Élisabeth Lévy

Élisabeth Lévy (born 16 February 1964) is a French journalist, polemicist, essayist and editor in chief of ''Causeur''.

Biography

She was born in Marseille, grew up in Épinay-sur-Seine, studied at Sciences Po. She worked for the Agence France-Presse (AFP), ''Jeune Afrique'', Globe, for which she organizes a conversation between the Palestinian philosopher Sari Nusseibeh and the Israeli diplomat Elie Barnavi, before supporting Jean-Pierre Chevènement. She joins ''L’Événement du jeudi'', ''Marianne'' and after being fired by Jean-François Kahn in 1998 writes for ''Le Figaro''.

Perceived political views

She is considered a Climate sceptic, close to far right movements, and invited to monarchist conferences, with Paul-Marie Coûteaux and Roland Dumas, by the Action française, though the publication ''Causeur'', for which she wrote at the time, stated that she would never attend such an event.

Nouveaux réactionnaires

In 2004, she was fired from the radio show, "On refait le monde" on RTL, with Pascale Clark. In 2005, ''Le Premier Pouvoir'', a programme she presented on France Culture, was cancelled. Previous guests included Jean Baudrillard, accused by Bruno Latour of denying the Attacks of 11 September and Peter Sloterdijk, whose speech and philosophy has been described, in 1999, as "fascistoid" by the Frankfurter Rundschau, though other publications disagreed. In 2007, she specializes also into interviewing controversial authors form the French Nouveaux réactionnaires ('new reactionaries'), not to be confused with the Neo-reaction as Maurice Dantec, Philippe Muray, with whom Lévy wrote ''Festivus Festivus'', or Michel Houellebecq. She is included among the list of 'new reactionaries' featured in a documentary by Aude-Emilie Judaïque and Gilles Davidas.

Great replacement

In 2009, Renaud Camus dedicates his diary, ''Krakmo'' to Lévy. She defends, with Alain Finkielkraut, his conspiracy theory of Great replacement inspired by Jean Raspail, popularized internationally by Russia Today and French far right and former director of Reporters Without Borders, Robert Ménard. Lévy wrote a book with him ''Les Français sont-ils antisémites ?'', before Charlottesville car attack and Christchurch mosque shootings.

Prostitution

In October 2013, she published a petition in favor of prostitution called the Manifesto of the 343 bastards, in ''Causeur'' to fight against the proposals of law aiming to penalize clients of prostitution, with the slogan '' Touche pas à ma pute''.

Loi Gayssot

In 2019, she said the Loi Gayssot, punishing holocaust denial, does not prevent it, and establishes the idea that there is a legal privilege for the Jews and creates an inflation of memorial laws, while also making clear that she views anti-Zionism as a screen for antisemitism and that she considers that holocaust denial "should be fought through history".

Alcoholism

Often called an alcoholic by France Inter, she criticizes the Anti alcohol decisions quoting François Rabelais: "Always drink and you shall never die". During the Pandemic of Coronavirus, she also criticized the interdiction of alcohol, in the department of Aisne.

Controversies

Salafi reformism

In 1995, she mentions about Tarik Ramadan, accused of contacts with terrorists or other Islamic fundamentalists, antisemitism and double talk, describing himself as a "Salafi reformist", in ''Le Nouveau Quotidien'', an "egyptian plot", against him. In 2002, she joins the talk show "that prevents you from sleeping", ''Culture et Dépendances'', of Franz-Olivier Giesbert to confront controversial intellectuals defending both Decoloniality and Postcolonialism as Tarik Ramadan, Jacques Derrida, considered by Richard Wolin as a corrosive nihilist or Salman Rushdie.

Identity theft

President of the Fondation du 2-Mars, founded by Philippe Cohen, formerly known as the Fondation Marc Bloch, it is forced to change its name on April 11, 2000 following a court decision: Étienne Bloch, the son of historian Marc Bloch, had taken legal action to prohibit the foundation from referring to the name of his father.

