The War in Gaza: A Conversation with Dan Senor and Douglas Murray (Episode  

43:04 “Hamas wants to go back to October the 6th. On October the 6th there was a ceasefire of a kind. Hamas broke it. Now Hamas must pay the price.” That sums it up very well, I think.

"Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity" Martin Luther King Jr (A Proper Sense of Priorities speech delivered Feb 6, 1968)

I know you'll never read this Sam, but I appreciate the work. It's good knowing that there are at least a few sane voices in the world.

Murray stating that Israel isn't promoting colonization and only speaking about Gaza and completely excluding the West Bank is a surreal level of turning a blind eye. I honestly do not understand how these discussions can take place with good faith in the face of blatant omissions like this.

In "The Moral Landscape", Sam wrote, "Anyone who wants to understand the world should be open to new facts and new arguments, even on subjects where his or her views are very well established. Similarly, anyone truly interested in morality-in the principles of behavior that allow people to flourish-should be open to new evidence and new arguments that bear upon questions of happiness and suffering." With his refusal to bring on a Pro Palestinian speaker, we see how much value he puts on his own supposed principles.

Thank God for Douglas Murray and his unflinching speaking truth to the mindless mob.

i'm 11 minutes in and this doesn't make sense: Sam criticizes Elon for platforming horrible(conspiratorial, racist, antisemetic, etc) people. Sam doesn't think people like that should be platformed on X. Fair enough. But then he says "ALL speech should be allowed on college campuses...they should even allow the devil himself to speak" Seems a bit of a contradiction. Colleges should allow ANYONE to speak, but X should not?

"Israel does listen to international pressure" - How can he say this when you have almost every single country in the UN saying the continued settlements are illegal? Has Israel not been expanding settlements in the West Bank for decades despite constant international pressure?

Yet Sam is perfectly OK with manipulating the levers of democracy and free speech if it involves suppressing someone or something *he* decrees unsafe or an existential threat. Have all mirrors been removed from the Harris household?

Having just read an excellent article by Sam on Islamophobia I had high hopes but the lack of any empathy for Palestinians in that conversation is frankly disgusting. I listen to pro Palestinian media that cannot even acknowledge the evil of Oct 7, then pro Israel commenters that cannot show a word of empathy for children being killed in Gaza and that refusal to acknowledge the humanity of the other side is why this conflict continues and Israel cannot secure peaceful existence.

The podcast starts with Sam criticizing Elon for platforming bad people with bad ideas. Fast forwards 10 mins and he says "Any speech should be allowed on college campuses, even 'the devil himself should be allowed to speak." The double standard reeks of personal bias.

I agree with almost everything you've shared on this Sam but the lack of analysis / consideration on a ceasefire and other means to fighting Jihadism is confusing to me. Are 12k deaths not the most troubling ethical dilemma to address now? You can cover Palestinian suffering as well and I find it puzzling you dont.

Sam has clearly chosen to promote one side of the story and goes all in with no multiperspective approach. It's not a black or white situation; no one is guilt-free on either side. This time, you disappoint me, Sam

I find myself valuing Douglas' opinion less and less the last few years. Tried and true language that perpetuates conflict.

Regarding Elon; media matters significantly manipulated the data to convince advertisers not to advertise on X; then some advertisers exited due to this lie. His statement was directed at those advertisers who hypocritically exited X while still advertising on platforms that have “hidden” algorithms and a much higher rate of repulsive content next to their advertisements. He then called out those advertisers publicly as their motives appeared to be malicious in nature. Elon is trying to create a town square of diversity of thought; while others just ban accounts when they disagree with a different points of view. We should be supporting Elon’s efforts, not trampling on them at every turn. Sam, I love your content and your mind. I hope you can allow yourself to see these efforts in a different light. Thanks.

Sam, there is a genocide- and your lack of acknowledgement of it is an epic failure of your ability as a philosopher. Please reconsider the circumstance from scratch it seems you’ve been influenced

Sam do you think you might have misconstrued what Elons objectives are for X? Why don't you interview him and find out personally, would love to hear that interview.

