Douglas Murray (author)

Murray was born in Hammersmith, London, to an English school teacher mother and a Scottish, Gaelic-speaking father who had been born on the Isle of Lewis and who worked as a civil servant. He has one elder brother.{{cite news |last1=Holloway |first1=Richard |author-link=Richard Holloway |date=2017-05-07 |title=Sunday Morning With... |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08pgz87 |access-date=2024-06-17 |work=BBC Radio Scotland |publisher=}} In an interview with The Herald, Murray stated that his father had intended to be in London temporarily but stayed after meeting his mother, and that they "encouraged a good discussion around the dinner table" when he was growing up but "neither are political."{{Cite news|title=Douglas Murray: 'Relations between men and women cannot be turned into criminal acts in waiting' |url=https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/18082570.douglas-murray-relations-men-women-cannot-turned-criminal-acts-waiting/ |access-date=4 October 2022 |newspaper=The Herald|location=Glasgow |date=7 December 2019|first=Brian |last=Beacom}}

Murray was educated at his local state primary and secondary schools, before going to a comprehensive which had previously been a grammar school. Recalling this experience in 2011, he wrote, "My parents had been promised that the old grammar school standards and ethos remained, but none did. By the time I arrived, the school was what would now be described as 'an inner-city sink school', a war zone similar to those many of the children's parents had escaped from."{{cite web |last=Murray |first=Douglas |date=2011-09-02 |title=Education Supplements: Chance of a lifetime |url=http://www.spectator.co.uk/supplements/education/the-spectator-guide-to-independent-schools-september/7210068/chance-of-a-lifetime.thtml |url-access=limited |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150414053046/http://www.spectator.co.uk/supplements/guide-to-independent-schools-september/7210068/chance-of-a-lifetime/ |archive-date=2015-04-14 |access-date=2024-06-17 |work=The Spectator}} Murray's parents withdrew him from the school after a year. He won scholarships to St Benedict's School, Ealing, and subsequently Eton College, taught briefly at a school near Aberdeen,{{cite news |last=Smith |first=Dinitia|author-link=Dinitia Smith|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F02E2DD133BF93BA25754C0A9669C8B63 |title=A Look at the Other Central Figure in the Famous Case of Oscar Wilde |newspaper=The New York Times|date=18 July 2000 |access-date=12 November 2010 |url-access=limited |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230630115916/https://www.nytimes.com/2000/07/18/books/a-look-at-the-other-central-figure-in-the-famous-case-of-oscar-wilde.html |archive-date=30 June 2023 }} then took a degree in English at Magdalen College, Oxford.

At age 19, while in his second year at the University of Oxford, Murray's Bosie: A Biography of Lord Alfred Douglas was published, which Christopher Hitchens described as "masterly".{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2000/jun/08/biography.features11 |title=Pass Notes: Douglas Murray; The lowdown on the precocious author of a new Bosie biography |newspaper=The Guardian |date=8 June 2000 |access-date=4 May 2012 |location=London}}{{cite news|url=http://washingtonexaminer.com/christopher-hitchens-young-brit-defends-american-people-politics-and-policies/article/35991 |title=Christopher Hitchens: Young Brit defends American people, politics and policies |first=Christopher |last=Hitchens|author-link=Christopher Hitchens|newspaper=Washington Examiner|date=30 August 2006 |access-date=26 April 2014}} Bosie was awarded a Lambda Award for a gay biography in 2000.{{cite web |url=https://www.lambdaliterary.org/winners-finalists/07/09/lambda-literary-awards-2000/ |title=13th Annual Lambda Literary Awards |last=Cerna |first=Antonio Gonzalez |date=10 July 2001 |website=Lambda Literary |access-date=2 September 2019}} After leaving Oxford, Murray wrote a play, Nightfall, about the Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg.{{cite news |url=http://www.nysun.com/opinion/mugged-by-reality/38058/ |date=17 August 2006 |title=Mugged by Reality |first=Daniel |last=Freedman |work=The New York Sun |access-date=24 December 2011 |archive-date=6 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201006114953/https://www.nysun.com/opinion/mugged-by-reality/38058// |url-status=dead}}

In 2006 Murray authored a defence of neoconservatism{{Snd}}Neoconservatism: Why We Need It{{Snd}}and went on a speaking tour promoting the book in the United States. The publication was subsequently reviewed in the Arabic newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat by the Iranian author Amir Taheri: "Whether one agrees with him or not Murray has made a valuable contribution to the global battle of ideas."{{cite news|last1=Taheri |first1=Amir|author-link=Amir Taheri|title=Neoconservatism: Why We Need It |date=20 January 2006 |url=https://eng-archive.aawsat.com/amir-taheri/interviews/neoconservatism-why-we-need-it|newspaper=Asharq Al-Awsat|access-date=3 February 2020}} In 2007, he assisted in the writing of the Center for Strategic and International Studies's report Towards a Grand Strategy for an Uncertain World: Renewing Transatlantic Partnership, written by Klaus Naumann, John Shalikashvili, Lord Inge, Jacques Lanxade, and Henk van den Breemen.{{cite web |url=https://www.csis.org/events/report-launch-towards-grand-strategy-uncertain-world|title=Report launch for Towards a Grand Strategy for an Uncertain World|publisher=Center for Strategic and International Studies|access-date=12 November 2010}} His book Bloody Sunday: Truths, Lies and The Saville Inquiry was (jointly) awarded the 2011–2012 Christopher Ewart-Biggs Memorial Prize{{cite web |url=http://www.ewartbiggsprize.org.uk/past-winners/2013-2 |title=The 2011 – 2012 Prize | Christopher Ewart-Biggs Memorial Prize for advancing peace and understanding on the island of Ireland |publisher=Ewartbiggsprize.org.uk |date=30 January 1972 |access-date=4 December 2013}} and longlisted for the 2012 Orwell Book Prize.{{cite web |title=Orwell Prize 2012 Longlists Announced |url=https://www.theorwellprize.co.uk/news/orwell-prize-2012-longlists-announced/ |website=The Orwell Prize |publisher=Institute of Advanced Studies |access-date=31 March 2017 |archive-date=31 March 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170331214007/https://www.theorwellprize.co.uk/news/orwell-prize-2012-longlists-announced/ |url-status=dead}} In June 2013, Murray's self-published e-book Islamophilia: a Very Metropolitan Malady was released.{{cite magazine |url=http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/350672/islamophilia-jack-fowler |title=Islamophilia |last=Fowler |first=Jack |date=10 June 2013 |magazine=National Review |access-date=12 July 2017}}

In 2017, Bloomsbury published Murray's The Strange Death of Europe: Immigration, Identity, Islam, which spent almost 20 weeks on The Sunday Times bestseller list and was a No. 1 bestseller in non-fiction. It has since been published in over 20 languages.{{cite web |last1=Liddle |first1=Rod |title=The Strange Death of Europe|work=JBW |url=https://jewishbookweek.com/event/the-strange-death-of-europe/ |date=3 June 2018 |publisher=Jewish Book Week}} In The Strange Death of Europe, Murray argued that Europe "is committing suicide" by allowing non-European immigration into its borders and losing its "faith in its beliefs".{{Cite book |title=The Strange Death of Europe |last=Murray |first=Douglas |publisher=Bloosmbury |year=2017 |isbn=978-1-4729-4224-1 |location=London |pages=2–3}} The book received a polarised response from critics. Juliet Samuel of The Daily Telegraph praised Murray, saying that: "His overall thesis, that a guilt-driven and exhausted Europe is playing fast and loose with its precious modern values by embracing migration on such a scale, is hard to refute."{{cite news |last1=Samuel |first1=Juliet |title=Yanis Varoufakis and Douglas Murray: why Europe is weary |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/books/what-to-read/yanis-varoufakis-douglas-murray-europe-falling-apart |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/books/what-to-read/yanis-varoufakis-douglas-murray-europe-falling-apart |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |access-date=18 July 2017 |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph|location=London|date=6 May 2017}}{{cbignore}} An academic review in the Israel Journal of Foreign Affairs acclaimed the book as "explosive" and "an elegantly written, copiously documented exposé of Europe's suicidal hypocrisy".{{cite journal |last1=Geron Pilon |first1=Juliana |date=2017 |title=The Strange Death of Europe: Immigration, Identity, Islam / The End of Europe: Dictators, Demagogues, and the Coming Dark Age|journal=Israel Journal of Foreign Affairs|volume=11 |issue=2 |pages=255–260 |doi=10.1080/23739770.2017.1375282 |s2cid=219288742}} Rod Liddle of The Sunday Times called the book "a brilliant, important and profoundly depressing book".{{Cite news |url=https://www.thetimes.com/culture/article/books-the-strange-death-of-europeby-douglas-murray-z20l3qht0 |title=Books: The Strange Death of Europe by Douglas Murray |last=Liddle |first=Rod |work=The Sunday Times |date=7 May 2017 |access-date=3 September 2019|url-access=subscription}}

