Édition N°5, 2021-2022 by Le Zadig

SAMEDI 11 JUIN 2022

SCIENCES PO PARIS, CAMPUS DE MENTON

#12 | WHEN BULLETS RICOCHET ON RUE LONGUE YUSEF BUSHARA

#32 | LA GESTATION POUR AUTRUI : QUEL PRONOSTIC POUR LE MANDAT PRESIDENTIEL 2022-2027 ?

- FELIPE

BOITARD

2021-2022

N˚5

table of contents p. 4

anti-immigration ‘Sweden Neo-Nazism: Menace to Finally, the InternaDemocrats’ party. identitarians relate more to tional Order or Another Case of Meentho-nationalist activism dia Sensationalism?

p. 6

Pensées du Désaveu

p. 8

Where Is My justice: The Ever-unsettling Truth and Reconciliation Committee

p. 10

Post-Neoliberalism in Latin America

p. 12

When Bullets Ricochet on Rue Longue

p. 13

Speaking Gourds

p. 14

How the Media is Manufacturing Your Consent: Escalating Towards Hot War

p. 20

Carnet de Voyage d’une 3A des plus mentonnaises

p. 22

We are all witnesses of justice: Rocco Mangiardi and the choice of freedom

p. 26

The Man Who Lived on a Rooftop

p. 28

Coffee with a Bedouin

p. 30

Tall, Charming Civil Servants and Me p. 32 La Gestation Pour Autrui : Quel pronostic pour le mandat présidentiel 20222027 ? p. 34 Ghosts of the exes: Do we ever forget our past love affairs ?

Neo-Nazism: Menace to the International Order or Another Case of Media Sensationalism? GEORGIA MCKERRACHER

COLUMNIST

Everyone’s heard the term ‘neo-Nazi’ being thrown around in recent times. Whether it be a label flung at Éric Zemmour or cropping up occasionally in an obscure Louis Theroux documentary, the label has undoubtedly seen an upsurge in popularity in recent years. However, with this rhetoric comes ambiguity — what does it really mean to call someone a neo-Nazi? Is it something to fear, or simply a throwaway phrase too easily employed? Recent affairs in Ukraine have begun to really turn the tables towards the former interpretation – neo-Nazism is most certainly something to be feared. Despite accusations of a leftist media acting as the ”enemy of the people” (Trump, 2019) by apparently stoking up paranoia for profit, current occurrences in Ukraine are telling us otherwise. The world needs to see that the rise of the far-right really is an issue. This isn’t just a case of increased media coverage, but a case of a new form of the ‘professionalized’ right wing coming through and threatening the balance of international politics as we currently know it. According to the dictionary definition, ‘neo-Nazi’ refers to a person who believes in “the ideas and policies of Hitler’s

Nazis, and sometimes commits violent acts” in contemporary contexts. The ‘neo’ of the phrase literally means ‘new’ or ‘revived,’ basing ideologies on notions of white racial superiority drawn from Hitler’s commitment to the creation of an Aryan race. However, despite the seemingly simple definition provided in the books, the specific ideologies, behaviors and priorities of different sects of neo-Nazism fluctuate both between and within nations. While Australian neo-Nazis are commonly identifiable through their regular justification of violence as an attempt to preserve

“blood and honour,” Swedish Nazi sects are comparatively more focused on evoking a sense of belonging to a community through embracing a shared “meaning-making” ideology. Following on the example of a Nordic country, most observers note that there are three distinctive neo-Nazi ideological camps. Firstly, ‘Race revolutionaries’ focus on the continuation of historical Nazism. Alternatively, ‘cultural nationalists’ arguably represent the largest threat to democracy, being relatively well-mobilized in legitimate parties, such as the

and are most often found in alt-right contemporary media landscapes. Frighteningly, these disparate groups have all been gaining steam in their radical operations since the 2000s - what has been referred to as a “post-skinhead” era (Brown, 2004). For the first time, the world is seeing neo-Nazi ideologies mobilized in more socially-legitimate spheres through the ‘new nationalism’ movement – an ideological mutation of a program that used to be defined by a subculture of more hidden forms of communication through alternative music, magazines, and street gangs. What we’ve seen so far in the 21st century is a noticeable ideological mutation.

Where neo-Nazis once created and communicated through hateful underground music, irate art, and delinquent street gangs, this novel nationalist movement is taking on new ‘intellectual’ approaches to their activism. Members dress better, rely less on excessively emotional rhetoric, articulate themselves formally with academic language, and have generally opted to “blend in” with the rest of mainstream society. Some leaders of neo-Nazi movements in the US have even opted to warn members against getting tattoos and piercings; a stark contrast to the previous tattooed, doc-marten-carrying members that defined the radical movements of the 70s, 80s and 90s. No longer can these people and the hate they represent be

defined as alternative, troubled groups banished to the sidelinesof society. This cultural camouflage has made the threat of neo-Nazism taking grip even more potent, working right under our noses. With this blending into contemporary society comes wider social confusion, and with confusion comes power. Ukraine: the nation has had a long-term neo-Nazi problem. And, as would happen in any country engulfed in a life-death crisis, the war has only further exacerbated already extensive ideological divisions. While Putin’s destruction of Ukraine has resulted in the devastation of Jewish communities, rendering hollow his classical propagandic claims to “de-Nazify” and “protect [ Jewish] people” from “bullying and genocide,” it would be wrong for the international community to ignorantly assume Ukraine is completely free from the threat that Russia is rhetorically exploiting. Despite the fact that Zelensky himself is a Jewish descendant from a family devastated by WWII, Ukrainian history has been punctuated with pogroms and hateful antisemitic actions carried out by radical rightists. This polarising situation has been perhaps best represented by the rise of the Avoz Regiment since the 1990s, a dangerous group that has recently gone as far as to coat bullets in pig fat before

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Bachelard, M. (2021). What is a neo-Nazi? What do they believe?. Retrieved 16 April 2022, from https://www.smh.com.au/national/ what-is-a-neo-nazi-20210816-p58j5p.html Brown, T. (2004). Subcultures, Pop Music and Politics: Skinheads and “Nazi Rock” in England and Germany. Journal Of Social History, 1(38). Lee, M. (1997). The Beast Reawakens. Little, Brown and Company. Olmstead, M. (2022). Neo-Nazism Is On The Rise In Texas And Greg Abbott’s Silence Speaks Volumes | Texas Democratic Party. Retrieved 16 April 2022, from https://texasdemocrats.org/media/ neo-nazism-is-on-the-rise-in-texas-and-greg-abbotts-silence-speaksvolumes/ On the Path to Day X: The Return of Germany’s Far Right. (2022). Retrieved 16 April 2022, from https://www.nytimes. com/2021/06/25/world/europe/germany-nazi-far-right.html Profile: Who are Ukraine’s far-right Azov regiment?. (2022). Retrieved 16 April 2022, from https://www.aljazeera.com/ news/2022/3/1/who-are-the-azov-regiment Trump ramps up rhetoric on media, calls press ‘the enemy of the people’ | The Hill. (2022). Retrieved 16 April 2022, from https:// thehill.com/homenews/administration/437610-trump-calls-press-

the-enemy-of-the-people

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In the early 21st century, the world witnessed the threatening professionaliza-

References

So, what can we currently conclude about the outlook for our world? Even in the event of military success, Ukraine seems to be condemned to a future of violent political division. Beyond Ukraine, the neo-Nazi movement seems to be on the rise. While it may seem slightly cynical, it is nevertheless realistic to note that radical minorities have effectively exploited the global crises we are currently facing to provide themselves a platform upon which they can produce tighter international connections.

tion of fringe political ideologies. Now, we see the globalization and fortification of such principles on an international level. The new waves of neo-Nazism the world is now witnessing gaining command remain true to their fascist roots. With the Latin stem of the word ‘fascinum’ meaning to fascinate or charm, it is indisputable that this movement is living up to its name in our modern times – continuing to disgracefully enchant and distressingly engage people from the world over. ■

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Without a doubt, Ukraine is in need of as much anti-Russian support as it can gather. An estimated 20,000 individuals from nations as diverse as Sweden, Mexico, the US and India have scrambled to aid. The Ukrainian government’s stress on the fact it seeks only experienced volunteers who aren’t in need of formal training has resulted in the creation of an assorted “international legion.” However, it goes without saying that, within these volunteers, many individuals are not present for the empathetic purposes they claim. A number of overseas neo-Nazi militias have recruited and sent volunteers abroad to join this legion. Not only does this further strengthen neo-Nazi presence in Ukraine, but it also provides radical socialization opportunities in a crisis environment. It produces a

sense of international solidarity for the supremacist cause. A unification against a common enemy – something history has taught us has acted as one of the most effective and efficient tactics to produce a popular sense of identity. The situation draws undeniable parallels with the war of 2014 in Donbas, where foreign fighters recruited to counter Russian-backed separatists turned out to be hostile rightwing radicals. Now under the ruse of returning to “defend white Europe,” US radical groups such as the Atomwaffen Division are urging members to undertake the journey to fight. It seems the ideological situation may not be overly different 8 years on. The Azov Division has also been appealing to such international groups, claiming to have brought in 20 members by early March.

shooting Muslim Chechen Russian allies in nearby territories. Currently, the ultra-nationalist group contains over 900 members who engage in physical assaults on migrants, the Roma and the LGBTQ+ communities… and yet was still formally integrated into the National Guard of Ukraine in 2014. Ukraine remains “the world’s only nation to have a neo-Nazi formation in its armed forces” (Lee, 2014). Moreover, several members were elected to parliament in 2014, further reinforcing the notion of formal ‘democratisation’ and ‘legitimisation’ of neo-Nazi ideologies.

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Pensées Du Désaveu RIME BEN ABDERRAHMAN

CHRONIQUEUSE

Dans le cadre de son programme, Emmanuel Macron souhaiterait instaurer des conditions de travail pour les bénéficiaires du revenu de solidarité active. Dans la lignée de ses adversaires de droite au premier tour tels que Valérie Pécresse, cette mesure aboutirait au conditionnement du RSA à quinze à vingt heures de travail obligatoire de formation professionnelle. Individualisante, punitive, restrictive, et nous rappelant de surcroît le concept américain de « workfare », cette proposition va à l’encontre de ce que l’État-Providence garantit à ses citoyens. Les pauvres se délecteraient dans l’assistanat, et seuls ceux qui travaillent mériteraient leur droit aux allocations.

“Le mérite apparaît ainsi

comme le fil conducteur d’idéologies et de politiques plurielles. Celles-ci nourrissent un mythe qui n’a de validité qu’en apparence.” Une véritable intériorisation de ce mode de pensée s’effectuerait par les individus. Mais sa tournure ultime réside dans son rôle de justificateur de l’inaction politique et de la dévalorisation des plus démunis. Au lieu d’investir dans l’éducation, pour une meilleure dotation en enseignants titulaires dans les établissements scolaires et notamment ceux labellisés éducation prioritaire, réduire le nombre d’élèves par classe, donner davantage de moyens aux universités, ou encore d’accorder des minima sociaux décents, sans discrimination, à ceux dans le besoin, les politiques ciblent plutôt ceux qui apparaissent alors comme des obstacles à l’entier établissement de leurs vision néolibérale. La distinction factice au mérite agit comme déni de la pauvreté réelle, des déterminismes sociaux structurels et comme déshumanisation totale de ces nouvelles personnes jugées non-méritantes par des opinions subjectives. Notre État providence, pensé dans la volonté de garantir chaque individu contre les divers risques de la vie, semble alors remplacer le « chaque » par « quelques », au nom d’un concept — le mérite — introduisant son paradoxe. •

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Le mérite apparaît ainsi comme le fil conducteur d’idéologies et de politiques plurielles. Celles-ci nourrissent un mythe qui n’a de validité qu’en apparence. Mais plus grave encore, en donnant l’aspect de principe voire de norme à la notion de mérite, c’est toute une dichotomie stigmatisante et absolument infondée qui se met en place, entre méritants et non méritants. Cette stigmatisation s’accompagne de l’association à la notion même de mérite de tout un panel de conceptions sculptées par les élites : la richesse, le nombre de diplômes — Michael Sandel, professeur à Harvard, parle de « tyrannie du diplôme » —, ou encore la trajectoire perçue comme particulièrement « méritante » du transfuge de classe ascendant. Par le dur labeur et un grand investissement personnel, les individus seraient fondamentalement et automatiquement capables de se hisser à un rang social plus élevé. La conséquence de cette stigmatisation implique une vision détournée des réalités de la pauvreté : celle-ci serait apparemment due à la paresse. De ce fait, les statuts sociaux semblent indexés au mérite respectif des uns et des autres.

