Politics

The truce concluded between Israel and Hamas has given rise to a deplorable spectacle. On the Hamas side, they are shouting “victory” over a field of ruins and corpses, with no regard for the fate of the Gazan population for whom the group has no other plan than that of martyrdom. On the Israeli side, Netanyahu is delighted with the parodies of “solutions” announced with incredible levity by President Trump. Here, K. shares a Palestinian voice, that of Ihab Hassan, first published in Liberties, who thinks in the only politically viable terms: those of a conflict between two equally just national claims, pointing to the horizon of a two-state solution.

Levinas’ thinking is above all rooted in an ethical concern, which seems to lift him to heights beyond the political fray. Yet at certain key points in his work, we find bold political considerations that can enlighten our action in the present. Here, Jean-François Rey introduces us to this side of the philosopher that is too often overlooked.

Why do some historians of antisemitism absolutely reject any analogy between October 7 and historical anti-Jewish persecution? Matthew Bolton situates this debate, with its far-reaching political implications, on an epistemological level, explaining why “historicists” refuse to conceive of antisemitism as “eternal hatred”. In return, he exposes the flawed nature of their method, which ends up dissolving the very concept of antisemitism by obliterating its historical necessity.

Bruno Karsenti and Danny Trom examine the implications of this ceasefire agreement, which, while returning Israel to the sense of its historic mission, leaves the threat of Hamas unresolved and calls the form taken by the military operations carried out for over a year into question.

The images of the crimes committed on October 7 provoked not only understandable shock, but also much debate: was it necessary to show the horror that Hamas terrorists sought to film and broadcast? Emmanuel Taïeb examines the fate of these images and the political uses to which they have been put, highlighting their reversibility and the risk of making them invisible.

On the occasion of the commemoration of the tenth anniversary of the 2015 attacks, and the evening organized jointly by the CRIF and Charlie Hebdo, Bruno Karsenti questions the meaning of this alliance under the slogan “We are the Republic”. For if Jews have embraced the modern political condition, it is according to a critical modality that carries with it a certain understanding of the Republic.

For the first issue of 2025, we invite you to read or re-read the 7 most popular articles of the past year.   The Eternal Settler Benjamin Wexler – Published…

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 can we explain the disarray of the European conscience in the face of the rise of antisemitism it promised itself it would “never again” tolerate? In this text, historians Henriette Asséo and Claudia Moatti examine the paradoxes of a Europe faced with the temptation of identity.