Mohammed Al Dura

In 2008, Jamal al-Durah, the father of Mohammed al-Dura, filed a defamation complaint against two supporters of the manipulation thesis, including Gil Mihaely, head, with Levy, of the Causeur site.

Kosovo war

In 2013, she contests the number of casualties by Serbians during the Kosovo War, in the French periodical Le Débat, founded by Pierre Nora and Marcel Gauchet.

In Relation To Pedophilia

In 2020, she criticised public attention and new prosecutorial investigations into the misdeeds of the pedophile writer Gabriel Matzneff, noting that prosecution is not possible and that he was by then "an elderly, sick and broke writer".

In 2021, after Camille Kouchner accused her step-father, Olivier Duhamel, of incest, Lévy critiqued the publication of the name of the street on which Duhamel lived, comparing this to a call to lynching and an "appetite for the guillotine".

Books

* Malek Boutih (coauthor), ''La France aux Français ? Chiche ! : un entretien mené par Élisabeth Lévy / Malek Boutih'', Paris, Fondation du 2-Mars et Éditions Mille et une nuits, coll. « Essai », 2001, 97 p. (ISBN 2-84205-564-0)
*''Les maîtres censeurs : pour en finir avec la pensée unique'', Paris, Librairie générale française, coll. « Le livre de poche » (no 15282), 2002, 408 p. (ISBN 2-253-15282-X) - Prix François-Victor-Noury de l’Institut de France.
*Lucien Israël (author) (préf. Alain Besançon), ''Les dangers de l’euthanasie : entretiens avec Élisabeth Lévy / Lucien Israël'', Paris, Éd. des Syrtes, 2002, 153 p. (ISBN 2-84545-051-6)
*Philippe Muray (coauthor), ''Festivus festivus : conversations avec Élisabeth Lévy / Philippe Muray'', Paris, Fayard, 2005, 485 p. (ISBN 2-213-62129-2)
*Alain Finkielkraut (coauthor) et Rony Brauman (coauthor), ''La discorde : Israël-Palestine, les Juifs, la France : conversations avec Élisabeth Lévy / Rony Brauman, Alain Finkielkraut'', Paris, Mille et une nuits, 2006, 375 p. (ISBN 2-84205-812-7)
*''Le premier pouvoir : inventaire après liquidation'', Paris, Climats, 2007, 164 p. (ISBN 978-2-08-120068-5)hor), Notre métier a mal tourné : deux journalistes s’énervent, Paris, Mille et une nuits, 2008, 232 p. (ISBN 978-2-7555-0041-7)
* Robert Ménard (coauthor), ''Les Français sont-ils antisémites ?'', Paris, Éditions Mordicus, 2009, 103 p. (ISBN 978-2-918414-16-2)
*''La gauche contre le réel'', Paris, Fayard, 2012, 319 p. (ISBN 978-2-7555-0041-7)
*''Les rien-pensants'', éditions du Cerf, 2017

In popular culture

* ''Il n'y a personne dans les tombes'', by François Taillandier, Stock, 2007
*''Une belle époque'', by Christian Authier, Stock, 2008: as Isabelle Laval
*''Ticket d'entrée'', by Joseph Macé-Scaron, Grasset, 2011 : as Sarah Berg

See also

* Christophe Hondelatte
* Franz-Olivier Giesbert

References

External links

Articles sur Causeur.fr

Le regard libre d'Elisabeth Lévy - L'interdiction de la vente d'alcool dans l'Aisne

{{DEFAULTSORT:Levy, Elisabeth
1964 births
Living people
French political commentators
French Jews
Berber Jews
Conservatism in France
Great Replacement conspiracy theorists
French women journalists
French political writers
20th-century French Jews
French people of Algerian-Berber descent
French people of Algerian-Jewish descent
Sciences Po alumni
French columnists
French women columnists
People from Marseille
Right-wing populism in France
French critics of Islam
French conspiracy theorists
Le Figaro people
Far-right politics in France