Cette notion de mérite est particulièrement centrale dans les discours politiques de droite. Tendant à responsabiliser les individus de leur propre destin, le paradigme de la « méritocratie » légitime aujourd’hui nombre de mesures et sert la justification de l’ordre social actuel. Intrinsèquement corrélée au système scolaire, la notion de mérite pousse à toujours plus de sélection sociale. En 2017, Emmanuel Macron avait promis une réforme des bourses du Crous pour sortir de la familiarisation des aides accordées aux étudiants. Cinq ans plus tard, il s’y engage de nouveau. Et alors qu’il devait créer 60 000 logements étudiants, seule la moitié ont été construits, dont uniquement 10 000 en résidence Crous. Les frais d’inscription des étudiants extracommunautaires, eux, auront été multipliés par 10, voire par 16. Éric Zemmour, lui, souhaite augmenter encore plus ces frais pour les étudiants étrangers dont il n’accueillera que les « profils les plus prometteurs dans les filières utiles pour notre pays ». En 2017, le chef de l’État affirmait vouloir renouer avec l’égalité des chances. Dans un discours, il a notamment exposé son souhait de « retrouver la sève du mérite ». Il entendait par là exprimer sa volonté de renforcer les dispositifs

comme les cordées de la réussite ou les internats d’excellence avec toujours un unique fil rouge : le mérite. Et ce même si cette notion a largement été déconstruite et que les chercheurs ont démontré à quel point elle reste irrecevable scientifiquement.

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Where Is My Justice :

the ever unsettling truth and reconciliation commission

ON BEHALF OF

AMNESTY

When democratisation began in Indonesia in 1998, the fall of the autocratic Soeharto Presidency (1966-1998) seems to signal a new era for victims of political oppression. Transitional justice became a central part of the reformasi, a period of momentous change that established a system of accountability and to provide legal base for commission of inquiry. Mechanisms such as trials, security reforms and a law on Truth and reconciliation Commission are in place to resolve cases of human right abuses happening during the presidential term of Soeharto. Sumarsih’s son is one of the countless student killed by the Indonesian military during a demonstration against President Soehato in 1998. As the national commission on human right set up an inquiry team in Indonesian, she thought her son is finally receiving the belated justice. To her surprise, no trial was held on her son’s case. Words on paper is one thing, reality of implementation is another. Of the 137 people accused of human right abuses, none received punishment, most of whom are military official. Similarly, when The bilateral Indonesia–Timor-Leste Commission of Truth and Friendship found strong evident of military and government official were involved in systemic rape ,murder and torture in their report, no single case was brought before the human right

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“It’s been twenty years now, how is it that we are still talking about transitional justice? What transition? What justice? Until when is the transition? Why hasn’t anyone being punished for their crimes of past abuses until today?” - Said Sumarsih.

courts. Instead, the report became the unofficial agreement to close the door for any further investigation. Many more of the cases of investigation were undermined by political compromises. The democratic transition in Indonesia is insider-dominated and gradualist in nature–meaning that the political legacies of the Soeharto regime remained largely intact at the time of the transition, including the strong military presence in informal politics. It has cultivated a systemic unwillingness to uncover the truth surrounding serious human rights violations and to hold those who are responsible accountable for their actions. Compromises are not uniquely present in the case of Indonesia but an inherent part of the transitional process and without an exception comes at the expense of the victims. What claimed to be a ‘victim- centered’ transitional justice is in reality ‘state-centered’ We are unnerved when moral wrong was justified for being ‘the right thing to do’ in a utilitarian sense–for the greater good. But when the only possibility of coexistence lies with the reconciliation between the oppressor and the oppressed, it becomes almost an imperative for the post-conflict state to prioritize the restorative over the retributive aspect of justice. In the book, ‘No future without forgiveness,’ transitional justice speaks not just of the transition from one political reality to another, but also of the transition from past to future, to give a conclusion to the past trauma and to prevent its repetition in the future. Transition itself is not only the transition of political order and the appropriation of the principle of justice, but also involves a kind of self-understanding and self-definition as a temporal and collective existence; human beings cannot help but orient themselves in the broader scope of history, and it is impossible to not simultaneously define both ourselves in this temporal relationship but also the community from which we hail.

“Well, I have dirty hands. Right up to the elbows. I’ve plunged them in filth and blood. But what do you hope? Do you think you can govern innocently?” (Sartre, “Dirty Hands,” Act V)

ANNIE WONG

COLUMNIST

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This legacy of injustice and human rights violations involves how to review and define the relationship between “past-present-future.” It is not only a discussion of time, but also a historical exploration. Through the role of historicality, we not only understand and define ourselves, but also project our own purpose from this historicality. In any case, the South African Truth Commission was different to any other commission held in the past. The Commission had to balance the scales between a painful past and a peaceful future. The task in itself was not an easy one, considering the fact that the apartheid years spanned over many decades. It certainly was not an easy task to maintain a balance between blanket amnesty and legal prosecutions. This middle of the road policy leveled much criticism from all sides, ranging from political parties to victims and their families and the general public. However, the policy on amnesty was a crucial aspect in balancing the past with that of the future. Although the TRC had achieved its objectives, it had many shortcomings ranging from its original mandate, its workings right through to the final recommendations. The scope of the Commission was far too wide considering the fact that they had to cover human rights abuses spanning over the years 1960 to 1994. The mandated period for them to complete their task was very limited if one considers the fact that this was a unique Commission and many people had to be trained to carry out tasks especially on lower levels. The Committees established by the Commission did not have clear methods of working and the coordination between them was poor. The methodology followed by the TRC was flawed, but we need to take time and consider the enormity of the task at hand. It was not only a transitional phase for the people of South Africa but for the new government as well. The TRC was not a well planned process. However one has to also consider that accountability had to be done as soon as possible or it would have lost its essence. Issues had to be faced as soon as possible. The Commission also received criticism for allowing religion into its doors, mainly in the form of Christian theology. However, in some ways, one has to consider the fact that most people who were affected by apartheid were Christian and they found comfort in the practice of the Commission. The National Party had to be accountable and yes, as leaders they should have apologized for what had happened. This should have been a point of issue for the Commission and one of the areas where they had failed to act. Notwithstanding all the negative aspects of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission much positivism brought to the country as a whole, sections of society and to individuals. Nothing short of a miracle can heal a country.

