(Israel Hayom) Bernard-Henri Levy interviewed by Dr. Eithan Orkibi - French philosopher Bernard-Henri Levy told me, "For 50 years I've been going to the front lines to bear witness, to write, and to use my weapon - the pen - whenever I can to support just causes. What's happening now is no different. It's a war that Israel did not wish for even for a second - and one it must win. It's about Israel's survival, but it's also about justice, freedom, and human rights." Amidst the atmosphere of Israel-hatred and antisemitism pervading Europe and North America, his newest book is titled, The Loneliness of Israel. He says, "There's absolute ignorance about [Israel], about the history of the state, and about the place of the State of Israel in Jewish history. That's why I wrote the book. It answers simple questions....How can a people present in a place for 3,000 years be considered occupiers?" "Israel's allies are saying: Jews are allowed to be strong, but not too strong. To defend themselves - but only up to a point. What country would allow its citizens to be attacked like that? None! And yet Israel is being asked to restrain itself. There's no limit to the double standards. The problem with Hamas is that it's not a normal, rational enemy, and yet we in the West keep trying to treat it as one." "I've been saying from the start that the way to win in Gaza is to go through Rafah. Hamas must be dismantled for Israel's future, but also for the future of the Palestinians. Israel and the Palestinians must be liberated from Hamas. The world needs a Hamas-free space - from the river to the sea." "Israel's victory is a victory for freedom, for democracy, for everything right and just, whereas a Hamas victory is a victory for barbarism, for terror, for murder and rape....A Hamas victory is a victory for the Islamic Republic, for Russia, for Turkey, for China, for extremist Islam. To allow such a thing - that is, to push Israel to stop the war - would not just be a defeat for Israel but for all of us. And that is unacceptable." "The world has forgotten about the need for a State of Israel. It has forgotten that if nations ultimately gave the Jews this small strip of land called Israel, it was to erect a barrier, to build a fortress against the rivers of Jewish blood spilled by hatred, pogroms, and the Holocaust over thousands of years. Today, it seems, no one understands that Israel is waging a war of existence."
2024-05-23 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive