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Antoine Sfeir, (November 25, 1948, Beirut, Lebanon - October 1, 2018, Paris, France), was a journalist and political scientist and author of numerous works on subjects related to the Middle East and the Muslim world.
Founder of Les Cahiers de l'Orient, he chaired the Center for Studies and Reflection on the Near East (Cerpo) and the Free Institute for the Study of International Relations (ILERI), and taught international relations at the CELSA Sorbonne University.
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He studied at the Collège Notre-Dame de Jamhour then at the Saint Joseph University of Beirut, and began studying medicine.
On 13 June 1976, he was kidnapped by pro-Syrian militiamen from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. He was held captive for seven days, during which he was tortured (bayonet in the back, blows with the butt on the fingers and in the jaw, torn nails). This episode pushed him to leave Lebanon to take refuge in France, where he arrived on 3 September 1976. His knowledge of Arab countries and the Muslim world means that he quickly becomes an expert solicited by French media to decipher current events in the Middle East.
A recognized expert on Islam,Last published : Islam against Islam, the endless war between the Sunnites and the Shiites, Grasset, 2012 Sfeir warned against the dangers of radicalism as soon as in the 2000s : "...foreign imams often found an all too willing audience in France's rundown immigrant suburbs. The kids there already watch Arab stations on satellite TV, with their bloodthirsty slogans and anti-western propaganda. They've already been totally radicalized." "France to train imams in 'French Islam'", The Guardian, 23 April 2004
Sfeir wrote numerous books about Islam and the Middle East; Antoine Sfeir Amazon page Antoine Sfeir Good reads page one of which was The Columbia World Dictionary of Islamism, translated by John King (Columbia University Press). The Columbia World Dictionary of Islamism He was often interviewed about international affairs on television talkshows, Antoine Sfeir Imdb page newspapers, "As Europe watches Arab unrest, fears over oil, migration shade its response", The Christian Science Monitor, 22 February 2011 and Administration commissions. L'Islam en France, French Senate, You Tube, 3 February 2016
In his book Tunisie, terre de paradoxes Tunisie, terre de paradoxes published in 2006, he was accused of supporting the regime of Ben Ali in particular by denying its police and authoritarian character. Blog The Arabist Sfeir replied that he always considered "the Tunisian people as an example for the whole region" in terms of education, modernization and regional integration, as well as in the fight against religious fundamentalism". "La Tunisie, rempart contre la déferlante intégriste dans la région", Antoine Sfeir, Le Figaro, 26 octobre 2009, l. 39 and 43. But in February 2011, Sfeir admitted that he was "heavily mistaken" on Tunisia and the Ben Ali regime. Auteur d'une apologie de Ben Ali, Antoine Sfeir fait son mea culpa, L'Obs, 18 February 2011.
Sfeir was made an Officer of the Legion of Honour in 2009. He died on 1 October 2018. Antoine Sfeir, politologue spécialisé dans le monde arabe et musulman, est mort
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