Douglas Murray (born 16 July 1979)[1] is a British author and conservative political commentator, cultural critic, and journalist. He founded the Centre for Social Cohesion in 2007, which became part of the Henry Jackson Society, where he was associate director from 2011 to 2018.
Douglas Murray | |
|---|---|
 Murray in 2019 | |
| Born | Douglas Kear Murray 16 July 1979 London, England |
| Occupation |
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| Education | St Benedict's School Eton College (6th form) |
| Alma mater | Magdalen College, Oxford |
| Period | 2000–present |
| Subject |
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| Notable works | |
| Website | |
| douglasmurray.net | |
He is currently an associate editor of the conservative British political and cultural magazine The Spectator, and has been a regular contributor to the The Times, the Daily Telegraph, The Sun, the Daily Mail, New York Post, National Review, The Free Press, and Unherd.[2][3][4][5][6]
Murray is known for his criticism of immigration and Islam. His books include Neoconservatism: Why We Need It (2005), The Strange Death of Europe: Immigration, Identity, Islam (2017), The Madness of Crowds: Gender, Race and Identity (2019) and The War on the West (2022).
Murray has been praised by a range of writers and public intellectuals including Bernard Henri-Lévy, Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, and Lionel Shriver, but strongly criticised by many on the left.[7][8][9][10][11] Articles in the academic journals Ethnic and Racial Studies and National Identities associate his views with Islamophobia[12][13] and he has been linked to far-right political ideologies[14] and the promotion of far-right ideas such as the Eurabia, Great Replacement, and Cultural Marxism conspiracy theories.[15][16][17][18]
Early life and education
Murray was born in Hammersmith, London, to an English school teacher mother and a Scottish, Gaelic-speaking father who had been born on the Isle of Lewis and who worked as a civil servant. He has one elder brother.[19][20] In an interview with The Herald, Murray stated that his father had intended to be in London temporarily but stayed after meeting his mother, and that they "encouraged a good discussion around the dinner table" when he was growing up but "neither are political."[21]
Murray was educated at his local state primary and secondary schools, before going to a comprehensive which had previously been a grammar school. Recalling this experience in 2011, he wrote, "My parents had been promised that the old grammar school standards and ethos remained, but none did. By the time I arrived the school was what would now be described as 'an inner-city sink school', a war zone similar to those many of the children's parents had escaped from."[22] Murray's parents withdrew him from the school after a year. He won scholarships to St Benedict's School, Ealing, and subsequently Eton College,[19][20][22] taught briefly at a school near Aberdeen,[23] then took a degree in English at Magdalen College, Oxford.[19][20]
Publications
At age 19, while in his second year at the University of Oxford, Murray published Bosie: A Biography of Lord Alfred Douglas, which was described by Christopher Hitchens as "masterly".[23][24][25] Bosie was awarded a Lambda Award for a gay biography in 2000.[26] After leaving Oxford, Murray wrote a play, Nightfall, about the Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg.[27]
In 2006, Murray published a defence of neoconservatism – Neoconservatism: Why We Need It – and went on a speaking tour promoting the book in the United States.[27] The publication was subsequently reviewed in the Arabic newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat by the Iranian author Amir Taheri: "Whether one agrees with him or not Murray has made a valuable contribution to the global battle of ideas."[28] In 2007, he assisted in the writing of Towards a Grand Strategy for an Uncertain World: Renewing Transatlantic Partnership by Gen. Dr. Klaus Naumann, Gen. John Shalikashvili, Field Marshal The Lord Inge, Adm. Jacques Lanxade, and Gen. Henk van den Breemen.[29] His book Bloody Sunday was (jointly) awarded the 2011–2012 Christopher Ewart-Biggs Memorial Prize.[30] In June 2013, Murray's e-book Islamophilia: a Very Metropolitan Malady was published.[31]