The terms of reconciliation, forgiving and healing became acceptable terms to many who were affected by the period of apartheid. South African history was given an opportunity to be recorded. People were given an opportunity to clear their conscience and find peace in truth. For the first time it was possible to see beyond the pain that many had suffered. As a country we would have been much poorer had the truth not been told.

“legacy of injustice and human rights violations involves how to review and define the relationship between ‘past-present-future.’”

ÉDITION N˚5 | MAI 2022

POST-NEOLIBERALISM POST-NEOLIB ERALISM IN LATIN LATIN AMERICA:

A Turning Point in the Promotion of Indigenous Rights? LENA SCHULTESS

COLUMNIST

ON BEHALF OF

AMNESTY

In 2006, Latin America saw the first election of an indigenous president: Evo Morales, a member of the Bolivian party “Movimiento al Socialismo,” seemed to signal the end of an era; not only was his election a milestone in the political representation and inclusion of indigenous peoples, but also was he part of a broader wave of politicians elected for their defiance of the predominant neoliberal policies that had marked Latin America since the 1970s. Arne Ruckert, Laura Madconald and Kristina R. Proulx note this series of leftist governments peaking in the 2000s as “neoliberalism’s waning hegemony.” Instead of continuing the neoliberal policies of free-market, labor market deregulation, and hyperglobalization that have been pushed by the IMF and the World Bank during the era of the Washington Consensus, “pink tide” politicians such as Morales promote nationalization and equal wealth distribution. It is these policies and the protection of indigenous peoples’ rights – the social stratum that has disproportionately suffered under neoliberalism – that constitutes “post-neoliberalism.” However, with indigenous people in Latin America globally facing the biggest danger when standing up for their rights, and privatized extraction remaining the main driver for many a Latin American country’s economy, the question arises how much these policies really signify a turning point. Although the situ-

ation varies from country to country, taking a closer look at Latin America’s ray of hope in terms of post-neoliberalism, Bolivia, will shed light on the effectiveness of the break with neoliberalism – or rather the lack thereof. “In these elections again, we are going to beat those who sold out our country. We are going to beat the neoliberals, sisters and brothers. We are going to beat those who privatized our natural resources.” In these words uttered in his presidential campaign in 2019, Evo Morales expresses the great discontent with and dissociation from neoliberalism inherent to “post-neoliberal” politicians. This defiance of neoliberalism comes from the trauma it caused in the late 20th century: as an answer to economic stagnation in the 1980s – Bolivia’s “lost decade” – neoliberal policies were implemented, following the advice of Jeffrey Sachs. This neoliberal “shock therapy” came at the cost of the elimination of workers rights, the dismantling of union workers’ protection, increased taxes, massive job losses, and an exponential increase in people working in the informal sector. The privatization of land especially made indigenous peoples suffer, as it led to their expulsion from territories they had inhabited. Not without protest, however: most famously, these policies were contested by the today autonomously living Zapatistas in Mexico, while in Bolivia the most frap-

pant examples are the Water War in 2000, that followed the take over of water projects through a transnational corporation in a wave of national privatization movements. The biggest success of indigenous protests in Bolivia were the ones in 2003, that brought about the end of the presidency of Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada, whose neoliberal politics were driven by “capitalization” and the streamlining of the state. Morales, defying the “immense human cost” neoliberalism brought about and stressing the promotion of indigenous peoples’ rights to self-determination, al-

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ternatively impersonates anti-neoliberal politics that entailed nationalization and the promotion of indigenous rights. In 2006, he brought the energy industry under state control, in 2007, he created a “Zona Intangible,’’ a protected indigenous territory. In 2008, the banning of oil extraction in these protected areas was implemented, and in 2009, a constitutional amendment enshrined the recognition of indigenous cultures, languages, customs, and the institutionalization of a new land reform program. Although seemingly radical, these changes insufficiently translate into real improvement for indigenous peoples. First, Morales contradicted his own policies through authorizing projects such as the TIPNIS highway that goes through a protected area without consultation of the indigenous people living there. Secondly, and more fatally, at the core of the Bolivian economy continues to lie the principle of “accumulation by dispossession,”

as the national economy still depends on the dispossession of land in hydrocarbon areas that are mostly inhabited by indigenous people as Daniel Harvey states. Jeffery R. Webber explains Bolivia’s policy as stuck in the middle of “two competing systems; the old one that had not finished dying, and the new one that has not yet been born.” However, as long as post-neoliberalism does not entail a “substantive break from neoliberal economic policies, namely the dependence on extractive productive structures and an export-economy as the primary means of surplus accumulation,” as expressed by Ruby Utting, scholars refuse to see post-neoliberalism as a real alternative to neoliberalism that could guarantee indigenous people rights to autonomy and access to land. Nancy Postero even goes as far as to say that the post-neoliberal narrative is actually counterproductive. She states that the Morales government has contrarily led to a diminishing focus on indigenous recognition, in favor of greater attention to agricultural exports and extractivism. Donna Lee Van Cott dismantles “multicultural reforms” such as the ones implemented in Bolivia’s constitution as a way of legitimizing democratic actors while “minimizing potential for instability as a result of indigenous protest, which are only granted as long as they don’t threaten the state’s political and economic priorities.” Marc Becker sees the same in Ecuador’s constitutional changes in 2008, which he denounces as “minor cultural concessions rather than the creation of more inclusive social and economic systems.” By promoting empty post-neoliberal rhetorics, it seems that politicians actually contribute to stagnation in the protection of indigenous rights. David Harvey’s assessment on neoliberalism having unconsciously become

