Transcript [00:00] Hey everyone. I just wanted to take a [00:01] few minutes to react to this clip of [00:04] Melanie Phillips [00:06] that I think is really important. If you [00:08] don't know who Melanie Phillips is, [00:09] she's a British journalist and author, [00:11] one of the clearest thinkers in the [00:13] world on the intersection of Islam, the [00:16] West, and Israel, something that I talk [00:17] about a lot. And what she says here is [00:21] is something that I've been thinking [00:22] about a lot, and [00:24] I [00:25] I both want to affirm what she's saying, [00:29] and I also want to take it one step [00:30] further, because I think that she's [00:32] identified something very real and very [00:34] important. [00:36] She expresses it very clearly, but I [00:38] think that there's also a deeper [00:39] explanation that she doesn't quite get [00:41] to. There's another layer that she [00:43] doesn't that she doesn't get to. And [00:45] that deeper explanation is what I want [00:48] to talk about today in this video. So, [00:51] let's uh [00:53] let's get to [00:54] Melanie Phillips, and here is the clip. [00:57] >> The Western liberal mind [01:00] uh conceives of itself as being [01:03] um good because it's liberal. The [01:05] Western liberal tells him or herself, [01:07] I'm a good person because I'm liberal. [01:09] I'm liberal because I'm a good person, [01:11] which means that I believe in things [01:13] like the brotherhood of man, [01:15] um conscience and compassion, [01:18] uh looking after the uh the wretched of [01:19] the world, the poor, the wretched of the [01:21] world, standing up against abuses of [01:24] power. These are all good things, and [01:26] that's why I'm a liberal. And I'm a [01:28] liberal because of all these good [01:29] things. So, [01:31] one of the expressions of my goodness [01:33] and my liberalism is that I support the [01:35] Palestinian Arabs [01:37] uh who I think are an oppressed people, [01:40] and they are oppressed by the Israelis [01:43] who have taken their land away from [01:45] them, and they are oppressing them. Now, [01:47] every part of that, in my view, is a [01:49] lie. But, put that to one side. This is [01:51] what the liberal progressive thinks. [01:54] And the liberal progressive thinks that [01:56] supporting the Palestinians is therefore [01:59] something that makes the liberal [02:00] progressive a good person. [02:03] October 7th happened [02:06] and suddenly you have a situation in [02:08] which the people that the liberal [02:09] progressive has supported as being [02:11] oppressed and everything they do is a [02:14] legitimate defense or resistance against [02:18] oppression, [02:19] suddenly we can see [02:22] that those people have turned into [02:25] the most bloodthirsty savages that could [02:28] ever be imagined. Not just people who [02:30] kill, but who slaughter in a sadistic, [02:35] barbaric, [02:37] uh, debauched and depraved fashion [02:41] that people can't imagine ever [02:44] happening. They have [02:47] slaughtered, [02:49] raped, [02:50] beheaded, [02:52] tortured, [02:54] burned alive [02:55] babies, [02:57] children, [02:58] women, [02:59] elderly men and others. [03:03] And [03:04] in which the people that they've [03:05] supported as being oppressed and good [03:07] people because they're they're victims [03:10] are these savages. And the people they [03:13] have represented as oppressors [03:15] are the victims. They can't have that. [03:17] Because if they have that, if they admit [03:19] that that is the case, then their entire [03:22] world view is shattered because the [03:24] people, you know, [03:26] they the the cause they have supported [03:28] as representing goodness is shown to be [03:30] evil. [03:32] And what does that make them? [03:34] It makes them evil. So they can't have [03:37] it. [03:38] So what do they do? [03:39] They go to extraordinary lengths to [03:42] pretend that black is white, that [03:45] justice is injustice, that oppression is [03:48] resistance and vice versa. [03:50] So they have to represent the Israelis [03:52] as being at fault. The Israelis are to [03:55] blame for what's happened. So, there is [03:57] no better way of of of blaming people [04:00] than accusing them of the very thing [04:02] they are the victim of. Projection. [04:04] Projection. So, you accuse them of [04:06] genocide. You hear it also regularly, [04:08] the Israelis are accused of being Nazis. [04:11] Um it's the same thing. [04:13] It's not simply an offensive thing. It's [04:15] a very deliberate thing because if the [04:17] Israelis are Nazis, then then then we [04:20] are free. Uh we, the liberal West, are [04:22] free [04:24] uh of any kind of guilt [04:26] uh or any kind of association with bad [04:27] things because they are to blame. They [04:30] are the people who are bad. [04:31] Um and so, we are free to continue with [04:34] our fantasies of us being good people. [04:38] And I think that's also what lay behind [04:39] these amazing scenes that we saw on [04:42] social media of people [04:45] with their hands tearing down the [04:48] posters posters of the hostages. Now, [04:50] you have to ask yourself, what's going [04:51] through the mind of someone like that? [04:53] These weren't posters advertising [04:55] Israel. They weren't advertising the [04:57] Israeli Defense Forces. [04:59] They were pictures of babies, of [05:01] children, of women [05:04] who had been kidnapped by bloodthirsty [05:06] monsters, by savage depraved savages, [05:09] and were being [05:10] almost certainly subjected to untold [05:13] horrors. [05:15] And yet, [05:16] they were torn down. [05:18] And the faces of the people tearing them [05:20] down were contorted very often with rage [05:23] and hate. And you have to ask yourself, [05:25] what's going on in the mind of that [05:27] person? And it seemed to me [05:29] that they were that that that they would [05:31] they they had to literally with their [05:33] fingernails tear it out of sight. [05:37] It was something that could not be [05:39] tolerated to be in existence at all. The [05:42] very concept of the Israeli babies and [05:45] children as victims of the people they [05:47] had been supporting because it [05:49] contradicted the narrative on which they [05:51] had hung their own moral worth. [05:54] And it seemed to me also they were [05:55] tearing the Jews out [05:58] trying to tear the Jewish people [06:00] completely out of their world, out of [06:03] their sight, out of their world, out of [06:06] their minds, out of their thoughts, and [06:08] out of their consciences. That's to me [06:10] what it represented. And this whole [06:12] inversion of genocide thing is part of [06:16] it. It is not just disgusting. It is not [06:19] just ridiculous. It's evil. [06:23] And I think it is a symptom of the evil [06:27] paths into which the West has fallen [06:31] through its embrace of a whole range of [06:34] ideologies, a whole range of thinking [06:36] which [06:37] I think has come to define [06:39] what we call the liberal progressive [06:41] West. [06:46] Okay. [06:49] There we are. [06:53] So, what Melanie Phillips is describing [06:56] is something that I think all of us have [06:57] felt since October 7th, but I haven't [06:59] been able to fully articulate. [07:02] She's [07:04] She's saying that the Western liberal [07:06] progressive, whatever you want to call [07:07] them, [07:09] didn't react the way they did despite [07:12] their values. Right? They reacted the [07:14] way they did because of their values. [07:18] Right? Everything disturbing that we've [07:20] seen from the left, it's not a deviation [07:22] from their [07:23] liberal progressive values. [07:26] Their entire moral identity is built on [07:29] a framework of oppressor and oppressed. [07:32] And in that framework, the Palestinians [07:33] are the oppressed, Israel's the [07:35] oppressor, and when October 7th [07:36] happened, [07:38] the way she explained it, right? When [07:40] the people they had defined the [07:42] oppressed revealed themselves [07:44] to be monsters, to be capable of the [07:46] most savage atrocities imaginable to [07:48] carry them out. [07:50] They couldn't accept it [07:52] because it's accepting it would shatter [07:54] everything. [07:55] And she's right. [07:56] She's absolutely right about everything [07:58] she said, but here's where I want to [07:59] take it further. [08:02] Before we go on, please make sure that [08:04] you're subscribed to this channel if you [08:05] hadn't yet. And go back into the [08:07] archive. There's a lot of videos on this [08:09] topic that aren't tied to the headlines. [08:11] Very important. Actually uh [08:13] working on some writings on this on [08:15] these issues. And also [clears throat] [08:16] please make sure that you're subscribed [08:17] to the Israel 365 News Channel. And in [08:21] the description of this video, you'll [08:22] find subscription information for our [08:24] newsletters. [08:27] So, here's where I want to take this [08:28] further. [08:30] Because