Since February 24, Vladimir Putin has been waging a war of conquest against Ukraine. His army has been bombing and destroying cities, killing civilians by the thousands, as it did in Chechnya and Syria. The Ukrainians are resisting. We must support them without thinking twice or holding back.
In most of our countries, however, too many people have sided with the Russian dictator. In the name of anti-imperialism that has turned into passionate hatred over the years, they are applauding anyone who is opposing the West.
We measure the overwhelming responsibility of Western powers large and small for the devastation of our world. We have denounced the wars they have waged to ensure their continued dominance over vast regions, including our own, and condemned their defense of indefensible dictatorships to protect their interests. We know their selective use of the values they claim, letting refugees from the South die at their doors and welcoming "their own" with open arms. But let's not get into the wrong battle. All those who demand freedom for themselves, who believe in the right of citizens to choose their leaders and to refuse tyranny, must stand with the Ukrainians today. Freedom must be defended everywhere.
For our part, we refuse to support any dictatorship on the pretext that its opponents are our enemies. By defending Putin's war, we are depriving ourselves of our own right to be free.
Dima Abdallah, writer (Lebanon-France);
Gilbert Achcar, political scientist (Lebanon-United Kingdom);
Mario Aguilar, islamologist (United Kingdom);
Nadia Aïssaoui, sociologist (Algeria-France);
Younès Ajarraï, cultural advisor (Morocco);
Sanhadja Akrouf, feminist activist (Algeria-France);
Cengiz Aktar, political scientist (Turkey);
Hala Alabdalla,filmmaker (Syria);
Tewfik Allal, community activist (Algeria-France);
Chawki Azouri, psychiatrist (Lebanon);
Malika Bakhti, engineer (Algeria-France);
Brigitte Bardet-Allal, professor (France);
Ali Bayramoglu, journalist (Turkey);
Yagoutha Belgacem, artistic director (Tunisia-France);
Souhayr Belhassen, honorary president of the FIDH (Tunisia);
Akram Belkaïd, journalist (Algeria-France);
Rabaa Ben Achour, academic (Tunisia);
Sana Ben Achour, professor of law (Tunisia);
Tahar Ben Jelloun, writer (Morocco-France);
Ali Bensaad, geographer (Algeria);
Raja Ben Slama, director of the National Library (Tunisia);
Karima Berger, writer (Algeria-France);
Mohamed Berrada, writer (Morocco);
Sophie Bessis, historian (Tunisia-France);
Karim Emile Bitar, professor of international relations (Lebanon);
Antoine Boulad, writer (Lebanon);
Rafic Boustani, demographer (Lebanon);
Nora Boustany, journalist (Lebanon-United States);
Soha Bsat Boustani, consultant (Lebanon);
Abdallah Cheikh Moussa, academic (Tunisia-France);
Khedija Cherif, sociologist (Tunisia);
Alice Cherki, psychoanalyst (Algeria-France);
Noam Chomsky, linguist (United States);
Ahmed Dahmani, academic (Algeria-France);
Kamel Daoud, writer (Algeria);
Godofredo de Oliveira Neto, writer (Brazil);
Albert Dichy, literary director (Lebanon-France);
Karima Dirèche, anthropologist (Algeria-France);
Nacer Djabi, sociologist (Algeria);
Alicia Dujovne Ortiz, writer (Argentina);
Anne-Marie Eddé, academic (Lebanon-France);
Dominique Eddé, writer (Lebanon);
Hanan El-Cheikh, writer (Lebanon-United Kingdom);
Abbas Fadhel, filmmaker (Iraq);
El Hadj Souleymane Gassama (aka Elgas), writer, (Senegal);
Amira Hass, journalist (Israel-Palestine);
Milton Hatoum, writer (Brazil);
Ahmet Insel, political scientist (Turkey);
Ramin Jahanbegloo, philosopher (Iran);
Kamel Jendoubi, human rights activist (Tunisia-France);
Salam Kawakibi political scientist (Syria-France);
Tahar Khalfoun, academic (Algeria-France);
Driss Ksikès, writer (Morocco);
Abdellatif Laabi, poet (Morocco);
Smaïn Laacher, sociologist (France);
Kamal Lahbib, human rights activist (Morocco);
Ahmed Mahiou, jurist (Algeria);
Charif Majdalani, writer (Lebanon);
Ziad Majed, political scientist (Lebanon-France);
Georgia Makhlouf, writer (Lebanon-France);
Farouk Mardam Bey, publisher (Syria-France);
Mohamed Mbougar Sarr, writer (Senegal);
Khadija Mohsen-Finan, academic (Tunisia-France);
Célestin Monga, economist (Cameroon);
Mohammad Ali Amir-Moezzi, academic, Islamologist (Iran-France);
Boniface Mongo-Mboussa, writer (Congo-Brazzaville-France);
Wajdi Mouawad, playwright (Lebanon-France);
Madeleine Mukamabano, journalist (Rwanda-France);
Nabil Mouline, historian (Morocco);
Lamia Oualalou, journalist (Morocco-France);
Cécile Oumhani, writer (France);
Atiq Rahimi, writer (Afghanistan-France);
Michèle Rakotoson, writer (Madagascar);
Arundhati Roy, writer (India);
Lamine Sagna, academic (Senegal-United States);
Antonio Carlos Secchin, writer (Brazil);
Nada Sehnaoui, visual artist (Lebanon);
Leïla Shahid, former ambassador (Palestine);
Muzna Shihabi Barthe, human rights activist (Palestine);
Wole Soyinka, writer, Nobel Prize for Literature (Nigeria);
Wassyla Tamzali, essayist (Algeria-France);
Nadia Tazi, philosopher (Morocco-France);
Hyam Yared, writer (Lebanon).
