rumours during a trip to the European country last year. The pair then confirmed their long-rumoured romance with a kiss on a tennis court in November 2020. The couple are regularly seen jetting between Sydney and Coffs Harbour, where Russell is building a $400 million film studio dubbed 'Aussiewood '. The Beautiful Mind star owns a 400 hectare farm in nearby Nana Glen, and divides his time between this rural estate and his home in Sydney.


The Sun
an hour ago
- The Sun
It all started when Bill and I went round to Ozzy's house looking for a singer, says Black Sabbath's Tony Iommi
FOR 57 years, Tony Iommi has been Black Sabbath's keeper of the flame. He is 'Master Of The Riffs' — some say he invented heavy metal — and he is the only band member to stay the course. 5 'Everybody else has come and gone and come back,' the guitarist tells me in his soft Brummie tones. 'I've been the constant one.' Talking to the affable Iommi, 77, it's hard to imagine that he's responsible for some of rock's darkest, dirtiest, most bone-crunching riffs. Tomorrow, he and the rest of the original line-up face their final curtain. It's our last chance to hear Paranoid, War Pigs and Iron Man performed live by the four musicians who created them. No doubt all eyes will be on the singer, the 'Prince Of Darkness' himself. Despite complaining to me recently that he has enough health issues 'to fill a medical dictionary', Ozzy Osbourne is set to give his hometown of Birmingham a hellraising last hurrah. But let's not forget that the Back To The Beginning extravaganza at Villa Park also marks the end of a journey for bassist Geezer Butler, drummer Bill Ward — and Iommi. Sabbath are held in highest esteem by the bands that followed in their wake, hence an incredible supporting cast. With Rage Against The Machine's Tom Morello serving as musical director, there's a blizzard of metal titans paying their dues. Metallica, Slayer, Pantera, Alice In Chains, Sammy, Hagar, Steven Tyler (Aerosmith), Billy Corgan (Smashing Pumpkins), Duff McKagan and Slash (Guns N' Roses), Fred Durst (Limp Bizkit) — the list goes on. Ozzy Osbourne announces final Black Sabbath gig as band reunite for 'greatest heavy metal show ever' with HUGE line up 'It's a great honour,' says Iommi. 'I'm so proud of everyone who has come forward to support Sabbath. 'They've come from everywhere to be a part of something. This is a real one-off.' Iommi is particularly chuffed that his old mucker Ward, who he first met at Birchfield Road School, is back in the Sabbath fold for the first time since 2005. 'Bill and I were in a couple of bands before Sabbath,' he says, 'and that's when we went round to Ozzy's house looking for a singer. It was how it all started.' Seeing that the gig is called Back To The Beginning, I ask Iommi to sift through the mists of time to describe how the band came together. He begins by giving me his first impressions of Ozzy before moving on to Geezer. 'At school, I didn't even know that Ozzy could sing,' he says. 'It was a racket at first, I must say, but after we'd been playing for a while, he got really good.' As for the singer's madcap behaviour, Iommi adds: 'He got more loony as we went on. In the early days, we'd be on this little stage at a club or somewhere and we had this thing between us. 'If I broke a string, I'd shout to Ozzy, 'Organise a raffle, organise a raffle!' which meant, 'Talk to the audience'. 'He wasn't very good at that in the early days, he didn't know what to say. 'But he got more and more confident and, eventually, he became like he is — very out front.' Iommi moves on to Geezer and says: 'Before Sabbath, Bill and I used to play these all-nighters at a place in Birmingham. 'I always remember seeing Geezer there, crawling up walls because of the drugs they were on in those days. 'I made my fingertips' 'Me and Bill used to think, 'Blimey, he's mad, that guy'. Of course, when we got together with him, we realised he was very, very sensible. 'Geezer had never played bass before — he was a guitar player — but it was amazing how quickly he picked it up.' So what about Iommi himself? 'Originally, I wanted to play drums,' he replies, 'but because of where we lived with my parents, you couldn't get a drum kit in the house. It was so small. 'My mother bought me a guitar, one of these cheap £20 ones from a catalogue, and I sat in my room learning to play. I really enjoyed it.' Then he adds with a self-deprecating chuckle: 'And I'm still trying to learn to play the guitar!' This was the early Sixties when one band in particular caught Iommi's ear — The Shadows led by his guitar hero Hank Marvin. 5 'I used to listen to the Top 20 on my little radio,' he says. 'The Shadows really inspired me because I loved their sound and style. 