Interview with author Douglas Murray: 'Canada has disgraced itself'
Bestselling author of eight books, including The War on The West and The Madness of Crowds, Douglas Murray has just released On Democracies and Death Cults: Israel and the Future of Civilization.
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In it, he paints a detailed picture of the minutes, and hours, of the devastation wrought in the Gaza envelope during the massacres of October 7, 2023, as well as the hours, days and months afterwards; the heroism of Israelis who defied orders, and fended off Hamas on their own; the weaponry IDF soldiers discovered in civilian Gazan homes; and the exclusive harrowing accounts of the massacre's survivors. As one of the first outside observers inside Gaza, he recounts the 'pitiful sight' and the 'utterly avoidable devastation' triggered by the Hamas-led attacks.
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Murray takes a microscope to the question of how modern Jew-hatred has reached unprecedented levels since wartime Europe. That includes the global campus demonstrations that sprung up almost immediately, which he describes as 'revolutionary cosplay,' their message communicated with 'bludgeoning' — subsequently thanked by a Hamas leader as the 'great student flood.' He follows the blood-soaked international money trail that has made Hamas leaders billionaires, and details the global web of Jihad supporters — the 'death cults' — as an imminent danger not just to Israel, but to civilization.
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Dave Gordon interviews Murray, a columnist for the New York Post and The Free Press, who has for decades filed stories from Middle East war zones, frequently appears on major broadcast channels, and recently had a much-discussed, tension-filled appearance on the Joe Rogan podcast.
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DM: Three things. One, was I wanted to get down as accurate an overview as possible, of what happened on October 7 in Israel, by collecting first hand testimony, and much more. The second thing was to give a firsthand account of the Israeli response to October 7, the war, and just get as much as possible up close, an account accurately and truthfully, in an era where much is written a lot about it untruthfully.
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And thirdly, to look at this question which haunted me throughout the last 18 months and indeed many years before, which was: why so much of the world finds it so hard to decide which side to be on, in a fight between a democracy like Israel, and a death cult like Hamas?
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DM: I think that much of Western policy making has just ended up in the realm of magical thinking in recent years. Put aside whether or not they deserve one, but there's this completely magical belief that the Palestinians have to get another state, and it will right some great historical wrong. This thinking goes, it would cause an outburst of peace and growth, not just in the Middle East, but in the wider world.
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I think they mucked up in Gaza so badly, by now it's clear that another Palestinian state would just be another terrorist proxy state, another Iranian front state, and that it would have done nothing to improve the lives of anyone in the region or the wider world.
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Global News
an hour ago
- Global News
Israel warns ‘Tehran will burn' as Iran fires missiles after Israeli strike
Israel's defense minister warned Saturday that 'Tehran will burn' if Iran continues firing missiles, as the two countries traded blows a day after Israel launched a blistering surprise attack on Iranian nuclear and military sites, killing a number of top generals. Israel's military said the strikes had also killed nine senior scientists and experts involved in Iran's nuclear program. Iran's U.N. ambassador said 78 people were killed and more than 320 wounded in the attacks. Iran retaliated by launching waves of drones and ballistic missiles at Israel, where explosions lit the night skies over Jerusalem and Tel Aviv and shook buildings. Story continues below advertisement The Israeli military urged civilians, already rattled by 20 months of war in Gaza sparked by Hamas' Oct. 7 attack, to head to shelter for hours. Health officials said three people were killed and dozens wounded. Speaking after an assessment meeting with the army's chief of staff, Defense Minister Israel Katz said that Iran will pay a heavy price for harming Israeli citizens. 'If (Iranian Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali) Khamenei continues to fire missiles at the Israeli home front — Tehran will burn,' Katz said. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Friday that his objective was to eliminate any Iranian threat to Israel, but he also urged Iranians to rise up against their leaders. Israel would welcome the government's overthrow even if it is not actively seeking it. Strikes could derail nuclear talks Israel's strikes also put further talks between the United States and Iran over a nuclear accord into doubt. The U.S. and Iran were scheduled to meet in Oman on Sunday. Iran's top diplomat said Saturday that talks with the United States were 'unjustifiable' after Israeli strikes on his country, likely signaling no negotiations this weekend with Washington. However, he stopped short of saying the talks were cancelled. The comments by Abbas Araghchi, Iran's minister of foreign affairs, came when he spoke by phone with Kaja Kallas, the European Union's top diplomat. Story continues below advertisement The Israeli airstrikes were the 'result of the direct support by Washington,' Araghchi said in a statement carried by the state-run IRNA news agency. The U.S. has said it isn't part of the strikes. Iranian missiles strike Israel Khamenei said in a recorded message Friday: 