The shock caused by the heinous attack by Hamas on October 7, 2023, should not make us silence the abandonment of a part of humanity, the acceptance by a large segment of politicians and intellectuals of the destruction of Gaza and the slaughter of its population, as well as the expulsions of the residents of the West Bank—events that will leave an indelible mark on the memory of those who bear the burden of this acceptance. Nor should we forget the stigmatization and condemnation of all those, students both Jewish and non-Jewish, in the USA, France, and elsewhere in the world, who, rejecting any form of anti-Semitism, dared to raise their voices to defend the rights of Palestinians, their right to life and to a life of dignity, their right to a just and sustainable peace, despite the denunciations from their institutions, the attacks from their rulers, the misinformation from the media, and the police and judicial repression.

With the passage of time, they will be recognized as just individuals who, despite the threats against them, stood up for the principles of humanity. Alongside the condemnation of the disastrous strikes by Hamas, which triggered the Israeli attack, we must refer to the decades-long acts of oppression, violence, and humiliation that preceded against the Palestinians.

We must not accept the crushing of a people and the erasure of its memory, nor the inversion of the meaning of words and values that challenge political thought and ethical judgment. The book at hand documents and analyzes how the consent to the annihilation of Gaza, how the moral resignation of politicians and intellectuals, has inflicted a tremendous wound on the moral order of the world.

A French doctor, sociologist, and anthropologist, Didier Fassin was born in 1955. He holds a doctorate in medicine (University Paris 6) and a doctorate in social sciences (EHESS), and he is a director of studies (professor) at EHESS, a professor of social sciences at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, and, since 2022, a professor in the regular chair "Ethical Issues and Political Stakes" at the Collège de France.

He has also worked as a doctor and anthropologist in several countries, primarily in India, Tunisia, Senegal, South Africa, and Ecuador. He served as vice president of the organization "Doctors Without Borders." He has been honored with the gold medal of the Royal Swedish Society of Anthropology and Geography, with the Nomis Distinguished Scientist and Scholar Award, and with the Huxley Memorial Medal from the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. His research topics include maternal mortality, the AIDS epidemic, social inequalities both in health and more generally, and, more recently, the anthropology of the state through an analysis of policing, justice, and imprisonment.