Stéphane Hessel is not an anti-Semite

Stéphane Hessel's book Indignez-vous! (Get Angry) is a bestseller in France and many other countries, having sold 1.3 million copies in France alone. Now the former resistance fighter is being accused of anti-Semitism. Daniel Oliveira finds the allegations appalling in his blog Antes pelo Contrário for the weekly magazine Expresso: "One of the many causes this 93-year-old national hero supports is the Palestinians' right to their own state and peaceful resistance. He backs Israeli peace activists as well as Palestinians who are committed to the path of non-violence. And he has called for Israel to be boycotted until it recognises an independent and sustainable state. That was enough to prompt the anti-Semitism 'watchdog' organisations to launch a campaign against Stéphane Hessel. Allegations of anti-Semitism have become an instrument of blackmail for preventing any kind of criticism of the State of Israel. This is a despicable way of suppressing democratic debate."

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