Major parties in most Western “democracies” support Israel’s genocide. This represents a radical shift in philosophy and structural movement among governments of the worst kind.
Destruction caused by Israeli bombing of Jabalia camp, Gaza Strip, October 2024. (UNRWA/Wikimedia Commons)
By Craig Murray
CraigMurray.org.uk
It is all a part of the same phenomenon.
Western governments actively assisting genocide in Gaza; attacks on benefits for the disabled; a deliberate official narrative of Russophobia; rampant Islamophobia boosting the rise of extreme right-wing parties and fueled by government anti-immigrant rhetoric; an incredible accumulation of wealth by the ultra-rich; rampant erosion of freedoms of speech and expression.
It is not happenstance that all of this is happening at the same time. It represents a radical shift in Western philosophy.
This shift is not simple to trace because anti-intellectualism is an essential part of the new philosophy. Therefore this philosophy does not really have its equivalent of Bertrand Russell or Noam Chomsky, whose careful exposition of societal analysis and ideals, based on a comprehensive understanding of previous philosophical discourse, is being superseded.
If there is a current equivalent we may look at Bernard Henri Levy, whose rejection of collectivism and support of individual rights moved ever rightwards into support of raw capitalism, invasions of Muslim countries and now outspoken support for the genocide in Gaza.
The End of the Public Intellectual
Lévy in 2011. (Itzike/Wikimedia Commons/CC BY-SA 3.0)
If you want to find an embodiment of the shift in Western philosophy, it might be him. But few any longer pay attention to academic intellectuals sitting in their studies. The now-threadbare mantle of “public intellectual” in the West has passed to lightweight figures like Jordan Peterson and populist Islamophobes like Douglas Murray.
Part of this is institutional. In my youth, Bertrand Russell or AJP Taylor were quite likely to turn up giving serious talks on the BBC, and John Pilger was the most celebrated documentary maker in British media.
But now left-wing voices are effectively banned from mainstream media, whilst left-wing academics are most unlikely to progress in academia. Academia is itself now entirely run on a corporate model in the U.K. as throughout all the West.
A young Noam Chomsky would almost certainly be told by the university authorities to stick to linguistics and leave aside the philosophy and politics, or not get tenure. Chomsky was already a renowned linguist in 1967, when he published his breakthrough essay “On the Responsibility of Intellectuals.”
Essentially a call for academics to support the protest movement, a young professor who published it today would almost certainly get suspended if not sacked and even, in today’s climate, quite possibly arrested.
A Wave of Repression
The deportation efforts against students in the U.S. who have broken no law but protested against genocide; the fines there on universities for allowing free speech; the deportations of EU citizens from Germany for speaking out on Palestine; the police raid on the Quaker meeting house in London and the widespread “terrorism” charges against peaceful journalists — these are just examples of a wave of repression sweeping the major Western states.
They are all linked. It is a structural movement in government of the worst kind. It can only be compared to the wave of fascism that swept much of Europe in the 1930s.
The great irony of course is that it is the Western destruction of Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and the Western destabilisation of Syria that led to the massive wave of immigration to Europe that caused the rise of the far right.
Over 1.5 million Syrian “refugees” were granted asylum in the EU, because they claimed to be on the anti-Assad side, which the West was supporting. AfD is very much a result of [Angela] Merkel’s decision to accept 600,000 Syrian refugees in Germany.
AfD election poster in Thuringia in 2024 supporting remigration, or forced repatriation of immigrants. (PantheraLeo1359531/Wikimedia Commons/CC BY 4.0)
Fascinatingly, now their side has “won” and a Western-backed government been installed in Damascus, less than 1 percent of these refugees have returned to Syria.
Despite the official anti-immigrant narratives of almost all Western governments, there seems to be no attempt to suggest that they might return. Indeed, those Western politicians most keen on deporting immigrants are the least likely to suggest that the reliably Zionist anti-Assad Syrians should leave, even though those same politicians portray Syria under former rebel commander Abu Mohammad al Jolani, now known as Ahmed Hussein al-Sharaa, as a liberal paradise and rush to give it money.
The neo-con immigration narrative in Europe is peculiarly complex and flexible. Effectively immigrants viewed as on the West’s side in its wars (Sunni Syrians, Ukrainians) have an open door.
Mass immigration to Europe is therefore a direct result of imperialist foreign policy, and that plays out in complex ways, with the West’s victims arriving against official disapproval and the West’s clients arriving with official approval.
Equally, the economic dislocation and large rise in inflation which also have strengthened the populist right, is itself exaggerated by Western foreign policy. The proxy war in Ukraine is largely responsible for the steep change in Europe’s energy prices, with the destruction of the Nord Stream pipeline a key factor in the major struggles of German manufacturing industry.
Incredibly, for a year the entire Western media and political class tried to enforce the lie that Russia destroyed its own pipeline — just as they claimed Hamas blew up the first of the dozens of hospitals and health centres destroyed by Israel.
