Borrowing from the Israeli discourse after Oct. 7, Jewish-British journalist Melanie Phillips (73) is one of the UK's earliest and most famous "disillusioned" figures: from being a senior left-wing journalist and a "Jew by accident," to becoming a fighter for neo-conservative values in the West and an outspoken pro-Israel voice.
Lebanon, now in the spotlight of both the conflict and media attention, played a crucial role in Phillips' process of leaving the British left. "The first time I was exposed to the hypocrisy towards Israel in the world press was in 1982, when the First Lebanon War began," she recalled. "I hadn't visited Israel before, had no such plans, and didn't know much about the Israeli-Arab conflict. To my shock, the coverage in the British press portrayed Israel as a Nazi state. I'll never forget how Ariel Sharon, then defense minister, was described as a Nazi general and mass murderer. Out of nowhere, and for the first time since the Holocaust, displays of antisemitism towards Jews in Britain began to emerge, claiming that we, British Jews, support a state that is committing 'genocide' against Palestinians in Lebanon.
"At that time, I was a senior writer at The Guardian. I asked my colleagues – educated and wonderful people on a personal level who advocate moral principles – how it was that a shocking tragedy in the Middle East, where the army of Syrian President Hafez al-Assad murdered between 25,000 and 40,000 people in the city of Hama in Syria, received a side headline in our newspaper, while Israeli attacks against Palestinians in Lebanon received front-page headlines and extensive coverage. 'We have a double standard towards Israel,' I told them."
The answer she heard changed her life: "Of course we have a double standard," her colleagues explained. "Israel is a Western country, so we judge you by our morals, while from the Arab world, which wasn't educated on human rights values, we don't have similar expectations. If we made such a comparison, it would be racism on our part." Phillips replied: "What are you talking about? If someone claims that Arabs can't be expected to be as moral as the West, in my eyes, that's racism."
This conversation was a turning point for her: "The left revealed itself as fundamentally racist. This realization stunned me. They weren't the moral knights I thought they were. Although it took me time to part ways with The Guardian and the left, in retrospect, this was the moment when my previous world began to crumble." Beyond the ideological debate, Phillips realized that in her colleagues' eyes, she was a Jew representing Israel, and accordingly, they addressed her with expressions like "you" and "you all."
The series of attacks on the London Underground on July 7, 2005, sent shockwaves through the UK. Four Al-Qaeda terrorists with British citizenship detonated bombs in three train stations, killing about 52 people and injuring about 700. This tragedy catalyzed the publication of Phillips' most famous book in 2006: "Londonistan: How Britain Created a Terror State Within." Despite being published by a small, unknown publishing house, the book quickly became a bestseller in Britain and the US. "The major publishing houses in Britain boycotted me and refused to publish my books," Phillips explained. "'Londonistan' sparked a wide public debate on the integration of Muslim immigrants in Britain and the West's failure to address the internal Muslim threat, not only in terms of terrorism but also on the cultural front."
Q: 18 years after the publication of "Londonistan," how do you view the current attitude of the British elites towards Muslim immigration?
"The situation hasn't improved but worsened, in the sense that they're still in complete denial of the religious component of the attempts to Islamize the West, which is essentially jihad. On the other hand, in the general public, people understand that this is a terrible problem that only gets worse year by year. One can't ignore the fact that in France, there's a phenomenon of churches being deliberately and symbolically burned by Muslims, and that entire communities essentially function as enclaves operating under Sharia law."
"I still hold the same values"
"When asked about my transition from left to right," Phillips said, "I emphasize that I still hold the same values that have always guided me: giving voice to the weak against the centers of power, presenting the truth against lies, and going where the evidence leads me. I'm simply a Jew who believes in tikkun olam [a concept in Judaism about healing the world] and a journalist who believes in telling the truth. In many ways, I haven't changed; I just realized over time that the environment that surrounded me, those I thought were with me 'on the same front,' were never really there."
An example of Phillips' approach in British media can be seen from her appearance in March on the BBC's long-running program, "Question Time." Phillips argued that Israel is not systematically starving Gaza residents as a means of warfare. The audience reacted with astonishment, some even with overt laughter. Panel members and the program's host also expressed opposition to her statements.
Q: At times it seemed like everyone there was against you.
"When you see how a story like the Palestinian narrative, which is entirely based on lies, receives such support in the West, you understand the power of the intellectual and moral degeneration that has struck its elites, in Britain and in general. 'Palestinianism,' the Palestinian ideology aimed at fighting Israel, plays a much more central role today compared to other destructive ideologies: it's a moral cancer at the heart of Western civilization. It has distorted collective logic by paralyzing our ability to distinguish between truth and falsehood, and has emasculated the West from defending its way of life."
The full interview will be published in Makor Rishon in the coming days.