In 2017, Murray published The Strange Death of Europe: Immigration, Identity, Islam, which spent almost 20 weeks on The Sunday Times bestseller list and was a No. 1 bestseller in non-fiction. It has since been published in over 20 languages.[32] In The Strange Death of Europe, Murray argued that Europe "is committing suicide" by allowing non-European immigration into its borders and losing its "faith in its beliefs".[33] The book received a polarized response from critics. Juliet Samuel of The Daily Telegraph praised Murray, saying that: "His overall thesis, that a guilt-driven and exhausted Europe is playing fast and loose with its precious modern values by embracing migration on such a scale, is hard to refute."[34] An academic review in the Israel Journal of Foreign Affairs acclaimed the book as "explosive" and "an elegantly written, copiously documented exposé of Europe's suicidal hypocrisy".[35] Rod Liddle of The Sunday Times called the book "a brilliant, important and profoundly depressing book".[36]
Other reviews of the book were highly negative. In The Guardian, the political journalist Gaby Hinsliff described Strange Death as "gentrified xenophobia" and "Chapter after chapter circles around the same repetitive themes: migrants raping and murdering and terrorising", also pointing out that Murray offers little definition of the European culture which he claims is under threat.[37] Writing in The New York Times, Indian novelist Pankaj Mishra described the book as "a handy digest of far-right clichés".[38] Mishra accused Murray of defending Pegida, of writing that the English Defence League "had a point", and of describing Hungarian politician Viktor Orbán as a better sentinel of "European values" than George Soros.[38] Writing in The Intercept, Murtaza Hussain criticised what he called the "relentlessly paranoid tenor" and "apocalyptic picture of Europe" portrayed in the book, while challenging the links Murray made between non-European immigration and large increases in crime.[39] In Middle East Eye, Georgetown University in Qatar professor Ian Almond called the book "a staggeringly one-sided flow of statistics, interviews and examples, reflecting a clear decision to make the book a rhetorical claim that Europe is doomed to self-destruction".[40]
Murray wrote about social justice and identity politics in his 2019 book The Madness of Crowds: Gender, Race and Identity which became a Sunday Times bestseller.[41][42] It was also nominated as an audio book of the year for the British Book Awards.[43] In the book, Murray points to what he sees as a cultural shift, away from established modes of religion and political ideology, in which various forms of victimhood can provide markers of social status.[44] He divides his book into sections dealing with different forms of victimhood, including types of LGBT identity, feminism, and racial politics.[42] Murray criticises the work of French philosopher Michel Foucault for what he sees as a reduction of society to a system of power relations.[45] Murray's book drew polarized responses from critics. Historian Tim Stanley in The Daily Telegraph praised the book, calling Murray "a superbly perceptive guide through the age of the social justice warrior".[46] Katie Law in the Evening Standard said that Murray "tackled another necessary and provocative subject with wit and bravery".[47] Conversely, William Davies gave a highly critical review of Murray's work in The Guardian, describing the book as "the bizarre fantasies of a rightwing provocateur, blind to oppression".[48]
In 2021 Murray published The War on the West: How to Prevail in the Age of Unreason. The book was characterised by columnist Gerard Baker as an examination of attempts to destroy Western civilisation from sources within.[49]
Media career
Murray is an associate editor of The Spectator.[50][51]
His book Bloody Sunday: Truths, Lies and The Saville Inquiry was longlisted for the 2012 Orwell Book Prize.[52]
In 2016, Murray organised a competition through The Spectator in which entrants were invited to submit offensive poems about Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, with a top prize of £1,000 donated by a reader.[53] This was in reaction to the Böhmermann affair, in which German satirist Jan Böhmermann was prosecuted under the German penal code for such a poem.[54] Murray announced the winner of the poetry competition as Conservative MP Boris Johnson (former editor of the magazine, and former Mayor of London, and later Prime Minister of the United Kingdom).[53]
