October 7, 2023: Valérie Abécassis, French journalist, at I24 News, who lives in Tel Aviv, gradually learns of the massacres carried out by Hamas and the hostage-taking. The security of the country that we thought was assured is faltering. She will go from fear to fear, from places of death to places of life, without omitting the refuges of houses (the “ Mamad“), where she snuggles up with her daughter and granddaughter. She speaks of the divisions of the country, its apparent relaxation (“ in Israel, we don’t care about anything, even if we don’t care, we don’t care!«), its centuries-old anguish, but also the humor which is never absent. In the worst moments of fear, hope arises and derision creeps in. This beautiful essay, a form of personal testimony, is a true writer’s book, raw, frank, lively, sincere, moving with its areas of salutary irony. Tragedy, fear, hope, anger are delivered here through the very personal chronicle of an Israeli society that is fragmented, divided, secular or religious, but united in the face of its threatened future and united in the face of danger. And there are also these hostages dead or alive, known and missing, each of whom hopes to find their lives, their bodies, to whom this beautiful book is dedicated.
Place des otages, by Valérie Abécassis (editions du Cerf, 200 pages, €20).
