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Sam Harris: Why Dont I Criticize Israel?
The famed and controversial atheist weighs in on Gaza
By Sam Harris | July 30, 201 4 9:00 AM | Comments: 0
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On Sunday, Sam Harris famous atheist, best-selling author of The End of Faith,
passionate internet debater published on his blog an essay titled Why Dont I Criticize
Israel? Its the updated and revised transcript of a 15-minute spoken podcast, and it
represents a new side of a man who has made his name toilet-papering every house of
religion, whether Jewish or Muslim, Christian or Hindu. He has received death threats from
Muslims yet he also believes that there should be no Jewish state. In this essay, he
explains his thinking on the current Middle East conflict, including where his sympathies lie
or dont. Hes agreed to let Tablet republish it.
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7/8/2014 Sam Harris: ' Why Don' t I Criticize Israel?' Tablet Magazine
The question Ive now received in many forms goes something like this: Why is it that you
never criticize Israel? Why is it that you never criticize Judaism? Why is it that you always
take the side of the Israelis over that of the Palestinians?
Now, this is an incredibly boring and depressing question for a variety of reasons. The first, is
that I have criticized both Israel and Judaism. What seems to have upset many people is that
Ive kept some sense of proportion. There are something like 15 million Jews on earth at this
moment; there are a hundred times as many Muslims. Ive debated rabbis who, when I have
assumed that they believe in a God that can hear our prayers, they stop me mid-sentence and
say, Why would you think that I believe in a God who can hear prayers? So there are
rabbisconservative rabbiswho believe in a God so elastic as to exclude every concrete
claim about Himand therefore, nearly every concrete demand upon human behavior. And
there are millions of Jews, literally millions among the few million who exist, for whom
Judaism is very important, and yet they are atheists. They dont believe in God at all. This is
actually a position you can hold in Judaism, but its a total non sequitur in Islam or
Christianity.
So, when were talking about the consequences of irrational beliefs based on scripture, the
Jews are the least of the least offenders. But I have said many critical things about Judaism.
Let me remind you that parts of Hebrew Biblebooks like Leviticus and Exodus and
Deuteronomyare the most repellent, the most sickeningly unethical documents to be found
in any religion. Theyre worse than the Koran. Theyre worse than any part of the New
Testament. But the truth is, most Jews recognize this and dont take these texts seriously. Its
simply a fact that most Jews and most Israelis are not guided by scriptureand thats a very
good thing.
Of course, there are some who are. There are religious extremists among Jews. Now, I
consider these people to be truly dangerous, and their religious beliefs are as divisive and as
unwarranted as the beliefs of devout Muslims. But there are far fewer such people.
For those of you who worry that I never say anything critical about Israel: My position on
Israel is somewhat paradoxical. There are questions about which Im genuinely undecided.
And theres something in my position, I think, to offend everyone. So, acknowledging how
reckless it is to say anything on this topic, Im nevertheless going to think out loud about it
for a few minutes.
I dont think Israel should exist as a Jewish state. I think it is obscene, irrational and
unjustifiable to have a state organized around a religion. So I dont celebrate the idea that
theres a Jewish homeland in the Middle East. I certainly dont support any Jewish claims to
real estate based on the Bible. [Note: Read this paragraph again.]
Though I just said that I dont think Israel should exist as a Jewish state, the justification for
such a state is rather easy to find. We need look no further than the fact that the rest of the
world has shown itself eager to murder the Jews at almost every opportunity. So, if there
were going to be a state organized around protecting members of a single religion, it certainly
should be a Jewish state. Now, friends of Israel might consider this a rather tepid defense, but
its the strongest one Ive got. I think the idea of a religious state is ultimately untenable.
[Note: It is worth observing, however, that Israel isnt Jewish in the sense that Saudi
Arabia and Pakistan are Muslim. As my friend Jerry Coyne points out, Israel is actually less
religious than the U.S., and it guarantees freedom of religion to its citizens. Israel is not a
theocracy, and one could easily argue that its Jewish identity is more cultural than religious.
However, if we ask why the Jews wouldnt move to British Columbia if offered a home there,
we can see the role that religion still plays in their thinking.]
