Leading French authors ask for Israel's war on Gaza to be called 'genocide'
The French newspaper Liberation published an op-ed on Monday signed by 300 French-speaking authors, which called for "naming the 'genocide'" committed by Israel against Palestinians in Gaza.
The signatories of the text, which included two Nobel Prize winners for literature, Annie Ernaux and Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clezio, denounced "the repeated public statements of leading figures such as Israeli ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir," who "openly express genocidal intentions".
"The term 'genocide' is not a slogan. It carries legal, political and moral responsibilities. We can no longer simply call it 'horror' or show general and pointless empathy without qualifying this horror or specifying what it is," they argue.
"Just as it was urgent to qualify the crimes committed against civilians on 7 October 2023 as war crimes and crimes against humanity, today we must call it 'genocide'."
The op-ed, signed by Goncourt Prize winners Leila Slimani and Mohamed Mbougar Sarr, also calls for "sanctions against the State of Israel", "an immediate ceasefire" and "the release of Israeli hostages" along with "the thousands of Palestinian prisoners arbitrarily detained in Israeli jails".
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Citing the killing of Palestinian poet and novelist Heba Abu Nada by Israeli bombings on 20 October 2023, the signatories pay tribute to the Palestinians killed "relentlessly" by Israel, "by the dozens, every day" and among them their "brothers and sisters: the writers of Gaza".
"When Israel doesn't kill them, it maims them, displaces them and deliberately starves them. Israel has destroyed the places of writing and reading - libraries, universities, homes, parks."
'No longer a matter of debate'
The authors point out that "the term 'genocide' to describe what is happening in Gaza is no longer a matter of debate for many international lawyers and human rights organisations".
Accusations of "genocide" against Israel have multiplied recently, coming from the UN, prominent human rights groups, a growing number of countries and international law experts.
Earlier this month, an investigation by Dutch newspaper NRC showed that a growing number of the world's leading genocide scholars believe that Israel's actions in Gaza constitute genocide.
Top genocide scholars unanimous that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza: Dutch investigation Read More »
The paper interviewed seven renowned genocide and Holocaust researchers from six countries - including Israel - all of whom described the Israeli campaign in Gaza as genocidal.
Many said their peers in the field share this assessment.
On Sunday, Elie Barnavi, former Israeli ambassador to France and a historian, told TV5 Monde that while he had long been reluctant to use the term genocide for "legal and historical" reasons, he had to admit that "there are genocidal people in the Israeli government".
"They proclaim it themselves: 'We want to kill everyone, we want to destroy everything,'" he said, adding that these statements clearly reflect genocidal rhetoric.
On Monday, the leader of the French Socialist Party Olivier Faure also denounced for the first time Israel's war on Gaza as a 'genocide'.
"Benjamin Netanyahu's government is committing genocide," he told hundreds of supporters gathered in Paris, saying he now embraced the term "loud and clear".
"Genocide is characterised as soon as there is intentionality. Members of the Israeli government are making numerous statements to this effect [...] This policy is unfortunately thought out, planned, and even claimed," Faure added.
"Better late than never," replied Jean-Luc Melenchon, the leader of France Unbowed (LFI), a left-wing party that has been using the word genocide to describe the situation in Gaza for a long time.
Public approve sanctions
If the French government itself has refrained from adopting the term - unlike European countries such as Spain and Ireland, which have joined South Africa's lawsuit accusing Israel of genocide in Gaza at the International Court of Justice - it has showed a much more critical stance towards Israel in recent weeks.
On 13 May, French President Emmanuel Macron accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of "unacceptable" behaviour in blocking the delivery of humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza, raising the possibility of sanctions.
French teacher suspended over minute's silence tribute to Palestinians in Gaza Read More »
And last week, the French government joined Canada and the UK in condemning Israel's "egregious actions" in Gaza and warned of joint action if it did not halt its current military offensive.
The threats of sanctions are widely supported by French public opinion, according to a poll published on Tuesday that reported that 74 percent of respondents were in favour.