Other reviews of the book were highly negative. In The Guardian, the political journalist Gaby Hinsliff described Strange Death as "gentrified xenophobia" and "Chapter after chapter circles around the same repetitive themes: migrants raping and murdering and terrorising", also stating that Murray offers little definition of the European culture which he claims is under threat.{{cite news |last1=Hinsliff |first1=Gaby |date=6 May 2017 |title=The Strange Death of Europe by Douglas Murray review – gentrified xenophobia |newspaper=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/may/06/strange-death-europe-immigration-xenophobia}} Writing in The New York Times, Indian novelist Pankaj Mishra described the book as "a handy digest of far-right clichés".{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/14/books/review/crisis-of-multiculturalism-in-europe-rita-chin-immigration.html |title=How the New Immigration Is Shaking Old Europe to Its Core |last=Mishra |first=Pankaj|author-link=Pankaj Mishra|date=14 September 2017|newspaper=The New York Times|access-date=23 May 2019|url-access=limited}} Mishra accused Murray of defending Pegida, of writing that the English Defence League "had a point", and of describing Hungarian politician Viktor Orbán as a better sentinel of "European values" than George Soros. Writing in The Intercept, Murtaza Hussain criticised what he called the "relentlessly paranoid tenor" and "apocalyptic picture of Europe" portrayed in the book, while challenging the links Murray made between non-European immigration and large increases in crime.{{cite web |last=Hussain |first=Murtaza |date=2018-12-25 |title=The Far Right is obsessed with a book about Muslims destroying Europe. Here's what it gets wrong. |url=https://theintercept.com/2018/12/25/strange-death-of-europe-douglas-murray-review/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201130230417/https://theintercept.com/2018/12/25/strange-death-of-europe-douglas-murray-review/ |archive-date=2020-11-30 |access-date=2021-01-02 |website=The Intercept}} In Middle East Eye, Georgetown University in Qatar professor Ian Almond called the book "a staggeringly one-sided flow of statistics, interviews and examples, reflecting a clear decision to make the book a rhetorical claim that Europe is doomed to self-destruction".{{cite web |last1=Almond |first1=Ian|author-link=Ian Almond|title=Misrecognising the problem: Douglas Murray's The Strange Death of Europe|url=https://www.middleeasteye.net/big-story/misrecognising-problem-douglas-murrays-strange-death-europe |website=Middle East Eye|access-date=4 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112020502/https://www.middleeasteye.net/big-story/misrecognising-problem-douglas-murrays-strange-death-europe |archive-date=12 November 2020 |date=11 August 2017}}

Murray wrote about social justice and identity politics in his 2019 book The Madness of Crowds: Gender, Race and Identity which became a Sunday Times bestseller.{{cite book |last1=Murray |first1=Douglas |title=The Madness of Crowds: Gender, Identity, Morality |date=2019 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing PLC |location=London, UK |isbn=978-1-63557-998-7 |url=https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/the-madness-of-crowds-9781635579987/}}{{Cite news |last=Shriver |first=Lionel|author-link=Lionel Shriver|title=The Madness of Crowds by Douglas Murray review – why identity politics has gone too far |newspaper=The Times|url=https://www.thetimes.com/culture/books/article/the-madness-of-crowds-by-douglas-murray-review-we-need-to-talk-about-identity-politics-gkpvq72mp |access-date=4 October 2022}} Murray's narration of the book was nominated as an audio book of the year for the British Book Awards.{{cite web |last1=Walliams |first1=David |last2=Ross |first2=Tony |last3=Osman |first3=Richard |last4=Rashford |first4=Marcus & |last5=Anka |first5=Carl |last6=Grisham |first6=John |last7=Harris |first7=Robert |last8=Hallett |first8=Janice |last9=Haig |first9=Matt |last10=Swan |first10=Karen |title=British Book Awards 2020: Books of the Year shortlists revealed |website=The Bookseller |date=20 March 2020 |url=https://www.thebookseller.com/news/british-book-awards-2020-books-year-shortlists-revealed-1196431# |access-date=21 July 2021}} In the book, Murray points to what he sees as a cultural shift, away from established modes of religion and political ideology, in which various forms of identity can provide markers of social status.{{cite news |first=Matthew |last=Goodwin |url=https://www.thetimes.com/article/the-madness-of-crowds-by-douglas-murray-review-identity-politics-attacked-j6n0p38xr |title=The Madness of Crowds by Douglas Murray review – identity politics attacked |newspaper=The Sunday Times|date=22 September 2019 |access-date=2 October 2019}} He divides his book into chapters dealing with four different identity groups: "Gay", "Women", "Race" and "Trans." Murray criticises the work of French philosopher Michel Foucault for what he sees as a reduction of society to a system of power relations.{{cite web |last=Kearns |first=Madeleine |url=https://www.nationalreview.com/2019/10/douglas-murray-book-the-madness-of-crowds-gender-race-and-identity/ |title=Douglas Murray Interview: 'The Madness of Crowds' Author on Gender, Race & Identity |work=National Review |date=6 September 2018 |access-date=4 October 2019}} Murray's book drew polarised responses from critics. Historian Tim Stanley in The Daily Telegraph praised the book, calling Murray "a superbly perceptive guide through the age of the social justice warrior".{{cite news |first=Tim |last=Stanley |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/books/what-to-read/madness-crowds-douglas-murray-review-unleashing-liberal-dose/ |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/books/what-to-read/madness-crowds-douglas-murray-review-unleashing-liberal-dose/ |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=The Madness of Crowds by Douglas Murray, review: unleashing a liberal dose of outrage |work=The Daily Telegraph|location=London|date=27 September 2019 |access-date=2 October 2019}}{{cbignore}} Katie Law in the Evening Standard said that Murray "tackled another necessary and provocative subject with wit and bravery".{{cite news |url=https://www.standard.co.uk/lifestyle/books/the-madness-of-crowds-by-douglas-murray-review-a4241046.html |title=The Madness of Crowds by Douglas Murray |type=review |work=Evening Standard|location=London|date=19 September 2019 |access-date=2 October 2019 |first=Katie |last=Law}} Conversely, William Davies gave a highly critical review of Murray's work in The Guardian, describing the book as "the bizarre fantasies of a rightwing provocateur, blind to oppression".{{cite news |first=William |last=Davies|author-link=William Davies (political writer)|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/sep/19/the-madness-of-crowds-review-gender-race-identity-douglas-murray|title=The Madness of Crowds by Douglas Murray review – a rightwing diatribe |newspaper=The Guardian|date=2019 |access-date=2 October 2019}}

Murray's book The War on the West: How to Prevail in the Age of Unreason was published in 2022 and debuted at number one on The Bookseller's nonfiction bestseller list in the UK, having sold 11,673 copies in its first week.{{Cite web |title=Non-Fiction: Douglas Murray and Tina Brown ascend to the top |url=https://www.thebookseller.com/bestsellers/non-fiction-douglas-murray-and-tina-brown-ascend-to-the-top#:~:text=Douglas%20Murray's%20The%20War%20on,also%20hit%20the%20category%20chart. |access-date=2025-02-18 |website=The Bookseller |language=En}} It also reached the New York Times bestseller list in the United States.{{Cite news |title=Hardcover Nonfiction Books - Best Sellers - Books - May 15, 2022 - The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/books/best-sellers/2022/05/15/hardcover-nonfiction/ |access-date=2025-02-18 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}} The book was characterised by columnist Gerard Baker as an examination of attempts to destroy Western civilisation from sources within.{{Cite web |title=Douglas Murray and the War on Western Culture|type=podcast|date=25 April 2022 |url=https://www.wsj.com/podcasts/opinion-free-expression/douglas-murray-and-the-war-on-western-culture/88483b1f-08dd-4d61-982d-5f11f9b21311 |access-date=4 October 2022 |website=The Wall Street Journal}} Robert Colville, writing in the Sunday Times, called it "a convincing and often terrifying case that the barbarians are at the gates", and that Murray argues in the book that “a cultural war . . . is being waged remorselessly against all the roots of the western tradition and against everything good that the western tradition has produced.”{{Cite web |last=Colvile |first=Robert |date=2022-04-23 |title=The War on the West by Douglas Murray review — fighting back against the woke warriors |url=https://www.thetimes.com/article/the-war-on-the-west-by-douglas-murray-review-fighting-back-against-the-woke-warriors-b9bqcg8lj |access-date=2025-02-18 |website=www.thetimes.com |language=en}}