Needless to say, in defending its territory as a Jewish state, the Israeli government and

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Israelis themselves have had to do terrible things. They have, as they are now, fought wars
against the Palestinians that have caused massive losses of innocent life. More civilians have
been killed in Gaza in the last few weeks than militants. Thats not a surprise because Gaza is
one of the most densely populated places on Earth. Occupying it, fighting wars in it, is
guaranteed to get woman and children and other noncombatants killed. And theres probably
little question over the course of fighting multiple wars that the Israelis have done things that
amount to war crimes. They have been brutalized by this processthat is, made brutal by it.
But that is largely the due to the character of their enemies. [Note: I was not giving Israel a
pass to commit war crimes. I was making a point about the realities of living under the
continuous threat of terrorism and of fighting multiple wars in a confined space.]
Whatever terrible things the Israelis have done, it is also true to say that they have used more
restraint in their fighting against the Palestinians than wethe Americans, or Western
Europeanshave used in any of our wars. They have endured more worldwide public
scrutiny than any other society has ever had to while defending itself against aggressors. The
Israelis simply are held to a different standard. And the condemnation leveled at them by the
rest of the world is completely out of proportion to what they have actually done. [Note: I
was not saying that because they are more careful than we have been at our most careless,
the Israelis are above criticism. War crimes are war crimes.]
It is clear that Israel is losing the PR war and has been for years now. One of the most
galling things for outside observers about the current war in Gaza is the disproportionate loss
of life on the Palestinian side. This doesnt make a lot of moral sense. Israel built bomb
shelters to protect its citizens. The Palestinians built tunnels through which they could carry
out terror attacks and kidnap Israelis. Should Israel be blamed for successfully protecting its
population in a defensive war? I dont think so. [Note: I was not suggesting that the deaths
of Palestinian noncombatants are anything less than tragic. But if retaliating against Hamas
is bound to get innocents killed, and the Israelis manage to protect their own civilians in the
meantime, the loss of innocent life on the Palestinian side is guaranteed to be
disproportionate.]
But there is no way to look at the images coming out Gazaespecially of infants and toddlers
riddled by shrapneland think that this is anything other than a monstrous evil. Insofar as
the Israelis are the agents of this evil, it seems impossible to support them. And there is no
question that the Palestinians have suffered terribly for decades under the occupation. This is
where most critics of Israel appear to be stuck. They see these images, and they blame Israel
for killing and maiming babies. They see the occupation, and they blame Israel for making
Gaza a prison camp. I would argue that this is a kind of moral illusion, borne of a failure to
look at the actual causes of this conflict, as well as of a failure to understand the intentions of
the people on either side of it. [Note: I was not saying that the horror of slain children is a
moral illusion; nor was I minimizing the suffering of the Palestinians under the occupation. I
was claiming that Israel is not primarily to blame for all this suffering.]
The truth is that there is an obvious, undeniable, and hugely consequential moral difference
between Israel and her enemies. The Israelis are surrounded by people who have explicitly
genocidal intentions towards them. The charter of Hamas is explicitly genocidal. It looks
forward to a time, based on Koranic prophesy, when the earth itself will cry out for Jewish
blood, where the trees and the stones will say O Muslim, theres a Jew hiding behind me.
Come and kill him. This is a political document. We are talking about a government that
was voted into power by a majority of Palestinians. [Note: Yes, I know that not every
Palestinian supports Hamas, but enough do to have brought them to power. Hamas is not a
fringe group.]
The discourse in the Muslim world about Jews is utterly shocking. Not only is there
Holocaust denialtheres Holocaust denial that then asserts that we will do it for real if given
the chance. The only thing more obnoxious than denying the Holocaust is to say that it
should have happened; it didnt happen, but if we get the chance, we will accomplish it. There
are childrens shows in the Palestinian territories and elsewhere that teach five-year-olds
about the glories of martyrdom and about the necessity of killing Jews.
And this gets to the heart of the moral difference between Israel and her enemies. And this is
something I discussed in The End of Faith. To see this moral difference, you have to ask what
each side would do if they had the power to do it.
What would the Jews do to the Palestinians if they could do anything they wanted? Well, we
know the answer to that question, because they can do more or less anything they want. The
Israeli army could kill everyone in Gaza tomorrow. So what does that mean? Well, it means
that, when they drop a bomb on a beach and kill four Palestinian children, as happened last
week, this is almost certainly an accident. Theyre not targeting children. They could target as
many children as they want. Every time a Palestinian child dies, Israel edges ever closer to
becoming an international pariah. So the Israelis take great pains not to kill children and
other noncombatants. [Note: The word so in the previous sentence was regrettable and
misleading. I didnt mean to suggest that safeguarding its reputation abroad would be the
only (or even primary) reason for Israel to avoid killing children. However, the point stands:
Even if you want to attribute the basest motives to Israel, it is clearly in her self-interest not
to kill Palestinian children.]