In April 2019, Murray spent weeks urging New Statesman journalist George Eaton and editor Jason Cowley to share the original recording of an interview between Eaton and Roger Scruton, with Murray branding the published interview – which attributed a number of controversial statements to Scruton – as "journalistic dishonesty".[55] Murray eventually managed to acquire the recording, which formed the basis of an article in The Spectator defending Scruton, arguing that his remarks had been misinterpreted.[56] It is unclear how Murray obtained the recording.[56] The New Statesman subsequently apologized for Eaton's misrepresentation.[57][58][59]
Political views
Ideology
Academic and journalistic sources have variously described Murray's ideology and political views as conservative,[60] neoconservative,[19][61][62] far-right,[63] alt-right[64][16] and Islamophobic.[12][13] Murray is a regular critic of immigration[19] and Islam.[19] British journalist and broadcaster Peter Oborne described Douglas Murray as an anti-Muslim polemicist.[65] Murray has argued that there is an effort by the left to destroy Western culture, and has argued that criticisms of Western leaders and philosophers are motivated by attempts to hurt the West.[66]
British writer Nafeez Ahmed argued in Middle East Eye that Murray's support for free speech in the wake of the Charlie Hebdo shooting and the January 2015 Île-de-France attacks was "really just a ploy for far-right entryism".[67] In 2019, an article in Social Policy Review described Murray's views as a kind of "mainstreamist" ideology that defies easy categorization as extremist while remaining "entangled with the far right".[68]
Murray has been described as promoting far-right conspiracy theories, including the Great Replacement theory,[69] the Eurabia conspiracy theory[70][16] and the cultural Marxism conspiracy theory.[18]
Philosopher Bernard-Henri Lévy has said of Murray, "Whether one agrees with him or not" he is "one of the most important public intellectuals today".[21] Writer Ayaan Hirsi Ali and columnist Sohrab Ahmari have praised Murray's work and writing on Islam in Europe.[71][8]
Columnist Bari Weiss places Murray within the intellectual dark web, a loosely affiliated group of commentators including Bret Weinstein, Dave Rubin, Joe Rogan, and Sam Harris.[72] Murray has rejected his placement within this group.[73] Murray has a weekly column, "Things Worth Remembering", in Weiss's The Free Press.[74]
Islam and Muslims
In February 2006, Murray said "conditions for Muslims in Europe must be made harder across the board: Europe must look like a less attractive proposition."[75][76] Murray's former coworker at the Centre for Social Cohesion, James Brandon, interpreted this comment as calling for the collective punishment of Muslims.[77] After Murray refused politician Paul Goodman's offer to disown these comments, the Conservative Party frontbench severed formal relations with Murray and his Centre for Social Cohesion.[78]
According to Brandon, Murray failed to distinguish Islam from Islamism.[77] Brandon said he attempted to "de-radicalise" Murray to ensure that only Islamists were targeted and not "Muslims as a whole".[77] Brandon writes that Murray has privately retracted some of his comments.[77] In 2010, during an Intelligence Squared US debate titled "Is Islam a Religion of Peace?", Murray argued in his contribution against the motion that "[Islamic Prophet] Muhammad was a bad man",[79][80] citing episodes from Muhammad's private life and his beheading of Jews.[81]
In 2008, Murray listed the cases of 27 writers, activists, politicians, and artists – including Sir Salman Rushdie, Maryam Namazie, and Anwar Shaikh, all three of whom had received death threats due to their criticism of Islam. Murray said that "Unless Muslims are allowed to discuss their religion without fear of attack there can be no chance of reform or genuine freedom of conscience within Islam."[82]
In 2009, Murray was prevented from chairing a debate at the London School of Economics between academic Alan Sked and philosopher Hamza Tzortzis on the topic "Islam or Liberalism: Which is the Way Forward?", with the university citing security concerns following a week-long student protest against Israel's attacks on Gaza. The debate took place without Murray chairing.[83] The move was criticised by the conservative press, such as The Daily Telegraph and The Spectator.[84][85][86]
