Alain Dewaele, Joué-lès-Tours (Indre-et-Loire) : “After the ethnic cleansing of Gaza, Iran’s spuriously motivated aggression, and the deadly bombing of Lebanon, it is likely that Israel has many more accomplices than friends. And yet, the media of our dear country, guilty of a surprising leniency for this country, do not dwell on the other crimes committed in the name of Zionism. Let us remember that its territorial objective is to create “great Israel” by appropriating, with complete impunity, the territories and resources of its neighbors.
“The separation between the political and the spiritual is a fundamental democratic issue”
“Is there one, among these so-called news channels, that reminds us that the UN, for several decades, has been issuing resolution after resolution asking Israel to stop creating new settlements in the West Bank and to prepare to take back its land-stealing settlers?” ?
“How can it be that their columnists, recalling, at the turn of each sentence, that Hamas and Hezbollah fighters are “ terrorists†, forget to specify that the Israeli Prime Minister is wanted for suspicion of “ war crimes†. Who would dare call the UN and the International Criminal Court anti-Semitic?
Warlike gods
Alain Greillet, from Loudun (Vienna): “The conflict in the Middle East presents us with the growing role of religion in the structuring of powers and in the legitimization of confrontations. Iran is the most successful example of a regime based on religious legitimacy. The authority of the mullahs is not limited to the spiritual sphere: it constitutes the very heart of the system of governance, where politics and religion are inseparable. The political legitimacy of the Gulf monarchies is also partly based on religious references.
“Beyond the issues linked to the Iranian nuclear program, it is perhaps more through the religious prism that this conflict could be analyzed. Donald Trump’s accession to power relied on the decisive support of evangelical circles. The creation, on February 7, 2025, of an “office of faith” at the White House, as well as the organization of prayer sessions bringing together influential pastors testify to an assumed overlap between political power and spiritual reference. Some of his supporters do not hesitate to present the American president as a leader “ appointed by God†, giving his action an almost messianic dimension.
“In Israel, the government led by Benjamin Netanyahu relied on political forces from the religious and nationalist right to engage militarily in Gaza, Lebanon and Iran. All these major actors in the conflict illustrate the same trend: the explicit recourse to religion as the basis of power.
“The conflict in the Middle East appears to be indicative of a broader development. Religion has become an instrument of political legitimization and a vector of confrontation. The civilizational or spiritual dimension is mobilized in speeches to justify the confrontation, transforming geopolitical rivalries into existential oppositions without the possibility of compromise.
“In France, the law of December 9, 1905 constitutes the basis of this separation between the State and religious institutions. In this context, the principle of secularism retains all its relevance. At a time when religion is at the heart of power strategies and war logic, the separation between politics and spirituality appears more than ever as a fundamental democratic issue. »
/2024/11/16/lucie-beauge-1701448221752-6738778573ce4479405584.png "DIRECT. War in the Middle East: Emmanuel Macron denounces Iranian strikes \"unacceptable\" against the United Arab Emirates")