Now, is it possible that some Israeli soldiers go berserk under pressure and wind up shooting
into crowds of rock-throwing children? Of course. You will always find some soldiers acting
this way in the middle of a war. But we know that this isnt the general intent of Israel. We
know the Israelis do not want to kill non-combatants, because they could kill as many as
they want, and theyre not doing it.
What do we know of the Palestinians? What would the Palestinians do to the Jews in Israel if
the power imbalance were reversed? Well, they have told us what they would do. For some
reason, Israels critics just dont want to believe the worst about a group like Hamas, even
when it declares the worst of itself. Weve already had a Holocaust and several other
genocides in the 20th century. People are capable of committing genocide. When they tell us
they intend to commit genocide, we should listen. There is every reason to believe that the
Palestinians would kill all the Jews in Israel if they could. Would every Palestinian support
genocide? Of course not. But vast numbers of themand of Muslims throughout the world
would. Needless to say, the Palestinians in general, not just Hamas, have a history of
targeting innocent noncombatants in the most shocking ways possible. Theyve blown
themselves up on buses and in restaurants. Theyve massacred teenagers. Theyve murdered
Olympic athletes. They now shoot rockets indiscriminately into civilian areas. And again, the
charter of their government in Gaza explicitly tells us that they want to annihilate the Jews
not just in Israel but everywhere. [Note: Again, I realize that not all Palestinians support
Hamas. Nor am I discounting the degree to which the occupation, along with collateral
damage suffered in war, has fueled Palestinian rage. But Palestinian terrorism (and Muslim
anti-Semitism) is what has made peaceful coexistence thus far impossible.]
The truth is that everything you need to know about the moral imbalance between Israel and
her enemies can be understood on the topic of human shields. Who uses human shields?
Well, Hamas certainly does. They shoot their rockets from residential neighborhoods, from
beside schools, and hospitals, and mosques. Muslims in other recent conflicts, in Iraq and
elsewhere, have also used human shields. They have laid their rifles on the shoulders of their
own children and shot from behind their bodies.
Consider the moral difference between using human shields and being deterred by them.
That is the difference were talking about. The Israelis and other Western powers are deterred,
however imperfectly, by the Muslim use of human shields in these conflicts, as we should be.
It is morally abhorrent to kill noncombatants if you can avoid it. Its certainly abhorrent to
shoot through the bodies of children to get at your adversary. But take a moment to reflect
on how contemptible this behavior is. And understand how cynical it is. The Muslims are
acting on the assumptionthe knowledge, in factthat the infidels with whom they fight,
the very people whom their religion does nothing but vilify, will be deterred by their use of
Muslim human shields. They consider the Jews the spawn of apes and pigsand yet they rely
on the fact that they dont want to kill Muslim noncombatants. [Note: The term Muslims
in this paragraph means Muslim combatants of the sort that Western forces have
encountered in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere. The term jihadists would have been too
narrow, but I was not suggesting that all Muslims support the use of human shields or are
anti-Semitic, at war with the West, etc.]
Now imagine reversing the roles here. Imagine how fatuousindeed comical it would be
for the Israelis to attempt to use human shields to deter the Palestinians. Some claim that
they have already done this. There are reports that Israeli soldiers have occasionally put
Palestinian civilians in front of them as theyve advanced into dangerous areas. Thats not the
use of human shields were talking about. Its egregious behavior. No doubt it constitutes a
war crime. But Imagine the Israelis holding up their own women and children as human
shields. Of course, that would be ridiculous. The Palestinians are trying to kill everyone.
Killing women and children is part of the plan. Reversing the roles here produces a grotesque
Monty Python skit.
If youre going to talk about the conflict in the Middle East, you have to acknowledge this
difference. I dont think theres any ethical disparity to be found anywhere that is more
shocking or consequential than this.
And the truth is, this isnt even the worst that jihadists do. Hamas is practically a moderate
organization, compared to other jihadist groups. There are Muslims who have blown
themselves up in crowds of childrenagain, Muslim childrenjust to get at the American
soldiers who were handing out candy to them. They have committed suicide bombings, only
to send another bomber to the hospital to await the casualitieswhere they then blow up all
the injured along with the doctors and nurses trying to save their lives.
