In the face of the horrific massacre currently taking place in Gaza, and the barbarism that has not been seen in centuries, the silence of the French rabbis, led by the Chief Rabbi, from the first weeks was problematic, and with the passage of time after nearly 8 months of a war intended to genocide, This silence becomes unbearable.
With this introduction, the French imam and preacher, Nour El-Din Awsat, opened a letter – on his blog on the Media Part website – addressed to the Chief Rabbi of France, reminding him at the beginning of the symbolism of the date of May 14, 1948 for a large number of Jews, Muslims, and lovers of humanity.
The Imam explained that the future of all humanity depends on the unprecedented barbarism that is happening now in Gaza, in the eyes of many observers who have no special connection with the Israelis or the Palestinians, stressing that what comes after Gaza will never be the same as before it, and that what makes the Gaza tragedy Unique in contemporary history is that this criminal war of revenge is taking place directly before the eyes of the people of the world.
What comes after Gaza will never be the same as before, and what makes the Gaza tragedy unique in contemporary history is that this criminal war of revenge is taking place directly before the eyes of the people of the world.
Osat recalled that May 14, 1948 was Nakba Day for the Palestinians and “Hasmaut” Day – meaning the Day of Resolution – for the Israelis, and here we are 76 years later, as if we have returned to the same day, as civilians in Gaza have been exposed for approximately 230 days to a flood of… The infernal fire killed more than 35 thousand people, more than half of them women and children, and more than 90 schools and universities, 102 ambulances and 114 mosques were destroyed under the continuous indiscriminate bombing in the first three months alone, in addition to 3 churches that were severely damaged in addition to other losses.
In the face of this horrific massacre and its frightening numbers, not a single rabbi was heard in France calling on the Israeli authorities – blinded by the thirst for revenge – to exercise reason. Therefore, “how do some not look at this with shock and astonishment and others with despair and anxiety?”, the imam wonders.
It is true that Israel – as Osat says – launched 13 deadly attacks on civilians in Gaza between 2008 and 2020, but each time they were relatively quick attacks, which theoretically did not leave time for the rabbis to comment, but when the tragedy continues for several months and the number of victims reaches this level, it becomes This silence is very loud, even deafening, because “our silence reveals our opinions more often than our words,” as the poet Constance de This wrote.
It seems that the column published by Liberation newspaper on October 31, signed by 85 French Jewish figures, under the title “You will not gain the silence of the Jews of France,” did not resolve the knot of clerics’ tongues.
Gerard Haddad, one of the signatories of this commendable appeal, says, “I describe this silence as tragic. We are talking about the relationship of French Jewish intellectuals to the Palestinian problem (…) What the Jews are doing to the Palestinians, regardless of the mistakes of both parties, is not worthy of our prophetic heritage.”
In a paragraph of the letter, Imam Awsat says, “Allow me, Mr. Chief Rabbi of France, to tell you why I am calling you. I am one of more than 1,500 imams working in France. I am 63 years old and have a dual religious and secular background. I have led Friday prayers in many places.” Mosques, and I have participated in interfaith dialogue for 30 years. My education, my religious training, my academic background, and my civic thought lead me to make a very clear distinction between the Israeli, the Jew, and the Zionist.”
My education, religious training, academic background, and civic thought lead me to make a very clear distinction between an Israeli, a Jew, and a Zionist.
Nour El-Din Awsat continues, “Today I remain – as I have always been – strongly opposed to any form of anti-Semitism. In my sermons, I do not hesitate to remind my co-religionists, despite the annoyance of some of them, that the Jews are our brothers and not just cousins.”
In one of my interventions during recent months, I found myself admitting, “If a state or any entity claiming to be Islamic had committed a tenth of what the State of Israel committed, hundreds of imams in France would have expressed their anger and disavowed it unequivocally. They would have expressed their sympathy with the families of the detainees.”
The imam recalled that the intent of this message is neither to cast doubt nor to point out the French rabbis’ adherence or lack thereof to the Messianic ideas of the settlers or to the colonial policies of the extreme right, “but my question is more fundamental and profound. What I am wondering about is the inability to express the slightest amount of sympathy for the tragedy that does not… Described to tens of thousands of innocent civilians, especially when we present ourselves as men of God, it is certainly scary.”
The imam criticized the lack of objectivity that the rabbi showed in his talk about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on the BFM channel, noting that he used an amazing dialectic to avoid expressing sympathy that would have honored him, and he did not emerge from his indifference to the suffering of Palestinian civilians even when the program director asked him directly. .
The whole world is watching this genocidal war hour by hour, knowing which side David stands and which side Goliath stands
The imam concluded that everyone realized that the French Chief Rabbi – through his talks to the press – completely agreed with the Israeli army, and that sympathy towards the Palestinian civilian population is still completely absent in his various answers, especially when he describes this deadly and destructive invasion led by the Israeli occupation army on Gaza. It is a “just war.”
The imam explained to the Chief Rabbi of France that when an army drops on a civilian population densely gathered in a small area, within a few weeks, what is equivalent to twice the Hiroshima bomb, we cannot talk about a “just war,” noting that the whole world is watching this genocidal war. Hour by hour, he knows on which side David stands and on which side Goliath stands.
Nour al-Din Awsat concluded that he, along with thousands of his French Muslim brothers in the faith, called on the Chief Rabbi for a wave of humanity and justice in the face of such a tragic situation in Palestine, without ignoring the pain and suffering of the Jews of Israel who aspire to peace, as he put it.
