His passing marked the end of a life devoted to political, intellectual, and academic struggle at the Swiss, European, and international levels. Over the course of six decades, he became widely known for his support of numerous Arab causes.
Since the 1960s, Ziegler had become an icon of the Swiss, European, and indeed global left, a status he retained until his death. He consistently enjoyed immense respect and admiration among left-wing circles in Switzerland, Europe, and beyond. That respect also extended well beyond the political left, as evidenced by the wide range of personalities, governments, political parties, and organizations that paid tribute to him after his death, highlighting his qualities, achievements, and legacy. During his life, he was also awarded prestigious awards and medals by several governments, including those of France, Italy, and Cape Verde.
Although his early political and ideological awareness developed within a conservative, right-leaning student movement, Jean Ziegler's outlook changed after he moved to Paris in the early 1960s to pursue graduate studies at the Sorbonne. There he met the renowned French existentialist philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre and the celebrated French writer Simone de Beauvoir. In Paris, he became acquainted with Marxist thought and was influenced by it. It was also in Paris that he first became involved with the struggles for national liberation in the Arab world. He closely followed the Algerian people's struggle to free Algeria from French colonial rule and began writing in the press in support of Algeria's cause and resistance. He also became active in numerous campaigns organized in support of the Algerian national liberation movement, a position that provoked stands and actions against him from some French political forces and intellectual circles at the time.
A close and enduring friendship developed between Jean Ziegler and the late Algerian leader Ahmed Ben Bella, Algeria's first president after independence and the proclamation of the republic. Their friendship lasted for decades and included a joint trip to Baghdad during the crisis between Iraq and Western countries following Iraq's invasion of Kuwait on August 2, 1990. The purpose of the visit was to mediate for the release of Swiss hostages held by the late Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's government. The mediation achieved partial success, resulting in the release of some of the Swiss hostages. Ziegler later accused the Swiss government of refusing his request to allow the export of medicines and dairy products for Iraqi children, as requested by the Iraqi government, in exchange for the release of the remaining Swiss detainees.
Over the years, Ziegler strongly condemned the sanctions imposed on Iraq between 1990 and 2003, describing them as "inhumane." He emphasized their devastating impact on the Iraqi people in general and Iraqi children in particular. During and after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, Ziegler also focused on what he believed Western media largely ignored: the enormous number of Iraqi human casualties, not only military personnel but an even greater number of civilians, as well as the widespread destruction of Iraq's civilian infrastructure resulting from the military invasion and occupation.
Turning to Jean Ziegler's views on Egypt's national and economic liberation policies during the Nasser era, one finds his notable French-language book, published in several editions, entitled “Gamal Abdel Nasser: Arab Socialism”. In this work, Ziegler strongly expressed, through well documented arguments, his support for certain aspects of Egypt's experience under the late President Gamal Abdel Nasser. In particular, he praised Nasser's decision to nationalize the Suez Canal on July 26, 1956, arguing that it represented a turning point in the international order, its governing principles, and even in the principles of international law itself. He viewed it as affirming the right of peoples in developing countries to exercise sovereignty over their natural resources. Ziegler also praised the Egyptian people's resilience in resisting the British, French, and Israeli tripartite aggression launched in response to the canal's nationalization, as well as Egypt's success in mobilizing broad international support for its cause, which ultimately pressured the three aggressor states into withdrawing their armies from Egyptian territories.
In the same context, Ziegler expressed support for Egypt's move toward some form of socialism in the early 1960s, even though he disagreed with some aspects of the experiment. He commended its economic and social achievements, including Egypt's transition into heavy industry and its transformation from an economy primarily based on agriculture to one centered on industry. He also praised extending electricity to rural areas, the extension of clean drinking water to hundreds of Egyptian villages, and the successive agricultural reform laws. In particular, he emphasized the experiment's contribution to promoting greater social justice, economic equality and equity as well as improved living standards for Egypt's lower and middle classes.
Throughout various stages of his life, Jean Ziegler also supported several political experiments in Arab countries whose governments embraced what they described as "progressive" policies, particularly efforts aimed at redistributing national wealth and income, empowering marginalized social groups, advancing women's rights, and expanding access to social, health, and educational services. At the same time, however, he repeatedly criticized the absence of political freedoms and democracy in these experiments. He argued that this absence was, to varying degrees, responsible for the collapse of those experiments and the reversal of many of their economic and social achievements because of the lack of political democracy and strong institutional governance. In his view, economic and social progress loses its meaning if stripped of its democratic foundation, which alone enables people to safeguard their social and economic gains.
Jean Ziegler was also well known for his steadfast support of the inalienable national rights of the Palestinian people and their struggle to exercise their right to self-determination, achieve national liberation, and establish an independent state on their own territories. He also conducted sustained campaigns condemning Israel's repeated attacks on Lebanon's independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity, particularly during the 2006 war. At that time, the Israeli government accused him of focusing on Israel's violations of international law and international humanitarian law during its military campaign against Lebanon while allegedly "ignoring" Hezbollah's attacks on northern Israel and their impact on Israeli civilians.
These critical positions toward successive Israeli governments' policies toward the Palestinians and other Arab countries did not prevent Ziegler from playing a significant role in exposing the conduct of some Swiss banks that had concealed information about accounts belonging to European Jews who had perished in the Holocaust. During the 1990s, he actively participated in domestic and international pressure campaigns, particularly those supported by U.S. President Bill Clinton's Democratic administration and, as expected, the Israeli government, which ultimately led the Swiss authorities to agree to compensate the descendants and heirs of Holocaust victims for those dormant assets.
Alongside these two positions stands a third example illustrating Ziegler's commitment to defending what he regarded as fundamental principles, regardless of the personal cost, despite the apparent contradiction perceived by some observers. This refers to his defense during the 1990s of the late French philosopher Roger Garaudy in the face of the campaigns launched against him by pro-Israel circles, the worldwide Jewish community, and the international Zionist movement after Garaudy questioned the accepted number of Jewish victims of the Holocaust. Garaudy faced administrative and court rulings, and his books were banned from publication and sale in parts of Europe. Ziegler was careful to clarify that he was not defending Garaudy's doubts about the number of Holocaust victims. Rather, he supported Garaudy against what he described as the growing influence and expanding role of religious fundamentalisms on the global stage.
These examples represent only some of Jean Ziegler's positions regarding Arab causes. He will continue to be remembered as a Swiss, European, and international figure of considerable stature who, for more than six decades, consistently supported and defended many Arab causes and rights. His legacy remains alive, and his ideas continue to exert influence in Switzerland, across Europe, and globally.
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