Murray founded the Centre for Social Cohesion in 2007, which became part of the Henry Jackson Society, where he was associate director from 2011 to 2018. During his time with the Henry Jackson Society, it was accused of pushing an anti-Muslim and anti-immigration agenda. The society refused to disclose its donors to the House of Commons’ standards watchdog.{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/dec/30/rightwing-thinktank-pulls-funds-commons-groups-disclosure-rules|title=Rightwing thinktank pulls funds for Commons groups after disclosure row|first1=Randeep|last1=Ramesh|date=30 December 2014|work=The Guardian}}

File:MurrayMSS.jpg

Murray is an associate editor of The Spectator.{{Cite magazine|title=Douglas Murray {{!}} The Spectator columnists & writers |url=https://www.spectator.co.uk/ |access-date=15 October 2022 |magazine=The Spectator}}{{Cite web |title=Author |url=https://www.harpercollins.ca/author/ |access-date=15 October 2022 |website=HarperCollins Canada}} He travels extensively for his reporting, saying that he has a personal rule to "always accept an invitation to speak or go somewhere I've never been."{{Cite web |title=Interview with Douglas Murray |url=https://www.maxraskin.com/interviews/douglas-murray |access-date=2025-05-16 |website=Interviews with Max Raskin |language=en-US}}

In 2016, Murray organised a competition through The Spectator in which entrants were invited to submit offensive poems about Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, with a top prize of £1,000 donated by a reader. This was in reaction to the Böhmermann affair, in which German satirist Jan Böhmermann was prosecuted under the German penal code for such a poem.{{cite news |title='Insult Turkey's Erdogan' contest set up by Spectator magazine |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-36086563 |access-date=19 April 2016 |date=19 April 2016}} Murray announced the winner of the poetry competition as Conservative MP Boris Johnson (former editor of the magazine, and former Mayor of London, and later Prime Minister of the United Kingdom).{{cite news |last1=Elgot |first1=Jessica |title=Boris Johnson wins 'most offensive Erdoğan poem' competition |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/may/19/boris-johnson-wins-most-offensive-erdogan-poem-competition |access-date=20 May 2016 |work=The Guardian |date=19 May 2016}}

In April 2019, New Statesman journalist George Eaton published an article based on an interview with Roger Scruton, which attributed a number of controversial and racist statements to Scruton, who was publicly condemned by various members of Parliament and dismissed from his position as a government housing adviser as a result.

Murray condemned Eaton and the New Statesman for "journalistic dishonesty"{{Cite web |last=updated |first=The Week Staff last |date=2019-04-11 |title=Sir Roger Scruton: No. 10 adviser sacked over race comments |url=https://theweek.com/100718/sir-roger-scruton-no-10-adviser-sacked-over-race-gaffes |access-date=2025-02-18 |website=theweek |language=en}} and urged Eaton and New Statesman editor Jason Cowley to share the original recording of the interview.{{cite news |last1=Wilby |first1=Peter |title=The Scruton Affair |url=https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk/2019/05/scruton-affair |work=New Statesman |date=2 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190502191020/https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk/2019/05/scruton-affair |archive-date=2 May 2019|url-status=live}} When the New Statesman initially refused, Murray acquired the original recording of the interview from unknown sources, which formed the basis of his article in The Spectator titled "The Scruton Tapes: Anatomy of a Modern Hit Job" showing that Scruton's remarks had been taken out of context and misrepresented by Eaton.{{Cite web |last=Murray |first=Douglas |date=2019-04-25 |title=The Scruton tapes: an anatomy of a modern hit job |url=https://thespectator.com/topic/scruton-tapes-anatomy-hit-job/ |access-date=2025-02-18 |website=The Spectator World |language=en-US}}

The New Statesman subsequently published an apology to Scruton for Eaton's misrepresentation of his words, and housing secretary James Brokenshire apologised to Scruton for his dismissal.{{Cite news |date=2019-07-16 |title=Minister apologises to academic Sir Roger Scruton over sacking |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-49004425 |access-date=2025-02-18 |language=en-GB}} Shortly before he died in January 2020, Scruton wrote an article for The Spectator in which he called Murray 'brave' and spoke of his gratitude for Murray's 'generous defence' of his reputation.{{Cite web |last=Scruton |first=Roger |date=2019-12-18 |title=Roger Scruton: My 2019 |url=https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/roger-scruton-my-2019/ |access-date=2025-02-18 |website=The Spectator |language=en-GB}}

Murray considers Scruton a mentor.

{{Conservatism UK|Commentators}}

Academic and journalistic sources have variously described Murray's ideology and political views as conservative,{{cite web |last=Dolsten |first=Josefin |date=5 June 2019 |title=Meet the conservative activists who want to override the Supreme Court |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/meet-the-conservative-activists-who-want-to-override-the-supreme-court/ |access-date=2 October 2019 |work=The Times of Israel}} neoconservative,{{cite news |last=Law |first=Katie |date=4 May 2017 |title=Douglas Murray on immigration, Islam and identity |work=Evening Standard|location=London|url=https://www.standard.co.uk/lifestyle/london-life/douglas-murray-on-immigration-islam-and-identity-a3530586.html |access-date=2 October 2019}}{{cite web |last=Mughal |first=Fiyaz |date=27 January 2014 |title=The Neo-Conservative Speaker, Douglas Murray, Is Simply Wrong It Comes to British Muslims and Extremism |url=https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/fiyaz-mughal/british-muslims-extremism_b_4659418.html |access-date=2 October 2019 |work=Huffington Post}}{{cite web |last1=Oudenampsen |first1=Merijn |date=27 October 2020 |title=How US Neocons Inspired the Netherlands' New Radical Right |url=https://www.jacobinmag.com/2020/10/united-states-neoconservative-the-netherlands-new-radical-right |access-date=7 January 2021 |website=Jacobin}} far-right, alt-right{{cite news|last1=Halper |first1=Evan |title=How a Los Angeles-based conservative became one of the internet's biggest sensations |url=https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2019-08-22/dennis-prager-university-conservative-internet-sensation|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|access-date=6 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201218183936/https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2019-08-22/dennis-prager-university-conservative-internet-sensation |archive-date=18 December 2020 |date=23 August 2019 |quote=Prager says he disavows the alt-right ideology that has gained ground in the Trump era, but the online lessons often echo some of the movement's talking points. A video of Dinesh D'Souza, the right-wing author, opining on why Western cultures are superior to others has been viewed 4.7 million times, for example. Another, featuring Douglas Murray, the British author of several books about Europe and immigration, laments that North African and Middle Eastern immigrants have been permitted to destroy European culture by refusing to assimilate. It has 6.7 million views}} and Islamophobic. British journalist and broadcaster Peter Oborne described Douglas Murray as an anti-Muslim polemicist.{{cite book |first=Peter |last=Oborne|author-link=Peter Oborne|title=The Fate of Abraham: Why the West is Wrong about Islam |date=2022 |publisher=Simon and Schuster |isbn=978-1-3985-0104-1}}{{page needed|date=December 2023}} Murray has argued that there is an effort by the left to destroy Western culture, and has argued that criticisms of Western leaders and philosophers are motivated by attempts to hurt the West.{{Cite news |last1=McManus |first1=Matt |last2=Robinson |first2=Nathan J. |date=2 September 2022 |title=Taking White Supremacist Talking Points Mainstream|work=Current Affairs|url=https://www.currentaffairs.org/news/2022/09/taking-white-supremacist-talking-points-mainstream |access-date=23 February 2023}}

