Jean-Paul Sartre 1949

The Birth of Israel


Source: Michel Contat and Michel Rybalka, Les Écrits de Sartre. Parsi, Gallimard, 1970. Originally in “Hillel” no. 7, June 1949;
Translated: for marxists.org by Mitch Abidor, 2008;
CopyLeft: Creative Commons (Attribute & ShareAlike) marxists.org 2008.


I have always wanted the Jewish problem to find a definitive solution within the framework of humanity, and still do, but since no social evolution can avoid the stage of national independence, we must rejoice that an autonomous Israeli state has legitimated the hopes and combats of Jews throughout the world. And since the Jewish problem is a particularly alarming expression of the contradictions tearing at contemporary society, the formation of the Palestinian state must be considered one of the most important events of our era, one of the few that allows us today to preserve hope. For the Jews, it is the crowning of their sufferings and their heroic struggle; for all of us it signifies a concrete progress towards a humanity where man will be the future of man.