I am a long term fan and supporter of Sam and I find myself agreeing with him on most topics. However, I don’t find his perspective on the current conflict balanced. Of course it can be totally true that the Hamas attack was an absolutely terrible war crime committed against innocent civilians but at the same time that the Israeli government is committing atrocities. It is a fact that Israeli officials have stated that “maximal destruction is the focus, not precision”, “Palestinians are animals and Gaza will be inhabitable for human beings”, “Gaza will be turned into a parking lot” etc. Civilians have been deprived food, water, electricity and fuel from the beginning and this has resulted in mass starvation. More civilians have been killed in two months than during 20 years of the war in Afghanistan. C. 70% of Gaza city has been damaged or destroyed (compared to eg c. 60% of Dresden during the entire WWII). These are simple mainstream facts for anyone to investigate and they have never been remotely addressed by Sam. I do miss Sam’s usual ability to analyze a complex issue and remain sober in his assessments even when the entire world resorts to black and white thinking. Since Sam is part of the Jewish community, this would be especially powerful coming from him. From my perspective it is obvious that both Hamas (clearly war criminals) and the Israeli leadership must stand accountable for all actions taken and be judged in accordance with international law when this is all over. That is the only way that we will be able to gain clarity into what has been going on behind the walls of intense propaganda that is being generated by both sides. If atrocities are being committed then the people responsible must be held accountable. This should be an obvious rational position to take, yet I’m sure that many in this chat would find that controversial. Why is that? Where did the civilized world go? If not even Sam can bring himself to resist tribalism / identity politics I think we are all lost.. Again, I am not a Hamas supporter (I hate them), I am not a leftist. I do believe that both Israelis and Palestinians deserve their own countries (the position that the entire international community incl. the US have taken for decades). I am a long term fan of Sam but I don’t find his approach intellectually honest on this topic.

Douglas and Dan, thank you both for this excellent interview.

❤ love love love Douglas Murray. Such sense. Such truth. Thankyou

I love Sam. I wish I was nearly as smart as him. HOWEVER, his podcasts on the issue of the Palestine conflict sound more and more like an echo chamber.

From a guy with a podcast title, "Why I won't criticise Israel," this should be fair and balanced. In his 1st 2 minutes, Sam shows his disregard for his listeners intelligence. Literally under Dawsey, Sam said, "It's a private company, he can do what he likes."

Love Dan and Douglas. Sam, Elon is not perfect, but he’s the best we’ve got right now in the fight to have conservative voices heard!

It’s nice to know that in a world full of people who like to just make nonsensical noise that there are people who like Sam Harris; who still have their wits about them. If it were not for people like Harris we would definitely be doomed.

Come on Sam Harris, you can do better than this. We need you to speak on the current conflict from a broad historical perspective.

Murray describes the feelings in Israel accurately. I too was a leftist, voted for the Israeli Labor, and believed we can have peace with the Palestinians. I can no longer delude myself that peace is possible. The burden of proof that there’s a peace-seeking nation on the other side of the fence now falls on the shoulders of the Palestinians.

Does Sam ever listen to himself critically?

Brilliant opening by Harris and Brilliant interview between Senor and Murray. Thank you all so much! 💜

Love listening to Douglas Murray

There's a good bit of hyperbole in Sam's message these days...feels like he ran out of dragons to slay...

How, in that entire opening statement, did not even a blurb of condemnation against killing *innocent* Palestinians in careless retribution make it in there?

The enduring support Sam gives to Douglas Murray is baffling.

