Open Letter to the French Institute in Jerusalem

We, French and Israeli intellectuals, are deeply astonished by the intiativ of the French Institute of Jerusalem initiative to invite Vincent Lemire for a so-called “debate” scheduled for January 16. He is one of the most notorious anti-Israeli propagandists in France. He is by no means an honest historian engaged in a legitimate historiographical controversy, such as that initiated by the Israeli “New Historians,” nor is he a rigorous and upright scholar seeking to enrich historical knowledge through innovative and methodologically sound contributions.

On the contrary, he is a declared ideological enemy of the State of Israel, who systematically fuels hatred toward Israel and Jews. He does so on social media, where he enjoys a large following, on television panels where he is regularly invited, and through abundant militant output readily published by newspapers that have made the defamation of the State of Israel one of their specialties.

Our protest regarding his presence on Israeli territory is based on precise facts. It does not concern only his research work, whose conclusions appear, moreover, as biased as they are dishonest. This man is an enemy of the State, and the elements set out below compel us to draw your attention to this fact.

On January 12, the historian Vincent Lemire was denied entry to the State of Israel, a decision he publicly complained about on his X account by relaying an article from the newspaper Haaretz. This decision was subsequently overturned by the Israeli authorities, information that he hastened to broadcast once again on his X account. He also gave an interview to Le Monde, in which he claimed that the “attempts by the State to censor him had failed.”

It is, to say the least, ironic to accuse a State of censorship when it is precisely that same State which ultimately grants him authorization to enter its territory. It is just as ironic to observe that Israel pushes respect for democratic principles to the point of paradox, allowing some of its worst enemies and detractors to enter so that they may benefit from maximum visibility in major media outlets and universities, where they disseminate discourse aimed at delegitimizing the State. Israel thus takes freedom of expression to a level rarely reached elsewhere.

The explanations that Vincent Lemire disseminates urbi et orbi are therefore neither ethically acceptable nor intellectually honest; on the contrary, they reflect manifest bad faith.

If the State of Israel initially barred this historian from entry, it was because of his writings deemed propagandistic, the permanent disinformation he maintains on his X account, and the falsehoods he puts forward on television panels.

This decision is also explained by his ties with the Association France Palestine Solidarité (AFPS), within which he has given lectures accusing Israel of genocide and apartheid. This association is part of a militant framework structured around the systematic delegitimization of the State of Israel. In its publications, Israel is described as an “extermination camp,” and Israeli soldiers are accused of “kidnapping Palestinian children.” On a doctrinal level, AFPS explicitly grants legitimacy to Palestinian armed struggle, which it describes as “liberation,” and has called on the UN to remove Hamas and the PFLP from the list of terrorist organizations.

Furthermore, AFPS is distinguished by its strong activism in favor of the BDS (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions) campaigns. It calls for the boycott of Israeli products as well as Israeli cultural, academic, and sports institutions. The BDS movement is banned in Israel, and an individual who publicly accuses Israel of genocide and apartheid can only fuel and reinforce such calls.

Since October 7, Vincent Lemire has multiplied op-eds, articles, and public appearances, contributing to the dissemination of anti-Jewish discourse through the repeated use of notions such as “apartheid,” “ethnic cleansing,” and “genocide.” He has notably published articles referring to an alleged famine in Gaza, even though humanitarian aid has been entering the enclave by the hundreds of trucks. In this regard, it should be recalled that the UN report Famine Review Committee: Review of the Famine Early Warning Systems Network IPC-Compatible Analysis for the Northern Governorates of the Gaza Strip (2024) acknowledged that this claim did not correspond to reality.

On September 18, 2024, on the program C Soir, Vincent Lemire defended Hezbollah’s position, going so far as to compare the pager operation to the October 7 massacre, which he described as “inconceivable.”

On the program C l’hebdo of April 4, 2024, he cited Rima Hassan as a “great international jurist,” even though she has defended Hamas’s positions, openly called for the destruction of the State of Israel, incited violence against “Zionists,” and accused Israelis of training dogs to rape Palestinians.

The June 16, 2023 broadcast on RFI, devoted to a project initiated by Vincent Lemire, reveals that he presented it in Gaza as well as at Bir Zeit University in Ramallah. This university has been governed by Hamas since 2022, and only individuals approved by this terrorist organization may access it. Since 2014, Jews have officially been banned from entering it. That same year, Bir Zeit University produced a report intended for international jurists, aligned with a process of demonization and delegitimization of Israel consistent with the implementation of the “Durban strategy” stemming from the 2001 UN conference. A historian who presents his work at a judenrein university cannot be unaware of this context.

On August 5, 2025, Vincent Lemire, accompanied by Israel’s former ambassador to France, Elie Barnavi, called for the imposition of “paralyzing” sanctions against the State of Israel published in Le Monde.

Finally, in recent months, Vincent Lemire has called for the release of the terrorist Marwan Barghouti, comparing him to Nelson Mandela. Marwan Barghouti was not imprisoned for an opinion offense. He was convicted by an Israeli civil court for five murders and one attempted murder, based on detailed evidence establishing his direct involvement in attacks carried out by members of the Tanzim under his command. His victims had names: Father Georgios Tsibouktzakis, a Greek Orthodox monk ambushed on the Jerusalem–Jericho road; Salim Barakat, Yoela Hen, and Eli Dahan, murdered in the Seafood Market restaurant bombing; and Aviya Malka, twenty-one years old, shot while buying her wedding dress.

These victims disappear entirely from the narrative of Vincent Lemire, a French historian who openly supports terrorists.

All of these elements constitute more than sufficient reasons for a State to protect itself from the presence on its territory of an individual of this nature.

Yana Grinshpun, Senior Lecturer in Language Sciences, Director of the Institute of Discourse
Georges-Elia Sarfati, Professor of Universities, philosopher, psychoanalyst, linguist
David Dahan, President of the Observatory of Jews from Arab Countries
Josiane Sberro, Vice-President, ALLIANCE France–Israel Général Koenig (non-Jewish association of friendship between the two peoples)
Fadila Maaroufi, Director of the Observatory of Fundamentalism
Yves Mamou, journalist
Jean-Pierre Lledo, filmmaker, writer
Liliane Messika, writer
Jean-Loup Msika, visual artist
Frédéric Zerbib, Attorney at the New York Bar
Ziva Postec, film editor (notably of the film Shoah)
Yéochoua Sultan, translator, writer
Gilles Falavigna, writer, publisher
Rachel Israël, psychoanalyst
Roger Guedj, Emeritus Professor at the University of Nice
Asher Zelmati, coach
Ophrah Zelmati, NLP and bio-orgonomy therapist
Evelyne Tschirhart, teacher, painter
Yves Doukhan, management consultant
Philippe Bliah, former attorney at the Paris Bar
Oriella Bliah, pharmacist
Édith Taïeb, retired professor
Jacques Tarnero, sociologist