24 mai – Le Président de l’Université Paris IV (Sorbonne), Jean-Robert Pitte cherche-t-il une place au gouvernement israélien, ou dans une de ses succursales étrangères, CRIF ou autre ?
Après s’être distingué en février dernier en remettant au Président de l’Etat d’Israël, Moshé Katzav, le titre de Honoris Causa, il vient de se livrer, dans les colonnes du journal Haaretz, où il se prononce pour l’élimination de Yasser Arafat, à un exercice qui en dit long sur le personnage.
En voici quelques extraits :
« Les Français ne sont pas antisémites, mais ils ont juste peur des Arabes. »
« Les gouvernements français de droite ou de gauche sont très pro-Arabes, ils estiment que les seules personnes persécutées au Moyen-Orient sont les Palestiniens (…) Le gouvernement Chirac essaie de lutter contre l’antisémitisme mais il ne fait pas assez pour informer le public sur la situation au Moyen-Orient. »
« Les médias sont partiaux, il y a beaucoup de juifs actifs dans les médias français mais ça ne change rien à la situation (…) si quelqu’un prend la défense d’Israël ou des Etats-Unis à la télévision, il est considéré comme dangereux. »
Extraits des déclarations de Jean-Robert Pitte, président de l’université Paris-Sorbonne, ardent partisan de la construction du mur de l’apartheid, à l’occasion de sa récente visite en Israël pour recevoir un doctorat honorifique de l’université de Tel Aviv en récompense de son amitié pour Israël et pour son combat contre la décision de Paris VI en décembre 2003 en faveur d’un boycott européen des accords d’association.
On peut également lire l’interview dans son intégralité, en anglais, ci-dessous :
TITRE : The French aren’t anti-Semites, they’re just scared of Arabs By Dalia Shehori
The Chirac government is fighting anti-Semitism, but believes the Palestinians are the only victims in the Middle East, says Prof. Jean-Robert Pitte, president of the University of Paris-Sorbonne, who was here recently. Prof. Jean-Robert Pitte, 54, president of the University of Paris-Sorbonne, does not think French society is anti-Semitic. He ascribes the recent spate of anti-Semitic incidents in France to an extreme rightist Catholic minority, mostly members of Jean-Marie Le Pen’s National Front; to the neo-Nazi movement whose membership is minuscule; to the Trotskyite movement on the extreme left; and to only a minority of extremist Muslims, as opposed to the majority of the large Muslim population residing in France. Pitte favors the separation fence and Sharon’s disengagement plan, and believes Yasser Arafat « is finished, » his career long over. But he believes the real solution to the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians is in God’s hands. Divine intervention needs a little nudge, he says, and then the rest will follow.
Pitte, who describes himself as « a right-wing anarchist » (« anarchist » because he was never a card-carrying member of any party), is a professor of geography who researches food manufacture around the world. He is president of the French National Geographic Council and of the European Federation of Geographic Societies. He was in Israel to receive an honorary doctorate from Tel Aviv University for his scientific work and for his friendship toward Israel, which was reflected in the decision to grant an honorary doctorate from the University of Paris-Sorbonne to President Moshe Katsav.
When one of Paris’ leading universities, Paris VI, decided in December 2003 to recommend that the European Union block the participation of Israeli scientists in projects under the auspices of programs for EU-Israeli cooperation – in other words, to recommend a ban on Israeli researchers – Pitte was among the notable French intellectuals who opposed the decision publicly. The ban initiative ultimately petered out, after being sharply condemned in leading French media outlets and by senior representatives of the political echelon and academia.
The decision to seek the ban astounded Pitte. « That decision was highly specific to Paris VI [university], because of the personality of its president, who is a provocative person. Such a decision would not be possible at any other French university, » he told Haaretz.
Pitte brought the suggestion to grant Katsav an honorary degree before the Sorbonne’s administrative council in November 2003, after receiving requests from Israeli and French officials in honor of Katsav’s planned state visit to France. The decision was unanimously approved, « because I suggested it. It is possible that some of my colleagues, not most of them, thought it’s not such a great idea. But they kept mum. They voted `yes’. » Pitte revealed that before bringing the decision to a vote, he received a threatening telephone call.
