How are Israelis integrating the traumatic memory of the October 7 victims into their collective memory? This week, we continue the article series by Julia Christ and Élie Petit – who set off for K. to document the complexities of an Israeli society grappling with war and its dilemmas – with a report on the ceremonies of Yom Hazikaron, the day of remembrance for the victims of wars and attacks in Israel, which took place ten days ago. Our reporters attended an evening vigil held at a Tel Aviv high school, where, as is customary throughout the country, the names of its victims were read out. The names of victims since October 7 are now added to this list. At the very heart of this ceremony, we can discern the particular knot that, for Israelis, commands the relationship with the country: gratitude for its protection against persecution and awareness of the need to defend it, even at the risk of one’s own life. But how have the political and military events of this year affected this knot? Was it really just another Yom Hazikaron vigil?
The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court has just asked for international arrest warrants to be issued for the three main leaders of Hamas, its political chief, the head of its armed wing and the planner of the October 7 attacks, as well as for Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant, respectively Prime Minister and Defence Minister of Israel. The fact that the stigmatization of Israel has been taken to a new level here is obviously what we find most compelling about the event. And yet, there are many other aspects to it, which we need to get to the bottom of in order to see matters clearly. That’s why we went to interview Yann Jurovics, who had already spoken in our magazine about the proceedings initiated by South Africa’s application to the International Court of Justice. As unfettered as usual by prevailing passions, the jurist – a specialist in crimes against humanity and former expert to the International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and for Rwanda – answers our questions, explaining the situation and providing us with the means to understand it better. What are the practical implications of these arrest warrants, assuming they are authorized by ICC judges? What are we to make of this judicialization of the conflict? Is there not reason to hope that it could produce salutary political effects? Does this procedure really equate Israeli politicians with Hamas leaders? Distanced from the political clamor and the many attempts at instrumentalization, Jurovics reminds us that it is individual responsibilities that are at stake in this case, and not a judgment on collective entities.
Finally for this week, in the wake of the recent Eurovision, we return to David Stavrou’s article on Malmö and Sweden, where antisemitism imported from the Middle East dances the tango with an old right-wing antisemitism that found a welcoming refuge there after the Second World War. Given the tenor of the demonstrations that targeted the young singer Eden Golan, who was treated as an embodiment of the abominable “Zionist entity” to the point of being forced to travel protected by an impressive convoy, it seems that Malmö has not usurped its reputation as one of the world’s most antisemitic cities.