While 75 percent of respondents support halting arms deliveries to Israel, 62 percent deem necessary the suspension of the trade association agreement between the European Union and Israel, and 58 percent see an embargo on Israeli products as a good solution.
In addition to sanctions, Macron could announce France's recognition of the Palestinian state at the UN during a trip to New York in June.
The measure is supported by almost two-thirds of those surveyed (63 percent), particularly on the left. On the right and far right, support is weaker, with only 41 percent of far-right National Rally supporters in favour.
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New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters Organisations that endorsed the march, include the international organisations the International Healthworkers Alliance for Justice; Masafer Yatta Solidarity Alliance from Palestine; Palestinian Youth movement; Codepink Women for Peace in the US; Jewish Voice for Labour in the UK; The Million Rural Women and the Landless Association in Tunisia; India Palestine Solidarity Forum; as well as the Irish Anti-War Movement, among others. The group says that it does not represent any political party, ideology or religion and that its only guiding principles are "justice, human dignity, and peace". More than 400 groups around the world have endorsed the march, with organisers expecting more to enrol in the coming days. Saif AbuKeshek, chair of the international committee of the Global March to Gaza, said the motivation for the march was born out of an idea to have likeminded people gather outside Gaza to send a message to governments around the world that its citizens were no longer able to tolerate its silence as a people continued to be annihilated. "Citizens are not okay with them just being silenced [or the] silence toward the genocide," AbuKeshek said. AbuKeshek added that citizens were growing increasingly agitated with governments making excuses for their inaction or defending the long litany of well-documented crimes Israel has committed against Palestinians. "That's where our pressure is going: for the international complicity in the genocide," he added. Displaced Palestinians carrying bags of relief supplies return from aid distribution centres in Rafah to their tents in the southern Gaza Strip, on 29 May 2025 (AFP) What are organisers hoping to achieve? For more than 11 weeks between early March and the end of May, Israel blocked all aid into Gaza, including food, medicines and fuel, which pushed Gaza to the verge of famine, with some areas already crossing the threshold of famine itself. Currently, one in five Palestinians in Gaza is living in a state of famine. The food shortage has already resulted in the death of 57 children since March; 71,000 children under the age of five will be acutely malnourished over the next eleven months. The devastation has wreaked unquantifiable harm on those already injured or struggling with chronic illnesses. A cascade of emaciated Palestinian children and dismembered bodies continues to flood social media as Israel continues to bombard the territory. Organisers say the mobilisation of thousands of citizens from around the world is an attempt to exert pressure on governments with the power to force Israel to put an immediate stop to the crisis and to persuade the international community to open up the Egyptian border with Gaza. Organisers say the pressure notwithstanding, there will be no forceful breach of the fences surrounding Gaza. They say Israel is only likely to be moved if countries cut off economic or diplomatic ties. This is what they are hoping to communicate to the countries represented by the several thousand citizens who make their way to the march, they said. "What we hope is basically to have this global effort from people, citizens, activists, people who are in the health sector, people who are lawyers and in legal framework organisations, unions - anyone who basically believes that there should be a collective effort and act to stop genocide and stop the bombings of Gaza," AbuKeshek added. Has Israel manufactured a famine in Gaza? Read More » Crucially, they hope the march will allow people around the world to recognise the call for the end to the war on Gaza as a collective will of the planet. "It is essential that everyone participating goes back to demand their governments and corporations implement arms, trade, energy embargos, sports, cultural and academic boycotts to hit the genocidal state of Israel economically and strike at the heart of their white supremacist Zionist ideology," Roshan Dadoo, spokesperson with the South African Boycott Divestment and Sanction Coalition, one of the several hundred organisations that have endorsed the march, told MEE. Is the march an effective use of resources? With so many needs in Gaza, there have been some concerns over whether a march to Gaza, involving international flights, accommodation and equipment, is an effective use of resources. AbuKeshek told MEE it was important to recognise that the crisis in Gaza was not due to a shortage of aid, but was due to the wilful effort of the Israeli government to destroy a population