Murray has been accused of putting a socially acceptable face on far-right ideologies. British writer Nafeez Ahmed argued in Middle East Eye that Murray's support for free speech in the wake of the Charlie Hebdo shooting and the January 2015 Île-de-France attacks was "really just a ploy for far-right entryism".{{cite web |last=Ahmed |first=Nafeez|author-link=Nafeez Ahmed|title=White supremacists at the heart of Whitehall |url=https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/white-supremacists-heart-whitehall |website=Middle East Eye|access-date=13 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191101204707/https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/white-supremacists-heart-whitehall |archive-date=1 November 2019 |date=9 March 2015 |quote=Murray's screed against the free speech of those asking questions about the intelligence services is ironic given that in a separate Wall Street Journal comment, he laments that the attacks in Paris and Copenhagen prove the West is losing the war on 'free speech' being waged by Islamists. But Murray's concerns about free speech are really just a ploy for far-right entryism.}} In 2019 an article in Social Policy Review described Murray's views as a kind of "mainstreamist" ideology that defies easy categorisation as extremist while remaining "entangled with the far right".{{cite book |last1=Lux |first1=Julia |last2=David Jordan |first2=John |chapter=Alt-Right 'cultural purity' ideology and mainstream social policy discourse – Towards a political anthropology of 'mainstremeist' ideology |editor1-last=Elke |editor1-first=Heins |editor2-last=James |editor2-first=Rees |title=Social Policy Review 31: Analysis and Debate in Social Policy, 2019 |url=https://www.universitypressscholarship.com/view/10.1332/policypress/9781447343981.001.0001/upso-9781447343981 |date=2019 |publisher=Policy Press |doi=10.1332/policypress/9781447343981.001.0001 |isbn=978-1-4473-4400-1 |s2cid=213019061 |access-date=2 January 2021 |quote=Media pundit, journalist, and conspiracy entrepreneur Douglas Murray is a prime example of illustrating the influence of an 'organic intellectual'. Murray has written passionately in support of British fascist Tommy Robinson (Murray, 2018) and describes Islam as an "opportunistic infection" (Hasan, 2013) linked to the "strange death of Europe" (Murray, 2017a). Murray's ideas are not only entangled with the far-right (working class or otherwise), but with wider social connections.}} Murray has also been described as promoting far-right conspiracy theories, including the Great Replacement theory,{{cite news |last=Oborne|first=Peter|author-link=Peter Oborne|title=Douglas Murray and the mainstreaming of the 'Great Replacement' theory |url=https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/douglas-murray-mainstreaming-great-replacement-theory |access-date=20 June 2023 |work=Middle East Eye|date=20 May 2022}} the Eurabia conspiracy theory{{cite journal |last1=Pertwee |first1=Ed |title=Donald Trump, the anti-Muslim far right and the new conservative revolution |journal=Ethnic and Racial Studies|date=2020 |volume=43 |issue=16 |pages=211–230 |doi=10.1080/01419870.2020.1749688 |doi-access=free}} and the cultural Marxism conspiracy theory.

Philosopher Bernard-Henri Lévy has said of Murray, "Whether one agrees with him or not" he is "one of the most important public intellectuals today". Writer Ayaan Hirsi Ali and columnist Sohrab Ahmari have praised Murray's work and writing on Islam in Europe.{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.newsweek.com/would-mark-twain-be-prevented-speaking-berkeley-798321 |title=Would Mark Twain be prevented from speaking at Berkeley? |last=Ali |first=Ayaan Hirsi|author-link=Ayaan Hirsi Ali|date=2 February 2018|magazine=Newsweek}}{{Cite web |last=Ahmari |first=Sohrab |author-link=Sohrab Ahmari |date=2017-08-14 |title=Can Europe be Saved? |url=https://www.commentary.org/articles/sohrab-ahmari/can-europe-saved/ |access-date=2024-06-17 |website=Commentary}}

In 2020 columnist Bari Weiss placed Murray within the intellectual dark web, a loosely affiliated group of commentators including Bret Weinstein, Dave Rubin, Joe Rogan, and Sam Harris.{{Cite news |last=Weiss |first=Bari|author-link=Bari Weiss|others=Photographs by Damon Winter |date=31 January 2020 |title=Opinion {{!}} Meet the Renegades of the Intellectual Dark Web |newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/08/opinion/intellectual-dark-web.html |url-status=live |url-access=limited |access-date=14 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200131000213/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/08/opinion/intellectual-dark-web.html |archive-date=31 January 2020}} Murray has rejected his placement within this group. Murray has also confronted Rogan over Rogan's platforming of people who Murray sees as having dangerous and fringe views on topics such as Israel, Ukraine and World War II.{{Cite web|url=https://www.mediaite.com/news/douglas-murray-confronts-joe-rogan-for-giving-dangerous-and-fringe-voices-a-platform-its-weird/|title=Douglas Murray Confronts Joe Rogan for Giving 'Dangerous' and 'Fringe' Voices a Platform: 'It's Weird!'|last=Gilmour|first=David|publisher=Mediaite|quote=Joe Rogan faced a rare role reversal on The Joe Rogan Experience as guest Douglas Murray, a conservative British journalist, called him out directly for routinely platforming “fringe” commentators to speak about ongoing conflicts involving Israel and Ukraine during Thursday’s episode.|date=11 April 2025|accessdate=11 April 2025}}

Murray stated that he was an Anglican until his twenties.{{cite news |last1=Hitchens |first1=Dan |author-link=Dan Hitchens |date=2021-06-29 |title=Douglas Murray: The anti-woke atheist with a soft spot for Christianity |url=https://www.premierchristianity.com/features/douglas-murray-the-anti-woke-atheist-with-a-soft-spot-for-christianity/4427.article |access-date=2021-07-26 |work=Premier Christianity}} Murray said he lost his faith due to him no longer believing in the Virgin birth and finding what Murray described as "repetitions, contradictions and absurdities" within the Bible and Quran.{{Cite web |last=Murray |first=Douglas |date=2008-12-29 |title=Studying Islam has made me an atheist |url=https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/studying-islam-has-made-me-an-atheist/ |access-date=2025-04-12 |website=The Spectator |language=en-GB}} In a 2024 interview, he said that he now identifies as agnostic.{{cite news |last=Levy |first=Eylon |author-link=Eylon Levy |date=2024-03-27 |title=Politics of Intimidation Douglas Murray on the Not-So-Subtle Threats Driving Policy and Media [P2] |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wH3Eha5JC4k&t=2293s |access-date=2024-03-30 |work=Israel: State of a Nation with Eylon Levy}}

Murray has since described himself as a cultural Christian and a Christian atheist.{{cite news |last=Harris |first=Samuel 'Sam' |date=22 November 2015 |title=On the Maintenance of Civilization |url=http://www.samharris.org/podcast/item/on-the-maintenance-of-civilization/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201006115002/https://samharris.org/podcasts/on-the-maintenance-of-civilization// |archive-date=6 October 2020 |access-date=29 November 2015 |work=Podcast}} He has frequently praised Christian values and has stressed the importance of Christianity's role in building Western civilization saying "you cannot take Christianity out of the West and have anything that's recognizably the West".{{Cite web |last=Benson |first=Christopher |date=2023-03-17 |title=Can Westerners Atone for Their Sins Without Breeding Resentment and Ingratitude? |url=https://www.christianitytoday.com/2023/03/douglas-murray-war-west-resentment-ingratitude/ |access-date=2025-04-12 |website=Christianity Today |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last=Today |first=Christian |date=2021-05-20 |title=Churches are becoming 'a social action group,' need to get back to preaching the Gospel: Douglas Murray |url=https://www.christianpost.com/news/church-should-get-back-to-preaching-the-gospel-douglas-murray.html |access-date=2025-04-12 |website=www.christianpost.com |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=2020-01-14T00:00:00+00:00 |title=Douglas Murray cherishes Christianity. What would it take for him to believe? |url=https://www.premierunbelievable.com/topics/douglas-murray-cherishes-christianity-what-would-it-take-for-him-to-believe/11661.article |access-date=2025-04-12 |website=Unbelievable |language=en}} He has also criticized Christian churches for breaking away from teaching their traditional beliefs and the Gospels.{{Cite web |last=Today |first=Christian |date=2021-05-20 |title=Churches are becoming 'a social action group,' need to get back to preaching the Gospel: Douglas Murray |url=https://www.christianpost.com/news/church-should-get-back-to-preaching-the-gospel-douglas-murray.html |access-date=2025-04-28 |website=www.christianpost.com |language=en}}{{Cite web |date=2019-09-25 |title=Douglas Murray: ‘Churches Have Become Very Bad at Preaching ... Their Own Faith’ |url=https://www.ncregister.com/blog/douglas-murray-churches-have-become-very-bad-at-preaching-their-own-faith |access-date=2025-04-28 |website=NCR |language=en}}

