IThere are moments in the life of a nation when it becomes urgent to reflect before issuing declarations that purport to convey absolute truths, when in reality they mask self-interested judgments. We are living in one of those moments. At a time of dangerous and no less dramatic escalation of the Israeli-Palestinian conflictit is healthy to be silent a little before pouring out supposedly insightful comments that nonetheless remain hateful, confusing and disastrous in scope.
I have chosen to express myself little in the media. Today, the nuanced and intelligent debate is seriously covered by the global confusion of the digital age imposed on us by social networks, which have become dens of ideologue thugs, capable of causing devastating excesses. These enemies of nuance are on the verge of a cultural rupture that invokes extremes without any form of subtlety and favors following an ideological line in search of the truth.
Let’s get to the heart of the matter, and into the fog of ociations of ideas in which we find ourselves. Denouncing anti-Semitism in France would be a renunciation of the fundamental rights of all peoples of the Earth, including the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people. Warning about the rise in anti-Muslim discourse would, in the same logic, equate you with Islamism. Choose your side. Choose your extreme.
We must therefore explain ourselves, justify ourselves, struggle with all our physical and mental strength to save what remains of our fragile humanity: our ability to contradict ourselves without insulting ourselves. It means counting without these enemies of nuance who lie in wait to ail us with unjust and malicious accusations. There is a manipulative simplification in their approach, the aim of which is to prolong as long as possible the conflictual climate which allows them to operate.
The peace camp
Thus, according to some of these jokers of French intellectual life, the denunciation of anti-Semitism coming from me would be a form of “taqiya” [fait de dissimuler ses véritables opinions pour tromper l’ennemi]. Here I am reduced to the racist image of the dissembling Muslim unfit to be a French citizen. So what am I hiding? My support for the suffering Palestinian population? It is real, and, on this, I have nothing to teach the universal human consciousness. The images are stronger than my words on the issue. I am on the side of all civilian victims and on the side of peace.
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