Learning from Gaza

The Wall Street Journal’s Bret Stephens gave one of the featured speeches at David Horowitz’s Restoration Weekend this past November in the immediate aftermath of the election. He took Gaza as a case study of error, his own and Israel’s, while contemplating the hostilities that erupted in Operation Pillar of Defense. Stephens covers a lot of ground in his remarks and they remain timely.

Notes: At around 25 minutes in to the video of his remarks, Stephens deliberates on the possible recurrence of the year 1947, with the sudden collapse of British power mutated into the sudden collapse of American power. Bonus reading recommendation: Thomas Mann’s The Magic Mountain. Quotable quote: “The question that has always confronted the West and that confronts us today is whether we will surrender before our enemies commit suicide.” At the conclusion of his remarks, Stephens notes his January 2011 column “Egypt’s prison of hate.” And Stephens plugs the study of political philosophy, citing Heidegger, Nietzsche, and the Founding Fathers. Whether we know it or not, they are contending for our worldly souls.

Running some 40 minutes, this video is well worth your time. Please check it out.

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