Peace through law: this is what Europe repeats to itself every morning in front of the mirror, to summon courage. If it is a big day and it needs to get ready, it adds the arts and sciences to the means of peace, that is to say, to what it cherishes most. However, in recent times, Europe’s fine words about itself seem to have lost their obviousness, as if they were no longer sufficient to explain what it is and to enable it to move forward. Instead of a unified image in the mirror, there is now a deep conflict over the meaning of Europe. And this conflict, as everyone knows, has its roots in Europe’s relationship with Israel. The most recent news has reminded us of this: from the deprogramming of Eva Illouz from a conference at the University of Rotterdam because of her affiliation with Israel, to the debate surrounding the symposium “Palestine and Europe” which led to the decision by the Collège de France to cancel it, to the interruptions of the Israel Orchestra’s concert at the Paris Philharmonic by boycott activists. In each case, a question, and it should be pointed out that it is a Jewish one, has divided public debate; and in each case, attempts have been made to seal the breach by invoking the law. But is this a sufficient recourse to deal with the political alternative that is emerging? This week, philosopher Julia Christ sets out to clarify what the “Jewish question in the 21st century” consists of, reminding us that—like national, social, or feminist “questions”—it touches on the meaning of the European emancipation project. What is at stake in Europe’s relationship with Israel, Julia Christ suggests, is what remains of the rift that the Shoah opened up in this project, revealing the impossibility of guaranteeing it. Have Europeans overcome this awareness of their fallibility?
The fight against antisemitism is a pertinent place to understand where Europe stands in terms of its self-conception, and the place it reserves for the possibility of failing in its vocation to emancipate all. For this reason, K. interviewed Katharina von Schnurbein, the European Commission’s Coordinator for Combating Antisemitism and Fostering Jewish Life. She expressed the ambition that drives her mission: that of a European Union entirely “free of antisemitism.” But between this laudable goal and political reality, there is undoubtedly an abyss, and it is not clear that it can be bridged. How, at the level of the European institutions, can the demand to not give in on the issue of antisemitism be formulated without being overly optimistic?
About the scenes of violence that took place at the Paris Philharmonic on November 6, where activists campaigning for a general boycott of Israel stormed the concert hall with smoke bombs, we wanted to republish a text by writer and translator André Markowicz. It accurately captures the political upheaval taking place in Europe and the toxic confrontation between a radical left consumed by hatred and the nationalist tide that is sweeping the Western world. It is also an opportunity for our readers who are not familiar with him to discover the important work that Markowicz devotes several times a week to political news on his Facebook page: while his views do not always align with those of K., it is nonetheless a stimulating place to think, sometimes against oneself.