part of a hegemonic common sense, thus seems to hold a stand. Professor Daniel Traficonte, a Sciences Po teaching fellow of Law and Political Economy, sees this in a similar light: he states that the “growing suspicion of the ideological promises of neoliberalism has yet to translate to a new political and economic approach.” He describes the two possible outcomes of the decline of neoliberalism’s ideological appeal as either an eventual “response to change institutions in an anti-neoliberal direction,” or simply a continuation without any real change, “which would prove that neoliberalism never relied on ideas but rather just political and economic power.” Although the situation varies from state to state, a general trend can be recognized: leftist governments in Latin America predominantly follow an anti-neoliberal narrative which is consolidated with more or less success in constitutions and social policies. However, it seems that speaking of a post-neoliberal era is too farfetched, which mainly comes from the difficulty to deviate from a neoliberal economy that focuses on extraction and fails to take into consideration indigenous needs apart from formal recognition. Thus, the question of alternatives to simply trusting allegedly post-neoliberal politicians arises. A daring starting point would be to go back to the roots of the issue and demand retribution for the negative consequences of policies implemented or at least advised from the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. As it were these neoliberal policies that led to today’s extractivist economy to which land privatization is inert to, their responsibility to help redeem the most fatal consequences could be taken into consideration. Traficonte agrees that “global financial institutions

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cies with a neoliberal core that put privatization and extractivism over indigenous people’s self-determination. • SOURCES Gardener, J.A. et al. (2017) “Indigenous Rights and Neoliberalism in Latin America”, The Palgrave Handbook of Ethnicity Young, H. (2016) “Nine ways to support the rights of indigenous people”, The Guardian (https://www. theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2016/apr/01/nine-ways-to-support-therights-of-indigenous-people) Pineo, R. (2014) “From Running Joke to Role Model: Progress in Evo Morales’ Bolivia”, CETRI Postero, N. (2005) “Indigenous Responses to Neoliberalism: A Look at the Bolivian Uprising of 2003” in Political and Legal Anthropology Review, Vol. 28, No. 1 Roger Merino Acuña, R. (2012) “What is post in post-neoliberal economic policy? Extractive industry dependence and indigenous land rights in Bolivia and Ecuador” Ruckert, A. et al. (2017) “Post-neoliberalism in Latin America: a conceptual review”, Third World Quarterly, Volume 38, Issue 7 Utting, R. (2014) “Does the Latin American Left Offer a Post-Neoliberal Alternative?”, E-International Relations (2017) “Earth Defenders Under Attack in Latin America”, Amnesty International (https://www.amnesty.ca/whatwe-do/earth-defenders) (2019) “‘We’ll Beat The Neoliberals’: Evo Morales Closes Campaign”, Tele Sur HD (https://www.telesurenglish. net/news/Well-Beat-The-Neoliberals-Evo-MoralesCloses-Campaign-20191017-0007.html)

IMAGE SOURCES https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Comandanta_Ramona_by_bastian.jpg https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Evo_Morales_

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The sociologist and Sciences Po Associate Teacher Melissa Espino Torres, who has been working with indigeneous women in Mexico for her doctoral thesis over the last decade, sees the situation more nuanced: while not wanting impose her own perspective as an epistemological truth – as she criticizes a substantial part of international NGOs do – she promotes the idea of having activists work as “brokers,” the sociological concept for an actor that connects different groups by being semipart of them. She supports continuous dialogue, as she says it’s always more productive “to be the bridge than the wall,” but relativizes this stance depending on the situation. In her perception, the case of the Mexican Zapatista illustrates the need to sometimes promote autonomy over cooperation. However, she is sure that the true hope for amelioration of indigenous peoples’ living conditions lies in “internationalization of indigenous protest movements.” A broad base of alliance among indigeneous peoples throughout Latin America combined with international pressure on the protection and extension of rights lie at the heart of any hope for improvement of indigenous peoples’ rights. As Amnesty Advocacy Director Jonathan Mazower puts it, “If their land rights are recognised, tribal peoples thrive. If they’re not, the outlook is bleak,” and land rights will only be successfully obtained if internal and external pressure eventually leads to a shift away from poli-

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should acknowledge the role they played in some of the most serious backslides in the developing world.” However, he questions whether these institutions would be ready to see their own involvement and guesses that instead they would “place blame on domestic political movements and leadership.” Nonetheless, there is at least pressure on the World Bank when it comes to future projects and development policies. Human Rights Watch, for example, demands a focus on “abuse-free development” and the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues closely observes the upholding of the practice of FPIC (free, prior, informed consent) of indigenous people when it comes to the use of resources and land in indigenous territories. On another note, if governments fail to bring about the change that would be needed for indigenous communities, the issue of cooperation between indigenous activists and governments becomes pertinent. Should they try to integrate into the government to promote change from within or would this signal compliance to continuous inequalities and exploitation that indigenous communities face? Jeffrey A. Gardner and Patricia Richards point to the skepticism that activists and scholars have towards multicultural integration, as taking on government jobs and working within such a system “helps states and elites to avoid addressing claims against injustices of neoliberal capitalism.”

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ORIGINAL IMAGE BY CORRADO SCROPETTA

when bullets r i c o c he t on rue longue YUSEF BUSHARA

COLUMNIST

when bullets ricochet against alley walls, the walls are to blame as this story goes, the cobblestone was untempered, the bottoms of your fingertips greasy s-curl residue and leftover cocoa butter proved a fatal condition for that trigger; you hated that irony i’ve heard it, that the crooked corners of the cobblestone kinked your cadence the broken bricks bent your bullets backwards (but there’s more than one way to skin a cat and miss your target, apparently i interrupted your lesson (...) you were belaboring me with instructions on what to do if not any cat (cemetery, black, whiskers) ever again discovered the audacity to sign across my cheeks (signing: C L E O P A T T E) ) your rage turned you purple when that bullet bounced you hated anger when it inhabited you you swore it to be a wretched infection you turned burnt orange with suspicion when the basilique bells alarmed which were suspicious of hours, and of notifying dwellers that hours had come the bells opted for the clumsiness of choosing a different lunch time every day so of course your accountability was off the table: the sun was overhead finding its way to your pupils

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finally you saw red, an inevitable concoction of rage and suspicion, there it was: blood washing over the stones only for it to be the hue of the last house on the long street at last merging with memory lane ■

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Speaking Gourds.

