The American philosopher Judith Butler, a leading figure in gender studies, has reignited a controversy on the left, which remains at loggerheads over the massacres committed by Hamas in Israel on October 7, 2023. During a round-table discussion on March 3 in Pantin, outside Paris, Butler, who uses they/them pronouns, said that these attacks were an act of "resistance." Their words quickly sparked strong reactions after several excerpts were posted on social media.

A distinguished professor at the University of California, Berkeley, Butler is currently in France at the invitation of the Centre Pompidou. Since the start of the 2023 academic year, the institution has organized a comprehensive series of meetings around their visit through the end of April. The round table in Pantin, however, was not part of this program.

The audience present on the premises of the organization Relais Solidaires gave the academic a welcome worthy of a "rock star," as one of the evening's moderators put it. Butler's prestige extends beyond the academic world to left-wing and feminist activist circles. Their 1990 book Gender Trouble is now widely referenced and remains a seminal moment in feminist and queer theory. The Jewish American philosopher is also well known for their activism on the radical left and has been a harsh critic for many years of the state of Israel and of Zionism.

During the two-hour discussion, they remarked on what they felt was the true nature of the October 7 attacks. They described them as an "uprising," which could not be called a "terrorist act" or an "anti-Semitic attack." They argued that through this "act of armed resistance," it was the state of Israel that was being targeted. Butler added that they did not "like" these attacks and found them "anguishing." However, they said, "I would be very foolish if I then decided that the only violence in the scene" was aimed at Israelis, as Palestinians have been victims "for decades." Addressing the crowd, Butler predicted that they would soon come under fire for making these remarks, adding, "but you will defend me." Their statement was immediately followed by enthusiastic applause.

Butler also addressed the issue of the rapes perpetrated on October 7, saying that "if there is documentation, we deplore" these acts, but "we want to see that documentation." They also pointed out that 70% of the victims of the military operation unleashed by Israel in Gaza were women and children and their death and suffering constituted "a feminist issue (...) a queer issue."

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