Douglas Murray (author)

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Douglas Murray
Born Douglas Kear Murray
16 July 1979 (1979-07-16) (age 32)
Scotland
Occupation Associate Director of the Henry Jackson Society, Former Director of the Centre for Social Cohesion, Author, Journalist
Nationality British
Alma mater Eton College
Magdelen College, Oxford
Notable work(s) Neoconservatism: Why We Need it, Bosie: A Biography of Lord Alfred Douglas, Victims of Intimidation: Freedom of Speech within Europe's Muslim Communities

Douglas Murray is a British writer and commentator[1] who was the director of the Centre for Social Cohesion from 2007 until 2011[2] and is currently an associate director of the Henry Jackson Society.[3] Murray appears regularly in the British broadcast media, commentating on issues from a conservative standpoint, and he is often critical of Islamic fundamentalism. He writes for a number of publications, including Standpoint and The Spectator. He has authored a number of books, including in 2005 Neoconservatism: Why We Need it and most recently Bloody Sunday: Truths, Lies and the Saville Inquiry. In 2009, Murray was awarded the Charles Douglas-Home memorial prize for journalism.

Contents

[edit] Education

Murray was educated at St Benedict's School,[4] Eton College, and Magdalen College at the University of Oxford, where he studied English, receiving a 2:2.

[edit] Publications

At Oxford, aged 20, he published a biography of Lord Alfred Douglas,[5] which was described by Christopher Hitchens as "masterly".[6]

Murray later wrote a play, Nightfall, based on Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg's attempts to dissuade Adolf Eichmann from implementing the Final Solution.[1]

In 2005 he published a defence of neoconservatism, Neoconservatism: Why We Need It and undertook a related promotional tour of the United States. During the tour he gave an interview to the New York Sun, in which he outlined his "instinctive" support for Israel.[7]

In 2007 he assisted in the writing of Towards a Grand Strategy for an Uncertain World: Renewing Transatlantic Partnership by Gen. Dr. Klaus Naumann, Gen. John Shalikashvili, Field Marshal The Lord Inge, Adm. Jacques Lanxade, and Gen. Henk van den Breemen.[8] Upon publication, The Guardian reported that among its recommendations was that, as a last resort, NATO should be prepared to launch a pre-emptive nuclear attack in order to prevent the use of weapons of mass destruction.[9]

[edit] Media appearances and journalism

He has appeared on the BBC's Question Time,[10] Newsnight,[citation needed] HardTalk,[11] Today Programme,[12] The Big Questions,[citation needed] BBC Wales,[citation needed] and has written for The Guardian,[13] The Sunday Times,[14] "NPR's "Intelligence Squared",[15] and Standpoint.[16]

[edit] Views on Islam

Murray frequently criticises aspects of Islamic fundamentalism, and he has written that it was through studying Islam and the Qur'an that led to the loss of his own faith.[17] In 2010 Murray wrote "It is grotesque to argue that Europe has failed its Muslims. It has been made repeatedly obvious that it is Islam that has failed Europe".[18] Murray is opposed to the presence of Islam in Europe, saying: "Conditions for Muslims in Europe must be made harder across the board: Europe must look like a less attractive proposition." [19]

Murray has described what he sees as, "a creed of Islamic fascism – a malignant fundamentalism, woken from the dark ages to assault us here and now". He believes that "we live…in a thought culture – but it is one in which the thought has gone bad". He sees the main problem as being cultural relativism[20] which he has described as, "the primary disease – the AIDS of the West – the disease which has made the opportunist infection of Islam so deadly".[21]

He has labelled "Islamophobia" a "nonsense term", as "there are a considerable number of reasons to be fearful of some – though certainly not all – aspects and versions of Islam".[22] His comments about Islamic extremism in Holland mean that he has to have a police guard when travelling there.[10]

In March 2009, Murray and the Centre for Social Cohesion applauded the decision to bar Ibrahim el-Moussawi, spokesman for Hizbollah, from entering Britain.[23] El-Moussawi had been due to lecture government officials and police on political Islam at a course arranged by the School of Oriental and African Studies;[24] Murray was highly critical of the prospect that while el-Moussawi was set to be welcomed into Britain, elected Dutch MP Geert Wilders had been barred from entering the country just weeks before.[25] He subsequently wrote to Home Secretary Jacqui Smith warning that he was planning to instruct his lawyers to issue an international arrest warrant against el-Moussawi if he entered Britain;[24] the Home Office eventually refused el-Moussawi a visa.

[edit] "Banned" from the LSE

Murray claimed that he was "banned"[26][27][28] by the London School of Economics in January 2009. Murray was set to chair a debate titled "Islam and Liberalism: Which is the Way Forward?" between Dr Alan Sked and Hamza Andreas Tzortzis. However the LSE decided that, as it was experiencing student protests and significant unrest on campus in the context of Israeli incursion into Gaza, Murray's presence "might provoke further unrest". He was subsequently asked by the university to stay away from campus in the interests of "public safety", Murray claims. The LSE publicly denied that he had been banned, and stated that he had previously spoken at a number of LSE events, and said that they had at the last minute reinvited him to chair the meeting, which Murray later confirmed, though he was too upset to do so. Damian Thompson in the Daily Telegraph called LSE "gutless" and threatened to return the PhD he had earned at the university.[28] Journalist Melanie Phillips called the decision "another victory for the forces of darkness".[26]

[edit] Works

As co-author:

