Dominique de Villepin described the “traps” we set for ourselves of vengeance which begets more vengeance, in the Oct. 27 interview with BFM TV. One of those traps, he says “Occidentalism … the idea that the West, which for five centuries managed the world’s affairs, will be able to quietly continue to do so.” Another trap he says, is “moralism … this double standard that is denounced everywhere in the world, including in recent weeks when I travel to Africa, the Middle East, or Latin America.”
When his BFM interviewer tries to defend the Israelis, de Villepin asks her: “Are we going to kill the future by finding the wrong answers? You are in a game of cause and effect. Faced with the tragedy of history, one cannot take this ‘chain of causality’ analytical grid, simply because if you do, you can’t escape it.” He notes that both the Palestinian cause and Zionism have changed: “The Palestinian cause was a political and secular cause. Today we are faced with an Islamist cause, led by Hamas. Obviously, this kind of cause is absolute and allows no form of negotiation. On the Israeli side, Zionism was secular and political, championed by Theodor Herzl in the late 19th century. It has largely become messianic, Biblical today. This means that they, too, do not wish to compromise, and everything that the far-right Israeli government does in continuing to encourage colonialism obviously makes things worse, including since Oct. 7.”
BFM asked him: “Yes, but whose fault is it?” He replied: “I am trained as a diplomat. The question of fault will be addressed by historians and philosophers…. I am not neutral, I am taking action. I am simply telling you that every day, we can ensure that this horrific cycle stops.”
He also comments that “The war on terror has never been won anywhere. And instead it triggers extremely tragic misdeeds, cycles, and escalations,” as shown by the failed U.S. wars fought under the mask of a “war on terror.”