We come back to Gaza, as all serious discussion must at present. I cannot come to terms with the fact that the takeover of the political Establishment by Zionist interests — itself a consequence of the massive growth of the comparative wealth of the ultra-rich — is making it possible for the most brutal genocide possible to happen before the eyes of the world, with active support from the Western establishment.
It is not that the people do not want to stop it. It is that there is no mechanism connecting the popular will to the instruments of government. The major parties all support Israel’s genocide in almost all the Western “democracies.”
It has become impossible to deny the intention of genocide now. Israel has stepped up its killing of children to dozens every day, is openly executing medics and destroying all healthcare facilities, is bombing desalination plants and is blockading all food.
The Zionist narrative on social media has shifted from denial of genocide to justification of genocide.
I simply cannot understand the mainstream tolerance of this Holocaust. I am living in an age where the power structures and social narratives I do not recognise as part of a societal organisation to which I can consent to belong.
It is the British Labour Party which is actively supporting genocide whilst targeting the most vulnerable at home for cuts in income. It is the EU which is doing everything possible to promote World War 3 and transforming into a militarily aggressive organisation of Nazi leanings.
The U.K., U.S. and other first world nations are radically cutting overseas aid to provide money for imperialist military aggression. The broadly social democratic consensus of the Western world in my youth involved much dull compromise: but it was infinitely better and more hopeful than this Hell we are creating.
Craig Murray is an author, broadcaster and human rights activist. He was British ambassador to Uzbekistan from August 2002 to October 2004 and rector of the University of Dundee from 2007 to 2010. His coverage is entirely dependent on reader support. Subscriptions to keep this blog going are gratefully received.
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Views expressed in this article may or may not reflect those of Consortium News.
It all goes back to the counter revolution of Reagan and Thatcher temper tantrum against the progressive youth movements of the 60’s that has now become a western religious war for dominance out of irrational fear of China and Asia and opposing Orthodox religious cultural alternatives.. It is perhaps a fear of retaliation from history rather than real life in a global civilization in this century reality.
Oligarchs have decided that there are too many non-oligarchs in the world. This has been a constant story for the last 5+ years and counting. The Oligarchs have decided to mow the grass, and we are the grass. The foreign policy of wars and genocide connects to the dots of the destruction of public health and over 20,000,000 dead worldwide from COVID.
“It is not that the people do not want to stop it. It is that there is no mechanism connecting the popular will to the instruments of government.”
I’m not entirely sure that’s true. Maybe it’s just that I am surrounded by a particularly neoliberal bubble, but it really doesn’t seem like most people care about Gaza. Those that even know what’s happening all think (choose to think) that it’s all because of Hamas. They still see Israel as, well, maybe a little overzealous, but still mostly righteous because of 10/7. Very few people I encounter know the true history of the occupied Palestinian territories.
2 sides of the coin.
The techniques for preventing popular will begin with the propaganda. The barrage about Israel “defending itself” and about how “Hamas” = “Terrorists” is a step of keeping popular will out of the way of the rich and powerful. A key step in any campaign of war and/or mass murder is the de-humanizing of the victims. To kill a continent full of Native Americans, first they had to convince the good Christians that they were only killing “savages.” It is always vital to the process that the propaganda separate out “those people” from all us “good people.”
Then, the next level of defense against popular will is to prevent organizations from forming that can give people a platform. When the de-humanizing propaganda fails because they can not fool all of the people all of the time, make sure people do not have a movement they can join. This can occur via fake movements that talk a lot, but never accomplish anything and never really even try to accomplish anything.
Keep the following thoughts in mind in such a surreal world.
– Free yourself from mental slavery.
– Don’t follow leaders, beware of parking meters.
– Don’t get mad …. organize!
( the last is personal and in person. You talking to neighbors and friends and people you know and trust. Together, you will be stronger than as individuals.. In this age of mass surveillance, best done face to face. )
Remember, Democracy is built from the bottom, and never granted as a gift from the top.
We used to prize the public intellectual,
Once mighty, now so goddammed ineffectual,
Partly because he gave up erudition,
Mostly because he’s cowed into submission.
Saw Bernard Henri Levy on Charlie Rose some seven years ago. Struck me as a preening, practiced bullshitter back then.
“I simply cannot understand the mainstream tolerance of this Holocaust.”
Nor can so many of us.
The ideas and the ideologies have been with us humans for a very long time; books like ‘The Camp of the Saints (1970s, Jean Raspail), Calhoun’s over population studies with rats and mice and the steady argument and pressure from oligarchs and a cadre of individualist, anticommons economics types have set the present ideational stage.
And now there are increasingly undeniable worldwide social and biophysical events and processes impacting belief systems and ideological positions that have no way to process them. It is well known that when faced with existential dangers, usually the first attempts are somewhat nuanced and information based, but as attempts fail, tried solutions become more and more stereotyped, simplified, primitive and, almost always, inappropriate in ways that ultimately ‘solve the problem’ by destroying what was trying to be saved.
The present ecosphere has been given a foreseeable expiration date: organized ecosystems and human social systems are under increasing stress and whether ‘we can thread the needle’ through the coming population, economic, environmental and social unrest perturbations is an open question.
