Jean Daniel

Who is Jean Daniel?

Jean Daniel, is an Algerian-born French-Jewish journalist and author. He is the founder and executive editor of Le Nouvel Observateur weekly.

Daniel is a Jewish humanist in the venerable tradition of the French Left. He was a former colleague and friend of Albert Camus. In La prison juive: Humeurs et méditations d'un témoin, Daniel argues that prosperous, assimilated Jews in the west live in a self-imposed prison made of up of three invisible walls: the idea of the Chosen People, Holocaust remembrance, and support for Israel. "Having trapped themselves inside these walls...," wrote Adam Shatz in describing the book, "they were less able to see themselves clearly, or to appreciate the suffering of others -- particularly the Palestinians living behind the 'separation fence.'"

Jean Daniel was a member of the Saint-Simon Foundation think-tank.