J'Accuse...!: Difference between revisions

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[[File:J'accuse - Gallica - page 1.jpg|thumb|Front page cover of the newspaper ''L'Aurore'' for Thursday 13 January 1898, with the letter ''J'Accuse...!'', written by [[Émile Zola]] about the [[Dreyfus affair]]. The headline reads ''I Accuse...! Letter to the President of the Republic''.]]

"'''''J'Accuse...!'''''" ({{IPA|fr|ʒakyz}}; "I Accuse...!") is an [[open letter]], written by [[Émile Zola]] in response to the events of the [[Dreyfus affair]], that was published on 13 January 1898 in the newspaper ''[[L'Aurore]]''. Zola addressed the [[Presidentpresident of France]], [[Félix Faure]], and accused his [[Government of France|government]] of [[antisemitism]] and the unlawful jailing of [[Alfred Dreyfus]], a French Army General Staff officer who was sentenced to lifelong penal servitude for [[espionage]]. Zola pointed out judicial errors and lack of serious evidence. The letter was printed on the front page of the newspaper, and caused a stir in France and abroad. Zola was prosecuted for [[Defamation|libel]] and found guilty on 23 February 1898. To avoid imprisonment, he fled to England, returning home in June 1899.

Other pamphlets proclaiming Dreyfus's innocence include [[Bernard Lazare]]'s ''A Miscarriage of Justice: The Truth about the Dreyfus Affair'' (November 1896).

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==Publication==

Zola risked his career in January 1898 when he decided to stand up for [[Alfred Dreyfus]]. Zola wrote an open letter to the Presidentpresident of France, [[Félix Faure]], accusing the French government of falsely convicting Alfred Dreyfus and of [[antisemitism]]. His intention was to draw the accusation so broadly that he would essentially force men in the government to sue him for libel. Once the suit was filed, the Dreyfusards (supporters of Dreyfus) would have the opportunity to acquire and publicize the shaky evidence on which Dreyfus had been convicted. Zola titled his letter {{lang|fr|J'Accuse...!}} (French for "I Accuse"), which was published on the front page of [[Georges Clemenceau]]'s [[Liberalism and radicalism in France|liberal]] Paris daily {{lang|fr|L'Aurore}}.

===Contents of ''J'Accuse...!''===

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==Trial of Zola and aftermath==

Zola was brought to trial for libel for publishing his letter to the Presidentpresident; he was convicted two weeks later. He was sentenced to jail and was removed from the [[Legion of Honour]]. To avoid jail time, Zola fled to England. He stayed there until the cabinet fell; he continued to defend Dreyfus.

Four years after the letter was published, Zola died from [[carbon monoxide]] poisoning caused by a blocked chimney. On 4 June 1908, Zola's remains were laid to rest in the [[Panthéon]] in Paris. In 1953, the newspaper {{lang|fr|[[Libération (newspaper, 1941–1964)|Libération]]}} published a death-bed confession by a Parisian roofer that he had murdered Zola by blocking the chimney of his house.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://creativitydiaries.wordpress.com/2018/02/03/jaccuse-the-sins-of-the-artist/|title=J'Accuse! The Sins of the Artist|date=3 February 2018}}{{fcn|date=May 2023}}</ref>{{Better source needed|date=August 2023}}

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* In 2008, film director [[Peter Greenaway]] released a documentary titled [[Rembrandt's J'Accuse|''Rembrandt's {{lang|fr|cat=no|italic=unset|J'Accuse}}'']]. It is a companion piece to his film ''[[Nightwatching]]''. It illustrates Greenaway's theory that [[Rembrandt]]'s painting ''[[The Night Watch]]'' leaves clues to a murder by some of those portrayed.

* In 2012, linguists [[Noam Chomsky]] and [[Hagit Borer]], together with seven other colleagues who had recently travelled to [[Gaza Strip|Gaza]] for a [[linguistics]] conference, wrote an open letter which began {{lang|fr|Nous accusons...}} ('We accuse...') on how the mainstream media fails to report on Israeli atrocities against civilians in [[Gaza Strip|Gaza]], which was published in Canada,<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://rabble.ca/news/2012/11/nous-accusons-mainstream-media-fails-report-atrocities-gaza |title=Nous accusons: Mainstream media fails to report on atrocities against Gaza |work=[[Rabble.ca]] |date=14 November 2012}}</ref> the US<ref>{{cite web |url=https://mondoweiss.net/2012/11/nous-accusons-mainstream-media-fails-to-report-context-and-severity-of-israeli-atrocities-against-gaza/ |title=Nous accusons: Mainstream media fails to report on context and severity of atrocities against Gaza |work=[[Mondoweiss]] |date=14 November 2012}}</ref> and translated, in France.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.legrandsoir.info/nous-accusons-la-sourde-oreille-des-grands-medias-sur-la-situation-et-la-gravite-des-atrocites-commises-par-israel-a-gaza.html |title=Nous accusons ! La sourde oreille des grands médias sur la situation et la gravité des atrocités commises par Israël à Gaza |lang=fr |date=16 November 2012}}{{fcn|date=May 2023}}</ref>

