Quick Facts
Biography
Jean Daniel, (né Jean Daniel Bensaid) (born 21 July 1920) is an Algerian-born French-Jewish journalist and author. He is the founder and executive editor of Le Nouvel Observateur weekly.
Daniel is a Jewish humanist in the tradition of the French Left. He was a former colleague and friend of Albert Camus, a fellow pied-noir. In La prison juive: Humeurs et méditations d'un témoin (The Jewish Prison), Daniel argues that prosperous, assimilated Jews in the west live in a self-imposed prison made of up of three invisible walls: the idea of the Chosen People, Holocaust remembrance, and support for Israel. "Having trapped themselves inside these walls...," wrote Adam Shatz in describing the book, "they were less able to see themselves clearly, or to appreciate the suffering of others -- particularly the Palestinians living behind the 'separation fence.'"
Jean Daniel was a member of the Saint-Simon Foundation think-tank.
Published work
Books
- The Jewish Prison: a Rebellious Meditation on the State of Judaism translated into English by Charlotte Mandell, 2005, Melville House Publishing, USA
Articles
- "We Already Miss His Vigilance" TELOS 44 (Summer 1980). New York: Telos Press