One year after October 7, religious fraternity in France on the razor's edge

One year after October 7, religious fraternity in France on the razor’s edge

The joint declaration, symbolically crucial, could well have never seen the light of day: on Monday October 7, the representatives of the main religions in France managed to agree on “an international call for peace and fraternity”despite the climate of tension which has permeated interreligious relations in recent months.

Published one year to the day after the Hamas attack on Israel, the declaration of the Conference of Leaders of Religion in France (CRCF) – a body bringing together representatives of the country’s main religions – succeeded, despite deep divisions, in hold “the two ends of the rope” : denounce at the same time the “barbarism” of Hamas, the terrorist nature of its attack, the fate of the hostages, but also “the immense suffering of civilians in the Gaza Strip”. She also simultaneously condemned, in France, “anti-Semitism” and “anti-Muslim hatred”.

A joint press release, one year after the attack of October 7, 2023

“It was a challenge to sign a common text and for everyone to make compromises in front of their faithful,” underlines Mgr Éric de Moulins-Beaufort, president of the Conference of Bishops of France. “The weekend preceding the publication was very busy in being able to reach a press release that was acceptable to all parties. There was a lot of back and forth, confides someone close to the case. We were in high crisis diplomacy, but it was very important that we could reach an agreement. The image would have been disastrous if this had not been achieved. »

The relief matched the tensions. Because for a year, the attack of October 7, 2023 and the Israeli response have seriously strained relations between Jews and Muslims, thereby weakening the entire French interreligious ecosystem. The leaders of the religions, although usually careful to keep quiet about their differences, have themselves recognized this: “While, in our deeply polarized society, dialogue is more important than ever, even interfaith relations are being tested, even frozen,” they wrote in their recent press release.

In question, a fundamental divergence on the reading of events in the Middle East. For many Jews in France, since October 7, Israel has been in a state of “self-defense”after suffering the worst anti-Semitic attack in the country’s history. While many Muslims see the Israeli response as a “genocide” and in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict “a colonial war”.

As of November 13, 2023, the varnish had cracked. That day, fearing intra-community tensions, Emmanuel Macron invited the worshipers to the Élysée for breakfast. The climate is electric between the Chief Rabbi of France, Haïm Korsia, and the rector of the Grand Mosque of Paris, Chems-Eddine Hafiz. In question, the absence of the latter the day before at the march against anti-Semitism, on the grounds that it did not include in its slogans the fight against all racism.

Faced with the explosion of hatred against Jews and the specter of the importation of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict onto French soil by religious communities, the president formally asks this November 13 those responsible for religions of “defend universalism and republican values” and of “multiply educational actions in this direction”.

“An issue of national unity”

Religious leaders also play on their credibility. It is about proving to society and its authorities that religions can be a factor of calm in a fractured country which is home to the two largest Muslim and Jewish communities in Europe. “Behind interreligiousism, there is also an issue of national unity”recalls Christian Krieger, president of the Protestant Federation of France.

But locally, the interreligious fabric has crumbled. While in previous years, Jewish-Muslim relations had been rather consolidated at the national level, October 7 brought its share of mutual disappointments. “At that time, I believe that the Jewish leaders, who experienced this event in a very direct way, would have liked much firmer and stronger support from other religions,” traces Saïd Aalla, president of the Great Mosque of Strasbourg. In the same way, “after the Israeli response, the Muslim community, which saw the death count explode, expected condemnations and a position for a ceasefire, which the religions did not succeed in doing” .

Personal friendship

While sensitivities on both sides were raw, expectations for empathy and support were disappointed. “Jewish and Muslim leaders are also indebted to their public opinions and sometimes to the institutions on which they depend. But for a year, there has been great difficulty on both sides accepting that the other’s words take constraints into account.”notes Father Antoine Guggenheim, delegate of the diocese of Paris for relations with Islam.

He explains: “When a mosque rector – whose words are scrutinized both by his faithful and by the foreign authorities on whom he depends – does not follow through on what a Jewish leader would expect, the Jewish leader blames him, whereas in ordinary times, it would be better understood. »

On the ground, although interpersonal friendly relations between officials have often been maintained, they are now governed by prudence. “I call the chief rabbi of Strasbourg, we have the same friendship as before”, testifies Saïd Aalla. “But it remains within the limits of courtesy because we know that it is not easy for anyone. Above all, we tried not to offend each other since no one is responsible for what happens there. »

Elsewhere, the climate has seriously deteriorated. In Lyon, where religious leaders have a common group – the G9 – that has existed for many years, dialogue is today at a standstill. The chief rabbi criticizes his Muslim counterpart in particular for not coming to the march against anti-Semitism in November 2023. And the two leaders only spoke to each other through their Catholic interlocutor.

