NI StaffWithin 24 hours of publication on YouTube, “The Left’s Long War on Israel” — a talk by visiting fellow Nikos Sotirakopoulos — went viral, racking up tens of thousands of views. Four days later, it has garnered more than 100,000 views.
No other video on ARI’s channel has gained so many views, so fast — and the number is still climbing.
This talk provides important historical context for the unfolding Hamas war on Israel and the reactions to it. Recorded live in July at Objectivist Summer Conference 2023, the world’s largest gathering of Ayn Rand fans, the talk looks at the role of socialists and communists in backing enemies of Israel.
In analyzing this leftist role, Dr. Sotirakopoulos connects it to Ayn Rand’s unique philosophic concept of “envy,” or, the hatred of the good for being the good. Rand discusses this broader phenomenon in “The Age of Envy,” an essay reprinted in Return of the Primitive: The Anti-Industrial Revolution. Also mentioned in the talk is Elan Journo’s book, What Justice Demands: America and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, which analyzes that conflict from an Objectivist moral framework.
In the days since the Hamas invasion of Israel, ARI has rapidly mobilized to share its expertise on the distinctively Objectivist stance on foreign policy and the Israel-Palestine conflict. Our ability to react rapidly is enabled by years of careful research and preparation, made possible by ARI’s generous donors.
You can watch or listen to the talk below.
Ibis Slade
Itamar Feldman
