Moderated by Véronique Bontemps, EHESS
Abstract
The genocide of European Jews is often used to explain European support for Israel. While questioning the importance of this factor and placing it in perspective with Europe's colonial past, we will examine the importance of the exponential support for Palestine within societies, in the formulation of European foreign policies.
Speakers
- Gilbert Achcar, SOAS, University of London : From the instrumentalization of the Holocaust to the denial of Palestinian affliction.
- Alvaro Oleart, Université Libre de Bruxelles : The colonial imaginary of " l' Europe " in the EU's support for Israel and the dehumanization of Palestinians.
- Sune Haugbølle, Roskilde University : The emergence of Palestine as a global cause and its contemporary echoes.
Gilbert Achcar
Gilbert Achcar is Professor Emeritus at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London. His books include : Le Choc des barbaries (2002, 2017) ; La Poudrière du Moyen-Orient, with Noam Chomsky (2007) ; Les Arabes et la Shoah. The Arab-Israeli War of Narratives (2009) ; The People Wants. A radical exploration of the Arab uprising (2013) ; The New Cold War. The United States, Russia and China from Kosovo to Ukraine(2023) ; and Gaza, genocide foretold. A turning point in world history (2025).
Álvaro Oleart
Álvaro Oleart is a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Political Science and the Institute of European Studies at the Université Libre de Bruxelles. His research focuses on the relationship between political conflict and democracy, approached from a decolonial angle, in the context of the European Union. He is the author of : Framing TTIP in the European Public Spheres: Towards an Empowering Dissensus for EU Integration (2021) and Democracy Without Politics in EU Citizen Participation: From European Demoi to Decolonial Multitude (2023).
Sune Haugbølle
Sune Haugbølle is Professor of Global Studies at Roskilde University. His work focuses on social memory, political culture, revolution and transnational solidarity in the Middle East, with an emphasis on the Levant. He is the author of War and Memory in Lebanon (2010) and several other books, most recently : The Fate of Thirdworldism in the Middle East (2024). He is also editor of the Middle East Journal of Culture and Communication.
Véronique Bontemps
Véronique Bontemps is an anthropologist and researcher at the CNRS (IRIS). Her work focuses on the anthropology of contemporary Palestinian societies in the Middle East, with several themes : heritage, borders and inequalities, urban societies and experiences of illness. She coordinates the seminar " Contemporary Palestinian experiences and practices " at EHESS. She is the author of two books : Ville et patrimoine en Palestine (2012) and with Aude Signoles, Vivre sous occupation. Quotidiens palestiniens (2012). She recently co-edited Gaza, une guerre coloniale (2025).