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b "4 Douglas Murray – Scotsman.com Living". Living.scotsman.com. http://living.scotsman.com/mosteligiblemen2003/4-Douglas-Murray.2477188.jp. Retrieved 12 November 2010. 
  2. ^ "Official Douglas Murray Site". Douglasmurray.co.uk. http://www.douglasmurray.co.uk/cv.htm. Retrieved 12 November 2010. 
  3. ^ "Centre for Social Cohesion". Socialcohesion.co.uk. http://www.socialcohesion.co.uk/people. Retrieved 12 November 2010. 
  4. ^ "St. Benedicts Activities Bulletin" (PDF). http://www.stbenedicts.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/2008-9_activities_bulletin_6web.pdf. Retrieved 12 November 2010. 
  5. ^ Smith, Dinitia (18 July 2000). "Article". New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F02E2DD133BF93BA25754C0A9669C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all. Retrieved 12 November 2010. 
  6. ^ Christopher Hitchens (30 August 2006). "Christopher Hitchens: Young Brit defends American people, politics and policies". The Washington Examiner. http://washingtonexaminer.com/node/446766. Retrieved 2 April 2011. 
  7. ^ Daniel Freedman (August 17, 2006). "Mugged by Reality". New York Sun. http://www.nysun.com/opinion/mugged-by-reality/38058/. Retrieved 24 December 2011. 
  8. ^ "Towards a Grand Strategy for an Uncertain World: Renewing Transatlantic Partnership" (PDF). http://www.csis.org/media/csis/events/080110_grand_strategy.pdf. Retrieved 12 November 2010. 
  9. ^ Traynor, Ian (22 January 2008). "Pre-emptive nuclear strike a key option, Nato told". The Guardian (London). http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jan/22/nato.nuclear. Retrieved 1 May 2010. 
  10. ^ a b "This week's panel". BBC News. 5 July 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/question_time/6273762.stm. Retrieved 1 May 2010. 
  11. ^ "Douglas Murray". BBC News. 3 March 2008. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/hardtalk/7274865.stm. Retrieved 1 May 2010. 
  12. ^ "Radio 4 – Today Programme Listen Again". BBC. http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/today/listenagain/listenagain_20060902.shtml. Retrieved 12 November 2010. 
  13. ^ Murray, Douglas (31 October 2006). "Mission distorted". The Guardian (London). http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2006/oct/31/comment.iraq. Retrieved 1 May 2010. 
  14. ^ Murray, Douglas (23 November 2008). "Think tank Betrayal of Muslim reformers". The Times (London). http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/guest_contributors/article5213325.ece. Retrieved 1 May 2010. 
  15. ^ "Is Islam a Religion of Peace?". NPR. 13 October 2010. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130516428. Retrieved 25 Jan 2010. 
  16. ^ Douglas Murray. "Power to the Spokespeople". Standpointmag.co.uk. http://www.standpointmag.co.uk/node/809/full. Retrieved 12 November 2010. 
  17. ^ "Studying Islam has made me an atheist". The Spectator. 29 December 2008. http://www.spectator.co.uk/the-magazine/features/3194231/studying-islam-has-made-me-an-atheist.thtml. Retrieved 12 November 2010. 
  18. ^ "Europe is not failing its Muslims. But Islam has failed Europe". The Daily Telegraph (London). 10 March 2010. http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/douglasmurray/100029271/europe-is-not-failing-its-muslims-but-islam-has-failed-europe/. Retrieved 1 May 2010. 
  19. ^ {{cite news| url=http://web.archive.org/web/20080510104632/http://www.socialaffairsunit.org.uk/blog/archives/000809.php | work=The Social Affairs Unit | location=Netherlands | title=What are we to do about Islam | date=3 March 2006 | accessdate=15 Aug 2011}
  20. ^ Murray, Douglas (26 October 2005). "Web Review: Neoconservatism: why we need it – a talk to the Manhattan Institute by Douglas Murray". The Social Affairs Unit. http://www.socialaffairsunit.org.uk/blog/archives/000636.php. Retrieved 12 November 2010. 
  21. ^ What are we to do about Islam? A speech to the Pim Fortuyn Memorial Conference on Europe and Islam by Douglas Murray, 3 March 2006
  22. ^ Douglas Murray. "Standpoint". Standpointmag.co.uk. http://www.standpointmag.co.uk/node/251/full. Retrieved 12 November 2010. 
  23. ^ Hizbullah spokesman denied entry to UK
  24. ^ a b Barrett, David (7 March 2009). "Campaigners will seek arrest of Islamic radical Campaigners from the Centre for Social Cohesion have pledged to seek an arrest warrant for Dr Ibrahim Moussawi, an Islamic extremist, who is due to visit Britain this March.". The Daily Telegraph (London). http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/lawandorder/4953470/Campaigners-will-seek-arrest-of-Islamic-radical.html. Retrieved 1 May 2010. [dead link]
  25. ^ Charter, David (12 February 2009). "AntiIslamist politician Geert Wilders refused entry to Britain". The Times (London). http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article5718039.ece. Retrieved 1 May 2010. 
  26. ^ a b Melanie Phillips (23 January 2009). "The LSE caves in to terror". The Spectator. http://www.spectator.co.uk/melaniephillips/3283526/the-lse-caves-in-to-terror.thtml. Retrieved April 25, 2010. 
  27. ^ "Civil liberties group calls for resignation of Prof Janet Hartley". The Daily Telegraph (London). 23 January 2009. http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/alex_singleton/blog/2009/01/23/civil_liberties_group_calls_for_resignation_of_prof_janet_hartley. Retrieved 1 May 2010. 
  28. ^ a b Damian Thompson (January 23, 2009). "Gutless LSE bans Islam critic Douglas Murray for 'security reasons'". The Daily Telegraph (London). http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/damian_thompson/blog/2009/01/23/gutless_lse_bans_islam_critic_douglas_murray_for_security_reasons?com_num=20&com_pg=. Retrieved February 23, 2009. 

[edit] External links

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