LE June 13, I was among the representatives of Israeli civil society and the Palestinian civil society invited to the Elysée gardens who listened to the French president to reiterate his commitment to recognize the State of Palestine. Despite the thunderstorm that was preparing and the weight of realpolitik, he seemed to tell us that he would hold out.
A friend of Gaza and I, Palestinian of Bethlehem, we held on the edge of the crowd and applaud as warmly as possible – as if we are trying to breathe life into his words. At that time, Emmanuel Macron had a very presidential look, especially in relation to the managerial figures which today dominate the international political scene. The Spirit of the Republic floated in the air (at least that is what we felt), amplified by the striking absence of a heavy security device and by the will of the President of the Republic to freely mingle with the guests.
My friend and I exchanged a look. Would we dare to believe that a head of state could still have a sense of honor, instead of acting only by cold calculation? We had stopped hoping for a long time. However, at this moment, the air was full of a fragile hope.
Founding step
But as I write these lines, the story leans dangerously towards absurd destruction. The confrontation between Israel and Iran takes place before our eyes. And once again, the question of Palestine – the unfinished project – risks going into the background.
This horrible war has already obscured the conflict that has destabilized the region for many decades. The fate of Palestine is however not a minor concern. It is a central element of peace of peace in the Middle East. And an Iran with nuclear weapons, if it became a reality, would give a very different equation in a world where Palestine would be free and in another where the Palestinians would always live under the domination of Israel.
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