In June 2009, Murray accepted an invitation to a debate with Islamist Anjem Choudary, leader of the banned militant group Al-Muhajiroun, on the subject of Sharia law and British law at Conway Hall. Members of Al-Muhajiroun acting as security guards tried to segregate men and women at the entrance of the event. Clashes broke out near the entrance between Choudary's and Murray's supporters. and Conway Hall cancelled the debate because of the attempted forced separation of men and women. Outside the building, a confrontation between Choudary and Murray over the cancellation of the event occurred.[87] Murray's Centre for Social Cohesion later published a study arguing that one-in-seven Islam-related terrorist cases in the UK could be linked to Al-Muhajiroun.[88]
In the wake of the 2017 London Bridge attack, Murray blamed Islam as a religion and called for reduced immigration.[89]
Immigration
Murray is a vocal critic of immigration.[90][91] In March 2013, Murray claimed that London was a "foreign country" due to "white Britons" becoming a minority in 23 of the 33 London boroughs.[92][93] In Murray's book The Strange Death of Europe, he writes that Europe and its values are committing suicide due to mass immigration; in the opening pages, he calls for halting Muslim immigration. In the book, he also details crimes committed by immigrants in Europe and writes favourably of immigration hard-liner Viktor Orbán.[94][39]
In 2018, Murray filmed a video for PragerU entitled "The Suicide of Europe". In the video, he condemned "The mass movement of peoples into Europe…from the Middle East, North Africa and East Asia," and criticized European multiculturalism.[95] Alex Kotch interviewed a senior editor at the Anti-Defamation League's Center on Extremism, Mark Pitcavage, who accused the video of being "filled with anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim rhetoric".[95] Similarly, the Southern Poverty Law Center claimed that the video was a "dog whistle to the extreme right".[96]
In September 2016, Murray supported Donald Trump's proposal for a wall along the southern border of the United States.[97] In January 2017, Murray defended Executive Order 13769, which banned entry to the U.S. by citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries.[98]
Gender and sexuality
Murray is gay,[19] while stating that homosexuality "is an unstable component on which to base an individual identity and a hideously unstable way to try and base any form of group identity".[99][better source needed] In his book The Madness of Crowds: Gender, Race and Identity, Murray claims that homophobia has mostly been vanquished.[42][46]
Murray has said that it is a lie that a man can become a woman.[73] Media Matters for America reported that in September 2020, during an appearance on Joe Rogan's podcast, Murray paraphrased Camille Paglia and said that "at the end of every empire, they get interested in sexual fluidity, hermaphroditism, and so on."[100] He has stated that he thinks there is no such thing as non-binary gender.[101]
In September 2019, Murray said in an interview that women are held to a different standard than men when it comes to sexual behaviour, citing instances involving Drew Barrymore, Jane Fonda, and Mayim Bialik behaving sexually towards men without backlash from the media.[21]
Foreign policy
In his book Neoconservatism: Why We Need It, Murray argues that neoconservatism is necessary for fighting against dictatorships and human rights abuses.[102] Murray wrote in support of the Iraq War in 2004,[103] and defended the war against critics on multiple occasions.[66] He has called for continuing the War on terror on Iran, Syria, and any regime which supports terrorism.[104] In 2021, Murray chastised the Biden administration for withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan.[105]
In March 2018, Hungarian politician Viktor Orbán posted a photo on his official Facebook account of himself reading the Hungarian-language edition of The Strange Death of Europe by Murray.[39] In May 2018, Murray was personally received by Orbán in Budapest as part of the "Future of Europe" conference, along with other conservative figures such as American political strategist Steve Bannon, and according to Hungarian state media had an individual discussion and photograph with Orbán.[106][107]
Israel and antisemitism