through continual bombardment of homes, hospitals and refugee sites, as well as the through the denial of urgent and necessary aid into Gaza. He noted that over the past several days, Israel has even attacked several aid distribution points, killing more than 100 Palestinians in the past week alone. "Having aid is part of fulfilling the needs of the civilians in Gaza. But stopping the genocide and having all the Israeli occupation forces leaving Gaza and opening borders to allow for those trucks to enter without it being used by Israel as a weapon or blackmail against a civilian population is what is needed," AbuKeshek said. "There are more than 3,000 trucks just waiting on the street," he added. Likewise, Hannah Claire Smith, an activist and content creator from the United States who is taking part in the march, said that it didn't have to be a question of sending aid or supporting the march. "I'll also say that a lot of participants who are joining in this march are hoping to connect with Palestinian families in Cairo or the organisations that take care of displaced Palestinians in Cairo, and donate and organise to donate to things as well. So this is not necessarily an either or situation," Smith said. Smith said that this was a crucial moment to mobilise as conditions deteriorate. "So this is a way for us to escalate. It's a way for us to approach action in a new way and hopefully be taken seriously by the governments that remain complicit or silent in this genocide," Smith added. Who is participating, and where will it take place? According to organisers, around 2,000-3,000 people from 50 countries around the world are expected to make their way to Egypt. Ana Rita, an activist from Portugal, told MEE that she was participating in the march because it felt like time was running out - not just for the people of Gaza, but for the world. "It looks like we are living this parallel reality where suddenly the whole world turns upside down. Where is our humanity? How can we continue living our normal lives, seeing a genocide happening in front of us and not doing anything?" Rita asked rhetorically. Likewise, Smith said she decided to participate because she wanted her government, as well as other western governments and all governments complicit or participating in the ongoing subjugation of Palestinians, to force Israel to end the calamity unfolding in Gaza. Dadoo, from South Africa, said the march "signified how the majority of people in the world stand with Palestinian people and their struggle for liberation from settler colonialism, apartheid and illegal occupation from the river to the sea". Participants will arrive in Cairo before taking a bus to al-Arish, a city around 344 kilometres away in the Sinai. The march itself will begin in al-Arish, and participants will make the journey of 48km towards Rafah over two to three days, travelling during the cooler hours of the day and sleeping in tents at night. The tents will be left as part of the aid package for the people of Gaza. The group is expected to camp for three days before returning by bus to Cairo on 19 June. Has Egypt given permission for the march? For the past few weeks, as word began to spread of an imminent march to Gaza, several delegations reportedly met with Egyptian embassy officials around the globe to discuss plans for a march. As of the first week of June, the Egyptian government has neither provided explicit permission for the march to go ahead, nor has it signalled its opposition. Some of the volunteers arriving in Egypt for the protest said that they were hoping to use their privilege as passport holders from western countries to draw attention to the cause. "It's not going to be feasible for Egyptians necessarily to join this, or for Palestinians in Egypt to join this, or for Palestinians that don't have another nationality to join this movement," Smith said. "But for those of us who have passport privilege, for those of us who can use that as a way to gain attention into this horrific situation and into these war crimes and these atrocities, then I want to leverage that to the best of my abilities, and so that's another reason that I'm joining," Smith said. What is likely to happen? That the march will result in Israel being pressured to end the siege and bombardment is unlikely. Activists understand the journey itself is perilous, given the potential for Israeli interference as well as the unpredictability of the Egyptian forces. Will the march prove to be a success or not? Organisers say they don't know until they try. "We are all going to be accountable for what is happening today in Gaza. We all are going to be asked the question, 'What have you done? What have you done in your lifetime? What have you done while genocide was running in front of your eyes?'" AbuKeshek said. "Gaza is the last stand of humanity today. There is nothing going to be left of us if we are going to just continue to be silent. "Palestinians have been fighting and struggling to defend our values and principles that societies as civilisations were built on - while we are betraying those by allowing genocide to be committed in front of our eyes - we are going to defend our own dignity."