Melanie Phillips is giving us [08:33] the [08:35] the psychology behind it, getting into [08:37] the head [08:38] of the person tearing down the sign, the [08:40] the picture of the hostage. She's [08:42] explaining what's happening in the minds [08:44] of these people. And that's very [08:46] valuable. But I want [08:49] what I want to know and what I think you [08:51] want to know is where does this [08:54] psychology, where does this [08:56] she's unpacked the psychology, but where [08:58] does it come from? [09:00] It's not just a an emotional reaction. [09:05] This is a trained response. This is what [09:06] happens when you've been educated in a [09:08] very specific ideological framework. [09:12] And that framework has a name and a [09:14] history. [09:18] The oppressor oppressed framework, that [09:21] binary that Melanie Phillips is [09:22] describing, the idea that the world is [09:24] divided between [09:26] between those who dominate and those who [09:28] are dominated. [09:30] Uh the idea that moral that there's a [09:33] moral worth, there's value that comes [09:35] from siding with those who are being [09:38] dominated, those who are being [09:39] oppressed. This is not a new idea. [09:42] It's a specifically Marxist idea. [09:45] It goes back over a century. And it was [09:47] systematically introduced into Western [09:49] universities, into Western media, into [09:52] Western culture. It didn't get there by [09:53] accident. [09:57] And And here's where it gets really [09:58] interesting because most people think, [09:59] you know, when they think about this, [10:00] they say, "Okay, so these are [10:02] progressive leftists. They've been [10:03] educated in Marxist ideas. Fine. [10:07] But But what does that have to do with [10:08] their support for Hamas? Why do they [10:10] Why are they supporting Hamas because of [10:12] their Marxism? Hamas is an Islamist [10:13] organization. [10:15] Uh it's it's a it's a Sunni fanatic [10:18] religious organization. [10:20] It wants to establish a Sharia state. It [10:22] throws gay people off off rooftops. It [10:24] It, you know, it it [10:26] does untold atrocities to women, their [10:29] own women. Everything about Hamas is on [10:31] the surface the opposite of what a [10:33] progressive is supposed to believe in. [10:35] And yet they support Hamas, right? The [10:36] red green alliance. They support These [10:38] leftists support Hamas. And people look [10:40] at this and they say, "Well, these [10:42] people are hypocrites. They make no [10:43] sense. You know, gays for Palestine." [10:46] You know, "Ha ha ha." We laugh at them. [10:48] We just think that they're fools, useful [10:50] idiots. This is This is what These are [10:52] the types of things we say about them. [10:54] We point out the inconsistency. [10:59] We think that they don't realize what [11:00] they're supporting. Don't you realize [11:02] that if you, a a gay person or a you [11:05] know, some purple-haired progressive [11:06] atheist were in Gaza, they would kill [11:09] you?" Like [11:10] We [11:11] We talk about them as though they are [11:12] fools. [11:16] And there's some truth to that. [11:18] But I think that that explanation is too [11:19] easy. [11:21] And it distracts us [11:23] and it deflects [11:26] It makes us not really think about the [11:29] internal logic of how they're thinking. [11:34] Because it's it's it's too pervasive and [11:36] it's it's gone on far too long for it to [11:38] just be stupidity or hypocrisy. If [11:40] that's what it was, some sort of [11:41] knee-jerk anti-Israel reaction after [11:43] October 7th, it would have gone away. [11:46] But it's not. It's a consistent alliance [11:48] between these two ideologies. [11:50] Now, what I think is actually happening [11:52] is something much more significant. It [11:54] gets to the heart of what I've been [11:55] talking about on this channel for a long [11:57] time. Let me finally get to the point. I [11:58] know some people in the comments have [11:59] said I take a while to get to the point. [12:01] I'm sorry. [12:03] Both the Marxist progressive worldview [12:05] and the Islamist worldview worldview [12:08] share something fundamental. [12:10] And it's not their politics. [12:13] It's not their theology. [12:16] Although there's there's some [12:17] commonality in their worldview. What [12:19] they share is a common enemy. [12:22] And the common enemy is what I like to [12:24] call biblical civilization, the [12:26] civilization built on the Bible, on