A tsunami of lies has withered our language. The scale of this disaster is embodied by one word alone and its tragic significance. That word is “anti-Semitism.” Used indiscriminately, it is missing its target half the time, and this half is a calamity for the other. The word is insulted. History is insulted. Jewish hatred is growing while the word that is supposed to express it is used to fan the flames instead of putting them out. We’ve reached the unthinkable point where Serge Klarsfeld, the quintessential figure of anti-Nazism, says he’s prepared to vote for the Rassemblement National (Marine Le Pen’s far-right party, RN).
In the face of such unprecedented implausibility, Lebanon’s model of mental confusion will soon pale in comparison. When a word, instead of being used to discuss, becomes a means of silencing people, we have every right to ask ourselves a few questions.
This evil – anti-Semitism, responsible for six million deaths in four years eight decades ago – is being submerged and betrayed by that term. It is being used as an invective instead of a warning. While its mission is to appeal to the conscience, it is inflaming hysterics, fuelling one-upmanship and electoral controversies, and making people forget the danger it represents.
The party of hate
Meanwhile, fear is invading and wrecking minds. Intelligent minds hide behind bad faith. They build walls instead of opening windows. In this atmosphere of paranoid blindness, in this first week of July 2024, the future of France’s human values hangs in the balance. With it, the future of Europe. And with it, the future of democracy.
The present situation is alarming. America is about to choose between brutality and senility. Ukraine suffers without winning. A child dies every 15 minutes in a Gaza that has been reduced to a heap of ruins. Israeli hostages languish in the dark under a hail of bombs. Led by the far right, Israel is suiciding to destroy Palestine. Israelis are divided. Lebanon is threatened with bombing even as it becomes a shipwreck. Islamic fundamentalism grows stronger rather than weaker. Everywhere, the impotence of thought is matched only by the omnipotence of arms.
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