Dan Senor conveniently doesn’t mention anything regarding Israel settlement expansion or that Netanyahu as we now know actively favored keeping Hamas in power over de PLO

The lack of nuance that Douglas Murray exhibits is interesting. He has taken a side and has no sympathy for the occupation of the Palestinian ppl at all. That’s my only gripe , but other than that , Interesting and enlightening conversation. I will say tho , that people who aren’t either Jewish nor Palestinian pontificating on the merits of one side over the other is laughable. Murray’s disdain for Americans is so typical of British ..meanwhile u live in NY, go back to the UK if u don’t like living among “the stupid”

WOW, very powerful in such an important way. Thanks a lot for introducing Douglas Murray!

Sam talking about hypocrisy is RICH. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black.

Murray is a rock and morally consistent. Sam's the opposite - and factually wrong about Elon. He's an ideologe at heart. Sam talking about hypocrisy is pretty rich.

Sorry to see this podcast has fallen so far as to post this nonsense. Of course, this violence stems from the Gaza disaster created by the blockade.

I’m a fan of Sam Harris work and this podcast but some of this was sickening to listen to frankly. Any intelligent person knows that Hamas are evil and their Ideology is never going to lead to anything good. It is also obvious to most people that there are a lot of people trapped in Gaza who have no way out of there and have no interest or wish to be involved in armed conflict with Israel. So to hear Douglas Murray make blithe statements such as on the population of Gaza booming in last few years therefore the Israelis aren’t oppressing them - when over 15000 of them have been killed in the last 2 months is just hard to take and massively biased to say the least. I’m not a fan of Netanyahu at all and neither are a majority of Israelis I believe but there was always going to be a response like this to October 7th. It should have been stopped by now though as no matter what Hamas deserve, the majority of people in Gaza don’t deserve this. If you don’t agree with that statement then I don’t know what sort of person you are.

May absolute unbiased objective Truth and Justice prevail please

Once again Sam intentionally misreads a situation. Elon knows they pulled advertising because he lets "wrong speak" on the platform and won't fall in line with the political desires of a certain side. He knows they are using their "ad dollar revenue" as leverage to get him to fall in line. And he told them FY. He ( and everyone else ) knows X this pressure is political pressure. And Sam here implies it's "defective product" because if Sam said "political pressure" he by his own "principles" may have to side with Elon.

He creates a whole personality for Elon all of it negative. It's very unbalanced and a bit insane to spend this much time and so many words to criticize him. It's like gossip, spreading rumors.

Hey Sam. I was wondering about your position on the Israeli mode of operation in Gaza. Is it as horrible as they say? Is it propaganda from the far left? Im guessing somewhere in between. Condemning Hamas is easy to me, but who deserves condemnation on the Israeli side? Surely this conflict is more complicated than «muslims hate jews therefore they attack. Israel got attacked therefore they respond»

Day 1027 of waiting for Sam to invite someone who actually disagrees with him on a topic.

The Brilliant Douglas Murray 👏🏽 ❤ beacon of Hope in a dark world

Most younger people I know will ostracize anyone who voices even mild support for Israel, saying that this condones genocide and apartheid. You have to pretend you don't know anything about it if you want to maintain friendships/ relationships. You can't voice your opinion or have a discussion about the issue (unless you have the same opinion of "Israel bad"), there is no listening on the other end, just automatic, blind condemnation.

Could somebody explain to me what the purpose of this episode was supposed to be? I tried to listen all the way through but it became increasingly clear that no attempt was going to be made at understanding the other perspective, and at that point I ask genuinely, what’s the purpose? The only one I can see is to polarize.

I really wish Sam would actually invite someone on with an opposing view. He invite Elon on and see what he says to you in person.

Douglas's candor, and his commitment to the truth, is very refreshing -- especially in our world that is inundated with mendacious propaganda.

Sam Harris calling someone on their lack of self awareness hahah. Heard 😂😂

wow the comments are being censored. i had to check into this account to check. it's like on twitter where sam would block everyone that criticises him

"The absolute Vesuvius of howling sanctimony" (11:01) Nice.

If these people on this podcast represent the majority of Americans, good bye freedom of speech and constitutional rights. Free speech is a principle that should be universal, and not taken away when it makes us uncomfortable or exposes us.

