Bill Maher Says What Others Wont

Bill Maher is one of those commentators I don't always agree with, which is precisely why I find him worth listening to.

He remains broadly liberal, but he has an admirable habit of challenging his own side when he thinks it has lost its way. His latest New Rule, “Clash of Civilizations”, is a particularly good example.

Marking the 25th anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks, Maher asks how much Western attitudes have changed since that terrible day.

His argument is worth ten minutes of your time.

Remember When We Called Terrorists Terrorists?

Maher begins with 9/11 and a surprisingly contemporary question: why have parts of the media become reluctant even to use the word terrorist?

Twenty-five years ago, there was little ambiguity about what had happened. Al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked civilian aircraft and deliberately murdered almost 3,000 people.

Maher's point is not that there is a clash between Muslims and Christians. He explicitly rejects that idea.

The clash, he argues, is between radical Islamism and Western liberalism.

On one side are values such as freedom of religion, equality for women, tolerance of homosexuality and freedom of expression. On the other is an ideology that rejects many of those principles.

What troubles Maher is that sections of the Western Left now seem reluctant to defend their own liberal values against people who openly oppose them.

That is an uncomfortable observation.

It is also difficult to dismiss.

Then Maher Turns to Gaza

The second half of the segment is, to my mind, even more important.

Maher turns to Israel's war against Hamas and attacks the increasingly casual use of one of the most serious words in our vocabulary:

Genocide.

Maher's position is unequivocal. He argues that describing the Gaza war as genocide is false and points to Israel's conduct — including humanitarian aid and medical evacuations — as evidence inconsistent with an intention to destroy the Palestinian people.

The word genocide should not simply become another political slogan.

It describes one of humanity's most terrible crimes. If we casually attach it to warfare involving tragic civilian casualties, we risk stripping the word of its meaning.

More importantly, accusations have consequences.

From “Genocide” to Antisemitism

This is where Maher makes perhaps his sharpest observation.

If people are repeatedly told that Israel is deliberately committing genocide against Palestinians — and come to believe that as an established fact — then hostility towards Israel becomes not merely understandable but morally righteous.

And from there, the line between hatred of Israel and hatred of Jews can become dangerously thin.

Maher argues that this helps explain the extraordinary rise in antisemitism throughout the Western world since October 7.

That does not mean every critic of Israel is antisemitic. Nor does criticism of Israeli government policy become antisemitism merely because it is strongly expressed.

But accusing the Jewish state of deliberately exterminating a people has become a political tool to demonise Israel and indirectly all Jews. 

“Genocide” has become a chant on streets, university campuses and social media — often presented not as an allegation to be proved, but as an established fact.

We have seen the consequences.

As I discussed recently in Never Again Starts Here, antisemitism has grown to the point where Australia has established a Royal Commission into Antisemitism and Social Cohesion. Jewish Australians have found themselves facing intimidation and hostility over the actions of a foreign government. grappyssoapbox.com

That should concern everyone, whatever their view of the Gaza war.

Watch Maher Make the Case

Maher's presentation is short, funny in places, provocative and characteristically blunt.

You may not agree with every argument he makes. I don't think that matters.

His larger questions are worth considering.

Have we become so uncomfortable calling terrorism by its name that we obscure what it represents?

Have sections of the Western Left forgotten the liberal values they once defended?

And have we allowed one of the most terrible words in human history — genocide — to become so casually politicised that an allegation is now routinely treated as a proven fact?

Maher has his answers.

Watch the video below and make up your own mind.

Previous Posts on Israel and Antisemitism

Never Again Starts Here — Why Australia's Royal Commission into Antisemitism matters and what Australia might learn from other Western democracies. grappyssoapbox.com

Israel IS Following Rules of War — An earlier examination of Israel's conduct in Gaza and the laws governing warfare. This links to the November 2023 archive containing the article. grappyssoapbox.com

Kisin Responds to Criticism of His Israel Video — Konstantin Kisin's response to criticism of his arguments supporting Israel after October 7. grappyssoapbox.com