ISABEL CRONIN

COLUMNIST

Before the expansive emptiness of the ragged desert earth lies land that belonged to some patriarch of mine. Crashing waves of wildflowers and sweet grains, with an assortment of peppers and a crowd of the finest gourds I’d ever seen. My bare feet tread on the christened earth ripe with tidings for a fruitful harvest. I watch the blossoms, once pale and delicate, contort themselves into adulthood under the blistering sun. Delicious and relentless survivors of arid heat and settled wilderness. Ancestors, returning to the very land they tread so long ago. Back north, I learned of three sisters who had shown tender love to the land. Corn. Beans. Squash. Only Calabacín does not show its love, but persistence. It does not click softly and float away in the wind. He settles under your tongue as the way in which the constellation of cadmium buds seem to arrive (with an unheard snap); rolling in the way which he and his sons conquer loam with their petals of earth-fallen sunlight.

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His arrival overcomes the soil, gripping to the ground with tenacity and might. I know that when winter chill creeps through the mountains, they will shiver and gray. But for now, I hear them chatter, with the soft voices of summer. ■

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How the Media is Manufacturing your Consent:

Escalating towards Hot War AYŞE LARA SELÇUKER

COLUMNIST

In their 1988 book, Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media, Noam Chomsky and Edward S. Herman analyzed the “independence” of the mass media, concluding that due to capitalism, consumer culture, and consequently rising costs, it could no longer be considered truly “free.” Specifically focusing on the role of the US media in politics, Chomsky and Herman argued that the media had a certain agenda-setting power that allowed so-called “free” media to critique government actions just enough so that any further critique would be considered deviant. Chomsky and Herman called this the “propaganda model,” a process by which certain information would either be framed, left out, or added in order to subconsciously indoctrinate citizens. Indeed, the idea of “manufacturing consent” can be considered a type of cultural hegemony, a concept put forth by Antonio Gramsci referring to “domination or rule maintained through ideological or cultural means,” through various social institutions, in this case, the mass media. Specifically, the authors explore the development of an increasingly dependent media and the ways in which it is used as a tool for the interest of corporate conglomerates. These very conglomerates or simply “elites” are those who make every important decision concerning their society, by virtue of their significant influence on the government. The authors are careful to distinguish between governments that have explicitly state-controlled media and those who are unfree due to their covert allegiance either to the state (or a higher power, such as Big Tech, as I will argue later):

While it is impossible to verify whether this is true under the Kremlin’s tight grip on such secret arrangements, one can look at various critical posts that even RT (Russian state-media) made during the first days of the conflict. One map showed various hot conflicts going on in the world, such as Ukraine, Syria, Afghanistan, and Israel-Palestine, with a caption along the lines of “call out all injustice around the world.” Significantly critical of the Russian invasion, with quips to the Ukrainian army here and there, the Russian news outlet demonstrated the perfect amount of government-critical content to look “independent” as foreign networks (and many more companies) started to pull out of Russia. In Manufacturing Consent, Herman and Chomsky touch particularly on the Vietnam War and the ways in which the news remained a propaganda machine for the American regime, up until the very last months of the war. Only when powerful elites began to change their opinions on the efficacy and utility of the war did the media change its course to be against the government, ultimately mobilizing public opinion to change as well. What can be said about today’s coverage of world conflicts, specifically during a period where we’ve observed the possibility of a hot war in Europe?

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In the Ukraine crisis, for example, we have clearly observed the way that the Russian propaganda system functions. We all remember the “Russian journalist who staged an anti-war TV protest” in the middle of a live news broadcast, holding up a “No War” sign. Since then, she has quit, been fined, and been written about extensively in Western media. At the time, there were even reports that her protest was staged by the Russian government.

“It is much more difficult to see a propaganda system at work where the media are private and formal censorship is absent. This is especially true where the media actively compete, periodically attack and expose corporate and governmental malfeasance, and aggressively portray themselves as spokesmen for free speech and the general community interest. What is not evident

(and remains undiscussed in the media) is the limited nature of such critiques, as well as the huge inequality in command of resources, and its effect both on access to a private media system and on its behavior and performance.”

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In order to understand the ways in which the media have similarly affected the Vietnam War and now the Ukraine conflict, it is first necessary to analyze the way social networks have affected modern media. In 1988, the media constituted largely of the printed press and broadcast media in its various shapes or forms. A lot has changed since 1988, including but not limited to, the founding of the world wide web, social media, and advanced software development producing companies with more social control than ever, such as Facebook, Apple, Google, and more. There is literally a word for these grand monopolies in French, “GAFAM,” an abbreviation including Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon Microsoft, none of which existed back in 1988. The fabric of the world, and hence the mass media has thus completely changed. Today, the media is far more ever-present in our lives. It is not just the newspaper we read in the morning, it’s the podcast we listen to before going to sleep, and the Facebook posts we scroll through while sitting on the toilet. Today, there are very few moments where we are consciously not consuming media.

“The reliance of the media on capitalistic figur es creates a perception of the world that satisfies the needs and interests of the sellers, the buyers, and the product.”

