Our mission
For a better understanding of Israel

Rather than turn a blind eye, it is the responsibility of each one of us to fight anti-Israeli sentiment and to support democracy in the future Palestinian state. To demonize Israel benefits no one. We seek to form a closer relationship between Europe and Israel and to better understand Israel, a country that faces an adversity unknown to us. It is the responsibility of our political leaders, but it's also the responsibility of all active forces in a civil society: intellectuals, professionals, scientists, teachers, religious leaders, students, tourists, and so on. It is the responsibility of every one of us.

To grasp the original character of the situation with appropriate conceptual tools, show empathy towards the Israeli victims, it is not to place ourselves beside the aggressor, it is simply to show our critical spirit. The repeated condemnations of Israel didn’t serve peace or democracy. We again had proof when swastikas trimmed Israeli flags during the protests against military intervention in Iraq in 2003, under the benevolent eye of the representatives of the republican authorities and instructors. No other country in the world is the focus of such demonstrations of hatred. To end this type of slandering that dishonors our democracy, we wish to contribute to a new approach, more constructive, more human as well. We wish to join our efforts to those who want to start a real dialogue with Israel. Not to reject the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinian people, that in fact the majority of Israelis are the first to recognize, but to assert that in democracy compassionate view remains a critical view, and that passion should under no circumstance override reason.

We wish for the European democrats to work on overcoming the spontaneous sympathy that inspires the tragic situation of the Palestinians, overcoming the intellectual discomfort and finish with a complacency towards the anti-democratic forces. This pacifism with perverse effects contributes, at best, to delay the institutionalizing of a fair solution.

We assume that concepts such as Colonialism and Apartheid, expressions such as Wall of Shame, are not appropriate for the situation, let them misinterpret. We want, with our trips, our meetings, to favor a better understanding of Israel, that struggles against an adversity that is unknown to us. We wish to go above and beyond the ready-made ideas, surpass the general aversion that inspires the Sharon government in Europe, dare to comprehend why, after having voted massively for the negotiation, the Israeli people voted several times for the military response. We do not want to approve or condemn, only comprehend and bring a little reason to the debate.

With our interventions towards the media, political and intellectual areas, our meetings with the Israelis, we intend to join our voices to those individuals and organizations that, already, act to let the original character of this situation to be taken into consideration. Our capacity to judge the world affairs, to stay credible in our denunciations and our support, to assert our democratic values, is at stake.

September 2003

Who are we ?
We are a group of citizens from all horizons of politics, with or without religion, without relations in power and particular experience in military activity. We are all sincere democrats, doing all that is possible to keep the fundamental values of liberty and to respect human dignity.

The idea for us to regroup was born during the first half of the year 2002, when it appeared that the israeli politics did not have a reasonable criticism as their objective, but condemning systematically and unilaterally. We do not understand our media and our political leaders. The conference on racism in Durban in September 2001, the matter of the Karine A boat, the controversy around Jenine and the Nativity church, the unreasonsiblity of the terrorist groups and of the Palestinian Authority, the anti-Semite activity, there are some elements that constituted for us a sign that we had fallen into dangerous democratic judgment and that the crazyness of conflict had won over our spirits.

In 2002, the only ones that tried to reverse the current were Jewish individuals. We believed it was our duty as citizens to not leave them alone to confront the mainstream thought.

Consequently, appeared the need to think collectively at an less passionate approach and, especially, a more constructive one. This approach focuses on the defense of democratic values that form our society. The justification of the suicide attacks by despair, for example, appear to negate these values, in the manner that it avoids addressing a critical spirit, the real nature of these crimes and extends to place some of the responsibility on the victims. These attacks, in our opinion, should not only have as objective a formal condemnation, but be accompanied by testimonies of solidarity with the victims. This is where our action in favor for the israeli victims of terrorism comes from. De même, to imprison the Palestinians in the figure of the absolute victim, itùs to transform him into an object of an ideology, itùs also to consider him incapable of recognising the other and to communicate with him.

The exemption of the mistakes in Palestinian authority, constituted for us a refute to confront the problems, a kind of blindness destined to protect a certain tranquility of spirit. It’s why we supported, without reservations, the creation of an investigation commitee at the heart of the European parliment using funds alloted to the Palestinien authorities.
We do not understand how France that it was right to vote for the resolution condamning Irael for the elimination of their leader Hamas, an organisation that is known for being terrorist by France, that drags the two people in a turbulent of hatred, of violence and suffering.We regret the condemnations repetitively that Irael fait l'objet in the United Nations and auxquelles la France apporte son concours. These condemnations are, here again, unilateral. These are not the contreband tunnels that are condemned, but the response of Israël. It is not the terrorist groups that are throwing the Ce ne sont pas les groupes terroristes qui lancent des missiles that are condemned, but Israel who destroys the areas that they arrived from.
We question ourselves and wish to question the whole situation of our leaders on this attitude that seems to us to be unbalanced. The antisemite attacks, the vague hatred that was expressed during the protests against the war in Irak, the results of Eurobarometre polls in September 2003 that placed Israel in first place of countries that threatened world peace, seems to be the result.
Novembre 2003