'Anti-Americanism is a form of fascism'

14 October 2006

Narrow nationalism, hatred of Jews, and chauvinism find their meeting place in anti-Americanism, the acclaimed French thinker Bernard-Henri Lévy tells Allister Heath

It is also imperative not to surrender to the extremists’ demands for a curtailment of free speech in the West, which must instead push for increased integration of immigrants. ‘You are going to discover this more and more in England â” that it’s fair to ask of those who ask for your hospitality to accept certain values, to make certain efforts, to share our way â” your way â” of being a citizen.’

I asked him whether this would mean more controversies, such as the debate about wearing the veil ignited last week by Jack Straw; he agreed it would, but said that his argument was much broader. ‘I was surprised last August, when there were these bombing attempts stopped by the police. I heard strange interviews on British television of Englishmen of Pakistani origin, talking as if they did not really feel British, and as if they did not care to feel British. Maybe the fault is shared; maybe you didn’t do your best to integrate them, and you have a duty to do that. But maybe they didn’t all do their best to embrace Britain.’

British citizens ‘from ancient origins and recent origins should sit together around a table and try to find a way to rewrite the social contract. It’s an emergency; if not you will have riots everywhere, more and more, as we had in France, but yours might be even worse in Britain.’ On that note Lévy shrugged, leaving me to wonder for the first time in my life whether we would not in fact be better off if our public intellectuals were more like those in France.

Allister Heath is associate editor of The Spectator and deputy editor of the Business.