My point is that the present horrible human cruelties and seemingly mindless flights of accepted insanities is what should be expected, not be surprised at. This is not an argument to do nothing, but such understanding can inform as to what actions and what directions can best serve us.
Just so horrendous Craig…But thank for this.
“The broadly social democratic consensus of the Western world in my youth involved much dull compromise: but it was infinitely better and more hopeful than this Hell we are creating.” I would just say, that this hell, you refer to, was being created back in the days of your, and my, youth.
It should not be too hard to connect the dots running from Korea, to Vietnam, Cambodia, Diego Garcia, Somalia, Panama, Haiti, Lebanon, Iraq, Libya, Syria, …
Well put!
It is often forgotten that Hitler and the Nazi movement were a middle and upper class movement just as today the anti immigrant movement is. It was the middle class that was in charge of the newspapers and radio. The same group is now in charge.
Capitalists backing genocide is not a new thing.
But, the liberal capitalists now dropping the pretense of not backing genocide is a new thing. The masks are off and now they openly enjoy the vast profits of their overseas investments, no matter the costs.
The capitalist west always has supported genocide. The history books that the NYT and Donald Trump both want to destroy say this quite clearly. Genocide = profits. That equation extends from King Cotton’s Slavery to Manifest Destiny to King Leopold’s mines in the Congo. But, there was a brief trend among trendy liberal capitalists to pretend to oppose genocide. But, now, this fake is over, and the liberals are back to their traditional position of supporting the profits from vast overseas investments no matter how many sentient souls must die.
In America, in the last elections, at least 95% of Americans voted Genocide For President.
“we must rapidly begin the shift from a thing-oriented society to a person-oriented society. When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights, are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, extreme materialism, and militarism are incapable of being conquered.”
Dr. King — “Beyond Vietnam”, 4/1967
A thing-oriented society can kill, and in large enough numbers that the social murder becomes known as genocide.
A people-oriented society can not kill, as such a society would put people as much more important than profits.
It is not until we face the fact that those who wish to pass as “public intellectuals” these days have their heads buried in the sand, out of fear of being literally buried, along with all those corpses in Gaza, or deported to prisons in El Salvador …
Our mainstream political parties, along with their media, have completely failed in representing the real interests of “we the people”, and “we the people” keep returning them to office – for the most absurd reasons, each alternatively being the LOTE, as each becomes more E each time around – to catch up with the other …
What’s the matter with us?
The voices of reason are scarce in the times we are in as they are rarely allowed .And so Craig Murray ,we are very fortunate for your voice and to CN for allowing us to hear it .Thank you .
We will get through this hell ,I firmly believe .
He talks about Russell and AJP Taylor popping up on The Beeb not infrequently.
Back in the late 1960s, ’70s and ’80s here in the United States you’d sometimes be able to catch Gore Vidal on the Tonight Show. Also, Mailer and Sagan were on a couple of times. Donahue regularly had Nader on his show in the ’70s and ’80s.
Mr. Murray, you are so right. I too feel like I’m living in a country where mass dementia has become normal…or I’m living out the final scenes from the movie: “The Body Snatchers”. At anti Trump rallies… Ukrainian flags are welcomed and waved….. but no Palestinian flags? WTF is happening to us? Why have so many of our fellow citizens lost their moral compass? Thank you for this article.
How will history record the genocide and the triumph of the Israel Lobby that effectively silenced all serious opposition to that genocide? How will history explain the moral blindness? How will it account for the complity of the governments that aided and abetted the genocide by silencing critics, intimidating teachers, threatening opposition with police and prisons and kidnappings? How will the killing of a population be explained? The madness of a deranged dog foaming at the mouth? No, the cool, intentional madness of a religious fanatical leadership of an otherwise sane community once known for its moral integrity, its chariitable generosiity, its wise and intelligent leadership that somehow went amok. Yet, the sanity of the complicit has not been questioned: yet they seem to be in a state of denial of something that can’t be denied. A tiny yet powerful lobby has cast sand into the eyes of the leaders of the major powers that could and should be conscious of the evil they have condoned, fed and encouraged. It’s too horrific to ignore yet that what seems to be what our Western leaders are asking us to do. Just ignore the horrors, bury the dead and forget? It’s not possible.
History will be edited, and re-written – as it always has been, to suit the purposes of its authors and audience. The worst of human nature, actions and atrocities will be suppressed, except where it serves an ideological or political purpose not to.
Thank you kindly, sir, for accurately describing and defining Hell on Earth.
Mr. Murray wrote: “It has become impossible (It’s not possible) to deny the intention of genocide now. Israel has stepped up its killing of children to dozens every day, is openly executing medics and destroying all healthcare facilities, is bombing desalination plants and is blockading all food.”
Let’s not forget that the Labour Party supposed UN sanctions on Iraq from 1990 to 2003, and the bombardment and invasion of Iraq which led to the rise of ISIS. Millions died as a result.