Daniel Bernard

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards.
Please improve this article if you can. (March 2007)

In 2001, diplomat Daniel Bernard (1941-2004) came to public attention when, as French Ambassador to the United Kingdom, he was quoted as referring to Israel as a "shitty little country." He was accused of antisemitism by the Israeli government and various commentators, and was moved to a post in Algeria soon afterwards.

Contents

[edit] Reported remark

Bernard was appointed French ambassador to the United Kingdom in early 2001. According to the UK's Daily Telegraph, in December 2001, Bernard referred to Israel as "that shitty little country Israel," and blamed it for the ongoing unrest in the Middle East. The remark was reported to have taken place during a conversation with Conrad Black of the Daily Telegraph at a private dinner party Black was hosting. Bernard's comment was then later repeated in an article written by Black's wife, Barbara Amiel, in the Daily Telegraph. Bernard's press secretary stated, "He does not deny the remarks, he just says first of all what he said was distorted."[1]

[edit] Bernard's response

In a letter to the Daily Telegraph, 22 December 2001, [1] Bernard wrote, 'Over the past few days, I have been the subject of grave accusations because of a comment I am reported to have made during a conversation with Lord Black. The facts are: while we were discussing the Israeli-Palestinian issue, I pointed out to Lord Black that this tragedy was taking place in a geographically limited area (I even specified that it was the equivalent of three French departments) that for 40 years had been suffering from a conflict whose equitable solution seems more out of reach than ever. Of course, I never meant to insult Israel or any other part of that region. The deliberately biased presentation of this conversation in some circles, accompanied by malicious accusations, is deeply shocking and insulting.'

[edit] Reaction

The British press saw a firestorm as a result, as comment on the 23 December 2001 in the Daily Telegraph exemplifies. [2] One British journalist, Deborah Orr did defend Bernard. In contrast, the French press saw the incident radically differently, while recognising that Bernard was a flamboyant character (Le Monde 2 May 2004). [3] His obiturary in Le Monde in 2004 also illustrates the same points.

Bernard was reassigned to become France's ambassador to Algeria in July 2002. He died in April 2004 while serving in that post, at the age of 62.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Irish Examiner, as cited below.

[edit] External links

Languages