At the European Jewish Association (EJA) conference in Madrid, author and commentator Douglas Murray delivered a powerful defense of Israel’s right to self-defense and condemned what he called the ‘triple standard’ applied to the Jewish state.
Douglas Murray, a renowned British author and political commentator, spoke with Arutz Sheva – Israel National News during an interview at the EJA conference in Madrid. Murray, who has been an outspoken defender of Israel, emphasized that the recent release of hostages, such as Edan Alexander, should not overshadow the plight of all captives held by Hamas.
“Every time a hostage is returned home, as in the case of Eden Alexander, everyone’s hearts go out to the family. And of course, there’s just incredible relief,” Murray stated. “But it’s also important that people remember that the wider world remembers, and that America remembers, that there isn’t a hierarchy of hostages—that every hostage should be returned home because no hostage should have ever been taken.”
He further asserted that while the return of dual nationals is a positive development, it does not diminish the fact that no Israeli should be held by Hamas. “There’s nothing wrong with being an Israeli, and no Israeli should be held by Hamas either. They should never have been stolen in the first place,” he remarked.
Addressing the media’s portrayal of the conflict, Murray criticized the “triple standard” applied uniquely to Israel. He argued that while Western nations like the U.S., Britain, and France have conducted military operations against groups like ISIS under the laws of war, Israel faces disproportionate scrutiny and condemnation for similar actions against Hamas.
“Hamas uses every law of war in its favor—hides in civilian buildings, dresses in civilian clothing, fires RPGs at soldiers from mosques while pretending that the mosques are holy places to them, uses hospitals as command headquarters and hostage holding centers,” Murray explained. “These are all against all the laws of war, and Hamas flouts them all the time in order to pursue its own ends. Israel does not flout the laws of war. It has to continue to operate under them, and in my observation, it does.”
Murray also addressed the resurgence of anti-Semitism in Europe and the U.S., attributing it to a misunderstanding of Zionism and a failure to recognize the true nature of Hamas. He quoted Vasily Grossman, stating, “Anti-Semitism tells us nothing about the Jews, but it tells us everything about the person who suffers from it. They claim the IDF are raping women in Gaza. The this is said by people who support the rape of Israeli women. They claim that Israel kills babies. These are people who support a group that sets out to kill babies. Always the anti-Semite tells us about themselves and nothing about the Jewish people.”
“The people in Europe, in the media, some politicians and others, certainly the activists on the streets, they tell us about themselves. They tell us nothing about the Jewish people, the Jewish state. They reveal themselves,” Murray concluded.