In 2018, Murray engaged in series of discussions about religion with Sam Harris and Jordan Peterson.{{Cite web |last=Murray |first=Douglas |date=2018-09-16 |title=Watch: Douglas Murray live with Jordan Peterson and Sam Harris |url=https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/watch-douglas-murray-live-with-jordan-peterson-and-sam-harris/ |access-date=2025-05-28 |website=The Spectator |language=en-GB}}{{Cite web |last=Murray |first=Douglas |date=2018-09-16 |title=Arena talks in Dublin and London with Jordan Peterson, Sam Harris and Douglas Murray |url=https://thespectator.com/topic/jordan-peterson-sam-harris-douglas-murray/ |access-date=2025-05-28 |website=The Spectator World |language=en-US}}

In a February 2006 speech to the Dutch Parliament, Murray said "conditions for Muslims in Europe must be made harder across the board: Europe must look like a less attractive proposition."{{cite news |first=Reyhana |last=Patel |title=NUS condemns 'anti-Islam' group Student Rights|newspaper=The Independent|location=London|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/student/istudents/nus-condemns-antiislam-group-student-rights-9369023.html |date=14 May 2014}}{{cite web |title=Muslim Students' Anger at Student Rights' Extremism on Campus Claims |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/05/13/muslim-anger-student-rights-extremism-campus-_n_3265222.html |last=Lucy |first=Sherriff |date=13 May 2013 |website=Huffington Post|access-date=16 January 2017}} and that "All immigration into Europe from Muslim countries must stop."{{Cite news |last=Muir |first=Hugh |date=2011-10-17 |title=Diary |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2011/oct/17/hugh-muir-diary-goodman-murray |access-date=2025-01-08 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}{{Cite web |last=Murray |first=Douglas |date=2006 |title=What are we to do about Islam? A speech to the Pim Fortuyn Memorial Conference on Europe and Islam |url=http://www.socialaffairsunit.org.uk/blog/archives/000809.php |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080201133647/http://www.socialaffairsunit.org.uk/blog/archives/000809.php |url-status=dead |archive-date=2008-02-01 |website=Social Affairs Unit}}{{Cite web |last=Hasan |first=Mehdi |date=2013-10-10 |title=Who needs Tommy Robinson and the EDL, when Islamophobia has gone mainstream? |url=https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2013/10/who-needs-tommy-robinson-and-edl-when-islamophobia-has-gone-mainstream |access-date=2025-01-08 |website=New Statesman |language=en-US}} Murray's former coworker at the Centre for Social Cohesion, James Brandon, interpreted this speech as calling for the collective punishment of Muslims.{{cite news |title=Reining in the preachers of hate |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2009/jan/13/islam-uksecurity |first=James |last=Brandon |work=The Guardian |date=13 January 2009}} After Murray refused politician Paul Goodman's offer to disown these comments, the Conservative Party frontbench severed formal relations with Murray and his Centre for Social Cohesion.{{cite news |last1=Ahmed |first1=Samira |date=28 July 2013 |title=Are Muslims being demonised? |work=Sunday Morning Live|publisher=BBC One|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b037tr1c}}

According to Brandon, Murray failed to distinguish Islam from Islamism. Brandon said he attempted to "de-radicalise" Murray to ensure that only Islamists were targeted and not "Muslims as a whole". Brandon writes that Murray has privately retracted some of his comments. In 2010, during an Intelligence Squared US debate titled "Is Islam a Religion of Peace?", Murray argued in his contribution against the motion that "[Islamic Prophet] Muhammad was a bad man",{{cite news |date=13 October 2010 |title=Is Islam a Religion of Peace? |author= |publisher=NPR|url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130516428 |access-date=25 January 2010}}{{cite news |first=Fariha |last=Róisin |title=Free speech has not been kind to Muslims |url=http://america.aljazeera.com/opinions/2015/1/charlie-hebdo-islamophobiapressfreedomhatespeech.html |publisher=Al Jazeera America}} citing episodes from Muhammad's private life and his beheading of Jews.{{YouTube|q-QaR0Bv_vk|Douglas Murray speaking against the debate motion: "Muhammad, a very bad man"|time=120s}}

In 2008 Murray listed the cases of 27 writers, activists, politicians, and artists — including Salman Rushdie, Maryam Namazie, and Anwar Shaikh, all three of whom had received death threats due to their criticism of Islam. Murray said that "Unless Muslims are allowed to discuss their religion without fear of attack there can be no chance of reform or genuine freedom of conscience within Islam."{{Cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7718715.stm |title=Muslims' free speech 'threatened' |work=BBC News|date=10 November 2008 |access-date=15 April 2020}}

In 2009 Murray was prevented from chairing a debate at the London School of Economics between academic Alan Sked and philosopher Hamza Tzortzis on the topic "Islam or Liberalism: Which is the Way Forward?", with the university citing security concerns following a week-long student protest against Israel's attacks on Gaza. The debate took place without Murray chairing.{{cite news|first=Jack |last=Lefley |url=https://www.standard.co.uk/news/right-wing-author-is-banned-from-islam-talk-6864935.html |title=Right-wing author is banned from Islam talk |newspaper=Evening Standard|location=London|date=23 January 2009 |access-date=2 September 2019}} The move was criticised by The Daily Telegraph and The Spectator.{{cite news |url=http://www.spectator.co.uk/melaniephillips/3283526/the-lse-caves-in-to-terror.thtml |date=23 January 2009 |title=The LSE caves in to terror |first=Melanie |last=Phillips |work=The Spectator |access-date=25 April 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090415153705/http://www.spectator.co.uk/melaniephillips/3283526/the-lse-caves-in-to-terror.thtml |archive-date=15 April 2009 |author-link=Melanie Phillips |url-access=limited}}{{cite news |url=http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/alexsingleton/8180227/Civil_liberties_group_calls_for_resignation_of_Prof_Janet_Hartley/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090921071456/http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/alexsingleton/8180227/Civil_liberties_group_calls_for_resignation_of_Prof_Janet_Hartley/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=21 September 2009 |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph|location=London |first=Alex |last=Singleton |title=Civil liberties group calls for resignation of Prof Janet Hartley |date=23 January 2009 |access-date=1 May 2010}}{{cite news |url=http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/damianthompson/8179881/Gutless_LSE_bans_Islam_critic_Douglas_Murray_for_security_reasons/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100310084337/http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/damianthompson/8179881/Gutless_LSE_bans_Islam_critic_Douglas_Murray_for_security_reasons/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=10 March 2010 |date=23 January 2009 |title=Gutless LSE bans Islam critic Douglas Murray for 'security reasons' |first=Damian |last=Thompson|newspaper=The Daily Telegraph|location=London |access-date=23 February 2009}}

In June 2009, Murray accepted an invitation to a debate with Islamist Anjem Choudary, leader of the banned militant group Al-Muhajiroun, on the subject of Sharia law and British law at Conway Hall. Members of Al-Muhajiroun acting as security guards tried to segregate men and women at the entrance of the event. Clashes broke out near the entrance between Choudary's and Murray's supporters, and Conway Hall cancelled the debate because of the attempted forced separation of men and women. Outside the building, a confrontation between Choudary and Murray over the cancellation of the event occurred.{{citation needed|date=February 2025}} Murray's Centre for Social Cohesion later published a study arguing that one-in-seven Islam-related terrorist cases in the UK could be linked to Al-Muhajiroun.{{Cite web |title=One in Seven UK Terror-related Convictions Linked to Islamist Group Now Threatening to Relaunch |url=http://www.socialcohesion.co.uk/files/1243874438_1.pdf |date=1 June 2010 |website=Centre for Social Cohesion |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100401013454/http://www.socialcohesion.co.uk/files/1243874438_1.pdf |archive-date=1 April 2010 |access-date=6 May 2020}}

