Tristin Hopper
National Post, Nov. 6, 2024
“The real paradox, and the real scandal, is that the same people who didn’t say a word back then have now suddenly awakened to supposedly support the Palestinian cause. I say “supposedly” because the fanatics shouting in Toronto about their “support for Gaza” couldn’t care less about the actual people of Gaza and only take pleasure in demonizing Israel.”
Bernard-Henri Lévy, long one of France’s leading thinkers, is currently on a North American campus tour to promote his new book, Israel Alone. Lévy is a lifelong Zionist who has often championed the cause of Palestinian statehood. The book is his “cri de Coeur” on the tragedy of October 7, and contains his assertion that the Jewish people have never been more alone.
Lévy is appearing in Toronto on Thursday, Nov. 7. He gave the following exclusive interview to National Post. This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
An ad for Israel Alone in the trade publication Shelf Awareness was recently pulled, with editors saying that a pro-Israel book would upset their readers. You’ve taken up many controversial causes, you have faced protests, criticisms and in 2008 you were targeted for assassination by Islamist militants. In terms of opprobrium you’ve faced throughout your life, how does it compare to what faces a Western intellectual who unapologetically champions the cause of Israel?
You put it very well. I’ve seen this kind of incident so much in my life that this is not going to intimidate me. When you’ve spent nearly two years in the Ukrainian trenches, when you’ve filmed Bakhmut or Chasiv Yar under bombardment, when you’ve seen comrades fall just a few metres away, do you really think a miserable little guy like this is going to scare me? … [To read the full article, click here]
