Bernard-Henri Lévy, or BHL as he’s known in France, is that rare bird — a public intellectual and a crusader. He has campaigned for Bangladesh independence and has been a staunch ally of the Kurds, and single-handedly instigated the world’s intervention in Libya — or so many believe. A former socialist, he was a founder of the “Nouveaux Philosophes” movement in 1976 and is an agile, combative — not to mention telegenic — debater on all matters great and small.
I heard from Lévy a few days ago — literally from the battle of Mosul, where he has been with the Kurds during the ongoing siege — to discuss his new book, The Genius of Judaism, a provocative discourse on Jewish thought and anti-Semitism, along with the uncertain future of Jews in the age of Trump, Brexit, the Palestinian-led Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement, and the perils of Islamic extremism.
Lévy will be speaking at UCSB’s Campbell Hall this Saturday, January 14, at 8 p.m.