https://themuslimtimes.info/2016/06/16/is-the-backlash-faced-by-french-lebanese-author-for-speaking-to-israeli-media-justified/
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So far, so good. Then came his latest appearance on the Israeli i24 channel, owned by the Franco-Israeli businessman Patrick Drahi. As a Frenchman, of course, Maalouf broke no French law by talking to Israeli television. But of course, by chatting away about Western culture while making absolutely no reference to Israel’s cruelty towards his country of birth, Maalouf did – at the least – miss the chance of putting across the reality of Lebanon’s past suffering to thousands of Israeli television viewers. The Lebanese French-language and very Christian newspaper L’Orient Le Jour naturally defended its favourite author, but even its own writers were upset.
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True, but only months after Israel’s bloody 1982 invasion of Lebanon, Maalouf became part of an official Lebanese-Israeli delegation set up to create what would have been a totally unequal and one-sided peace treaty between Israel and Lebanon; as much of his country lay in rubble, Maalouf sympathetically visited the Israeli settlement of Kiryat Shmona to examine some shell-holes in a building. He later chose, wisely, to remain silent on these activities.
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Don’t bet on it. Maalouf left Lebanon at the start of the civil war in 1975. And exiles, however brilliant, have a remarkable habit of recalling their original homes and social history with devastating accuracy – look at James Joyce – but losing all touch with the political reality and suffering of the countries they have left behind. Here, the name of Auden comes to mind. But no, Maalouf is unique. That’s why he is as untouchable as he is immortal. But given the frightening political leadership in Jerusalem, Israeli television might not be the best way to bridge any cultural gaps just at the moment.
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