Original news, features, opinions from Chicago to Jerusalem
France: Political Compromise vs Political Instability By Abdennour Toumi For weeks French politics has been so odd that it could be mentioned in any political fiction series: The West Wing, House of Cards, and Baron Noir or all together. After three successive and scathing defeats of President’s Emmanuel Macron camp: the European elections and in…
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Interlink 2022 Cookbooks Make the Best Holiday Gifts Buy any 2 cookbooks and get a surprise free cookbook As the holiday season approaches, I am excited to share with you our latest crop of international cookbooks from award-winning chefs, which have already received amazing pre-publication reviews. From Lebanese cuisine to Ukrainian, Chinese, Jamaican, African, Indian,…
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WJC President Ronald S. Lauder Receives France’s Top Distinction French President Emmanuel Macron today named WJC President Ronald S. Lauder a commander of the Legion of Honor for his service to the world’s communities and the broad vision of peace and culture that he embodies. “I thank President Macron and the nation of France for…
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New book: I was a French Muslim by Mokhtar Mokhtefi Coming later this year Born in 1935 in a French-colonized Algerian village, Mokhtar Mokhtefi came of age amidst the growing independence movements. He saw the effects of France’s 130-year colonization of his country, and the brutal tactics they used to stay in power: arresting and…
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Penguin Books releases Samira Sedira’s novel “People Like Them” Carmac is a small, homogenous town in the French mountains where everyone knows each other…and their business. But when a new family arrives—Bakary and Sylvia Langlois and their three children—Anna and Constant Guillot sense that something is about to change. Compared to the rest of Carmac,…
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Census and (lack of) Sensibility in the way nation’s manipulate population data Governments around the world manipulate their Census data on populations in order to undermine minority rights and strengthen government abuses against minorities. In the United States, the government has used the Census for decades as a means of suppressing the actual numbers of…
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French Protests Want More Brioche and Less Croutons In a democracy, legality, electability and accountability are the foundation of a political party. By Abdennour Toumi French President Macron, in a conciliatory tone on Monday night, offered a minimum wage rise, tax-free bonuses and reversal of pension charge, yet the majority of the “Yellow Vests” protests…
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From a Social Movement to an Urban Insurgency in France The anger is not about simple social demands for a decent and a better life, it has become for a large majority of the protesters a personal fight with President Macron. By Abdennour Toumi The anger and determination of the “Yellow Vests” protests against rising…
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Union Activism is Politics in French parliament election City Council Amrani is becoming known for going where no Arab-Muslim woman has gone before, challenging the establishment and the media, fighting to get to the French Parliament. By Abdennour Toumi Council Farida Amrani, a leading-edge Arab-Muslim woman, is the new face of la France insoumise (LFI)…
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Is the French Mass Media Democratizing the Press? The coverage of Mr. Zemmour vs. Ms. Hapsatou Sy has let victimization and guilty prevail over freedom of the press in France By Abdennour Toumi Burton Rascoe said, “A news sense is really a sense of what is important, what is vital, what has color and life,…
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Grand Pardon or Repentance! The evaluation of the past should not stop with memory alone, and spectacle bold decisions in a local political tempest. By Abdennour Toumi Then-candidate Macron speaking from Algiers in February 2017, described French Republic atrocities in Algeria as “crimes against humanity,” which sparked outrage from the far-right and the right political…
Affaire d’État or Scandal, the Palace Is Boiling President Macron’s supporters prefer to compare him to President Obama rather than President Nixon, and believe he will survive the storm. By Abdennour Toumi First heat waves of the summer season in Paris have produced an unusual sweat and wet in the town; everybody is trying to…
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Soccer and Politics in a Day of Glory There is a vicious circle here, the French mainstream media act with hypocrisy because of the perception the Adopter has developed vis-à-vis the Adopted. By Abdennour Toumi Soccer is a social activity within the community that is contrary to circumstantial triumphalism and seed nationalism; it is about…
Migrants Asking for Protection, Aid not Five-Star lodging Migrants are not looking for “five-star” lodging, once accosted safely they need protection and aid in norms with these countries’ human, egalitarian and fraternal values. By Abdennour Toumi Tragic images showing coffins containing bodies of those who drowned in the Mediterranean assembled in the Tunisian coastal city…
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France’s War on Terror and De-radicalization Policy: The Lone Wolf Spectrum Both the French national leaders and the Muslims alike are missing the point on this complex thematic, because the dialectical debate is whether France/Europe should focus on the young Arab and Muslim generation leaders on the field. By Abdennour Toumi Last Friday a lone…
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Trial in the Newsroom! Bias in French media A large majority of Muslim practitioners will tell you, however, that the French media and elite, particularly the radical secularists and the French white-identity zealots, are missing important cultural and identity factors within minorities in France. By Abdennour Toumi The on-going police investigation of renowned Islamic…
What’s the Matter with France? What is wrong with the white xenophobes and France in general toward their fellow Muslims and Arabs? By Abdennour Toumi The question of the headscarf (al-Khemar in Arabic) in France is more than just a partisan selling point and an electoral agenda. The aim of the matter is to ban…
“Olive Branch” Paris Position: Reticence and Opacity Ankara’s Operation “Olive Branch” in Afrin indicates a new orientation to reinstate Paris’ position in the Syrian civil war by trying to be a major player in the process of Syrian peace talks negotiations. By Abdennour Toumi Turkey’s current military foray Operation “Olive Branch” in Afrin, a northwestern…
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