In 2013, Murray condemned journalist Owen Jones for mistakenly claiming that Israel had killed an 11-month old child in a military strike. Jones responded by criticising Murray for ignoring a UN report which said an Israel airstrike had killed numerous innocent civilians.[108] In 2014, Murray defended and supported Israel during the 2014 Israel-Gaza conflict.[109] Murray also defended Israel's right to defend itself, saying, "If you don't believe that Israel has the right to stop a group that has proposed repeatedly since its existence that it wants to annihilate Israel, if you believe that Israel doesn't have the right to try and stop this enemy, then of course you don't believe Israel has the right to exist; you believe Israel has the right to die."[109] During a visit to Israel in 2019, Murray praised Israeli society's "attitude towards nationalism", and lauded Israel's restrictive approach to immigration.[110]
Murray has been a vocal supporter of Israel during the 2023-24 Israel–Hamas war.[111][112] On 12 October 2023, in the aftermath of the Hamas massacre of 7 October, he was invited to present a speech at the Lauderdale Road Synagogue in London which defended Jews and the State of Israel, and which subsequently gathered almost one million views online.[113] Murray has been a vocal supporter of Israel's military response to the October 7 attacks by Hamas. He spent around 6 months in Israel following the attacks visiting conflict zones and writing in defense of Israel's actions. Murray has criticized anti-Israel protests and rhetoric in Western countries like Britain as being motivated by antisemitism and support for terrorism rather than genuine concern for Palestinians.[114][115][116] He has described some protests as "terrorist marches" and claimed they are organized by pro-Hamas factions aiming to spread disinformation.[117]
Murray has argued that much of the criticism of Israel stems from either explicit antisemitism, anti-Western ideology, or ignorance about the realities of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict being exploited by malicious actors.[118] He believes that anti-Zionism is a form of antisemitism.[119] He has criticised the use of 'Zionist' as a slur. He has also criticised the international media for, in his view, being "focused not on the atrocities Hamas committed against Israel but on the response of Israel to the terrorists of Hamas" and not showing sympathy to Israeli victims.[120]
In April 2024, he received an honorary award from President of Israel Isaac Herzog and Minister of Diaspora Affairs Amichai Chikli for being a "friend to the Jewish people and fighting the resurgence of antisemitism" due to his coverage of the 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel and the resulting war.[121][122] In the aftermath of the massacre of Israeli civilians, Murray has travelled to Israel and to Gaza multiple times.
Other activities
Murray is on the international advisory board of NGO Monitor, a Jerusalem-based NGO described as pro-Israel and right-wing,[123] which was founded in 2001 by professor Gerald M. Steinberg.[124][125][126][127] As of 2022[update], he was also one of the directors of the Free Speech Union, an organization established by British social commentator Toby Young in 2020 which advocates for freedom of speech, and criticises cancel culture.[128][129]
Honours and awards
- Manhattan Institute – 2024 Alexander Hamilton Award.[130]
- Honorary award from President Isaac Herzog of Israel in 2024.[121]
Personal life
Murray is gay.[19] In 2015 and 2017, he described himself as a cultural Christian and a Christian atheist,[20][131] and having been an Anglican until his twenties.[20][27][132] In a 2024 interview, he said that he was agnostic, not atheist.[133]
Works
- Bosie: A Biography of Lord Alfred Douglas. Sceptre. 2000. ISBN 978-0-340-79380-0.
- Neoconservatism: Why We Need It. Social Affairs Unit. 2005. ISBN 978-1-59403-344-5.
- Hate on the State: How British libraries encourage Islamic extremism. Centre for Social Cohesion. 2007. ISBN 978-1-903386-62-0. (with James Brandon)
- Victims of Intimidation: Freedom of Speech Within Europe's Muslim Communities. Centre for Social Cohesion. 2008. ISBN 978-0-9560013-1-3. (with Johan Pieter Verwey)
- Bloody Sunday: Truths, Lies and the Saville Inquiry. Dialogue. 2011. ISBN 978-1-84954-149-7.
- Islamophilia: A Very Metropolitan Malady. emBooks. 2013. ISBN 978-1-62777-050-7.
- The Strange Death of Europe: Immigration, Identity, Islam. Bloomsbury. 2017. ISBN 978-1-4729-4224-1.
- The Madness of Crowds: Gender, Race and Identity. Bloomsbury. 2019. ISBN 978-1-4729-5995-9.
- The War on the West: How to Prevail in the Age of Unreason. Harper Collins. 2022. ISBN 978-0-06-316202-0.
References
External links
