Disciplinary Action and Harassment Against Véronique Bontemps

The day after October 7, Véronique Bontemps, at the request of students from the Solidaire association at EHESS, forwarded their statement on the situation in the Middle East. After skimming the statement, she distributed it to an internal email list at the institution. In the days that followed, she was the target of a campaign of harassment and denigration involving some of her colleagues, with no support from her superiors. Véronique Bontemps acknowledged that she had read the statement too quickly, did not agree with its tone, and regretted sharing it. In early December, CNRS management launched disciplinary proceedings against the researcher for “glorifying terrorism,” “incitement to racial hatred,” and “breach of the duty of discretion.” Several months later, she learned that she had received a warning from her administration for breach of her duty of discretion. Intimidated by the hate campaign against her, Véronique Bontemps says she turned down several opportunities to speak out on the situation in Palestine for fear of being attacked again.