France in the Process of Change: Law, Reform and Society

Abstract

This morning I visited the Yad Vashem Memorial to pay my respects, and for me this will remain one of the most striking moments of my visit to Israel. True, I had a guide who gave me detailed explanations of everything, and I was unable to say anything throughout the entire visit. I said to my guide that words are superfluous, explanations are superfluous: the pictures, the objects, all these stories, all these lives that were destroyed speak for themselves. In the Children’s Memorial, I asked myself many questions about our world, and it is true that to hear the children’s names and their ages read out was difficult—I did not spend very long in there. But I thought of the Shoah, of the Jewish people, of its suffering, of its martyrdom, and it is also at such moments that one weighs up the responsibility of becoming involved in political affairs. Generally, people become involved in politics because of values, because of their views, their convictions, in order to build a better world, a world of peace, and in this region of the world, this word is very meaningful. A world of justice, but also a world of brotherhood. It is this message of hope that I have come to deliver.