Tim Dieppe reviews ‘On Democracies and Death Cults: Israel, Hamas and the Future of the West’, by Douglas Murray (2025) 

Douglas Murray is deservedly an international bestselling author and cultural commentator. His previous books such as The Strange Death of Europe, The Madness of Crowds, and The War on the West are essential reading for their incisive analysis of our present cultural crisis.

Journalistic venture

Murray’s latest output, On Democracies and Death Cults is not the same kind of book. It is more of a journalistic account of what happened in Israel on 7 October 2023 and how the world reacted to it. The story is told in graphic detail. Murray has visited the places and personally met and interviewed victims and relatives of victims. He has also been with the IDF into Gaza and interviewed senior military and government officials about it all. This makes him well-placed to document what happened and how it has affected people and governments.

Objective morality

Murray summarises the book at the end of his introduction:

"The story of the suffering and the heroism of 7 October and its aftermath is one that spells not just the divide between good and evil, peace and war, but between democracies and death cults." (p.xxvi).

Just a few pages earlier he described how "Many people in the West today are not comfortable talking in terms like good or evil." (p.xxiii). Yet, he insists: "Evil does exist as a force in the world. Indeed, it is the only explanation for why certain people do certain things." (p.xxiv). The horrors of 7 October are one example.

Even though Murray recognises this objectivity of morality, he resists that logical step.

He also insists that "such a force as 'good' also exists in the world." (p.xxiv), and here his examples are the heroism exhibited by many in response to the atrocities of 7 October. Murray is right, of course; there is objective good and objective evil in the world, whether our cultural elite recognise it or not. It is very hard, in the face of such evil as the massacre of 7 October not to recognise the objectivity of evil.

But such objectivity can only be grounded in a transcendent source of morality, and this points to the moral legislator – God himself. Perhaps it is because recognising objective morality points to a moral legislator that our culture resists that recognition. Even though Murray recognises this objectivity of morality, he resists that logical step.

Harrowing and disturbing

The book is replete with graphic descriptions of the abuse and violence meted out by Hamas, much of which they boasted about and displayed to the world with their own video cameras. There were lots of details I was unaware of.

Every two or three civilian houses in Gaza has either a weapons' store or a tunnel entrance (p173). The IDF has learned to search the children's rooms first - that is where weapons or tunnel entrances were most likely to be found. Every school or mosque was used for similar purposes (p174).

The IDF has learned to search the children's rooms first - that is where weapons or tunnel entrances were most likely to be found. 

Hamas operatives were found to have detailed maps of the kibbutzim they were planning to attack, along with “detailed instructions on how many kibbutz members they were allowed to kill, in what manner, who they were permitted to rape, what do to with an IDF soldier’s body, and more.” (p59). This evil was premeditated.

There are so many stories and details garnered from interviews – these go on and on and it is quite harrowing and disturbing stuff. It nevertheless serves as a useful reminder of just how evil these attacks were.

UNRWA funding

Murray is highly critical of Western governments’ support of UNRWA. Billions of dollars of aid have been sent to Gaza through this organisation. Yet the evidence is that this money consistently ends up in the hands of Hamas. UNRWA has been exposed as teaching young Gazans to see killing “Zionists” as their highest aspiration, yet the funding continued. Even after up to a dozen UNRWA employees were found to have participated in the 7 October attacks, there was no drop in funding (p168).

This funding has made every Hamas leader a billionaire. They live in luxury hotels and penthouses in Qatar while complaining that their people are poverty stricken and need more aid (p169).

It also enabled the construction of a massive underground tunnel network, larger than the entire London Underground, with 350 miles of tunnels and 6,000 tunnel entrances, many of which are hidden in houses, mosques or hospitals (p172). Will the West ever learn?

Even after up to a dozen UNRWA employees were found to have participated in the 7 October attacks, there was no drop in funding.

Antisemitism

Murray doesn't shy away from talking about antisemitism as a root problem. He relates the recorded message of a Hamas terrorist boasting to his parents on 7 October:

“Hi Dad, Open my WhatsApp now and you will see all those killed. Look how many I killed with my own hands! Your son killed Jews!”

The father replies, “May God protect you.”

The son is exultant. “Dad I’m talking to you from a Jewish woman’s phone. I killed her and I killed her husband. I killed ten with my own hands.” (p.xix)

Murray discusses how Nazi books and antisemitic literature are widely on sale in the Arab world. Even in the UK, he cites Mehdi Hasan saying this:

 “It pains me to have to admit this, but antisemitism isn’t just tolerated in some sections of the British Muslim community; it’s routine and commonplace. Any Muslims reading this article - if they are honest with themselves – will know instantly what I am referring to. It’s our dirty little secret.” (p204).

Missing link to Islam

But Murray never actually links this antisemitism with Islam. This I found disappointing. I have documented extensively in my book The Challenge of Islam just how much unequivocal antisemitism is found in the Qur’an, and in the Hadith, as well as in Islamic theology and teaching generally. We should not ignore this or pretend it isn’t there.

Hamas is not just any death cult, it is an Islamic death cult.

But, remarkably, Murray doesn’t really make any link with Islam in his book at all. He only hints at the Islamic nature of Hamas, as if it’s not really central to the group’s ideology. But of course, it is. Hamas is not just any death cult, it is an Islamic death cult. Murray knows this very well, and has discussed it elsewhere, but, for whatever reason, he has not taken us there in this book.

This is why I ultimately found this book disappointing. How can you write all about Hamas and the antisemitism and how it is a death cult, and not talk about Islam? Islam is at the very root of the problem. People need to know this and to understand it. Otherwise, we don’t really know what we are dealing with. This is a demonically-inspired religious conflict. It is indeed a battle between good and evil, though that is not to say that Israel is always in the right or always acts with the best motives.

Helpful counterbalance

That said, this book is a worthwhile read. It is a helpful counterbalance to all the Hamas propaganda propagated throughout the West, often by mainstream media. The conflict over Gaza is mirrored on our streets in weekly protests. It is mirrored in our politics, with Gaza featuring as an election issue last year and with several increasingly vocal pro-Gaza MPs. It is mirrored in our communities, with massively increased antisemitism. It was mirrored in Glastonbury recently with chants of “death death, to the IDF” on mainstage broadcast across the nation.

In other words, like it or not, we are all involved. It is a conflict we can’t ignore. Murray’s book is a reliable guide – a ‘first draft of history’ as the saying goes. For this we should be grateful.

Understanding the history is absolutely essential for understanding the conflict.

'On Democracies and Death Cults' is published by Harper Collins, and is available from Amazon for £17.00 (inc p&p).