The invitation of the former Israeli ambassador to France at the heart of criticism
The debate was supposed to address various recent events which have weakened the democratic model such as the rise of the far right in various European countries, the re-election of Donald Trump as American presidential candidate, or the numerous wars currently taking place, including that in Ukraine. , but also between Gaza, Israel and Lebanon. To discuss these subjects, four speakers were to speak, including the historian, essayist, and former Israeli ambassador to France, Elie Barnavi. Recently, the former ambassador’s participation in this event had sparked strong reactions from activist organizations. Two days ago, the “Liège Occupation Free” movement, associated with other collectives, even called on Elie Barnavi himself to cancel his visit, while preparing the organization of a “massive mobilization” in front of the City Mirror during the conference. “This invitation arouses strong indignation, its positions being incompatible with the values of solidarity and resistance carried by this space“, indicated the collective on Instagram.
“We are in a kind of reverse racism, you just have to come from somewhere and you are canceled”
“We are in the process of blocking the public debate”, reacts Elie Barnavi
Contacted by The FreeElie Barnavi first talked about how he learned of the cancellation of the event. “I was called to tell me that, listening only to their courage, they decided to cancel the conference“, he says. “I already had a huge deal with ULB“, he then recalled, referring to his visit to the Brussels campus last June as part of a conference-debate entitled “Israel/Palestine: where are we going?”, which had been supervised by security measures.There is a kind of fear of demonstrations“, he says. “This is what the English call a pattern, a model of behavior, if you like. There is a small group of people who terrorize and make any public debate impossible. (…) We are in the process of blocking public debate“, he worries afterwards.
“I have always been a moderate, a peace activist. But no matter what I say, what I am, what I do, what matters is what I am“, explained Elie Barnavi.”We are in a kind of reverse racism, you just have to come from somewhere and you are canceled. We are truly living in grim times. (…) I know that for those who suppress me, Jews, Israelis, all that… it’s the same thing. There is a hard core that has no difference.“
Elie Barnavi at ULB despite the protest of pro-Palestinian students: “They will come get me to escort me”
“I’ve never experienced this. There’s something crazy”
The former Israeli ambassador to France then expressed concern: “I am not Belgian or European, I come from Israel, but I know this country. I am an old hand in the French-speaking intellectual field in Belgium, in France. And I must say that I have never experienced this. There’s something crazy.” “Is this a bad time to go through? Or will we endure this indignity for a long time to come?“, he asks. “I don’t know, but I know that if we don’t react, I don’t think much of democracy and democratic debate in this country, it’s lamentable.“
“All I have to do is say that winters are colder than summers for it to be considered fascist”
A “form of fascism”
Asked about the origin of the pressure which led to the cancellation of the debate in which he was to participate, Elie Barnavi indicated:What I know is that a group of people, not necessarily very numerous, is capable of terrorizing a city, of preventing a debate, that is to say burning current issues which should interest everyone. the world.“Debate which, precisely, focused on the endangerment of democracies.”Frankly, they don’t care. I just need to say that winters are colder than summers for it to be considered fascist. We are in the discourse disqualifying all those who are not like them. Living in this type of society does not interest me. I find it frightening, it is a form of fascism, and we must react with the vigor necessary to reestablish a kind of democratic life, the ability to conduct a civilized debate. And there we got off to a bad start.“The historian then qualifies by recognizing that”there are people who make inaudible speeches“, while defending himself: “However, this is not my case“. “There is hate speech which, indeed, does not fall within the framework of civilized discourse, but all other speech must be able to be heard and debated, right?“, he asks.
Words that caused a stir
In its Instagram post calling for a boycott of the event, the collective Liège Occupation Freedescribes Elie Barnavi as “a normalizer who hides colonial oppression against Palestinians under diplomatic proposals“. “I’m completely indifferent to what these people say about me.“, replies the ex-ambassador. “If I had them in front of me, I would tell them that they don’t know what they are saying, that they are not informing themselves. It’s an enormity, like everything they say.” “Being called an idiot by a fool is a refined pleasure“, slips Elie Barnavi ironically, quoting the French writer Georges Courteline (the exact quote is “To appear like an idiot in the eyes of an imbecile is a gourmet pleasure.“, Editor’s note).
“The just war that was at the beginning has become an unjust and justified war”
In addition, the collective Liège Occupation Free is also outraged by the comments made by the former Israeli ambassador on the French channel BFM TV on May 21. He then described the Israeli “response” as “justified” and “necessary”. On October 15, he declared to FranceInfo that “The simplest thing is to carpet bomb Gaza without asking any questions.” Today, the historian maintains these remarks, while insisting on a necessary contextualization. “What happened on October 7 was so terrible, so extraordinary, that a military response was inevitable. But I keep saying that the just war that was at the beginning has become an unjust and justified war. Now it has become a political war to save Mr. Netanyahu’s coalition and expand the economy. (…) For an armed terrorist, we are going to demolish a building. It has become a monstrous operation, without purpose, without justification“, he laments. “What I’m being criticized for saying is what everyone said at the time: when someone attacks you like this, the least you can do is fight back.“
Élie Barnavi: “Netanyahu is truly the agent of evil. He is at the end of his rope”
A “decay of liberal democracy”
Even if he regrets the cancellation of the debate, Elie Barnavi does not take it personally. “I know the people who invited me are my friends. They were very attentive. In the same way that I did not take personally the kind of madness that surrounded my appearance at ULB.” “I perceive it as a manifestation of the decay of intellectual debate in Europe and the United States, and the decay, therefore, of liberal democracy. This is extraordinarily worrying“, he finally confided.