* In 2012, [[Wayne Swan]], the then [[Deputydeputy Primeprime Ministerminister of Australia]], told [[Prime Minister of Australia|Prime Minister]] [[Julia Gillard]] that she had given the "{{lang|fr|j'accuse}} speech" when she delivered her [[misogyny speech]] to the Australian Parliament, accusing [[List of Australian Leaders of the Opposition|Opposition Leader]] [[Tony Abbott]] of sexism and misogyny.<ref>{{citation |author=Hooper |first=Chloe |title=On the road with Julia Gillard |url=https://www.themonthly.com.au/issue/2013/august/1375315200/chloe-hooper/road-julia-gillard |newspaper=[[The Monthly]] |date=August 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220119185044/https://www.themonthly.com.au/issue/2013/august/1375315200/chloe-hooper/road-julia-gillard |access-date=4 October 2022 |archive-date=19 January 2022}}</ref>

*On 13 May 2016, Brazilian columnist and politics professor [[Vladimir Safatle]] published an article in the {{lang|pt|[[Folha de S.Paulo]]}} newspaper titled {{lang|fr|italic=no|"Nós acusamos"}} (we accuse), denouncing the several problems related to the removal from office of Brazil's president [[Dilma Rousseff]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www1.folha.uol.com.br/colunas/vladimirsafatle/2016/05/1770605-nos-acusamos.shtml|title=Nós acusamos|language=pt-BR|access-date=14 May 2016}}</ref>

*On 1 September 2016, Argentinian lawyer and politician [[Margarita Stolbizer]] published a book titled {{lang|fr|Yo acuso}} ("I accuse") denouncing corruption during the government of Argentina's president [[Cristina Fernández de Kirchner|Cristina Kirchner]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.clarin.com/politica/Stolbizer-presento-acuso-Vidal-Massa_0_1642635928.html|title=Stolbizer presentó su libro ''Yo acuso'' junto a Vidal y Massa|language=es|date=September 2016|access-date=2016-09-01}}{{fcn|date=May 2023}}</ref>

*On 9 June 2017, ''[[The New York Times]]''{{'}} [[White House]] correspondent [[Peter Baker (author)|Peter Baker]] wrote, in reference to the testimony of fired US [[FBI]] director [[James Comey]] before the [[US Senate]]'s Intelligence Committee, "While delivered in calm, deliberate and unemotional terms, Mr. Comey's testimony on Thursday was almost certainly the most damning {{lang|fr|italic=no|j'accuse}} moment by a senior law enforcement official against a president [referring to [[Donald Trump]]] in a generation."<ref>{{cite web |title=For Trump, the 'Cloud' Just Grew That Much Darker |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/08/us/politics/donald-trump-james-comey.html |website=The New York Times |date=8 June 2017 |access-date=8 June 2017}}</ref>

*In 2019, [[Norman Finkelstein]] published a book titled "''I ACCUSEAccuse!"'' in which he attempted to prove that [[International Criminal Court]] Chiefchief Prosecutorprosecutor [[Fatou Bensouda]] failed to properly investigate potential Israeli war crimes in the [[Gaza flotilla raid|2010 Gaza Flotilla Raid]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Finkelstein |first=Norman |title=I Accuse! |date=2019 |publisher=OR Books |year=2019 |isbn=9781682192276 |language=en}}</ref>

*On 19 April 2020, UK cabinet minister [[Michael Gove]] used the phrase "a {{lang|fr|italic=no|j'accuse}} narrative" in response to media reporting of the prime minister's absence from [[COBR]] meetings during the [[COVID-19 pandemic]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Walker |first=Peter |title=Boris Johnson missed five coronavirus Cobra meetings, Michael Gove says |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/19/michael-gove-fails-to-deny-pm-missed-five-coronavirus-cobra-meetings |work=The Guardian |date=19 April 2020 |access-date=18 February 2022}}</ref>

* On 3 June 2020, ''[[The Atlantic]]'', writing about President Trump's former Defensedefense Secretarysecretary and retired Marinemarine Generalgeneral [[James Mattis]]'s comments in an interview in which Mattis strongly criticized President Trump on multiple points, characterizing them as Mattis's {{lang|fr|italic=no|"j'accuse"}}.<ref name=Goldberg-2020>{{cite magazine |last=Goldberg |first=Jeffrey |title=James Mattis Denounces President Trump, Describes Him as a Threat to the Constitution |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2020/06/james-mattis-denounces-trump-protests-militarization/612640/ |magazine=The Atlantic |date=3 June 2020 |access-date=3 June 2020}}</ref>

* In the 2021 French television series ''[[Lupin (French TV series)|Lupin]]'', Fabienne Beriot's dog is named {{lang|fr|italic=yes|J'accuse}}, because Fabienne is a journalist.

* The French title of [[Roman Polanski]]'s film about the Dreyfus affair (in which Zola is a character) is ''J'Accuse'', although its English-language title is ''[[An Officer and a Spy]]''.