How the West Went Insane After October 7 (and Before, Too)

Spiked's Brendan O'Neill discusses his new book, After the Pogrom: 7 October, Israel and the Crisis of Civilisation, and the coming end of wokeism.

Arash Khamooshi/Polaris/Newscom

My guest on last week’s Reason Interview podcast was Brendan O'Neill, chief political writer for Spiked and the author of the bracing new book, After the Pogrom: 7 October, Israel and the Crisis of Civilisation.

We talk about the response in the United Kingdom and the United States to Hamas' attacks last year, Israel's ongoing military actions, and what's likely to come next in a postwoke world. "On October 7," Brendan says, "the progressive left went from 'believe women' to 'believe fascists.' They took Hamas at its word over the testimonies of raped women."

We also discuss whether his politics have changed over the years. At the start of his career a quarter-century ago, he was an unapologetic man of the left—a self-declared Trotskyist, in fact. But these days he seems to make more common cause with conservatives and libertarians. "My rallying cry remains the same," he insists. "Increase the power of man over nature and decrease the power of man over man."

Here are the topics we cover. Below that are links to YouTube, Apple, Spotify, and Soundcloud versions of our conversation.

0:00- Introduction

1:16- O'Neill's new book: "After The Pogrom"

5:48- Hamas is religious extremist movement

11:10- Islamism as extreme rejection of modernity

16:57- Is being anti-Zionist punk?

18:40- The 'cultural appropriation' of the Keffiyeh

21:17- Is Israel a white settler-colonialist state?

24:28- When did the left turn against Israel?

28:53- Is antisemitism connected to anti-capitalism?

32:30- The demonization of Israel

33:40- Palestine as the Omni-cause

35:34- The madness of Queers for Palestine

39:29- The catastrophe of post-Oct. 7 progressivism

43:34- Did Oct. 7 accelerate the collapse of wokeness?

46:40- How much should the west be supporting Israel's war effort?

51:28- O'Neill's political evolution

53:21- How gay liberation differed from the trans movement

58:22- Today's young activists seek institutional approval

1:00:50- How Marxism & Trotsky influenced O'Neill

1:04:14- Critics of Zionism in 1930s-40s Europe

Previous appearances:

"A Heretic's Manifesto: Spiked's leading polemicist defends J.K. Rowling, Brexit, and Enlightenment values of free speech and pluralism," June 21, 2023

"'The Real Threat to Free Speech Now Is Conformism and Cowardice': Spiked's Brendan O'Neill on free expression, environmentalism as 'an apology for poverty,' and why he is 'a Marxist libertarian,'" December 23, 2015

Video Editor: Ian Keyser

If you like my work, please check out Reason, where this originally appeared and where I’ve worked for 30+ years (!). Established in 1968, Reason is the planet’s leading source of libertarian politics, culture, and ideas and supports a world of ‘free minds and free markets.’