Douglas Murray is ruthlessly incisive and truthful as always. I have great respect for this man.

The title of this video should be how much information can we all omit

Sam, please consider putting the perspectives of more Palestinians, Arabs, and Muslims on your podcast. For example, could your get Bassem Youssef? I would love to hear that conversation! And many others. I have no doubt about your great empathy for people in general, but everyone can have blind spots that they are unaware of. Please.

Plus j’entends Douglas, et plus je trouve son mépris pour des opinions différentes des siennes insupportable. Je suis également déçu que Sam ait laissé entendre qu’il avait les mêmes opinions que lui sur le conflit. Je constate que les commentaires sont majoritairement en support de Douglas. C’est une echo chamber ici. Le conflit est causé par les radicaux religieux des deux côtés et je me serais attendu à entendre cette opinion plus souvent. Belle introduction Sam cependant soit dit en passant.

"Who in their right mind would advertise on 'X' at this point?" Sam asks. Sam says that Elon is not a free-speech absolutist and that the problem is that his behavior is impulsive and unprincipled and narrowly self-serving, while being colossally self-destructive. Elon threatened to sue advertisers for not advertising on 'X'. I don't know about you, but I am so sad that the founder of Twitter, Jack Dorsey, decided to sell his company. Of all the people in the world not to give a mega-phone to, we are now seeing that Elon Musk has done what all dictators have done---including present day Putin---in making one final reach too far. What has happened is that a rocket man, entrepreneur and inspiration to a young generation around the world has come off as a spoiled brat in a Gucci suit. Musk's legacy has reached quicksand levels and what all of us can learn from this is to stay tuned into our intuitive inner-voice. What Musk has done is to have over-ridden the alarms his gut feeling was giving him in favor of an ego that has an endless thirst for having the last word on just about any subject.

Sam, on point as always!!

In the current wave of Antisemitism and Anti-Western sentiment Sam Harris is a soothing Voice of Reason

Combination of the most amazing debater-journalist pair in one podcast, thank you guys

Truly powerful and moving. Thank you for being a bastion of moral principle in a world of increasingly uninteliigle 'moral' arguments

Nobody says Ukraine has to be proportionate? They're forbidden from striking *military* targets within Russia with western weapons.

I hope you, Sam, have at least attempted to have Elon on and interview/debate him instead of just bashing him all the time. I think many would love to hear that. Wasn't what I was expecting in this video =/

How blind Sam Harris has become.

The trouble is that unlike Nazi Germany or imperial Japan, the Palestinians are surrounded by countries and peoples who will continue to encourage them whatever defeats they endure.

Talk to Norman Finkelstein. Instead of people who you mostly agree with.. 😔

The Hitch would be disgusted by this.

The lack of compassion for Palestine is astonishing and lack of holding IDF accountable is even more astonishing!!!! I respect these men, but i finding myself questioning these men on the biases ten-fold now.

The people who say you can't make an omelet without breaking a few eggs never think they will be one of those eggs that get broken.

Thank you.

I really wish they would have more adequately assessed the civilian death toll. Or entertained other alternatives (tactically speaking) to eradicating Hamas without killing so many innocent civilians. I enjoy Douglas’s assessment of current events, but I think he’s taken an overly apologetic position when it comes to the West in general and nation states with a colonial history. We can agree that the “West is best” while still acknowledging that resistance by people like the Palestinians is absolutely inevitable without adequately engaging with them. Conversations like this seem to miss out on the staggering male unemployment and other conditions feeding radicalism in Gaza and other Palestinian communities.

Thanks Sam, and for making this available online.

Thanks a lot!

LOVE DOUGLAS MURRAY

Sam I thought Elon’s outburst was caused by Disney threatening to pull advert if certain demands weren’t met. Elon won’t let the advertisers dictate who can and cannot use the platform.