Every day that you could read about an Israeli rocket gone astray or Israeli soldiers beating
up an innocent teenager, you could have read about ISIS in Iraq crucifying people on the
side of the road, Christians and Muslims. Where is the outrage in the Muslim world and on
the Left over these crimes? Where are the demonstrations, 10,000 or 100,000 deep, in the
capitals of Europe against ISIS? If Israel kills a dozen Palestinians by accident, the entire
Muslim world is inflamed. God forbid you burn a Koran, or write a novel vaguely critical of
the faith. And yet Muslims can destroy their own societiesand seek to destroy the West
and you dont hear a peep. [Note: Of course, Im aware that many Muslims condemn
groups like ISIS. My point is that we dont see massive protests against global jihadismeven
though it targets Muslims more than anyone elseand we do see such protests over things
like the Danish cartoons.]
So, it seems to me, that you have to side with Israel here. You have one side which if it really
could accomplish its aims would simply live peacefully with its neighbors, and you have
another side which is seeking to implement a seventh century theocracy in the Holy Land.
Theres no peace to be found between those incompatible ideas. That doesnt mean you cant
condemn specific actions on the part of the Israelis. And, of course, acknowledging the moral
disparity between Israel and her enemies doesnt give us any solution to the problem of
Israels existence in the Middle East. [Note: I was not suggesting that Israels actions are
above criticism or that their recent incursion into Gaza was necessarily justified. Nor was I
saying that the status quo, wherein the Palestinians remain stateless, should be maintained.
And I certainly wasnt expressing support for the building of settlements on contested land (as
I made clear below). By siding with Israel, I am simply recognizing that they are not the
primary aggressors in this conflict. They are, rather, responding to aggressionand at a
terrible cost.]
Again, granted, theres some percentage of Jews who are animated by their own religious
hysteria and their own prophesies. Some are awaiting the Messiah on contested land. Yes,
these people are willing to sacrifice the blood of their own children for the glory of God. But,
for the most part, they are not representative of the current state of Judaism or the actions of
the Israeli government. And it is how Israel deals with these peopletheir own religious
lunaticsthat will determine whether they can truly hold the moral high ground. And Israel
can do a lot more than it has to disempower them. It can cease to subsidize the delusions of
the Ultra-Orthodox, and it can stop building settlements on contested land. [Note: Read
that again. And, yes, I understand that not all settlers are Ultra-Orthodox.]
These incompatible religious attachments to this land have made it impossible for Muslims
and Jews to negotiate like rational human beings, and they have made it impossible for them
to live in peace. But the onus is still more on the side of the Muslims here. Even on their
worst day, the Israelis act with greater care and compassion and self-criticism than Muslim
combatants have anywhere, ever.
And again, you have to ask yourself, what do these groups want? What would they
accomplish if they could accomplish anything? What would the Israelis do if they could do
what they want? They would live in peace with their neighbors, if they had neighbors who
would live in peace with them. They would simply continue to build out their high tech sector
and thrive. [Note: Some might argue that they would do more than thise.g. steal more
To the Students for Justice in
Palestine, a Letter From an Angry
Black Woman
By Chloe Valdary You do not hav e
the right to inv oke my peoples
struggle for y our shoddy purposes
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Palestinian land. But apart from the influence of Jewish extremism (which I condemn),
Israels continued appropriation of land has more than a little to do with her security
concerns. Absent Palestinian terrorism and Muslim anti-Semitism, we could be talking about
a one-state solution, and the settlements would be moot.]
What do groups like ISIS and al-Qaeda and even Hamas want? They want to impose their
religious views on the rest of humanity. They want stifle every freedom that decent, educated,
secular people care about. This is not a trivial difference. And yet judging from the level of
condemnation that Israel now receives, you would think the difference ran the other way.
This kind of confusion puts all of us in danger. This is the great story of our time. For the rest
of our lives, and the lives of our children, we are going to be confronted by people who dont
want to live peacefully in a secular, pluralistic world, because they are desperate to get to
Paradise, and they are willing to destroy the very possibility of human happiness along the
way. The truth is, we are all living in Israel. Its just that some of us havent realized it yet.
Related: Q&A: Sam Harris
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Add a comment 86 comments

Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Sam Harris, Richard Dawkins, Salman Rushdie, Douglas Murray, Ibn Warraq,
Bill Maher, Wafa Sultan and Martin Amis. Atheists with the intellectual honesty to admit that
fundamentalist Islam is one of the biggest threats to the free world.
Reply Like Follow Post Edited July 30 at 10:06pm 18
Tim James San Francisco
I think they would all say that ALL fundamentalism [full stop] is one of the biggest
threats to the free world, e.g. Christian evangelicals, Wahhabism (and other forms of
Islamic fundamentalism), the Haredi, elements of the BJP and RSS in Hinduism,
etc.. Non-Muslim fundamentalists wouldn't get a pass for a second, particularly from
Dawkins, Maher, and Hitchens (who you didn't mention, but certainly bears inclusion
on your list).
Reply Like August 1 at 10:49pm

Tim James Hitchens I didn't mention simply because he is no longer among the
living. I could have mentioned Daniel Dennett who also emphasizes Islam over the
rest. But especially Sam Harris who knows that fundamentalism per se is not the
problem. It depends on what the fundamentals of a particular religion are. Saying
religions is like saying sports, says Sam. Islam is to Jainism as Muay Thai is to
badminton.
The only problem with Islamic fundamentalism are the fundamentals of Islam." -
Sam Harris
In my opinion, if only more Christians were more serious in their emulation of Jesus,
the world would be a better place. And thank goodness that most Muslims don't
really care about emulating Muhammad, the perfect man(al-Insan-al-Kamil) an
example for all Muslims for all time.
Also, until more atheists start waking up to the threat of Islam, we need the
Evangelicals support. (or until Islam reforms itself heavily) Ayaan Hirsi Ali also
makes a clear distinction between fundamentalist Muslims and between
Evangelical Christians.
Reply Like August 2 at 5:03pm 1
Shuneet Thomson Boston College
The moral distinction between Israel and the Palestinians and in particular Hamas is well
articulated in this article. A surprising misunderstanding of the reason for Jewish connection to
this piece of real estate. True, it is seen as the Promised Land on a religious basis, but the
connection to the land is historic and national. Jewish identity has two dimensions: national
and religious. As the author himself points out, many Jews are not religious, but rather
connected to their history and national identity. Over three thousand years ago they lived on this
land, had Jerusalem as the capital, had kings, armies, a justice system and moral religious
core. It is the history in this land, thousands of years before England became England and the
Americas were discovered - that is what links Jews to this land. It is about national self-
determination, not religious self determination. It is the country of the Jewish nation, not of the
Jewish religion. I hope you understand this, Sam Harris, because your understanding of why
Jews have a country in this land in particular as expressed in your article is sorely lacking. This
is surprising if view of how thoughtful you clearly are.
Reply Like Follow Post August 1 at 1:33am 17
Anton Ben Tupim Top Commenter Washington D. C.
To me the bottom line is who cares what the reason is? Has any other country had
To me the bottom line is who cares what the reason is? Has any other country had
to give a reason for its existence? As far as I'm concerned the only focus should be
on ending violence when possible and quickly taking out self declared enemies as
there is no rational reason for their cause.
Reply Like August 1 at 4:40am 4
Scott Rose Top Commenter 428 followers
Israel is no more a religious entity to Jews than Italy is one to Italians.
Reply Like August 4 at 10:54am
Follow
2
Scott Rose Yeah well, try telling Italians they are not really Italian. You will get to see
the signature Italian passion :-) . But seriously, it's all ridiculous! We should all live
where we want, visit where we want free of any harassment and judgement by
people who live differently. It's so sad to me that so many people in the world can't
see the simple truth.
Reply Like 19 hours ago
Robin Rosenblatt Top Commenter Works at Israel Longhorn Project
"The Hebrew Bible has 5.6% of political violence; The Islamic Trilogy Koran, Sira and Hadith
have 31% political violence. "The words devoted to political violence in Islam 327,547; the Bible
34,039"
The Political violence of the koran is eternal and universal. The Political violence of the Bible is
for a particular historical time and place." Bill Warner, Center for the Study of Political Islam.
Reply Like Follow Post July 31 at 2:09pm 13
Mario Hernandez Top Commenter
"Political violence" isn't at all a subjective term or anything...
Reply Like Yesterday at 6:07am
Osama Albayti Top Commenter Colorado State University
Tell that to all the Muslims who disagree with you. It's been said before, only
terrorists agree with the Islamophobes' understanding of Islam.
