PARIS (EJP)--- French-Jewish philosopher Alain Finkielkraut has been discharged by a Paris court after being sued by an Israeli film director whom he described as “one of the current actors of Jewish anti-Semitism”.

Interviewed in 2003 on the French Jewish radio RJC about Eyal Sivan’s film, “Route 181, fragments d'un voyage en Palestine-Israel" (Road 181, Extracts from a Palestinian-Israeli journey), which was broadcast on a TV station, Finkielkraut called the film maker “one of the actors of today’s particularly hard and frightening Jewish anti-Semitism”.

The philosopher criticised Sivan for having made a link between the Israeli treatment of the Palestinians and the Holocaust.

“But those who are sewing a Star of David on our chest want to claim the yellow star for themselves,” Finkielkraut said at the time.

Eyal Sivan, a leftwing militant, decided to sue Finkielkraut for his “slanderous words which constitute an infringement to my honour and consideration”.

In the past, Eyal Sivan has supported actively the boycott of Israeli products in order to denounce Israeli policies towards the Palestinians.

Israeli professor and former ambassador to France Eli Barnavi testified in court for Alain Finkielkraut while two other Israeli professors, among them Haim Bresheeth, testified in favour of Sivan.

Film maker Eyal Sivan

Critical analysis

Finkielkraut, who also received the support of Claude Lanzmann, director of the famous film “Shoah”, said that he reacted to the “violent unilateral character” of Sivan’s movie which represents the history of Israeli-Palestinian relations “as the aggression of one people crazed by the Shoah against a profoundly peaceful people.”

“I don’t know why this man is indignant about being called anti-Semitic, that’s what he is,” Lanzmann said when he testified in favour of FInkielkraut.

Sivan’s “Road 81” film was distributed in small independent Paris theatres.

The film maker accused Finkielkraut of being one of those people “ready to fight against the last Israeli citizen, including myself, to preserve the state of Israel”. “This is not my position,” he added.

The court rejected Sivan’s complaint.

“Finkielkraut only credited the other side with intellectual attitudes and never attributed a precise fact which could be proved,” the presiding judge, Nicolas Bonnal, said.

“Above all he gave a critical analysis of Sivan’s work and of its political positions,” he added.

Sivan told EJP he was surprised by the ruling.

“It is clear to me that I was the victim of defamation,” he stressed. “This has nothing to do with a simple opinion debate.”

In another case, Finkielkraut has been sued and accused of libel by French anti-racist association MRAP (Movement Against Racism and for Friendship Among Peoples) for comments made during a conference in 2003 on ’’Anti-Semitism: the Left against itself’’.

In a reference to the failure of the Durban conference on racism in 2001, Finkielkraut said: “a movement was created in Durban against racism and for popular anti-Semitism”.

Comments about French identity

MRAP’s president Mouloud Aounit, took it as a personal attack and accused Finkielkraut of hinting that MRAP was anti-Semitic. A public prosecutor representative has asked for Finkielkraut’s discharge. The decision will be made shortly.

Finkielkraut, who is one of France’s most notable French intellectuals along with two other Jews, Bernard-Henri Levy and André Glucksmann, already made headlines at the end of last year when he had to apologize for comments about the riots which took place around France in an interview with Israeli newspaper Haaretz.

In the interview, Finkielkraut underlined that many immigrant do not identify with France.

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“If immigrants say ‘the French’ when they are referring to the whites, then we are lost. If their identity is located somewhere else and they’re only in France for utilitarian reasons, then we’re lost.

“I have to admit that the Jews are also starting to use this France. I say to them, ‘if for your France is a utilitarian matter, but your identity is Judaism, then be honest with yourself: you have Israel.”

Some of Finkielkraut’s answers were translated to French and published in the national newspaper Le Monde before they grew into a general controversy and condemnation of Finkielkraut, who was accused of racism.

From left to right

Considered as a free-speaker in politically-correct France, Alain Finkielkraut has been described by some as one of the leading “neo-reactionary” figures along with interior minister and presidential candidate, Nicolas Sarkozy.

Finkielkraut started his career as a militant of the left but drifted through the years to the right, making many enemies on the way.

In 2005 he strongly defended a petition against anti-white racism in French suburbs. Controversial French comic Dieudonne told EJP Finkielkraut was “one of his main enemies.”

The philosopher claims he is being harassed by his opponents with repeated lawsuits but other intellectuals accuse him in private of provoking controversies in order to get publicity and sell more books.

Finkielkraut has a weekly show on national French radio and on the Jewish radio RCJ.