In the wake of the 2017 London Bridge attack, Murray called for "less Islam" and for reduced immigration.{{cite web |last1=Ferrari |first1=Nick |date=7 June 2017 |title=Douglas Murray Says To Have Less Terrorism The UK Needs "Less Islam" |url=https://www.lbc.co.uk/radio/presenters/nick-ferrari/douglas-murray-less-terrorism-the-uk-less-islam/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112022053/https://www.lbc.co.uk/radio/presenters/nick-ferrari/douglas-murray-less-terrorism-the-uk-less-islam/ |archive-date=12 November 2020 |access-date=6 January 2021 |website=LBC: Leading Britain's Conversation}}

File:Douglas Murray.png

Murray is a vocal critic of mass immigration.{{Cite news |last=Goodwin |first=Matthew |title=The Madness of Crowds by Douglas Murray review — identity politics attacked |newspaper=The Times|url=https://www.thetimes.com/article/the-madness-of-crowds-by-douglas-murray-review-identity-politics-attacked-j6n0p38xr |access-date=27 October 2022}}{{Cite news |last=Shribman |first=David |date=26 November 2019 |title=Conservative author Douglas Murray on immigration, Islam and why he doesn't want to talk about Trump|newspaper=The Globe and Mail|location=Toronto|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books/article-conserative-author-douglas-murray-on-immigration-islam-and-why-he/ |access-date=14 December 2022}} In March 2013, Murray said that London was a "foreign country" due to "white Britons" becoming a minority in 23 of the 33 London boroughs.{{Cite news|date=30 December 2014 |title=Rightwing thinktank pulls funds for Commons groups after disclosure row |first=Randeep |last=Ramesh |url=http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/dec/30/rightwing-thinktank-pulls-funds-commons-groups-disclosure-rules |access-date=30 October 2022|newspaper=The Guardian}}{{Cite web |last=Hasan |first=Mehdi |author-link=Mehdi Hasan |date=2013-07-30 |title=Douglas Murray, the EDL, Dodgy Videos and Me |url=https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/mehdi-hasan/douglas-murray-edl-dodgy-videos-me_b_3675193.html |access-date=2022-10-30 |website=Huffington Post |language=en}} In Murray's book The Strange Death of Europe, he writes that Europe and its values are committing suicide due to mass immigration; in the opening pages, he calls for halting Muslim immigration. In the book, he also details crimes committed by immigrants in Europe and writes favourably of immigration hard-liner Viktor Orbán.{{Cite news |last=Siegel |first=Robert |author-link=Robert Siegel |date=2016-06-27 |title=The Strange Death of Europe Warns Against Impacts of Immigration |url=https://www.npr.org/2017/06/27/534597202/the-strange-death-of-europe-warns-against-impacts-of-immigration |access-date=2022-09-24 |work=NPR |publisher=}}

In 2018 Murray filmed a video for PragerU entitled "The Suicide of Europe". In the video, he condemned "The mass movement of peoples into Europe...from the Middle East, North Africa and East Asia," and criticised European multiculturalism.{{cite web |last1=Kotch |first1=Alex |title=Who funds PragerU's anti-Muslim content? |url=https://readsludge.com/2018/12/27/who-funds-pragerus-anti-muslim-content/ |website=Sludge|access-date=20 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201108101120/https://readsludge.com/2018/12/27/who-funds-pragerus-anti-muslim-content/ |archive-date=8 November 2020 |date=27 December 2018 |quote='Europe is committing suicide', says British author Douglas Murray in a video published by the far-right educational nonprofit Prager University. The cause? 'The mass movement of peoples into Europe…from the Middle East, North Africa and East Asia' who allegedly made Europe lose faith in its beliefs and traditions}} Alex Kotch interviewed a senior editor at the Anti-Defamation League's Center on Extremism, Mark Pitcavage, who accused the video of being "filled with anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim rhetoric". Similarly, the Southern Poverty Law Center claimed that the video was a "dog whistle to the extreme right".{{cite web |last=Brendan |first=Joel |date=7 June 2018 |title=PragerU's Influence |url=https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2018/06/07/prageru%E2%80%99s-influence |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201212142815/https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2018/06/07/prageru%E2%80%99s-influence |archive-date=2020-12-12 |access-date=2020-12-26 |website=Southern Poverty Law Center}}

In September 2016, Murray supported Donald Trump's proposal for a wall along the southern border of the United States.{{Cite web |last=Jamieson |first=Alastair |date=2016-09-12 |title=Trump wants a border wall, but U.K. is already building one in France |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/europes-border-crisis/trump-wants-border-wall-britain-building-one-france-n645571 |access-date=2022-04-11 |publisher=NBC News |language=en}} In January 2017, Murray defended Executive Order 13769, which banned entry to the U.S. by citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries.{{Cite web |last=Murray |first=Douglas |date=31 January 2017 |title=Nine questions those protesting against Donald Trump's immigration ban must answer |work=The Spectator |url=https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/nine-questions-those-protesting-against-donald-trump-s-immigration-ban-must-answer |access-date=11 April 2022 |language=en |url-access=limited}}

Murray is openly gay. In his book The Madness of Crowds: Gender, Race and Identity, Murray said that homophobia has mostly been vanquished in the West.

Murray has said that it is a lie that a man can become a woman.{{Cite news |first=Roni |last=Dori |title=Douglas Murray: 'What I Mind Is the Lie That a Man Can Become a Woman'|newspaper=Haaretz|url=https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2021-07-29/ty-article-magazine/.highlight/what-i-mind-is-the-lie-that-a-man-can-become-a-woman/0000017f-e3f4-d568-ad7f-f3ff39520000 |access-date=31 October 2022}} Media Matters for America reported that in September 2020, during an appearance on Joe Rogan's podcast, Murray paraphrased Camille Paglia and said that "at the end of every empire, they get interested in sexual fluidity, hermaphroditism, and so on."{{Cite web |first=Brianna |last=January |title=Joe Rogan and guest discuss whether trans people are a sign of "the end of America" |url=https://www.mediamatters.org/joe-rogan-experience/joe-rogan-and-guest-discuss-whether-trans-people-are-sign-end-america |access-date=24 September 2022 |website=Media Matters for America |date=18 September 2020 |language=en}} He has stated that he thinks there is no such thing as non-binary gender.{{Cite web |title=Right-Wing U.K. Writer Epically Schooled for Misgendering Sam Smith |url=https://www.advocate.com/people/2019/9/17/right-wing-uk-writer-epically-schooled-misgendering-sam-smith |access-date=27 February 2023 |first=Daniel |last=Reynolds |website=www.advocate.com |language=en}}

In September 2019, Murray said in an interview that women are held to a different standard than men when it comes to sexual behaviour, citing instances involving Drew Barrymore, Jane Fonda, and Mayim Bialik behaving sexually towards men without backlash from the media.

File:Douglas Murray.ogv, Hungary in 2018]]

In his book Neoconservatism: Why We Need It, Murray argues that neoconservatism is necessary for fighting against dictatorships and human rights abuses.{{Cite web |date=14 March 2010 |title=Melanie Phillips's Diary |url=http://www.melaniephillips.com/diary/archives/001617.html |access-date=25 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100314221123/http://www.melaniephillips.com/diary/archives/001617.html |archive-date=14 March 2010}} Murray wrote in support of the Iraq War in 2004,{{Cite web |last=Murray |first=Douglas |author-link=Douglas Murray (author) |date=2004-06-08 |title=Bad seeds in a good war |url=https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/article_1940jsp/ |access-date=2022-09-24 |website=OpenDemocracy |language=en}} and defended the war against critics on multiple occasions. He has called for continuing the War on terror on Iran, Syria, and any regime which supports terrorism.{{Cite web |date=2018-06-13 |title=Factsheet: Douglas Murray |url=https://bridge.georgetown.edu/research/factsheet-douglas-murray/ |access-date=2022-10-30 |website=Bridge Initiative, Georgetown University |publisher= |language=en-US}} In 2021, Murray chastised the Biden administration for withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan.{{Cite web |date=2021-08-25 |title=Douglas Murray: Anyone who sees Afghanistan as an American triumph is in 'absolute la-la-land' |url=https://www.foxnews.com/media/afghanistan-triumph-douglas-murray-taliban-biden |access-date=2022-04-10 |website=Fox News |language=en-US}}

