Neil Vickers

Isreali soldiers beating up Christians who are trying to visit Church of the Holy Sepulchre

L’annonce de bombardements israéliens massifs sur Beyrouth-Sud et d’une nouvelle invasion terrestre fait planer sur le Liban le retour aux heures les plus sombres. Elle s’inscrit dans une conception illimitée des intérêts de sécurité qui, sous prétexte de protection, prive un pays déjà exsangue de toute chance de stabilité politique, sociale et économique, clé d’une démilitarisation indispensable du Hezbollah. Car il faut aussi le dire : la logique d’escalade du Hezbollah, aventureuse et irresponsable, enferme le Liban dans une guerre qui n’est pas la sienne. Elle transforme tout un peuple en bouclier et en monnaie d’échange, et compromet la possibilité même d’un État souverain. Le Liban n’a pas besoin d’une guerre de plus. Il a besoin d’un État, d’institutions, d’un horizon. À force de traiter ce territoire comme une zone grise où tout serait permis, on fabrique l’inverse de la sécurité : on fabrique la revanche, la radicalisation, le chaos. La France ne peut pas trahir l’esprit de son amitié ancienne et profonde pour le Liban en se réfugiant dans le silence ou dans des formules d’équilibre qui ne nomment pas les choses. Être l’ami d’un peuple, ce n’est pas l’abandonner au fait accompli. C’est défendre le droit, la protection des civils, et une voie de désescalade. « Non à la guerre. » Oui à la souveraineté du Liban. Oui au droit, partout, sans deux poids deux mesures. Dominique de Villepin Credit photo: Banlieue Sud de Beyrouth, le 2 mars après un bombardement israélien. Mohammad Yassine / L’Orient-Le Jour.

Ni les États-Unis, ni Israël, ne soutiennent le peuple iranien. Alors où est la voix de l’Europe ? Où est la voix de la France ? Comme en 2003, il y a deux chemins. Celui de la poursuite des négociations, du droit international, ou celui de la force.

@montie /2 There is a single usage by Orwell in 1939. But the term really only caught on after WW2, largely I suspect as a way of circumventing Christian guilt over the Shoah.

@montie /1 According to OED, the term first appeared in the 1820s to refer to Jews who had converted to Christianity. Then, in the 1880s, it began to be used by the learned to designate "those religious, ethical, or cultural values or beliefs ... common to both Judaism and Christianity"

The religious illiteracy of 'leading' British journalists feels like its even worse than their understanding of science. If you think the idea of a Judeo-Christian ethic is synthetic or thin then I can only assume you've never read any modern history, travelled through Europe or meditated on western exceptionalism. And my fear is a large share of CC's peers think the same. If any "think"ing on the subject matter has actually ever been committed. One day they'll discover that all religions aren't the same and that meekly giving up on the unusual common ground provided by Judaism and Christianity wasn't the best idea. That one day won't be soon though and almost certainly too late.

Twenty years ago we invaded Iraq. The war killed many innocent Iraqis and Americans. It destroyed the oldest Christian populations in the world. It cost over $1 trillion, and turned Iraq into a satellite of Iran. It was an unforced disaster, and I pray that we learn its lessons.

@dolphinsands Yes definitely, once he stopped writing in the style of Hermann Broch (Kepler, Copernicus etc) and embraced his inner sociopath he became the great writer he is.

@NeilVickers2 I agree. That was my 1st of his, following William Boyd's recommendation. It's tremendous (apart, perhaps, from the snide portrayal of Greene). I never thought I'd want to read about Blunt, but I devoured it. Could part of Banville's secret be to have despicable heroes?

I’ve come shamefully late to John Banville. Just finished The Book of Evidence & The Sea, The Sea (in the handsome Everyman edition). His characters are deliciously bad as his prose is extraordinarily good. A thrumming joy to read. One more writer victorious against the darkness.

@MaryKenny4 @Baddiel It’s a masterpiece. Mary, hang in there. There’s a wonderfully well-drawn Irishman in the final chapter. The sense of the weight of experience is extraordinary. What a pity that EJH ceased to be an experimental novelist once she got together with Kingsley Amis.

@Baddiel As it happens, I’ve just started reading it, and, though it’s well-observed, I find it’s somewhat trivially focused on a narrow bourgeois world. I will persist - every book deserves 50 pages - but tell me it gets better?

This novel is fantastic.

@ajlees @UCLBrainScience @Brain1878 Do put a link up, Andrew. I'd love to read this.

At Queen Square in the 70s we were sometimes asked to try to summarise in words and writing the researches of the early great neurological scientists like Cajal and Ferrier. This was hard but useful. Here is my book review @UCLBrainScience @Brain1878

@ArmandDAngour So sorry to hear this Armand. Lying flat for 5 days won’t be fun but the payoff sounds worth it.

Just had eye op for torn retina. Amazing NHS service - I went in and was diagnosed only yesterday. Hope the op will save my eyesight. Only drawback is I have to lie flat for five days! Many thanks for all your kind wishes.

Delighted that the paper I cowrote with Céline Lefève and Patrick ffrench comparing the history of the medical humanities in France and the USA is out now and available to download. Link in the next tweet.

“Do you know what the worst part was for me? I never thought I’d say this, but I don’t care what happens to the party now” Andrea Jenkyns on her former party, the Tories, in an interview with colleague @noahvickers14 politicshome.com/news/article/a…

This is a superb piece.

This looks terrific and I shall certainly be going to it.

Love this.

Delighted to report that my article on the Narrative Based Medical Humanities 1980-95 has just appeared and is free to download here: journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/09…

I'm so delighted and thrilled by Jürgen Pieters' profound and perceptive review of my book (with Derek Bolton) Being Ill: On Sickness, Care and Abandonment (Reaktion, 2024) in The Polyphony. A link will follow in my next post.