the [12:28] idea that human beings are created in [12:30] the image of God, that they have [12:32] individual moral agency, [12:34] that authority is limited, that freedom [12:38] is a God-given right given to every [12:40] individual. [12:43] That civilization, Jewish and Christian, [12:45] is what both of these worldviews, both [12:48] the leftist progressives, the Marxists, [12:50] and the Muslims [12:52] are opposed to at the deepest level. [12:53] Think about it. Marxist regimes [12:55] throughout history have always gone [12:58] after biblical religion, Jews and [13:00] Christians. The Soviet Union closed [13:01] churches and synagogues. [13:03] Communist China [13:05] persecutes Christians to this day. Cuba, [13:07] North Korea [13:09] uh North Korea is is number one, meaning [13:12] the worst country in the world to be a [13:13] Christian. Christians get get killed or [13:15] imprisoned, [13:17] you know, uh for, you know, [13:19] indefinitely. [13:21] North Korea. [13:22] So, Cuba, North Korea, Eastern Europe [13:24] under communism, everywhere Marxism [13:26] takes hold, biblical religion [13:29] Christianity and Judaism are suppressed. [13:34] That's not because of a practical [13:35] political calculation. It's not because [13:37] of some alliance. It's because biblical [13:39] faith, [13:40] the idea that every human being stands [13:43] before God as a an individual autonomous [13:47] moral agent [13:49] and that no human ruler on earth is [13:52] above the law of God [13:55] whose basic concepts of who the human [13:58] being is in their standing before God is [14:01] structurally incompatible with a system [14:03] that demands [14:05] submission to a total authority. [14:08] And Islamism [14:11] like Islam as a political ideology [14:15] the theology of it [14:17] it also sees biblical civilization as [14:19] its primary civilizational opponent. You [14:22] know, there's a saying in the Middle [14:23] East [14:24] the first the Saturday people then the [14:26] Sunday people. This has been seen on [14:28] spray-painted on walls and in Gaza and [14:30] other places in the Middle East. It's a [14:32] Muslim expression that refers to first [14:35] the Jews then the Christians. [14:37] You know, the our enemies see us as the [14:39] same. [14:41] They see Jews and Christians as two [14:43] expressions [14:45] of the same thing. [14:46] A civilization [14:48] built on the Bible [14:49] on human dignity, on limited power [14:54] and they oppose that civilization. So, [14:56] when Marxist progressives and Muslims [15:00] find themselves on the same side [15:02] supporting Hamas opposing Israel [15:05] tearing down hostage posters [15:09] it's not a coincidence. It's not [15:10] hypocrisy. It's not It's not a It's not [15:14] a pragmatic marriage of convenience. [15:17] It's a natural alliance between two [15:19] worldviews that share a common target. [15:26] Now, let me come back to the image that [15:27] Melanie Phillips used because I think [15:28] it's one of the most powerful images [15:30] from the post October 7th period. This [15:33] image of people tearing down posters of [15:35] kidnapped hostages with rage on their [15:38] faces. Melanie Phillips says they were [15:39] trying to tear the Jewish victims out of [15:42] their sight, out of their conscience [15:44] because those victims contradicted [15:47] their narrative. Their their the whole [15:49] framework of their of their ethical [15:51] moral worldview. [15:54] And yes, but think about what that means [15:56] at a deeper level. The existence of [15:58] Jewish victims, [15:59] babies, elderly people, women taken [16:01] hostage by an Islamic terror [16:05] organization is intolerable to these [16:07] people. It's not just inconvenient. It's [16:10] intolerable. They can't have it to use [16:12] Melanie's words. It must be erased. Why? [16:16] Because Jewish victims, Jewish [16:18] suffering, Jewish peoplehood return [16:21] returning to our ancient homeland, all [16:25] of that is a living embodiment, [16:28] a living reminder of the authenticity of [16:31] a biblical narrative. [16:33] The Jewish people are not just a nation. [16:36] The Jewish people still alive today [16:38] after thousands of years returning to [16:40] our homeland as the only ancient people [16:43] to go into exile and return to our [16:44] homeland is [16:46] is is a fulfillment of such an [16:48] outrageous prophecy in the Bible, the [16:51] most repeated prophecy in the Bible, and [16:52] it's such a it's such a [16:55] a departure