Alain Dewaele, Joué-lès-Tours (Indre-et-Loire): “After the ethnic cleansing in Gaza, the aggression of Iran under false pretenses, and the deadly bombings in Lebanon, it is likely that Israel has more accomplices than friends. And yet, the media in our dear country, guilty of astonishing complacency towards this country, do not address the other crimes committed in the name of Zionism. Let us remember that its territorial goal is to create ‘Greater Israel’ by appropriating, with impunity, territories and resources from its neighbors.”
“Separation between politics and religion is a fundamental democratic issue.”
“Are there any news outlets that remind us that the UN, for decades, has issued resolution after resolution calling on Israel to stop creating new settlements in the West Bank and to prepare to take back its settlers, land thieves?”
“How is it possible that their columnists, emphasizing in every sentence that Hamas and Hezbollah fighters are ‘terrorists,’ forget to mention that the Israeli prime minister is himself wanted for suspicion of ‘war crimes?’ Who would dare to call the UN and the International Criminal Court anti-Semitic?”
Gods of war
Alain Greillet, from Loudun (Vienne): “The conflict in the Middle East presents us with the growing role of religion in structuring power and legitimizing confrontations. Iran is the most advanced example of a regime based on religious legitimacy. The authority of the mullahs is not limited to the spiritual sphere: it constitutes the core of the governance system, where politics and religion are inseparable. The political legitimacy of the Gulf monarchies also partly relies on religious references.”
“Beyond the issues related to the Iranian nuclear program, this conflict could perhaps be analyzed more through a religious lens. Donald Trump’s rise to power was supported by evangelical circles. The creation, on February 7, 2025, of a ‘faith office’ in the White House, as well as prayer sessions gathering influential pastors, demonstrate an assumed interweaving between political power and spiritual references. Some of his supporters do not hesitate to present the American president as a leader ‘appointed by God,’ giving his actions 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 a common trend: the explicit use of religion as the foundation of power.”
“The conflict in the Middle East appears as a revealing of a broader evolution. Religion has become an instrument of political legitimacy and a vector of confrontation. The civilizational or spiritual dimension is invoked in speeches to justify confrontation, turning geopolitical rivalries into existential oppositions without the possibility of compromise.”
“In France, the law of December 9, 1905, forms 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 entering the heart of power strategies and war logics, the separation between politics and religion appears more than ever as a fundamental democratic issue.”
