France
France Has Been Robbed
For years, successive governments have celebrated France’s heritage while quietly starving it, reducing budgets, staff, security and maintenance until the guardians of the country’s treasures could no longer guard much at all.
Gadhafi, Sarkozy and Flight 772
The families of the victims of a 1989 bombing never imagined they would see the name of the Libyan intelligence chief who was convicted for it resurface decades later — not as a fugitive brought to trial, but as a bargaining chip in the political rise of a French presidential hopeful.
After France Outlawed Brothels, Its Army Kept North African Women Selling Sex in Secret
After World War II, France outlawed prostitution and shut more than a thousand brothels within its borders. But the army, which had thousands of North African troops to demobilize, set up its own secret brothels and trafficked women, often against their will, to service the troops.
Four Decades After His Imprisonment, France Can’t Stop Fighting Over Georges Abdallah
“Once a terrorist, always a terrorist?” The question has hovered over Georges Abdallah during his four decades in prison — not least because many do not believe he ever was one. With his release, France is once again fiercely debating what his incarceration means.
In Paris, Arab Music Is a Form of Protest
Last May, I attended a special concert by the duo Bedouin Burger at the City of Paris Museum of Modern Art, titled “A Nomad Ballad.” The celestial voice of Syrian singer Lynn Adib filled the air at the exhibition, which was dedicated to Arab artists. By her side was her…
How One Woman in France Is Battling the System That Was Meant To Protect Her
Foreign women who become victims of sexual violence in France face huge barriers in seeking justice and safety. Institutions take control of their lives while society tends to minimize their experiences, much as it does in many of the women’s home countries.
Gisele Pelicot: Finding Sisterhood at France’s Mass Rape Trial
Gisele Pelicot’s decision to make public the horrific details of her abuse has transformed her into a reluctant icon, galvanizing a movement of collective reckoning. The mass rape trial taking place in Avignon is not just a pursuit of justice; it is a crucible of solidarity and sisterhood.