'We will not allow them to escape safely from this great crime they committed.' Get breaking National news For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen. Sign up for breaking National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy Iran launched waves of missiles at Israel late Friday and early Saturday, and Iranians awoke to state television airing repeated clips of strikes on Israel, as well as videos of people cheering and handing out sweets. The Iranian attacks killed at least three people and wounded around 70, mostly in and around Tel Aviv, according to two local hospitals. One missile severely damaged at least four homes in the nearby city of Rishon Lezion, according to first responders. The Israeli military said seven soldiers were lightly wounded when a missile hit central Israel, without specifying where the impact occurred. It was the first report of Israeli military casualties since the initial Israeli strikes. View image in full screen Fire and smoke rise from a building, reportedly hit by a missile fired from Iran, in central Tel Aviv on June 13, 2025. JACK GUEZ / Getty Images U.S. ground-based air defense systems in the region were helping to shoot down Iranian missiles, said a U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the measures. Story continues below advertisement In Ramat Gan, east of Tel Aviv, an Associated Press journalist saw burned-out cars and at least three damaged houses, including one where the front was nearly entirely torn away. Residents of a central Israeli city that was hit Friday night told The Associated Press the explosion was so powerful it shook their shelter door open. 'We thought, that's it, the house is gone, and in fact half of the house was gone, it fell apart,' said Moshe Shani. View image in full screen Israeli troops and first responders gather in front of a building hit by a missile fired from Iran, in Ramat Gan near Tel Aviv on June 13, 2025. (Photo by Jack GJACK GUEZ / Getty Images Israeli police said debris from the interception of drones and missiles fell in dozens of locations in northern Israel, causing damage and fires but no injuries. Israel's main international airport said Saturday it will remain closed until further notice. Indications of a new Israeli attack Iranian state television reported online that air defenses were firing in the cities of Khorramabad, Kermanshah and Tabriz, signaling the start of what could be a new Israeli attack. Footage from Tabriz showed black smoke rising from the city. Story continues below advertisement An Israeli military official said Saturday that the military was poised to carry out more strikes in Iran, saying, 'This is not over.' He spoke on condition of anonymity in line with official procedures. Overnight, the sound of explosions and Iranian air defense systems firing at targets echoed across central Tehran. Iran's semiofficial Tasnim news agency reported a fire at Tehran's Mehrabad International Airport. The Israeli military said it carried out overnight strikes on dozens of targets, including air defenses, 'in the area of Tehran.' Israel's ongoing airstrikes and Iran's retaliation raised concerns about all-out war between the countries and propelled the region, already on edge, into even greater upheaval. Israel's 20-month-long war with Gaza shows no signs of ending. At least 27 people were killed by Israeli fire in Gaza overnight, according to local hospitals. Countries in the region condemned Israel's attack, while leaders around the globe called for immediate de-escalation from both sides. 'More than a few weeks' to repair nuclear facilities Among the key sites Israel attacked was Iran's main nuclear enrichment facility in Natanz, where black smoke could be seen rising into the air. Israel said it also struck a nuclear research facility in Isfahan, and said it destroyed dozens of radar installations and surface-to-air missile launchers in western Iran. Iran confirmed the strike at Isfahan. Story continues below advertisement The Israeli military official said that according to the army's initial assessment, 'it will take much more than a few weeks' for Iran to repair the damage to the Natanz and Isfahan nuclear sites. The official said the army had 'concrete intelligence that production in Isfahan was for military purposes.' Israel denied it had struck the nuclear enrichment facility in Fordo, about 100 kilometers southeast of Tehran, after an Iranian news outlet close to the government reported the sound of explosions near the site. U.N. nuclear chief Rafael Grossi told the Security Council that the above-ground section of the Natanz facility was destroyed. The main centrifuge facility underground did not appear to have been hit, but the loss of power could have damaged the infrastructure there, he said. Netanyahu said the attack had been months in the making and was planned for April before being postponed. Among those killed were three of Iran's top military leaders: one who oversaw the entire armed forces, Gen. Mohammad Bagheri; one who led the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, Gen. Hossein Salami; and the head of the Guard's ballistic missile program, Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh. Two of Bagheri's deputies were also killed, Iran confirmed Saturday: Gen. Gholamreza Mehrabi, the deputy of intelligence for the armed forces' general staff, and Gen. Mehdi Rabbani, the deputy of operations. On Saturday, Khamenei named a new leader for the Revolutionary Guard's aerospace division. Gen. Majid Mousavi will replace Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh, who was killed in Friday's airstrike. The Guard's aerospace division oversees Iran's arsenal of ballistic missiles. Story continues below advertisement Trump urged Iran on Friday to reach a deal with the U.S. on its nuclear program, warning on his Truth Social platform that Israel's attacks 'will only get worse.' 'Iran must make a deal, before there is nothing left,' he wrote.