Reply Like 21 hours ago
Yeshayahu Hollander Top Commenter Universidad Hebrea de Jerusaln
Sam Harris is trying to be objective, but really doesn't have the facts right. Quote "More civilians
have been killed in Gaza in the last few weeks than militants." Not true:
http://www.algemeiner.com/2014/07/21/al-jazeera-publishes-updated-list-of-gaza-dead-analys
is-confirms-israel-tageting-combatants/
Reply Like Follow Post July 30 at 4:21pm
Follow
11
Jonathan Wayne Top Commenter
Wow, thanks for that link! Media sources have almost exclusively relied on "self
reported" numbers provided by Hamas and Hamas-sympathizers, numbers which
have served to advance their cause. Yes, the loss of any innocent life is tragic, but
the Al Jazeera provided figures confirm that Israel has gone above and beyond to try
and avoid civilian casualties.
Reply Like July 31 at 5:34pm 5
Yossi Barishev Top Commenter at
The most recent source for that report is from july20th. Anything more up-to-date
perhaps?
Reply Like August 1 at 9:35am
Follow
David Kunkel Top Commenter
The same was true in Operation Cast Lead. By HAMAS' OWN NUMBERS, 80% of the
dead were combatants.
Reply Like August 1 at 12:39pm
Niall Farren Athlone Institute of Technology
"Palestinian terrorism is what has made peaceful coexistence thus far impossible.". !?! WOW
Very accurate statement
Inon Prince Top Commenter Boulder (Colorado)
Well, Muslim massacred Jews long before the state of Israel was even established.
Here's one example: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1929_Hebron_massacre
And this is a good read: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relations_between_Nazi_Germ
any_and_the_Arab_world
Reply Like August 2 at 2:13pm 4
Niall Farren Athlone Institute of Technology
Anton Ben Tupim http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/07/31/why-i-criticize-israel/
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Saul Balagura Top Commenter University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Just because one can find fault with one or more arguments, tangential to the core message,
does not weakened the main message, i.e., that the non-Muslim world has not realized that for
practical purposes they are Israel. We are afraid of even verbalizing what will become of
England, France, Belgium, Spain, Italy and many other "western" nations in 40 years vis-a-vis
their current Muslin populations? Sam Harris article is quite clear in this respect
Sandy Perlmutter Top Commenter Brooklyn
Brilliant, subtle, measured! Send this to all your friends! Ask not for whom the Islamic bell tolls:
it tolls for you.
Rachel Schreiber Levitan Top Commenter Baltimore
"I dont think Israel should exist as a Jewish state. I think it is obscene, irrational and
unjustifiable to have a state organized around a religion. So I dont celebrate the idea that
theres a Jewish homeland in the Middle East. I certainly dont support any Jewish claims to
real estate based on the Bible. "
How can he say this? Isn't every nation in the Middle East (Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Iran, Iraq,
Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Qtar) organized around a religion? What? There can't be a state
organized around Judaism? Is that so offensive to the world? Aren't many of the "claims to real
estate" of the Muslims based on the Qoran? Is that offensive? Does he support that? Maybe
Rome should cease to be Catholic?
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So Jews should return to Poland and France and Germany and hope for the best,
because that has worked out so well. What is really obscene is people like you who
go out of your way to criticize Israel and berate it for being a Jewish state in a world
where most countries take their national religion seriously, and are all bigger. Do
you not understand that being a minority makes you a target? What fantasy world
have you been living in? New York?
Rachel Schreiber Levitan Top Commenter Baltimore
Anton Ben Tupim WT?
Reply Like July 31 at 3:58pm
Jonathan Wayne Top Commenter
OF COURSE Sam Harris is against any nation that is based on religious doctrine.
Wasn't that clear from his words?
James S. Kaplan Top Commenter Lane Community College
Are there not a thousand times more muslims than Jews? 1.5 billion is 1.5^10 and we are 6
million in Israel so 6^6 is something like 833:1 Arab muslims on the other hand are ~200m so
that is more like 34:1. Incredible odds no matter how you slice it! Sorry to nitpick, but opinions
lack strength if they cannot be backed by fact.
Joseph Deutsch
Wow. The most intellectually honest piece on the conflict I've ever read. By a long shot.
Reply Like Follow Post August 4 at 7:01pm 2

Sam Harris - 'Why Don't I Criticize Israel - ' - Tablet Magazine

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