Can morality justify stupidity? This is indeed what the recent adoption by the EHESS of a motion calling for the “suspension of cooperation” with Israeli universities leads us to fear, without clearly naming what is being targeted: the boycott. For if it is France’s most prestigious social science institution – to which K. ‘s academics are attached – that places itself in the vanguard of the boycott camp, in defiance of any reflection on the political efficacy of its actions, then docte and sanctimonious stupidity has a bright future ahead of it. Fortunately, within the progressive left, the voice of European political and historical responsibility has not yet been silenced. At the end of November, Raphaël Glucksmann and Daniel Cohn-Bendit made their voices heard in the columns of Le Monde, with an article condemning the form of the war being waged by Israel, and clearly indicating the political course their authors believe should be followed. The editors of K. were keen to give it some echo, and so we are publishing the interview given by Daniel Cohn-Bendit to Julia Christ and Danny Trom. It discusses his relationship as a “non-nationalizable” European Jew to Israel and Zionism, the unbearable situation in the Middle East and its paradoxical echoes here at home, as well as the stumbling blocks of European construction and integration. Above all, it highlights the need to fight against the foolishness to which the left has fallen victim…
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Following his op-ed piece with Raphaël Glucksmann in the columns of Le Monde, the K. editorial team wanted to give Daniel Cohn-Bendit the opportunity to expand on his resolutely critical stance towards the Israeli government and his support for recognition of a Palestinian state. In this interview, Julia Christ and Danny Trom ask him about his Judaism, his relationship with Zionism, how he perceives the pro-Palestinian movements and BDS, as well as Europe and populism...
On the occasion of the K. sur scène evening, centered on the theme of The Last of the Jews, Ruben Honigmann invited us to meditate on these never-ending endings. We publish the text of his speech.
What if anti-Judaism were not just an irrational prejudice against Jews, but a fundamental structure of Western thought? This is the thesis defended by David Nirenberg in Anti-Judaism, which the Collège de France conference presented in June 2023 on the occasion of its translation into French. In it, we discover a vertiginous problem: the dependence of our moral, philosophical and critical systems on a repulsive figure of the imaginary Jew.
Poland systematically denies any Polish responsibility for the extermination of the Jews. In this article, Elżbieta Janicka, a specialist in the Shoah and antisemitism, denounces the way in which, at Treblinka, this deceptive memorial policy multiplies historical fabrications.
In contemporary academic settings, shaming has become a powerful tool for shaping ethical debates, particularly on polarizing topics like Zionism and Israel. On many campuses, any form of support for Israel is deemed inherently shameful. This article examines the rise of “shaming” as a tactic in academia, questioning its legitimacy and exploring the ethical boundaries of such practices within universities. Ariel Colonomos reflects on how shame, far from fostering critical dialogue, risks undermining the core mission of academia: open debate and intellectual inquiry.
How do Israeli academics react to the call for a boycott of their universities, and to the idea that they support the policies of the Hebrew state? What is their relationship with the Netanyahu government, and how has the war affected their academic freedom? To shed light on these questions, K. went to interview them directly. We publish the answers of Professors Itaï Ater and Alon Korngreen, members of the “Academics for Israeli Democracy” group, as well as those of Professor Eyal Benvenisti, member of the “Forum of Israeli Law Professors for Democracy”.
Daniel Szeftel continues his investigation into the origins of the discourse that portrays Israel as an intrinsically genocidal entity. In this second part, he describes the post-war efforts of Arab nationalism to reformulate its discourse for Western audiences. This highlights a fundamental phenomenon in the accusations that characterize the discourse of settler colonialism: the concealment of racist and fascist elements at home and the projection of these onto the Jewish state.
Can Jewish religiosity blend with Zionism without ending up in messianism? Through this personal reading of Amnon Raz-Krakotzkin’s latest essay, Mishnaic Consciousness, Biblical Consciousness: Safed and Zionist Culture, Noémie Issan-Benchimol introduces us to another way of thinking about Jewish existence in the land of Israel: the Safed model, for which there is no outside of exile.
Is contemporary anti-Zionism a new version of “idiot socialism”? How can it be criticized from a left-wing perspective, without giving in to the sirens of reaction? In this interview, Mitchell Cohen, former editor-in-chief of Dissent magazine , gives us a few ways out of contemporary aporias. In the wake of the Trump victory, we also asked him to answer a few questions that might enlighten European readers about the American political situation.
What are the implications of the arrest warrants issued by the ICC against Netanyahu and Gallant? Should they be seen as a political judgment? To clarify the legal implications of this decision, K. went to interview legal expert Yann Jurovics – whom we had already interviewed about South Africa’s case before the International Court of Justice, as well as about the request to issue arrest warrants before the ICC last May.
What are the origins of the discourse that portrays Israel as an intrinsically genocidal entity, bent on the destruction of the indigenous Palestinian people? In the first part of his historical investigation, Daniel Szeftel examines the revival of Arab nationalism from the 20s to the 40s, highlighting the influence of fascism and European antisemitism on its structuring. The second part of his text will show how, from these ideological coordinates, the discourse of settler colonialism and the accusation of genocide against Israel developed in the second half of the twentieth century.
On a plane, two Jews are having a conversation. In this short story – delivered at the 2004 Koret Jewish Book Award ceremony in New York – Barbara Honigmann humorously questions what Jews have in common, and what radically sets them apart.
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