Selective Morality

I never liked utilitarianism. I always subscribed more to Kant’s philosophy that actions are inherently good or bad in themselves and that a person could never be used as a means to an end. We should never use other human beings for our own benefit, no matter how many people are positively affected — sure you can do it, but it’s not the behavior of a good person. A good person is a person who does right, regardless of the benefit to themselves or others.

I have never subscribed to this notion that if a particular course of action benefits a lot of people, it therefore becomes the moral choice. I would say, however, that much of the moral hypocrisy we see in Western conversations currently stems from a pernicious utilitarian approach where the righteous argue that resistance must be achieved by any means possible, therefore justifying and/or denying acts of evil in order to disempower the Jewish people and “free Palestine”.

In February I visited a Druze community in Northern Israel. The Druze are Israeli-Arabs with many communities along the Northern borders, and who are also found in Lebanon and Syria. They make up less than 2% of the Israeli population but are some of the most Zionist among the nation, and they make for the fiercest IDF soldiers. Their religious practises are secretive, and they have their own beautiful flag. They speak Arabic. If you ever have the pleasure of being hosted by a Druze family, expect to be fed until you cannot eat any more.

I visited some Druze villages in the Golan Heights. Places like Majdal Shams, which today was the target of a horrific terrorist provocation. The Golan Heights is a dramatic place. Rolling hills and green valleys below snowy mountaintops, with winding towns carved along the edges of the roads. The Druze people who live in these places contain a certain gentle magic. The nerves of being so close to evacuated areas in February 2024 wore off around them, and the crew I was with removed our helmets and flat jackets to eat lunch. I met a man who lost his son in the Gaza war. His son was Druze, and he died defending his fellow IDF soldiers, many of them Jewish. This father was stoic, and proud, and talked about the importance of defending his country from Islamic terrorism. You don’t mess with the Druze. In fact, I’d be surprised if tonight they don’t walk across to Lebanon themselves and avenge today’s atrocities.

Just after 6pm today in Majdal Shams after weeks and months of rocket attacks from Hezbollah, a rocket was aimed - deliberately - at a children’s soccer field. So far 14 children have been killed. And many, many more are injured, some in critical condition. They went to a playground to kick a ball around, and they didn’t come home. Pictured are some of the dead…

It’s heartbreaking. The Druze are one of the most unique communities in Israel, and are a shining example of the coexistence that is possible. The fact that the Druze community is Arab-Israeli doesn't matter to the Iran-backed terrorist proxy Hezbollah, nor their Western apologists. This ceaseless violence has no place in the Middle East and no place being celebrated in the streets of Western democracies. Today I am taking note of all the humanitarian activists who are happily posting about vacations and relaxation, while innocent children are murdered in Israel. They froth at the mouth for infographics that are provided straight from the jaws of Hamas, boosting the number of child casualties in Gaza, and mitigating the culpability of a ruling party (Hamas) who constantly put them in the greatest danger.

As far as I’m concerned there is no going back for the "liberal" hypocrites of the West who only profess to "care" about Arab children when they can accuse the Jewish people of killing them. When Arab children who live in peaceful coexistence with the Jewish people die at the hands of Iranian terrorists, these so-called moral humanitarians are nowhere to be found. Since October 7, and before October 7, the Jewish people, and the people of Israel (Jewish, Arab and Christian) have repeatedly told the truth: the Iranian terror groups that are elected by the Palestinian people relentlessly put innocent children in harm's way and use them as human shields as part of their global propaganda war. The Western humanitarians are pawns in this war. It's time for them to uncover their eyes. But they won’t. They are suffering from selective morality. They see only what serves them and what they perceive to be the greater good, and that involves a bottom line: no Israel, no Jewish sovereignty, the return of the rootless cosmopolitans.

Let's see the selective morality they express when Israel and the Druze community defend itself against Lebanon's Hezbollah army, shall we? I’m sure they’ll pipe up then.

Selective morality is showing up everywhere this summer as a justification for dismantling Western values and burning down civilized ideals. Selective morality means ignoring the harm caused to some to make way for a bigger vision that supposedly benefits the majority. Selective morality means believing Donald Trump will eradicate Islamic extremism but overlooking the fact that his running mate JD Vance wants to make abortions “illegal nationally”. Selective morality is being outraged by the insurrection of January 6 but having nothing to say during the invasion of Capitol Hill that took place last week when Benjamin Netanyahu came to address the US Congress. Selective morality is lauding someone like Julian Assange as a free speech hero, but overlooking that he also took refuge in the Ecuadorian embassy to escape multiple rape allegations. Selective morality is being outraged by a drag performance of the Last Supper at the Paris Olympics, but never being offended by any of the hundreds of reinterpretations of Da Vinci’s most famous religious painting, including its satirical appearance on The Simpsons. Selective morality is human rights lawyer Amal Clooney taking Israel to the ICC over claims of genocide and seeking an arrest warrant for the country’s Prime Minister during the middle of a war but suddenly finding herself mute when Hamas is threatening to reveal the fate of five young female hostages in Gaza, or when 14 young Arabic children are murdered in a Druze village.

Selective morality is believing all women but denying the gut-curdling evidence that demonstrates the extent of sexual violence that took place against Israeli women, children and - as is coming to light more recently - men, on October 7.

Selective morality is being outraged when Arab children die on one side of the border but not on the other.

The selective morality crew will be up in arms the instant that Israel and the Druze communities respond to today’s horrendous attack, and they will respond. Whether this will be the catalyst for an all-out war with Lebanon, or even Iran, remains to be seen. But the selective morality gang have shown time and again that they are not equipped to speak on reality; only on whatever manipulation of facts serves them best. They are no good for their positions. They are no good for their responsibilities. They are no good.

People who distort the truth to benefit their own agenda are interested in power and power alone. Not morality. Not progress. Certainly not peace, or love, or any of the most sacred things we have. They are there for a season; the season of me, myself and I. They will realize the importance of true authentic community too late.

Last night I posted an essay by the late Lord Jonathan Sacks, former Chief Rabbi of the UK, and a giant of a scholar. I read part of this piece during a performance last month onstage in London, and I was so moved by the reading that I hunted down the entire essay and have recorded it below. If there’s anything to be said for Judaism, it is that we have a way of evading selective morality by instead encouraging incessant battles around every possible moral conundrum until all of us have an ocular migraine. Throughout our lives we are encouraged to get to grips with the very concept of what it means to be good itself. Which is why we’re a safe bet.