Locally “frozen” relationships

So much so that at the Ramadan fast-breaking meal, the main Jewish leaders were missing, a first. Also at the 30th anniversary of the Grand Mosque, the chief rabbi did not come and was represented.

Kamel Kabtane, rector of the Grand Mosque of Lyon, says he came to find the chief rabbi at the end of the traditional interreligious lunch of the consular body of Lyon, in June 2024: “We are not at warhe remembers telling her. I am not Palestinian, you are not Israeli, we are French and our duty here is to appease. » But for a year, the “G9” has not met.

If bridges break when there is an earthquake, then what is the point, some people ask: “We are less willing, it gives less desire, confides Harold Weill, chief rabbi of Strasbourg. The loneliness, the hatred that we feel as Jews after October 7, showed that we were ultimately in something superficial and perhaps even hypocritical. »

The general opinion is that as long as the source of tensions has not dried up, we should not hope for the impossible: “As long as the war continues it will be very complicated, then we will rebuild, confides a Jewish official. In the meantime, we’re doing everything we can to make sure it doesn’t overflow. »

This stifling atmosphere, however, experienced a salutary breath: the Paris Olympic Games. For several weeks, religious leaders led the interfaith chaplaincy of the athletes’ village in an atmosphere “humanity and fraternity”.

“It was camp,” remembers Najat Benali, rector of the Javel mosque, in the 15th arrondissement of Paris, remembering their “interreligious walks” in the village who have “impressed” athletes. On Saturdays, when the Jewish leaders were absent due to Shabbat, it was she who opened the door of the chaplaincy to the Jewish athletes. And one afternoon, the rector of the Grand Mosque of Paris took a long walk in the Olympic village with Moché Lewin, vice-president of the Conference of European Rabbis, with whom the relationship had cooled…

Olympic Truce

Does this sporting truce show that it is possible, despite the blockages, to meet on other subjects? “It is my deep conviction, professes Grand Rabbi Moshe Lewin, with decades of involvement in interreligious matters. When dialogue becomes too complicated in one area, we must continue to move forward in others: human dignity, climate, etc. This makes it possible to recreate links, thanks to common objectives. »

This voluntarism also applies to local leaders. In Strasbourg, the region’s interreligious committee, which had not met for a year, met at the end of September, the leaders being determined that “the dynamic is resuming”. “The faithful also look at us and act based on what we do,” insists Saïd Aalla, president of the Great Mosque of Strasbourg

Anxious to set an example at the national level, the leaders of the CRCF religions also plan to meet in a school in Raincy, in Seine-Saint-Denis, on November 14. While the conflict in the Middle East continues to test religious fraternity, they want to prove to young people that it is possible to talk to each other. And also to encourage, on a larger scale, the relaunch of a proven dialogue.

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It’s because of current events that we need to come together »

Christine Taïeb,president of the Paris branch of the Judeo-Muslim Friendship of France

“At the Judeo-Muslim Friendship of France, we have the pride and responsibility of being, to my knowledge, the only movement working for dialogue between Jews and Muslims in our country. Today, we are far from remaining in the state of astonishment or anger that we felt the day after October 7, 2023. More than ever we are mobilized in action to remain in fraternal friendship. This year in June, we organized a conference on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict with Denis Charbit, Israeli researcher, and Béchir Saket, Muslim vice-president of the association, which allowed frank, open, authentic expression on this subject. These meetings bring us new people who want to join. They tell us: it is now, because of current events, that we must show solidarity and come together. »

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The call for peace from the Conference of Religious Leaders in France

To mark the first commemoration of the Hamas terrorist attack against Israel on October 7, 2023, the Conference of Leaders of Religion in France (CRCF) published a joint text calling for peace and fraternity. Religious leaders recognize the impact of the conflict in French society and strongly condemn “all anti-Semitism, all anti-Muslim hatred, all racism, all contempt or speech of hatred and death, all stigmatization of any kind”calling on the French, “believers or not”has “cultivate fraternal relationships”. They also launch a call to prayer “for the Israeli people, for the Palestinian people, for the Lebanese people and for the Iranian people who today find themselves caught in a logic of war, for those who are bereaved, for those who have been taken as hostages.” They also invite political, religious and cultural forces from around the world to act. “so that a just and lasting peace can be built throughout the region”.

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