'They were an instrumental band and it was great because I had something to learn and to relate to. Then I could go off and do my own thing.' I thought that I'd become involved in the scene in some way and I didn't expect to become a musician Iommi Iommi was also shaped by his tough upbringing in Aston. Of the neighbourhood where he lived, he says: 'It was rough and gang infested. You had to be careful walking round the streets because you'd get beaten up if you were in the wrong area. 'I started doing martial arts — judo and karate — purely to protect myself,' he continues. 'I went training three or four times a week. 'I thought that I'd become involved in the scene in some way and I didn't expect to become a musician.' Iommi recalls having 'a dream of being on a stage, look-ing out, I always thought it was to do with martial arts but, of course, it wasn't. I later realised it was about being on stage playing guitar'. At 17, he had a horrific industrial accident which would have a profound effect on Black Sabbath's signature heavy guitar sound. While operating a guillotine press in a sheet-metal factory, Iommi lost the tips of the middle and ring fingers on his right hand. He says: 'I went to the hospital and they said, 'You might as well forget playing the guitar'. 'I just couldn't accept that attitude so I made my own fingertips with thimbles. I had to come up with a totally different way of playing. 'I also worked on the guitar all the time. I had it in bits and put it back together, trying to make it more comfortable to play. 'Eventually, that extended to experimenting with amplifiers, making a sound that would be more full.' By the time Sabbath, originally known as Earth, got together in 1968, Iommi was on a mission to make a success of it despite financial hardships. 5 'Oh God, I drove the bloody van!' he exclaims. 'Unloaded the gear, played, drove back. 'We were hard up. We might make 15 quid and, on our way home, stop off and spend it all at a fish and chip shop. 'But it was great because we started from nothing and we went through the whole thing together. 'We became glued to each other, we lived in each other's pockets, and it really made us a band.' Iommi continues: 'The name was Geezer's idea after he watched a Boris Karloff film called Black Sabbath. It was appropriate for our music and it stuck. 'When we were Earth, we got misbooked because they thought we were a pop band. We absolutely died a death!' An all-important step for Sabbath, like any up-and- coming act, was getting a record deal. Iommi remembers how it happened: 'We used to play at a club in Birmingham where Jim Simpson, who became our first manager, would get people to come down and see us. 'Of course 99 per cent of them said 'no' and one per cent said 'yes'. We were playing something different. In those days, it was all soul, not our kind of music.' The self-titled debut album contains the song Black Sabbath which bears Iommi's first great riff. He regards it as their breakthrough moment. 'That track hit home,' he says. 'It was so different and we knew straight away, 'That's it, that's what we want to do, that's the benchmark'.' 'Screaming girls' Iommi took on a lot of the responsibility at the time, getting the others out of bed and into the studio by 9am. 'Everybody needs somebody to direct them,' he affirms. 'Otherwise it turns into chaos.' That first album, now regarded as a trailblazing triumph, landed to lukewarm reviews but it didn't deter Iommi and his bandmates. I always remember somebody — I won't mention his name — came to review us. He left unknown to us and we DIDN'T play, but he still reviewed the show. What does that tell you? Iommi 'Of course, you never want a bad review but you have to believe in what you do,' he says. 'If we did get a reasonably good review, we'd bloody faint, but we never lost that belief and that's what made us stronger. 'I always remember somebody — I won't mention his name — came to review us. He left unknown to us and we DIDN'T play, but he still reviewed the show. What does that tell you?' Next came the album which propelled Sabbath to the stratosphere, Paranoid, with its iconic three-minute adrenaline rush of a title track. Iommi says: 'We never went to the States with the first album but Paranoid opened up America for us.' And yet the song itself was almost an afterthought, as he explains. 'When we were finishing the album, we went out to get something to eat. 'The producer came out and said to me, 'We need another track. We haven't got enough tracks'. So I had to come up with Paranoid. I waited for the others to come back and played it to them. 'Geezer wrote some lyrics, the guys learnt the song and we recorded it there and then. 'It was supposed to be filler but it was the one that took off — and we ended up on Top Of The Pops.' Appearing on the UK's premier pop showcase went against everything Sabbath stood for in their quest 'to be an album band taken seriously for our music'. Iommi says: 'It was funny. You've got people like Cilla Black and then us. Bloody odd combination, it was! 