Great Conversations with Douglas Murray: On Civilization, Tradition and Truth
On Feb. 17, hundreds of students, faculty and friends of Yeshiva University gathered for the third installment of President Berman’s “Great Conversations” series. This event featured British political commentator, author and Yeshiva University President’s Professor of Practice Douglas Murray.
Shaina Trapedo, assistant professor of English, director of the honors programs and resident scholar at the Straus Center for Torah and Western Thought, introduced Murray by highlighting his “deep commitment to humanity’s education” and the way in which he “champions literary tradition” to fight “civilization amnesia.” She mentioned his advocacy against antisemitism and in favor of Western, free values. Trapedo then turned the event over to Berman for his interview with Murray. Berman started off strong, saying that hiring Murray was “the highlight of what Yeshiva University has done over the past five years” and that Murray should be a role model for students.
Berman then turned to his first question, asking Murray why he is so loved by the Jews. Murray responded by saying that Berman should not find this strange or unusual. However, he did explain that he had “the good fortune to have … been sought out by… great Jewish leaders” who have deepened his knowledge of the Jewish contribution to civilization. Therefore, he does not find his support of Jews “a difficult position to hold.” Murray emphasized that if given the choice between “Jewish people and Hamas, it’s not a hard choice.” He said it is a “sign of moral confusion” that some people do find this a hard choice, which he attributed to failures of Western education.
Sarah Schafer (SCW ‘28) said this exchange was her favorite moment of the night. “That moment for me crystallized the path that we should take forward,” she told The Commentator. “We should follow Murray’s example, being as confident in Jewish values as he is,” she continued.
Berman then quoted Murray’s assertion that antisemitism in the West is “the West confessing” to its previous injustices and asked him to elaborate. Murray explained that the West has spent years telling its own people that they are guilty of colonialism, genocide and white supremacy — guilty, as he put it, “by dint of birth.” Over time, he argued, these accusations became so reflexive and unchallenged when aimed at Westerners, and eventually the accusations were thrown at Israel and the Jews.
That pattern, Murray noted, is not limited to the West: When Ayatollah Khamenei called Jews colonizers, the Ayatollah was really describing himself, and when Erdogan talks about Israel being an occupier, he’s hoping nobody remembers Northern Cyprus. Crucially, Murray observed, all discourse around indigenous rights and historical people “applies to all people but the Jewish people.” He closed with an assessment of those leading the loudest protests: the people screaming about genocide “want to show they are moral people but are immoral in showing it.” The result is a society primed to project its own guilt onto Jews.
On the topic of antisemitism, Berman referenced a contentious exchange he had earlier in the week with Carrie Prejean Boller, a commissioner from the White House’s Religious Liberty Commission, who claimed to speak for all Catholics in her anti-Zionist position. Berman asked Murray about the “blurring of words” being used against the Jews and Israel. This “blurring” is evident when one wants to deny accusations of antisemitism, and so one insists that they are only criticizing Zionists or the Israeli government, not Jews, but when the same people want to chant slogans or target communities, the distinction evaporates entirely.
Murray agreed with the premise, saying that “language is one of the easiest ways to manipulate things.” He then reflected on how he was lucky to grow up witnessing the conflict in Northern Ireland. When peace broke out in 1998, people who criticized former murderers were called “anti-peace.” Murray said that this was a useful lesson in moral clarity: Just because you’ve stopped doing an immoral act does not make you morally superior. He then shared that he has twice been sued for defamation by mass murderers, who called him “anti-peace” for referring to them as murderers. The parallel to Israel is clear: If one redefines the terms carefully enough, they can make the murderer the victim and the victim the aggressor.
The conversation then shifted to the topic of social media. Berman asked about people engaging in conversations just for clicks, specifically giving the example of Candace Owens. Murray replied that this has “destroyed a lot of discourse.” He pointed out that debating societies are no longer a commonplace institution; instead everyone hides online, where you don’t have to see the person who is opposed to you. It “makes it easier to dehumanize the other person,” Murray said.
Berman then briefly turned the floor over to Rav Elchanan Adler for a question in the same vein. Rav Adler asked whether our best hope is to simply strengthen those who are sympathetic, and furthermore, in an age of AI, whether it is truly possible to engage in the battle of ideas and make a difference?
Murray offered an optimistic reply, saying that “one truth shatters a thousand lies … over time.” He explained that truth can be planted, and sometimes it just takes a while to come to fruition, but when a seed of doubt in the mind of a fanatic starts to grow, it can make a huge impact.
Berman ended by asking how we can “turn our civilization back to one that appreciates the power of … words?” Murray said this starts from the top, citing the story of Bobby Kennedy’s speech on the night of Martin Luther King Jr.’s death, ripe with literary references despite there being no time to prepare. If our leaders show that literature matters, the people will follow, Murray said. In response to President Berman’s pushback that artificial intelligence renders this unnecessary, Murray said that humanities scholars will have to “up their game or explain what about us is irreplicable.”
The event ended with two student questions. The first was about antisemitism online on the political right and antisemitism in person on the left. In his response, Murray pointed out that “Anti-Zionism on the left is causing antisemitism on the left, but antisemitism on the right is causing Anti-Zionism on the right.”
The second question was about taking practical action to fight the problems that Murray had diagnosed. Following the themes of the night, Murray said it’s all about tradition and teaching one’s children. “Just because change happens doesn’t mean you have to throw out everything you know … or the texts you have … You keep the stories going and pass it on.”
Reflecting on the event, Rebecca Rosenberg (SCW ‘28) said, “I thought it was really interesting to be able to hear first hand from somebody whose ideas I see a lot online.”
Murray came to Yeshiva University with a simple but demanding message: The West must remember who it is and its values. For the students of Yeshiva University, the message was both a challenge and an invitation to stay rooted in tradition even amid rapid change and to take seriously the responsibility of being, as Murray put it, people who keep the stories going.
Photo Caption: Douglas Murray and President Berman during the third installment of “Great Conversations”
Photo Credit: Sarah Schafer