from the rest of history. [16:57] From the rest of the history of nations. [16:59] It's so [17:01] it's so [17:02] impossible and dare I say miraculous [17:07] that they can't have it [17:09] because [17:10] it [17:12] it would be proof or the closest thing [17:15] to proof. It would be an affirmation, I [17:16] should say, that the God of the Bible is [17:19] real and active in history. They would [17:21] have explaining to do. If you accept [17:23] that the Jewish people have returned to [17:24] their homeland after thousands of years [17:26] scattered exile, that the Jews of today [17:28] are Oh my gosh, the Jews have returned. [17:34] What do you do? [17:36] If you despise the Bible. [17:38] And for people whose world view depends [17:41] on the God of the Bible not being [17:43] sovereign, on the narrative of the Bible [17:46] being false, on biblical civilization [17:48] being dismantled, then the Jewish people [17:51] in our homeland are the ultimate [17:53] refutation, the ultimate challenge to [17:56] everything they believe. [17:58] That's why Israel isn't treated like [18:00] other countries. That's why they [18:04] That's why you start to hear things [18:06] today like the Jews aren't really the [18:08] Jews. That's why you hear this. They [18:09] can't have the Jews returning to our [18:12] homeland. [18:14] What do they do with that? [18:16] The fulfillment of prophecy is is a [18:18] terrifying concept to these people. [18:21] And that's why this conflict isn't [18:22] treated like other conflicts. You see, [18:25] if you reject the Bible, you reject a [18:27] sovereign God, you reject that whole [18:30] narrative, then Israel today isn't the [18:33] Jews after 2,000 years of exile [18:35] returning to their land. [18:37] It's just a bunch of people coming in [18:38] and colonizing land that that is that [18:40] belonged to [18:43] that belonged to these, you know, the [18:45] you know, these Arabs who they call [18:46] Palestinians. [18:48] That's what it is. Cuz if history starts [18:51] 100 years ago [18:53] or 50 years ago [18:55] you can run with that narrative. [18:57] So, our enemies, both the Marxists and [19:00] the Islamists, know [19:03] that [19:04] that this [19:05] that this is a threat to them. That the [19:07] existence of the state of Israel, the [19:09] existence of the ascendancy of a Jewish [19:12] nation [19:13] in the state of Israel is is offensive [19:16] to them. It's It's worse than offensive. [19:18] It's a challenge to their entire [19:20] worldview. So, what do we do with all of [19:22] this? [19:24] So, I think the first thing we have to [19:25] do is stop being surprised. Stop being [19:26] confused. [19:28] Once you understand the framework, once [19:30] you see that this alliance between the [19:31] progressive left and the Islamists is [19:35] not accidental. It is It is It actually [19:38] makes sense. There's an internal logic [19:40] to it. Stop laughing at at Queers for [19:42] Palestine. [19:44] There's an internal logic. [19:46] Their behavior actually makes sense. [19:48] And when things make sense, you can [19:50] respond to them intelligently. The [19:51] second thing [19:53] is that we, both Jews and Christians, [19:55] need to recognize that we are in this [19:57] together. Our enemies already know that. [19:59] They They attack [20:01] uh Christmas markets and Easter masses [20:04] in the name of their hatred of Israel [20:06] and their support for Gaza. Right? They [20:08] disrupt church services and synagogue [20:10] prayer events with the same slogans. [20:12] They see us as one civilization, as one [20:15] group. [20:17] And it's time that we started seeing it [20:20] that way, too. Melanie Phillips [20:23] Melanie Phillips is one of the clearest [20:24] voices out there on what's happening. I [20:26] encourage you to follow her work. I try [20:28] to catch as much of her work as I can. [20:30] But I also want you to understand that [20:31] what she's describing is not just a [20:33] psychological phenomenon. It's not just [20:35] a cope. [20:37] This is an ideological partnership. It's [20:40] an ideological [20:42] uh [20:43] comfort [20:44] and and cooperation that they have with [20:47] each other. [20:48] And once we understand it that way, we [20:50] can start understanding it. [20:53] And that's what we're going to keep [20:54] working on together on this channel. As [20:56] always, if you found this useful, please [20:57] share it. [20:58] And [20:59] uh and we'll see each other in the next [21:00] video.