Winnipeg Free Press
3 hours ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Why are some key Tehran allies staying out of the Israel-Iran conflict?
BEIRUT (AP) — Hezbollah has long been considered Iran's first line of defense in case of a war with Israel. But since Israel launched its massive barrage against Iran this week, the Lebanese militant group has stayed out of the fray. A network of powerful Iran-backed militias in Iraq has also remained mostly quiet — even though Israel allegedly used Iraq's airspace, in part, to carry out the attacks. Domestic political concerns, as well as tough losses suffered in nearly two years of regional conflicts and upheavals, appear to have led these Iran allies to take a back seat in the latest round convulsing the region. The 'Axis of Resistance' Hezbollah was formed with Iranian support in the early 1980s as a guerilla force fighting against Israel's occupation of southern Lebanon at the time. The militant group helped push Israel out of Lebanon and built its arsenal over the ensuing decades, becoming a powerful regional force and the centerpiece of a cluster of Iranian-backed factions and governments known as the ' Axis of Resistance.' The allies also include Iraqi Shiite militias and Yemen's Houthi rebels, as well as the Palestinian militant group Hamas. At one point, Hezbollah was believed to have some 150,000 rockets and missiles, and the group's former leader, Hassan Nasrallah once boasted of having 100,000 fighters. Seeking to aid its ally Hamas in the aftermath of the Palestinian militants' Oct. 7, 2023 attack on southern Israel and Israel's offensive in Gaza, Hezbollah began launching rockets across the border. That drew Israeli airstrikes and shelling, and the exchanges escalated into full-scale war last September. Israel inflicted heavy damage on Hezbollah, killing Nasrallah and other top leaders and destroying much of its arsenal, before a U.S.-negotiated ceasefire halted that conflict last November. Israel continues to occupy parts of southern Lebanon and to carry out near-daily airstrikes. For their part, the Iraqi militias occasionally struck bases housing U.S. troops in Iraq and Syria, while Yemen's Houthis fired at vessels in the Red Sea, a crucial global trade route, and began targeting Israel. Condolences to Iran, condemnations of Israel Hezbollah and its leader Naim Kassem have condemned Israel's attacks and offered condolences for the senior Iranian officers who were killed. But Kassem did not suggest Hezbollah would take part in any retaliation against Israel. Iraq's Kataib Hezbollah militia — a separate group from Lebanon's Hezbollah — released a statement saying it was 'deeply regrettable' that Israel allegedly fired at Iran from Iraqi airspace, something that Baghdad complained to the U.N. Security Council over. The Iraqi militia called on the Baghdad government to 'urgently expel hostile forces from the country,' a reference to U.S. troops in Iraq as part of the fight against the militant Islamic State group, but made no threat of force. Hezbollah was weakened by last year's fighting and after losing a major supply route for Iranian weapons with the fall of Syrian President Bashar Assad, a key ally, in a lightning rebel offensive in December. 'Hezbollah has been degraded on the strategic level while cut off from supply chains in Syria,' said Andreas Krieg, a military analyst and associate professor at King's College London. A changing attitude to Iran Many Hezbollah members believe 'they were sacrificed for Iran's greater regional interests' since Hamas' attack on Israel triggered the latest Israel-Hamas war, and want to focus on 'Lebanon-centric' interests rather than defending Iran, Krieg said. Still, Qassem Qassir, a Lebanese analyst close to Hezbollah, said a role for the militant group in the Israel-Iran conflict should not be ruled out. 'This depends on political and field developments,' he said. 'Anything is possible.' Both the Houthis and the Iraqi militias 'lack the strategic deep strike capability against Israel that Hezbollah once had,' Krieg said. Renad Mansour, a senior research fellow at the Chatham House think tank in London, said Iraq's Iran-allied militias have all along tried to avoid pulling their country into a major conflict. Unlike Hezbollah, whose military wing has operated as a non-state actor in Lebanon – although its political wing is part of the government – the main Iraqi militias are members of a coalition of groups that are officially part of the state defense forces. 'Things in Iraq are good for them right now, they're connected to the state – they're benefitting politically, economically,' Mansour said. 'And also they've seen what's happened to Iran, to Hezbollah and they're concerned that Israel will turn on them as well.' That leaves the Houthis as the likely 'new hub in the Axis of Resistance,' Krieg said. But he said the group isn't strong enough — and too geographically removed — to strategically harm Israel beyond the rebels' sporadic missile attacks. Krieg said the perception that the 'axis' members were proxies fully controlled by Iran was always mistaken, but now the ties have loosened further. 'It is not really an axis anymore as (much as) a loose network where everyone largely is occupied with its own survival,' he said.
