The New ‘Différend’: How Bernard-Henri Lévy’s Campus Tour Clarified the Stakes

In the late 20th century, French philosopher Jean-François Lyotard introduced the concept of “différend,” describing disputes in which one party’s grievances cannot be expressed within the dominant framework, rendering them voiceless. Today, this concept has been grotesquely distorted in academia, where foreign actors like Iran and Qatar exploit the language of oppression to advance a destructive agenda. Cloaked in the guise of “decolonization,” their propaganda redefines Israel as the ultimate oppressor, eroding the liberal values that sustain the free world.

But this distortion does more than target Israel — it threatens the very fabric of Western society. The propaganda flooding campuses doesn’t remain confined to antisemitism. It spills over into a broader assault on intellectual integrity, liberty, and democratic principles. The ideology of hate is contagious, diffusing through academia and society, destabilizing discourse, and eroding the moral clarity that underpins the West.

Clarity Amid the Chaos: Bernard-Henri Lévy’s Campus Tour

Bernard-Henri Lévy, the French philosopher whose unwavering advocacy for human rights has spanned more than five decades, including campaigns for oppressed Muslim minorities and Kurds facing genocide, recently embarked on a tour of American campuses. Armed not with rhetoric but with piercing clarity, his message, encapsulated in his latest book, “Israel Alone,” and reiterated in his campus talks, was a much-needed antidote to the intellectual fog clouding academia.

Lévy’s body of work offers a roadmap for understanding and confronting the challenges facing both Israel and the broader democratic world. From “Who Killed Daniel Pearl?,” in which Lévy follows the footsteps of the murdered Wall Street Journal reporter to unravel the global consequences of Islamist extremism, to “The Genius of Judaism,” a profound exploration of Jewish values, Lévy has consistently demonstrated a commitment to truth and moral clarity. His writings, such as “The Empire and the Five Kings,” expose the decline of Western influence and the rise of authoritarian forces, while “American Vertigo” reflects on America’s role as a beacon of democracy. Each book serves as a chapter in a larger conversation about freedom, liberal values and the resilience of democracies in the face of authoritarianism. “Israel Alone” continues this tradition, positioning Israel as not just a geopolitical entity but defending Zionism as a noble idea central to the fight for justice and truth in an age of propaganda and disinformation.

In “Israel Alone,” Lévy offers a stirring defense of Israel as a unique moral project, born out of the ashes of Jewish persecution. Lévy situates Israel’s struggle within a broader historical narrative of resilience and survival, challenging readers to confront uncomfortable truths about antisemitism and its modern manifestations. Lévy emphasizes that defending Israel is not merely about good strategy and smart geopolitics. Rather Israel embodies a democratic and free society fighting for universal values. “Go read the book,” Lévy urged students, offering them a lens to see Judaism and Zionism not as caricatures painted by their detractors but as traditions that have enriched humanity.

Lévy situates Israel’s struggle within a broader historical narrative of resilience and survival, challenging readers to confront uncomfortable truths about antisemitism and its modern manifestations.

Lévy’s approach is not one of deflection or defensiveness. Instead, he reframes the conversation by injecting beauty, truth and depth into the narrative about Israel and Judaism. His arguments, from both “The Genius of Judaism” — a poetic exploration of the spiritual, moral and intellectual contributions of Jewish values — and “Israel Alone,” help the public to find the words, pride and intellectual weapons to better navigate the rampant antisemitism.

This emphasis on the beauty of Judaism and Zionism is precisely what today’s propaganda seeks to erase. Lévy reminds us that the battle for Israel is not merely political — it is existential. It is about preserving the dignity of people and the values they represent justice, freedom and a commitment to ethical responsibility.

Campus Propaganda: A Calculated Assault on the West

On campuses, where the next generation of leaders is forged, the language of “oppression” and “decolonization” has been weaponized. Terms like “colonizer” and “apartheid” are wielded not as tools of inquiry but as instruments of silencing and division. This lexicon reduces Israel — and by extension, Judaism and Zionism — to symbols of moral failure, stripping them of their nuance, history and humanity.

Lévy’s campus tour shed light on the profound danger of this trend. He described a battlefield where one side seeks to erase the other, not through debate but through domination. Students, eager to champion “social justice,” are fed a false narrative that replaces critical thinking with ideological conformity. Professors who challenge this orthodoxy face ostracism, and Jewish students are vilified, isolated and targeted.

This hate does not stay confined to antisemitism. It is a harbinger of a broader societal change that undermines the very values the West holds dear. The collapse of intellectual integrity in academia reflects a larger cultural shift — a decay of reason, dialogue and the shared pursuit of truth.

A Dangerous Distraction

Lévy also underscored the deliberate nature of the fixation on Israel. This obsession is not a spontaneous moral awakening but a calculated distraction orchestrated by authoritarian regimes. By directing outrage toward Israel, regimes like Iran, Qatar and Russia deflect attention from their own atrocities — imprisoning journalists, executing dissidents, exporting terror and attacking democratic countries.

These forces understand the power of the oppressor-oppressed narrative to destabilize liberal democracies. By infiltrating academia with their propaganda, they aim to weaken the moral and intellectual foundations of the free world. Students are enlisted as unwitting foot soldiers in a campaign that ultimately undermines their own freedoms.

Reclaiming the Narrative

Lévy’s message is both a warning and a call to action. He reminds us that the beauty of Judaism and the moral clarity of Zionism must not be lost to the noise of propaganda. We must confront the distortion head-on, exposing its origins and its funding. More importantly, we must offer a counternarrative that celebrates the values of Judaism, Zionism, and liberal democracy.

This is not merely a defense of Israel or the Jewish people — it is a defense of the West. The survival of intellectual freedom, human rights and democratic principles depends on our ability to resist the forces that seek to tear them down. As Lévy’s campus tour so powerfully demonstrated, clarity, courage and truth are our strongest weapons in this fight. Let us wield them wisely.

Sagit Sade Attia is the National Senior Director of Academic Action at the IAC, a former litigator before the Israeli Supreme Court and a lifelong advocate for justice and equity, who created the SHIELD Support Center to empower students and faculty while combating antisemitism in academia; SHIELD@israeliamerican.org