Indeed, the current political economy of the mass media is even more competitive. With production costs rising and media conglomerates gaining more and more power, local and regional papers are slowly dying. There is more and more a significant monopolization of information by a few conglomerates and monopolistic businesses. Recall the Wall Street Journal study on Facebook that demonstrated two American Facebook feeds: clearly showing opposite (certainly misleading, but sometimes even outright fake) news based on where the user fell on the American political spectrum, red (Republican) or blue (Democratic). The project showed the two very different lives Americans were living, divided by algorithms and filled with fake or misleading news. The scarier part is that people rarely rely on multiple news sources. For many, social media has become the sole and dominant source from which they learn about what’s happening in the world. Indeed, as these companies face more and more information about their lack of action combating “fake news,” the number of Americans relying on these networks for news has only continued to increase. According to the Pew Research Center,

“a little under half (48%) of U.S. adults say they get news from social media ‘often’ or ‘sometimes,’ a 5 percentage point decline compared with 2020, according to a Pew Research Center survey conducted July 26-Aug. 8, 2021.” Further, “in a separate question asking users of 10 social media sites whether they regularly get news there, about a third of U.S. adults (31%) say they get news regularly on Facebook, while about one-in-five Americans (22%) say they regularly get news on YouTube. Twitter and Instagram are regular news sources for 13% and 11% of Americans, respectively.” Out of the 10 social media site users polled, 55% of them use Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram as regular news sources. In line with Chomsky’s Manufacturing Consent, these networks are all owned by the same company, Meta (formerly Facebook). The very media that people take to bed, school, and work, gated by passwords they will take to their graves, is owned by and therefore has a clear bias toward capitalistic giants. This unequal competition for a limited set of resources has left newspapers, magazines, podcasts, and websites to choose between survival and unbiased reporting. Today, we see this choice turning most news outlets into what Chomsky and Herman called “propaganda machines.” The reliance of the media on capitalistic figures creates a perception of the world that satisfies the needs and interests of the sellers, the buyers, and the product. The media is no longer a free press, but what maintains our unequal society. When asked “How do the elites control the media?” Chomsky’s answer is simple: “they don’t have to control it, they own it.” Chomsky and Herman introduce a “propaganda” model that mentions 5 different “filters,” or “essential ingredients” that form the route “by which money and power are able to filter out the news fit to print, marginalize dissent, and allow the government and dominant private interests to get their messages across the public.” • size, ownership, and profit orientation • the advertising license to do business • sourcing mass-media news • flak and the enforces • anti-communism

The rising costs force newspapers to rely on advertising, and to maintain this advertising, to please their readership. For local outlets, this often means echoing the words of mass-media news, limiting journalistic pluralism. Similarly, fear of flaks as a result of the readership dependence also holds control over the content of a newspaper. This forces the media to always have an eye for the negative responses, and prohibit the publishing of certain content that might gain such negative responses. Finally, Chomsky describes “anticommunism” as America’s religion.

Ukraine,” adding that “the opinions of people in the Donbas region, now occupied by Russia, should be a critical factor in determining some form of settlement;” • US officials have accepted that Ukraine remaining neutral could pave an easy path towards peace and that NATO expansion proved risky, given the way it would pose a challenge to Russian security interests; • According to Chomsky, peacemaking negotiations are at a standstill because the “U.S. persists in its adamant refusal to join,” and “the press continues to insist that the public remain in the dark by refusing even to report Zelensky’s proposals.”

The media controls information specifically by their (1) selection of topics, (2) distribution of concerns, (3) emphasis, (4) filtering of information (5) bounding of debate within certain Yet, the media has continued to frame its questions not as “how limits. In other words, it is essential for the dominant media to can we better approach diplomatic negotiations —” although a have a “liberal bias,” for people to limit their questioning of its recent survey has demonstrated that public opinion prefers this content and their affinity with the government. Chomsky puts method — but instead as, “why aren’t we sending more military this quite directly. aid (weapons, economic aid, To him, a well-funcdrones, and more)?” tioning system must have a liberal While Americans have grown l o a o f g t h e e h bias, for “presuppotired of war, the CATO Instisitions accepted in tute has found that they still m e d m i a a e a r n t d s e n i l i a t e m the liberal media,” want to be involved in the and will therefore world. Nonetheless, accordis to prepare the public become “sacroing to the Institute, "they presanct.” fer to send diplomats rather So how and why is than soldiers to solve probthe media manufaclems.” Regardless (or perhaps turing our consent as a result) of the current today? status of public opinion, the I will argue that the exchange between Psaki and goal of the US mainthe reporters demonstrates stream media, elite, that the media has begun and government is prepping the public for the to prepare the US public for a hot war, firstly to rebuild the US’s possibility of a hot war, especially if the US refuses to join negoNATO spearheading, imperial power on the world stage follow- tiations and NATO continues to expand. The US, in this sense, ing the embarrassment (and weakening of the nation’s reputa- by “fighting until the last Ukrainian,” is risking the very survival tion) caused by Trump. and sovereignty of the Ukrainian state all for continuing to expand NATO, something Ukraine itself does not want. A video editorialized by The Intercept focused on questions Yet the media has also framed the NATO expansion to be some asked by mass-media reporters during a White House press con- sort of a “favor” for the Ukrainian people, that inherently inference held on March 7th by Press Secretary Jen Psaki, merely fringes upon that sovereignty. Some have pointed out that this two weeks into the invasion of Ukraine. Most of the questions fight for democracy and sovereignty sounds a lot like the Cold were specifically directed towards concrete military aid, such War and decades of American imperialism in the Middle East. as weapons and drones. They focused specifically on demands Scholar Madalena Monteiro writes that perhaps, the Ukraine from Ukraine for increased military aid and escalatory policies, conflict has simply given the US an opportunity to paint itself all while omitting that: as a “valiant defender of freedom against expansionist Russia;” • Zelensky recognized that “joining NATO is not an option for

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reinforcing its imperialism despite the fact that it is very likely that it was NATO’S recent expansionist history (which Bush had promised not to create) that triggered the confrontation in the first day.