'And the last thing we wanted to do was attract screaming girls.' After Paranoid, Sabbath were on a roll, producing a string of high-octane, high-quality albums — Master Of Reality (1971), Vol.4 (1972), Sabbath Bloody Sabbath (1973) and Sabotage (1975). 'For each album, we tried different things,' says Iommi. 'On Master Of Reality, I started tuning down a bit to get an even heavier sound. 5 'The whole vibe on Vol. 4 was great. We went to Los Angeles where John du Pont was unfortunate enough to rent us his house. 'It was a fantastic place with a ballroom, swimming pools and, God, did we have some fun.' It was only after ten years in the business that the wheels started to fall off for Sabbath, resulting in Ozzy's exit. 'Obviously, drugs were involved,' says Iommi. 'It got to a stage where Ozzy had lost interest. He'd go missing for a couple of days in Los Angeles — things like that. 'I was nominated to go to the record company and make all the excuses. We were coming up with riffs but it just wasn't going anywhere. 'It got to a point where I had to say, 'Look, we'll have to replace Ozzy or break up'. At the time, it was best for both of us and Ozzy went off and did his own thing.' Sabbath regrouped with Ronnie James Dio taking over on lead vocals, the first of a succession of singers. Then, in the late Nineties, the original Sabbath reformed and toured until 2005. Minus drummer Ward, they got back together for the Rick Rubin-produced 13 (released in 2013) and played live again until 2017. Now, eight years on, Sabbath are making their last stand. They've all had well-documented health issues but Iommi and Ozzy see the funny side. Ozzy even called himself 'Iron Man' after surgeons inserted bolts in his neck following a fall at his home in the outskirts of Los Angeles 'He should be called the Six Million Dollar Man,' laughs Iommi. 'I hear from him every few days and we complain to each other. 'We've all had problems so it's quite an achievement for us to get on stage again after so many years. 'We'll do the gig – then we'll probably keel over!'


The Sun
an hour ago
- The Sun
Iconic nightclub which hosted Rod Stewart & Stormzy to shut for good in days – as new owners reveal plans for venue
AN ICONIC nightclub which has hosted stars such as Rod Stewart and Stormzy is set to shut for good in just days. It marks the end of an era after the popular student hotspot and concert venue will close its doors for the last time after more than 20 years. Pryzm Kingston, which has hosted Stormzy, Rod Stewart and Billie Eilish will officially close this month. The club on Clarence Street closed its disco room at 3.30am on June 28 but will welcome partygoers for one final night in the main room on July 12. A spokesperson for the club said earlier this week: "Pryzm is closing its doors for the final time on Saturday July 12 at 3.30am. "We want to say a heartfelt thank you to everyone who has stepped through our doors over the years. "Whether you came for a dance, poured a few drinks or had a spin on the decks, we've loved every minute of creating memories with you." The venue has been a popular nightlife hotspot for more than 20 years but the party isn't over just yet. The nightclub's owners, Neos Hospitality, has other plans for the space, submitting plans to convert the Grade II listed building into two new venues. There will be a "party bar" on the ground floor, known as Bonnie Rogues, in addition to a new nightclub on the first and second floors called Circuit. Neos also want the spaces to continue Pryzm's live music legacy. The origins of the venue stretch back to 1939 when it was first built and known as the Granada Theatre. Following a building renovation it became a nightclub called Oceana in 2003 before it was rebranded as Pryzm in 2014. Russell Quelch, the CEO of Neos, said they want the site to continue being a night out favourite for Londoners. He added: "Thousands of people have made memories that will last them a lifetime, from over 20 years of amazing nights out at PRYZM and Oceana before it." "The closure is the end of a long running chapter for the Kingston club scene, but it's time to look to the future and reimagine what this site could hold, in a fresh new look at nightlife for next generation of UK party lovers." Neos bought club from previous owners Rekom UK after they went bust in 2024. At the time, Rekom had announced they were closing more than a dozen venues with immediate effect after plunging into administration. The company cited cost of living pressures and rising business rates and operational costs for the closures. But 11 of their sites were sold and remained open under new owners which included Kingston's PRYZM. The UK nightclub industry was hit hard by the pandemic and the cost of living crisis, with many other venues closing in recent years. High energy costs have crippled businesses and soaring inflation has seen punters cutting back on nights out. According to the Night Time Industries Association (NTIA), there has been a 32.7 per cent decline in activity since 2020.