In March 2018, Hungarian politician Viktor Orbán posted a photo on his official Facebook account of himself reading the Hungarian-language edition of The Strange Death of Europe by Murray. In May 2018, Murray was personally received by Orbán in Budapest as part of the "Future of Europe" conference, along with other conservative figures such as American political strategist Steve Bannon, and according to Hungarian state media had an individual discussion and photograph with Orbán.{{cite web |author1=bne IntelliNews |title=Trump's former chief strategist Steve Bannon hails Viktor Orbán's policies at Budapest conference |url=https://www.intellinews.com/trump-s-former-chief-strategist-steve-bannon-hails-viktor-orban-s-policies-at-budapest-conference-142231/ |website=bne IntelliNews |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180830025018/https://www.intellinews.com/trump-s-former-chief-strategist-steve-bannon-hails-viktor-orban-s-policies-at-budapest-conference-142231/ |archive-date=30 August 2018 |date=24 May 2018}}{{cite web |title=PM Orbán receives speakers from V4 conference "The Future of Europe" in Parliament |url=http://abouthungary.hu/news-in-brief/pm-orban-receives-speakers-from-v4-conference-the-future-of-europe-in-parliament/ |website=About Hungary |access-date=6 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112030600/http://abouthungary.hu/news-in-brief/pm-orban-receives-speakers-from-v4-conference-the-future-of-europe-in-parliament/ |archive-date=12 November 2020 |date=25 May 2018}}

In 2013, Murray condemned journalist Owen Jones for claiming that Israel had killed an 11-month old child in a military strike. Jones responded by criticising Murray for ignoring a UN report which said an Israel airstrike had killed numerous innocent civilians.{{Cite web |last=Jones |first=Owen |author-link=Owen Jones |date=2021-06-10 |title=Why is Douglas Murray smearing me to distract from this damning UN report on Israel in Gaza? |url=https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2013/03/why-douglas-murray-smearing-me-distract-damning-un-report-israel-gaza |access-date=2022-09-24 |website=New Statesman |language=en-US}} In 2014, Murray defended and supported Israel during the 2014 Gaza War.{{Cite web |last=Barratt |first=Helen |date=2014-08-09 |title=World attacks Israel but 'just ignores' terrifying rise of radical Isl |url=https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/497367/Douglas-Murray-My-fear-for-Jews-worldwide-following-Gaza-conflict-protests |access-date=2022-11-20 |website=The Daily Express |language=en}} Murray also defended Israel's right to defend itself, saying, "If you don't believe that Israel has the right to stop a group that has proposed repeatedly since its existence that it wants to annihilate Israel, if you believe that Israel doesn't have the right to try and stop this enemy, then of course you don't believe Israel has the right to exist; you believe Israel has the right to die." During a visit to Israel in 2019, Murray praised Israeli society's "attitude towards nationalism", and lauded Israel's approach to border security.{{cite news |last1=Harkov |first1=Lahav |date=17 May 2019 |title=Douglas Murray: Israel has healthier attitude toward nationalism than Europe |url=https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/douglas-murray-israel-has-healthier-attitude-toward-nationalism-than-europe-589905 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201208021321/https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/douglas-murray-israel-has-healthier-attitude-toward-nationalism-than-europe-589905 |archive-date=8 December 2020 |access-date=6 January 2021 |work=The Jerusalem Post}}

In October 2023, Murray reported from Israel for six months following the October 7 attacks.{{cite news |title=Douglas Murray on Iran attack, anti-Israel marches, and Israel's resilience |url=https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/douglas-murray-tells-post-israel-cant-only-fight-iran-but-must-restore-security-798717 |access-date=5 January 2025 |work=Jerusalem Post}} He visited the kibbutzim that were attacked in the October 7 war and interviewed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.{{cite web |title=Douglas Murray Interviews Benjamin Netanyahu |url=https://www.jewishpress.com/multimedia/video-picks/douglas-murray-interviews-benjamin-netanyahu/2024/01/30/ |access-date=5 January 2025 |work=jewishpress.com|date=30 January 2024 }} Murray has been a supporter of Israel during the ongoing Gaza war.{{cite news |last=Poris |first=Aaron |date=2024-12-12 |title=Douglas Murray on Gaza war: 'Best outcome is there's no more Hamas' |url=https://www.ynetnews.com/magazine/article/bjyspb886 |access-date=2024-06-17 |work=Ynetnews}}{{cite news |last=Emanuel |first=Gabriel |date=2023-12-29 |title=Douglas Murray, Col. Richard Kemp explain uphill battle for Israel |url=https://www.jpost.com/bds-threat/article-779863 |access-date=2024-06-17 |work=The Jerusalem Post}} On 12 October 2023, after the Hamas-led attack on Israel of 7 October, he was invited to present a speech at the Lauderdale Road Synagogue in London which defended Jews and the State of Israel, and which gathered almost one million views online.{{Cite web |last=Sarner |first=Robert |date=2024-03-14 |title=How did British atheist Douglas Murray draw 1,200 people to a synagogue in Toronto? Robert Sarner talks to the public intellectual about becoming popular for unpopular views |url=https://thecjn.ca/perspectives/douglas-murray/ |access-date=2024-06-17 |website=The Canadian Jewish News |language=en-US}} Murray has been a supporter of Israel's military response to the October 7 attacks by Hamas. He spent around 6 months in Israel, visiting Gaza twice, and writing in defense of Israel's actions. Murray has criticised anti-Israel protests and rhetoric in Western countries like Britain as being motivated by antisemitism and support for terrorism rather than genuine concern for Palestinians.{{Cite news |last=Murray |first=Douglas |date=2023-11-16 |title=Britain is the new capital of anti-Israel hate |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/11/16/britain-new-capital-anti-israel-hate/ |access-date=2024-06-17 |work=The Daily Telegraph |language=en-GB |issn=0307-1235}}{{Cite news |last=Misgav |first=Uri |author-link=Uri Misgav |date=2023-11-16 |title=Why Is the Liberal West Against Israel? |url=https://www.haaretz.com/opinion/2023-11-16/ty-article-opinion/.premium/why-the-liberal-west-is-against-israel/0000018b-d4d9-d423-affb-f7fbc57f0000 |access-date=2024-06-17 |work=Haaretz}}{{Cite news |last=Murray |first=Douglas |date=2023-10-20 |title=The aftermath of Hamas's attack on Israel has exposed the West's moral collapse |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/10/20/israel-palestine-hamas-london-protests-anti-semitism/ |access-date=2024-06-17 |work=The Daily Telegraph |language=en-GB |issn=0307-1235}} He has described some protests as "terrorist marches" and said they are organised by pro-Hamas factions aiming to spread disinformation.{{Cite web |last=Starr |first=Michael |date=2024-04-26 |title=Douglas Murray on Iran attack, anti-Israel marches, and Israel's resilience |url=https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/douglas-murray-tells-post-israel-cant-only-fight-iran-but-must-restore-security-798717 |access-date=2024-06-17 |website=The Jerusalem Post |language=en}}

Murray has argued that much of the criticism of Israel stems from either explicit antisemitism, anti-Western ideology, or ignorance about the realities of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict being exploited by malicious actors.{{Cite news |last=Gordon |first=Dave |date=2024-03-12 |title=European Jew-hatred too deep to identify 'even after years of therapy,' Douglas Murray says |url=https://www.israeltoday.co.il/read/european-jew-hatred-too-deep-to-identify-even-after-years-of-therapy-douglas-murray-says/ |access-date=2024-06-17 |work=Israel Today}}

In April 2024, he received an honorary award from President of Israel Isaac Herzog and Minister of Diaspora Affairs Amichai Chikli for being a "friend to the Jewish people and fighting the resurgence of antisemitism" due to his coverage of the 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel and the resulting war.{{Cite news |date=9 April 2024 |title=Israel honors British journalist Douglas Murray for support post Oct. 7 |url=https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-796234 |access-date=15 August 2024 |work=The Jerusalem Post |language=en}}{{Cite web |date=2024-04-11 |title='A friend to the Jewish people': Murray receives award from Israel's president |url=https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/a-friend-to-the-jewish-people-murray-receives-award-from-israels-president/ |access-date=2024-04-12 |website=Jewish News |language=en-US}}