Winnipeg Free Press
5 hours ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Anger and worry mix in Iran's capital after retaliatory strikes against Israel
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Anger mixed with worry as Iranians in the capital of Tehran woke up Saturday to images of their country's retaliatory attacks on Israel. Iranian state television, long controlled by hard-line supporters of the country's theocracy, repeatedly aired footage of missile strikes on Tel Aviv throughout the morning. The broadcaster also showed people cheering in front of a large screen set up in Tehran to follow the strikes as if they were watching a soccer match. Traffic was lighter than normal on the capital's streets. The change was due in part to the Shiite holiday of Eid al-Ghadir commemorating the Prophet Muhammad picking his successor, Ali, who is beloved as the first Shiite imam and whose assassination set in motion the splintering of Sunni and Shiite Islam. Even before the attacks began, many Iranians had traveled outside the city to enjoy days off in places along the nearby Caspian Sea. The holiday mood made news of the assaults that much more shocking, particularly when the strikes killed many ranking members of Iran's military and paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, something unseen since Iran's war with Iraq in the 1980s. It's a new experience for many of Iran's 80 million people who weren't alive for that devastating conflict, which included a period known as the 'War of the Cities,' in which Iraq rained ballistic missiles, artillery fire and airstrikes on Iranian cities. 'Israel killed our commanders and what they expect in return? A kiss?' said Mahmoud Dorri, a 29-year-old taxi driver. 'We will go after them to punish them: an eye for an eye.' In downtown Tehran, 31-year-old teacher and mother of two Pari Pourghazi expressed her joy over Iran's attack, linking it to Israel's devastating war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. 'Someone should stop Israelis. They think they can do anything they want at any time,' she said. 'Iran showed Israelis are wrong though they could suppress people of Gaza or Lebanon by heavy bombing.' Auto mechanic Houshang Ebadi, 61, also backed the Iranian strike but said he opposed a full-fledged war between Iran and Israel. 'I support my country. The Israelis made mistake in launching attacks on Iran but I hope this comes to end,' Ebadi said. 'War will not bear fruit for any side.' Others expressed concerns, verbally or through their actions. At one Tehran gas station, some 300 vehicles waited to fill up, with drivers growing frustrated. 'Sometime there is a queue because people fear that the refineries may be targeted, sometimes there is a line because of a power outage,' said Nahid Rostami, a 43-year-old stylist. 'When is this emergency situation going to end?' Fruit seller Hamid Hasanlu, 41, said his twins couldn't sleep Friday night with the sounds of explosions and anti-aircraft batteries firing. 'Leaders of both countries should know that people are suffering,' he said. Bakeries also drew crowds as people sought to buy supplies including traditional Iranian bread, a staple of meals. 'I buy more bread since I think maybe there is no flour or electricity because of the war,' said Molouk Asghari, a 56-year-old homemaker. 'I have children and grandchildren. I cannot see them in a hard situation without food, water and electricity.' Across the country, people faced the continued strain of the conflict as Iran's airspace remained closed. 'Who knows what happens tonight?' said Rostami, the stylist.