No guts
According to Pitte, the United States is currently the most suitable mediator for the Middle East conflict. « French governments, on the left and on the right, are very pro-Arab, » he said. « They believe the only ones persecuted in the Middle East are the Palestinians and they reject the notion that there are disturbances on the Israeli side as well. » Chirac’s government is working determinedly to stamp out anti-Semitism, « but it is not doing enough to inform the public about the situation in the Middle East, » Pitte added.
The media is also biased, Pitte noted. There are many Jews active in the French media, but that doesn’t change the situation. « If someone appears on TV in defense of Israel’s positions, or U.S. positions, he is considered a dangerous man. »
Pitte contends that the government of France is pro-Arab because « it doesn’t have enough guts to talk to everyone. It’s afraid of what the Arabs will say and of turning Arab regimes against it. I do not think oil and economic interests are the only factors. French-Arab relations have a very long history. »
Pitte supported the U.S. war in Iraq and considered the French position a mistake. « I do not think the French choice was a good one, » he said, and added that he is in a position of spectacular solitude in this matter among his colleagues, as was the case in his student days when he supported American intervention in Vietnam. Preparations for the war in Iraq were deficient, in his opinion, but the U.S. decision to go to war was courageous – to overthrow a totalitarian regime.
Pitte noted that he is not very familiar with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but he believes Israel and the Palestinians are destined to speak to each other and find a peaceful solution. « As a geographer, I am a great believer in the usefulness of borders, » he said. « The word `border’ has a bad reputation. But in reality, a border can be good or bad, depending on the situation. When two populations do not want to speak to each other, or cannot speak because of disputes, it is good to have a border between them, and an army to defend the border. »
Pitte is in favor of the separation fence, although it has a negative connotation for Europeans because it reminds them of the Berlin Wall. « For half a century, we hated the Berlin Wall with a passion, but the Berlin Wall is not like the fence being proposed here. The Berlin Wall was built to prevent people moving from East to West. The purpose of Sharon’s fence is to defend the Israeli populace, and that is a very different situation. »
Sharon’s disengagement plan, too, is « a very good decision, and I hope that he will be strong enough to implement it, » Pitte said. « Israel needs to leave the settlements and Gaza. But I know it’s a tough decision to impose. »
Arafat, in his view, « ended [his career] a long time ago. He’s finished. He was in power for too long. He has no real power. He is a symbol, but not a good symbol. »
Then how can we move forward?
« I don’t know. In such cases I resort to divine intervention, » Pitte conceded. He is convinced the fall of the Soviet Union without bloodshed was possible because of the coincidental conflation of leaders in power at the time (Gorbachev, Reagan, Kohl, Thatcher), thanks to divine intervention in historic affairs. « It is so rare in the course of human history, » he said, and added that next time such intervention will take place in the Middle East. He believes politics can be based on faith in divine intervention, « because if you believe in divine intervention, you also believe in humanity, since mankind was created in God’s image. Mankind must take a small step, and divine intervention will do the rest. »
Not an Islamic province
Speaking of Sharon’s disengagement plan, Pitte referred to the settlers, « some of whom are fundamentalist religious people, and it’s not easy to conduct a dialogue with them. » He wants to introduce Israelis to the doctrine of separation of church and state, which has been in place in France since 1905 and which some people worry is under threat from Muslim immigrants. Pitte does not believe Muslims pose a threat to the secular French lifestyle. He claims that very few Muslims, in the suburbs of a few cities, present extremist demands. Most Muslims are not extremists, but a problem arises because they live in closed communities, do not integrate into the veteran French society and watch only Al Jazeera television broadcasts.
He is critical of French society, which was prepared to grant Muslim immigrants citizenship and medical assistance but remained aloof from them. He argues that, at the time of major emigration in the `70s, `80s and `90s, the borders should have been sealed and citizenship should have been granted only in return for a promise to respect French laws. « They handed out citizenship with great ease, » Pitte observes.
Nonetheless, Pitte rejects the prediction made by the Italian journalist Oriana Fallaci that « Europe is becoming increasingly like an Islamic province, an Islamic colony. »
He pointed out that many immigrants came to France alone, leaving behind large families, and that France’s veteran Muslim families are mostly secular. Pitte further noted that, among Muslim men aged 30-40 who are new immigrants or the sons of immigrants, there is a Western tendency not to marry at a young age or to have many children. Prof. Jean Robert-Pitte: « If someone appears on [French] TV in defense of Israel’s positions, or U.S. positions, he is considered a dangerous man. »