On April 10, 2025, Murray appeared on The Joe Rogan Experience alongside Dave Smith to debate the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. During the podcast Smith called Murray's "selective empathy" for the people of Israel and not the people of Gaza. Murray later accused Rogan of allowing people who spread conspiracy theories and misinformation on his platform.{{Cite web |date=2025-04-11 |title=Joe Rogan guest calls out controversial host for 'just asking questions' philosophy |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/joe-rogan-podcast-douglas-murray-b2731924.html |access-date=2025-04-12 |website=The Independent |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Dillin |first=Rachel |date=2025-04-11 |title=Douglas Murray Calls Out Joe Rogan Over 'Just Asking Questions' |url=https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/articles/douglas-murray-calls-joe-rogan-021039869.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20250412000618/https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/articles/douglas-murray-calls-joe-rogan-021039869.html |archive-date=2025-04-12 |access-date=2025-04-12 |website=Men's Journal |language=en-US |via=Yahoo Entertainment}}

Murray is on the international advisory board of NGO Monitor, a Jerusalem-based NGO described as pro-Israel and right-wing,{{cite book | last=Stetter | first=Stephan | title=The Middle East and Globalization: Encounters and Horizons | publisher=Palgrave Macmillan US | year=2012 | isbn=978-1-137-03176-1 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xt7YAZOioLQC&pg=PA206 | access-date=10 December 2021|quote=Transnational NGOs usually do not become a conflict party and are less likely to be associated with one of the conflict parties-although, to pick but two examples, as the campaign of the right-wing NGO Monitor in Israel against the involvement of "external actors"|page=206}} which was founded in 2001 by professor Gerald M. Steinberg.{{cite book |last=Khalidi |first=Rashid |author-link=Rashid Khalidi |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LHYPnxwPnlwC&pg=RA1-PT127 |title=Brokers of Deceit: How the U.S. Has Undermined Peace in the Middle East |publisher=Beacon Press |year=2013 |isbn=978-0-8070-4476-6 |quote=Several other right-wing Israeli NGOs follow the same approach, including NGO Monitor |access-date=2021-12-10}}{{Cite web |title=Boards » ngomonitor |url=https://www.ngo-monitor.org/about/boards/ |access-date=2 June 2022 |website=ngomonitor |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |date=3 February 2017 |title=Biased Wikipedia editing in Israel raises concerns of political meddling |work=France 24 |first=Oded |last=Yaron |url=http://www.france24.com/en/20130617-biased-wikipedia-israel-political-meddling-arnie-draiman-monitor-ngo |access-date=2 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170203023611/http://www.france24.com/en/20130617-biased-wikipedia-israel-political-meddling-arnie-draiman-monitor-ngo |archive-date=3 February 2017 |url-status=dead}}{{Cite news |title=New pariah on the block |newspaper=The Economist|url=https://www.economist.com/international/2007/09/13/new-pariah-on-the-block |access-date=2 June 2022|url-access=limited}} {{As of|2022}}, he was also one of the directors of the Free Speech Union, an organization established by British social commentator Toby Young in 2020 which advocates for freedom of speech, and criticises cancel culture.{{Cite web |url=https://freespeechunion.org/about/who-we-are/ |title=Who We Are |work=The Free Speech Union |publisher=Free Speech Union}}{{Cite web |last=Young |first=Toby |author-link=Toby Young |date=2020-01-24 |title=So you've been canceled. Here's how to fight back |url=https://thespectator.com/topic/been-canceled-fight-back/ |access-date=2024-06-02 |website=The Spectator |language=en-US}}

In March 2025, he won a libel suit against Guardian Media Group as a result of Kenan Malik, a columnist for The Observer, wrongly attributing comments Murray had made months previously to the riots that erupted across Britain following the stabbing of three young girls in the UK in 2024. Murray received an "unreserved apology" and a "substantial" financial judgement.{{Cite web |last=Maher |first=Bron |date=2025-03-12 |title=Douglas Murray wins 'substantial' damages after Observer column error |url=https://pressgazette.co.uk/media_law/guardian-observer-douglas-murray-libel-settlement-riots-kenan-malik/ |access-date=2025-03-17 |website=Press Gazette |language=en-US}}

• Manhattan Institute – 2024 Alexander Hamilton Award.{{Cite web |date=2024-05-06 |title=2024 Alexander Hamilton Award Dinner |url=https://manhattan.institute/event/2024-alexander-hamilton-award-dinner |access-date=2024-06-17 |website=Manhattan Institute |language=en}}
• Special recognition from President Isaac Herzog of Israel in 2024.

Murray is gay. He had a regular partner for 10 years up until 2018.{{cite web | url=https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/18082570.douglas-murray-relations-men-women-cannot-turned-criminal-acts-waiting/ | title=Douglas Murray: 'Relations between men and women cannot be turned into criminal acts in waiting' | date=7 December 2019 }}

• {{Cite book |year=2000 |title=Bosie: A Biography of Lord Alfred Douglas |publisher=Sceptre |isbn=978-0-340-79380-0}}
• {{Cite book |year=2006 |title=Neoconservatism: Why We Need It |isbn=978-1-59403-344-5 |title-link=Neoconservatism: Why We Need It |publisher=Social Affairs Unit}}
• {{Cite book |title=Hate on the State: How British libraries encourage Islamic extremism |publisher=Centre for Social Cohesion |year=2007 |isbn=978-1-903386-62-0|others=Co-authored with Brandon, James}}
• {{Cite book |title=Victims of Intimidation: Freedom of Speech Within Europe's Muslim Communities |publisher=Centre for Social Cohesion |year=2008 |isbn=978-0-9560013-1-3|others=Co-authored with Verwey, Johan Pieter}}
• {{Cite book |year=2011 |title=Bloody Sunday: Truths, Lies and the Saville Inquiry |publisher=Dialogue |isbn=978-1-84954-149-7}}
• {{Cite book |year=2013 |title=Islamophilia: A Very Metropolitan Malady |publisher=emBooks |isbn=978-1-62777-050-7}}
• {{Cite book |year=2017 |title=The Strange Death of Europe: Immigration, Identity, Islam |publisher=Bloomsbury |isbn=978-1-4729-4224-1 |title-link=The Strange Death of Europe}}
• {{Cite book |year=2019 |title=The Madness of Crowds: Gender, Race and Identity |publisher=Bloomsbury |isbn=978-1-4729-5995-9 |title-link=The Madness of Crowds: Gender, Race and Identity}}
• {{Cite book |year=2022 |title=The War on the West: How to Prevail in the Age of Unreason |publisher=Harper Collins |isbn=978-0-06-316202-0}}
• {{Cite book |year=2025 |title=On Democracies and Death Cults: Israel and the Future of Civilization |publisher=Broadside Books|isbn=978-0063437135}}

{{Reflist|30em}}

• {{cite book |last=Busher |first=Joel |chapter=Grassroots activism in the English Defence League: Discourse and public (dis) order |editor1-last=Taylor |editor1-first=Max|editor1-link=Max Taylor (psychologist)|editor2-last=Holbrook |editor2-first=Donald |title=Extreme Right Wing Political Violence and Terrorism |url=http://eprints.hud.ac.uk/id/eprint/14307/ |date=2013 |publisher=A&C Black |isbn=978-1-4411-4087-6 |page=70 |access-date=2 January 2021 |quote=Popular commentators and public figures among the [EDL] activists that I have met include Geert Wilders, Robert Spencer, Melanie Philips, Andrew Gilligan, Douglas Murray, Pat Condell, and some of the commentators who contribute to forums like Alan Lake's Four Freedoms website.}}

{{Wikiquote|Douglas Murray}}

{{Commons category|Douglas Murray (author, 1979)}}

• [https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/author/Douglas+Murray Murray's writings] at the Gatestone Institute
• [http://www.conservativehome.com/platform/2011/10/by-paul-goodman-the-struggle-against-islamist-extremism-demands-from-the-start-the-separation-of-islam-a-complex-religion.html Why the Conservative frontbench broke off relations with Douglas Murray.] Opinion piece by Paul Goodman at Conservative Home

{{Neoconservatism}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Murray, Douglas}}

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