The reconfigurations of the Jewish situation brought about by October 7 and the war it triggered are what K. stubbornly strives to examine and understand. This week, historian and demographer Sergio DellaPergola offers us a remarkably comprehensive and accurate overview, all the way from Israel. It stands out in particular for its ability to take into account both sides of the Jewish perspective, Israeli and diasporic. The coup de force lies in the way they are articulated, which, rather than reducing one to the other, allows us to grasp what prevents them from drifting apart. On the Israeli side, the experience of Hamas’ genocidal antisemitism and the failure of the Jewish state to function as a refuge have shattered certain illusions about overcoming the diasporic condition. Outside Israel, it has been necessary to confront the metamorphoses of antisemitism, and in particular the reversal of the accusation of genocide against Israel, which reflects a profound change in the Western world’s relationship with the memory of its crimes. Will we then see the issues diverge, or, on the contrary, bring the two sides closer together? DellaPergola does not play the prophet when it comes to the fate of the Jews. But he offers us a sketch of the future, in which the best outcome is still that of decisive intervention by the diaspora in the Israeli political crisis: the Jewish people must reclaim their own modern history.
Among the tasks that fall to the university, its critical function is of decisive importance for the reflexivity of democratic societies. It should come as no surprise that reactionaries of all stripes, who are not keen on having their arbitrariness questioned, seek to separate the production of knowledge from its critical dimension. What is alarming, however, is the extent to which they are currently succeeding, particularly under Trump. However, the failure of the university’s critical function today is not solely due to external factors. This is evidenced by the debates surrounding the call for a boycott of Israeli universities, in which K. has already intervened several times. Our most incisive contributor, Karl Kraus, adds to the dossier this week by delving into a report, which is recommending that Sciences Po Strasbourg sever all ties with Reichmann University in Herzliya.
Almost three years ago, we published Agnès Bensimon’s report on the sprawling Wybran affair, named after the renowned doctor and president of the Belgian CRIF who was murdered in the parking lot of his hospital in 1989. From Brussels to Morocco, she summarized an investigation that was rendered impossible and the denial of justice for this crime, which is overshadowed by international Islamist terrorist networks. Now, the assassin has been pardoned by the King of Morocco in a move whose political motivations remain unclear, rightly scandalizing the Belgian Jewish community. We have therefore decided to republish Agnès Bensimon’s text, accompanied by some updates.
