Bernard-Henri Levy

Bernard-Henri Levy (BHL) is a controversial French journalist, intellect and political activist.

Bernard-Henri Levy was born on November 5, 1948 in Beni Saf Algeria to a Jewish family. At a very young age, he moved with his parents to France. There, he became a university professor, and one of the founding members of the Nouvelle Philosophie movement of 1976 which regrouped intellects that refused Marxism and Communism.

In 2006, he issued together with Salman Rushdie and 10 other personalities, a Manifesto entitled Together Facing the New Totalitarianism: ...Islamism is a reactionary ideology which kills equality, freedom and secularism wherever it is present. Its success can only lead to a world of domination: man's domination of woman, the Islamists' domination of all the others.. This was in support of the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons which set off hot debates and controversy and were received by large angry protests in the Muslim world.

Regarding his point of view of the Niqab, this face-veil worn by some Muslim women is an invitation to rape according to him.

In 2010, Bernard-Henri Lévy was subject to intellectual ridicule while promoting his book "On War in Philosophy". He quoted Jean-Baptiste Botul, unaware the person was a modern-day hoax that does not exist, a fictional character created by satirical journalist Frédéric Pagès.

Bernard-Henri Lévy is one of the greatest defenders of Israel in France. He was reported as saying that the children killed in Gaza are unavoidable collateral damage of the war against terrorism. In response to the massacre in the refugee camp of Jenin in 2002, he visited the camp on an Israeli tank and stated : "the Israeli army is the most humane army in modern history."

On 4th July 2011, Bernard-Henri Lévy organized a conference at Cinema St. Germain in Paris under the name of "popular movement in Syria" which was organized by his magazine La Regle du Jeu (The Rule of the Game) and website. The meeting regrouped many other French figures, in addition to a few Syrian opposition members such as Lama Atassi President of France-Syria democracy, co-organizer of the rally.

The conference was interrupted by a young Arab woman Soraya who screamed "In this room there isn't one single Syrian, in this room I only see Zionists", before she was escorted by force outside by the security guards.

Former French Minister of Foreign Affairs Bernard Kouchner was also present, alongside philosopher Andre Glucksman, and Frederic Encel, in addition to former Israeli Knesset member and assistant of Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak.

After Kouchner explained how there was a need to weaken Iran, Syria and Hezbollah (in the light of the Syria Protests), Bernard-Henri said that La Regle du Jeu will provide a platform showcasing videos from across Syria to help bring down the regime in Syria.

Other personalities present at the conference were Laurent Fabius, Bertrand Delanoë, Cécile Duflot, François Bayrou, Rama Yade, Fadela Amara, Axel Poniatowski, André Glucksmann, Kendal Nezan, and Aalam Wassef.

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