5 days ago
Writer Jean Hatzfeld: 'By destroying Gaza, Israel destroys Judaism'
A former journalist at the French daily Libération, where he notably covered the Bosnian War (1992–1995), Jean Hatzfeld is a writer and the author of six significant books on Rwanda, including Dans le nu de la vie, Une saison de machettes ("In the Nakedness of Life: A Season of Machetes," untranslated); La Stratégie des antilopes (The Antelope's Strategy: Living in Rwanda After the Genocide); Englebert des collines ("Englebert of the Hills", untranslated); Un papa de san g ("A Blood Dad," untranslated); and Là où tout se tait ("Where Everything is Silent," untranslated). Through the testimonies of various participants, his work examines the measures at play in the 1994 genocide of the Tutsi.
What does the destruction of Gaza mean to you today?
For the first time, I fear the worst, both for Israel and Palestine. The Palestinian people face a looming threat and are being massacred, but it is also Israel turning away from what it once was. It marks a turning point in the destinies of these two peoples, in which Israel could self-destruct.
What is Israel turning away from?
It is abandoning Jewish values. By destroying Gaza, Israel destroys Judaism. It may sound like a cliché, since every Jew can embrace Judaism in their own way, after interpreting religious texts, as a believer or an atheist. For me, it is a humanist philosophy – what a rabbi once described as humanity's aspiration to live with as much dignity as possible.