I’m a fan, but I’m detecting some real hypocrisy here on this issue. There’s so much particular about the Israel-Palestine story, and I feel their examples are simply not good enough. E.g. Pakistan being legitimate for Indians. How is that an equivalent? The Palestinians don’t have a real sovereign state, and there’s quite a lot of evidence to support the fact that this isn’t only because of the Palestinians. The Gaza story is also warped to my mind. Average Gazans have been betrayed by all around them. Not just Hamas. They have been under Israeli siege for 15 years. Not the conditions for the Singapore of the Mediterranean. Ok, again, more to that story than just that, but really, I would expect these great self-proclaimed paragons of ethical analysis to at least encompass some of the bigger picture. Alas…I find there to be a huge blind spot in these guys thinking here. I can agree that most of the opposition thinking is lazy and hypocritical, but to find it here is disappointing.

From the river to the sea Israel will be free. Free from dogma, terrorism, and religious intolerance.

Douglas and Sam, damn!

Unfortunately Sam still misses the point on Elon vs Big tech/Democrats

I love it when Sam starts cursing.

Sam going full mask off now.

Sam Harris is the subject of a current article by Norman Finkelstein titled "Savant Idiot".

Just when I think Sam might be turning a corner, he let's us right back down.

Elon didn't threaten to sue advertisers.. he said "tell it to the judge. The judge is the public"

'you should be allowed to invite the devil himself to speak on campus' yet you shouldn't be allowed to invite alex jones back to x?

Not sure Douglas Murray is speaking historical truth

Some more die-hard fans of Sam might respond calling me names, but that doesn’t matter. This “house keeping” is the least deep thinking I’ve ever seen from Sam. This is all pure emotion. Usually when he would go on rants about Trump, for example, they were genuinely good arguments he made, whether or not they made you come to the same conclusion. This is just pure emotional drivel

Thank you Sam and Douglas. Very deep and precise discussion.

Analysis of Elon Musk is on point. Douglas Murray however is a literary white nationalist who regularly echoes themes of Replacement Theory'. There is a total lack of balance here which puts the discussion firmly outside of the realm of journalism. It's both lacking in nuance and ignores the growing international consensus on the grave nature of Israeli actions. Very poor Sam.

Sam, your framing is staggering. He wasn't going to sue for not advertising on the platform are you really becoming this narrative driven? About to give up on you I must say. You have completely missed his point.

This explained things to me better and am more confident in my original instinct to support Israel

I totally agree with you regarding Musk. I used to admire him, and don’t know what to make of him now. Sad.

1 minute in and Im already feeling sane again... I have begun to think I am the only one who thinks about free speech with any level of critical thinking, rather than just "is it serving the right or the left", or "do i want to say this personally" People misunderstand free speech on all sides of this debate.

I'm only about 5 minutes in, but this might be the most entertaining episode of Sam's podcast I've listened to so far

Douglas is turning into one of my favorite people

Cool. Now do one from the Palestinian perspective.

The Gaza was given to the Palestinians talking point is idiotic. They have no autonomy. Its absolutely ridiculous. Sam Harris is so blind on this issue. I fail to reconcile how he is a voice of reason on other topics and endorses such idiocy in the next breath is disappointing. I guess we are all human and fallible. I just wow smh

Israel is regrettably so far loosing the information war. Already the second day after the attack, "nobody" was talking about the victims and the dreadful acts by Hamas. According all kind of high brow people, including a lot of well educated young Arabs from our universities, were taking the stance instead that Israel should be held responsible for any deviation in its reactions from international war right, treaties and so on and so forth. Moreover there appears to be a surprising connection between support for the Hamas/Palestinian cause and all kind of newer emancipatory movements in our society. While the Arabs who are from here supporting the Hamas/Palestinian cause, have in general not much of a positive attitude towards those emancipatory movements. How anybody can be surprised a revenge follows on cold blooded murder of hundreds of people is an enigma.

Sam’s comments on Elon and on the University presidents are so clear and insightful. I can’t think of someone who thinks more clearly or speaks with more eloquence…