British author Douglas Murray speaking at The Algemeiner’s 11th annual “J100” gala in New York City on Jan. 14, 2025. Photo: FotoBuddy

At The Algemeiner‘s 11th annual “J100” gala in New York City on Tuesday, acclaimed British author and journalist Douglas Murray — one of the evening’s honorees — defended Israel’s conduct during the war in Gaza and called on the West to maintain moral clarity when judging a conflict that, he argued, is fundamentally one between good and evil.

“I just wanted to mention two truths tonight,” Murray said. “The first is that a number of people have already mentioned tonight something very important which is an undeniable fact, which is that the events, the atrocities, of Oct. 7 were the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust.”

“But the great Ruth Wisse, emeritus professor at Harvard — and perhaps one of the very people left who adds any luster to that ancient name — said in a podcast on the anniversary of Oct. 7 last year, she said there was something very interesting about that phrase,” Murray continued. “She said it’s right and it’s right to mention the victims, but here’s what’s interesting: Some people in our society here in America and elsewhere have had the courage — why it should require courage, I don’t know — but the courage to identify that fact, identify who the victims were. Yet what’s almost entirely absent in our society is anyone with the courage to identify who the Nazis are, to say ‘why are they among us?'”

Murray asked, “What has gone wrong here in America and the West that there are people playing, playing — I am being generous — with the most dangerous, evil imaginable? What does it say about us and the society which we’ve allowed to emerge?”

Calling the situation today “a deep challenge for us,” Murray then described the second truth he wanted to mention, citing his time spent over the last 15 months with soldiers in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).

“The real warriors are very clear. We all know who they are,” Murray said. “They are these remarkable young men and women. And we owe them everything. And the civilized world owes them everything. It’s often said that the sign of growing old is that policemen look young, but I can tell you that when soldiers look like teenagers you really know you’re getting on a bit.”

Murray described visiting IDF troops during the wars in Gaza and Lebanon and made note of specific groups he encountered.

“One is the group of soldiers of the Golani Brigade. It seems wrong perhaps to single out any division or company because if I kept going I’d go on all night and we don’t have all night,” Murray said. “I was with the Golani Brigade quite a lot in the past year, and on one occasion I was in Lebanon with them and two things happened that made a particular impression on me that day. The first was a rather embarrassing one which was a young soldier in the battlefield recognized me and saluted me and I was simultaneously deeply moved and deeply mortified.”

Continuing, Murray said that “later that night the brigade returned to one of their headquarters in Binyamina and a UAV drone came through the ceiling of the dining hall as they sat down to their dinner. And I was there as the wounded were being brought out and my cameraman was helping tend to the wounds, the minor wounds, four young men were killed. I was speaking at one point to a young — he looked [like a] 19-year-old soldier — and his friend recognized me.”

“And we started talking, Murray added, “and this young soldier said to me in rather broken English, ‘You’re a writer, you’re a journalist.’ I said, ‘Yes.’ And he looked at me, blood on his neck, and he asked, ‘Are you on our side?’ And I said, ‘Of course I’m on your side.’ And he said to me that it seems like ‘a lot of the world thinks we’re the bad guys.’ And it just was heartbreaking. So I sat down with him and explained to him that although there are evil people in the world who think that, all the good people are on his side.”

The crowd applauded.