L’université de Tel-Aviv ferme le département des études françaises. Nous n’accepterons pas cette décision avec soumission et résignation et nous ferons entendre nos voix. Nous ne défendrons point Molière ou Balzac, ni Napoléon ou Edith Piaf, qui sont les icônes, les mythes, et les héros d’une culture rayonnante, mondialement reconnue. L’importance de l’étude de la culture française en Israël spécifiquement, est complexe et va bien au-delà. Elle embrasse les peuples de cette région et leurs cultures. Elle est profondément liée, à notre culture locale.

Parlons de l’académie et de ses choix, et révélons comment cette grande institution se soumet aux exigences de l’économie du marché, avec un manque d’intérêt et un budget de plus en plus restreint pour les sciences humaines. Il est facile d’en justifier sa crise, de se comporter avec passivité vis-à-vis de notre département, et en parallèle de mettre en priorité le marketing et la publicité, augmenter les salaires, élaborer des programmes séduisants, mais uniquement pour les facultés, qui suivent les lois actuelles du marché. Et lorsqu’on laisse mourir à petit feu depuis des années un département, la direction rejette la faute sur le manque d’inscription des étudiants.

Parlons de ce que c’est d’apprendre le français dans un pays du Moyen-Orient avec une migration de peuples Arabo-français d’Afrique du Nord. Parlons des richesses culturelles arabes, chrétiennes et juives reliées entre elles par la langue, mettant en contact les continents d’Europe, d’Afrique et d’Asie. Parlons du colonialisme dans la région du Proche Orient et du Maghreb et de la mixité de ses différentes cultures. Rappelons les connections crées ainsi entre l’Est et l’Ouest grâce à la langue parlée et écrite, transformée en musique, en cinéma, en littérature: une culture qui est beaucoup plus proche de la nôtre, que de celle de la lointaine Amérique.

Annonçons le Printemps des peuples, à l’occasion de la fête de la Pâques juive, symbole de la liberté. Protestons contre l’administration de l’université, manifestons contre la fermeture du département et le licenciement de son personnel dévoué depuis tant d’années. Engageons-nous dans cette lutte pour la justice! Nous sommes tous les héritiers de la Révolution Française, et nous devons nous unir pour empêcher cette fermeture!

L’université a fait l’annonce de la fermeture du département à la veille des vacances de la Pâques juive, durée pendant laquelle l’université est fermée, ce qui permet d’étouffer la colère des étudiants et professeurs. Dès la reprise de l’année universitaire, nous serons là!

Partagez et diffusez – merci!

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The group has an email to which messages of support can be sent; those who wish to add their names to a petition opposing the closing of the department can also use this email: savefrenchdep@gmail.com

Letters of protest can be sent to the following email addresses:
Tel Aviv University Rector: Rector@tauex.tau.ac.il
Deans of students:Deans@post.tau.ac.il
C.E.O of the university: kohn@tauex.tau.ac.il
President of the university: ronigold@tauex.tau.ac.il

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The group has written an open letter to Israel’s President, Shimon Peres, who is known as an admirer of French language and culture. This is the English translation:

We, the students and scholars of the Department of French Studies at Tel Aviv University, turn to you, Mr. President, after being astonished to learn of the closing of our Department, with its 50 years of activity and its relations with the French Institute and the French Embassy in Israel. We hope to find a sympathetic ear, and seek your help in preventing this disastrous closure.

French culture is famously rich: the cinema of Godard and Truffaut, the plastic art of Cézanne and Manet, the modern philosophy of Foucault and Derrida, the novels of Balzac and Albert Camus, the poetry of Apollinaire and Gide, and so much more. This letter cannot list all of the leaders, scientists, artists, scholars, and writers who fill our life with substance and with such great inspiration, and whom we yearn to continue studying.

In addition to the inherent value of French culture itself, we would like to point out the importance of French Studies in Israel, given the connection between the Francophone world and our Mediterranean region and Middle Eastern neighbors, many of whom speak not only Arabic but also French, and whose culture is deeply informed by French culture. Another powerful link between Israel and French culture is the Jewish immigration from the countries of the Middle East and North Africa. Throughout the generations, immigrants from Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, and Syria have been bi-lingual in Arabic and French. This link is the result of French colonialism, which created this cultural mixture between Asia, Africa and Europe, between East and West, through this spoken and written language, through the music and cinema that are so close to us.

Tel Aviv University claims that the Department of French is being closed due to the small number of prospective students who enrolled for next year’s program. The university administration has not provided any other explanation for its decision. We believe that this closure is a part of a much broader process of turning the university into an institution whose main function is training students for the primary purpose of serving the business sector. More specifically, we have seen a process of financial suffocation of the Department, which has seen annual reductions in resources, funding, and personnel. Not surprisingly, this process resulted in decreased morale and a disaffected academic environment.

We believe that higher education in Israel must promote and prize the value, which cannot be quantified or otherwise financially measured, of exploring, discussing, and analyzing culture and thought. Elsewhere, the university shows that it is capable of preserving such values. The study of the classical languages, Greek and Latin, continues at the university even though these are no more “practical” than other humanities studies, and despite the low number of students they attract. The cultural, human, universal value of these languages links between different countries and traditions, and between past and future, and puts them above the practical, productive value of market economics. And it also raises the troubling question: why close our department?

Space does not permit us to elaborate the myriad reasons that link us to the Department. We have put forth here just a few, to appeal to you, Mr. President, out of the admiration we share with you for French culture, to help us prevent the closing of the Department of French Studies at Tel-Aviv University.

In November 2013, just a few months ago, the President of France, M. François Hollande, visited Israel. During his speech to the Francophone community in Israel, which he gave at Tel-Aviv University, M. Hollande proclaimed that this university has a lot to be proud of, with its academic achievements worldwide. And he encouraged the development of the Department of French Studies, citing the historic relations between French culture and Israel. As part of the warm relations between the two countries, it was decided that the university would have a representative from the French foreign ministry who will be responsible for the tracking of leading projects of innovation and initiative in all of the research fields, with a grand potential for collaboration.

Please help us carry on this vision and continue to fulfill the longstanding, valuable work of the Department of French Studies, which gathers so many cultures and living communities.

Sincerely and thankfully yours,
The representatives of the students, the Department of French Studies, Tel-Aviv University

Quelle: French Studies Discussion List “Francofil”.