"By those who had memorised the blueprint of slaughter.”
Douglas Murray’s testament to civilisation
By Khaled Salih
“They came through the fields at dawn, from Gaza, in silence or singing. Some wore uniforms. Others, civilian clothes, as if to mock the idea that there was a difference. It was October 7th, the day of Simchat Torah. In Be’eri, in Kfar Aza, the doors were opened not by hands but by fire, by wire-cutters, by those who had memorised the blueprint of slaughter.” [Eyewitness]
Douglas Murray’s On Democracies and Death Cults: Israel and the Future of Civilization is not merely a book; it is a searing, unflinching testament to humanity’s darkest impulses and its most resilient virtues. Drawing on raw, firsthand accounts and a deep historical lens, Murray presents a powerful and often harrowing narrative that challenges readers to confront uncomfortable truths about good, evil, and the very foundations of Western civilisation. More than a journalistic report, this book functions as a vital, emotionally charged warning, illuminating where societies stand when a “flare goes up.”
The book’s genesis lies in the cataclysmic events of October 7, 2023, a day that shattered any illusions of peace and security in Israel. Murray vividly recounts the sheer horror of that morning when air-raid sirens blared across Israel, reaching even Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, signalling something “very unusual was happening.” What began as rocket fire escalated into a “major terrorist breach from Gaza into Israel,” orchestrated by Hamas, a group that had dominated the territory since Israel’s withdrawal in 2005. The scale of the assault was staggering: reports quickly emerged of hundreds, possibly thousands, of terrorists streaming into southern Israeli communities and attacking young people at the Nova festival, a rave party timed for the eve of Simchat Torah.