which I believe it should, the United States should have been crippled with sanctions for invading Iraq, a war launched on the basis of lies and fabricated evidence.” Hedges suggests an alternate reality where, as a result of the Iraq war, “America’s largest banks, JPMorgan Chase, Citibank, Bank “Could it be that Washington wishes to establish more firmly the of America and Wells Fargo, were cut off from the international great gift that Putin has bestowed on it by driving Europe into its banking system;” … “its oligarchs, Jeff Bezos, Jamie Diamond, grip, and is therefore intent on reinforcing an eastern front that it Bill Gates and Elon Musk, as venal as Russian oligarchs, had their knows is under no threat of invasion?” assets frozen and estates and luxury yachts seized;” … “U.S. international media news outlets were forced off the air;” … “its The overall result of this escalation created symphony conductors and opera stars were forbidden from perdominantly by the US media is the manforming unless they denounced the Iraq war ufacture of popular consent for a “wholly and, in a kind of perverted loyalty oath, conunnecessary war in Eudemned George W. Bush.” J rope.” It is impossible to imagO K ine a world where the “If Russia should be E In order to demonUnited States would be R crippled with strate the way the sanctioned for any of sanctions for media picks its causits undemocratic crimes invading Ukraine ... es to write about (and across the globe. It only many other methods of seemed a little more plauthe United States framing), Herman and sible at the end of Trump’s should have been Chomsky write in Manpresidency, with weakcrippled with ufacturing Consent: “The ened institutions nationsanctions for mass media never explain wide, including the NATO in va ding Iraq, why Andrei Sakharov the US was supposed to a war launched on is worthy and Jose Luis lead throughout the war. It Massera, in Uruguay, is must not come as a surprise the basis of lies and unworthy.” In the Russian that the Russian invasion R fabricated E case, we see that the Ruscame at that very transitionK evidence.” sian-speakers of Ukraine are al period when the US had O -Chris Hedges deemed worthy whereas the to build itself back from the J “1.5 million refugees and the ashes. millions of Ukrainian families covering in basements, car parks, and subway stations, are unworthy ‘Nazis.’” Hedges also points out that many who were at the center of deThe world order has also ordered its worthys and unworthys. cision-making in favor of the Iraq war are now those who are the Chomsky writes: “Under international law, it is the responsibili- most strict about condemning Russia. He cites Condoleezza ty of the UN Security Council to keep the peace and, if deemed Rice, Bush's national security adviser during the Iraq War, who necessary, to authorize force. … U.S. wars in Indochina, the U.S.- justified the invasion of Iraq by stating: U.K. invasion of Iraq, or Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, to take three textbook examples of the “supreme international crime” for “The problem here is that there will always be some uncertainwhich Nazis were hanged at Nuremberg. More precisely, the U.S. ty about how quickly [Saddam Hussein] can acquire nuclear is untouchable. Russian crimes at least receive some attention.” weapons. But we don't want the smoking gun to be a mushroom cloud." According to Hedges, “Her rationale for preemptive war, Indeed, journalist Chris Hedges elaborates: “It is impossible which under post-Nuremberg laws is a criminal war of aggresto hold those responsible for war crimes accountable if worthy sion, is no different than that peddled by Russian Foreign Minisvictims are deserving of justice and unworthy victims are not. If ter Sergey Lavrov, who says the Russia invasion is being carried Russia should be crippled with sanctions for invading Ukraine, ut to prevent Ukraine from obtaining nuclear weapons.”

And what to think of the virtual destruction of Russia-media presence anywhere in the Western world? Hedges had a show on RT America, where he publicly denounced the invasion of Ukraine. He emphasizes that his “ public denunciation of the invasion of Ukraine was treated very differently by RT America than my public denunciation of the Iraq war was treated by my former employer, the New York Times,” who fired him after a formal reprimand in 2003, despite him being the Middle East bureau chief. He wrote: “John Burns, another foreign correspondent at the paper, publicly supported the invasion of Iraq. He did not receive a reprimand.”

the mainstream media has portrayed the case of the Afghans (many of whom are starving due to the fact that the US has implemented heavy sanctions for “9/11 reparations” even though the Afghan people had nothing to do with it), Syrians, Palestinians, versus Ukrainian is a prime example of Chomsky and Herman’s unworthy and worthy victims. Our media has blinded us in such a way that it has become normal for the Middle East to be plagued with hot wars, without even receiving more than an article per month by the New York Times, while the Ukraine conflict gets a section for each issue in newspapers worldwide. To me, this piece shows that Manufacturing Consent is timeless Both Russian and American societies at this very moment are insofar as the dominant socio economic system, that of capitalprecise examples of how the media can manufacture consent for ism, remains in power. Regardless of what elements are added an operation as big as a world war that to the definition of “social media,” was completely unexpected (by the which is subject to change wholly with “To me, this piece shows average person at least) mere days ago. the development of a “metaverse” and While in Russia we can see the clear more inclusion of artificial intelligence that Manufacturing Consent censorship of antiwar sentiment from in the social sphere underway, the is timeless an outsider’s perspective, it’s far more Chomsky-Herman article can serve difficult to notice the way in which as a method to understand true intenthe US mass media is on its own path tions of media and subtler propaganda preparing its public for a war as well. mechanisms. It happened during the buildup to the The degree to which we have agency invasion of Iraq and it has now moved over our thoughts and experiences is on to reimplementing US power back likely to decrease over time, and it is in on the world stage through NATO to our hands to read beyond the lines of make up for Trump’s mess. subtle propaganda to think about what is best for ourselves, our countries, and All while preparing the American most importantly, our world. public for a potential war, the media has also continued to emphasize a certain “unity” that has awak- For the purposes of this article, I decided to reach out to Proened as a result of the conflict. The Economist reports: “Russian fessor Noam Chomsky about his opinions on whether the idea aggression is prompting rare unity and severe reprisals,” while of manufacturing consent could, as I believed, be applied to the The New York Times records: “In a few frantic days,… the West Ukraine conflict. He directed me to some of his writing on the threw out the standard playbook that it had used for decades and invasion and offered insights on the emergence of social media instead marshaled a stunning show of unity against Russia’s bru- on the concept of manufacturing consent as well. Before contal aggression in the heart of Europe.” cluding the article, I want to thank Noam Chomsky, the Institute Using these quotations, Hedges questions the intent to call for Professor Emeritus at MI, Laureate Professor at the University of such a unity, as well as the “West’s vaunted ability, according Arizona, “internationally recognized as one of the most importto The Times, to respond ‘on a global scale and with dizzying ant intellectuals alive” for responding to my email in less than 24 speed.’” He asks: “So why is beleaguered Ukrainian President hours. For his efforts to provide feedback on such short notice, Volodymyr Zelensky now complaining about not getting the I also want to thank my International Relations, Understandsupport he expected?” ing Contemporary Africa, and World History professor, Craig Johson.• A similar idea of a socially constructed “European unity” has Sources: been revisited by the media as well. I did not have nearly enough Hannah, M., Gray, C., &amp; Robinson, L. (n.d.). (rep.). Inflecspace in this article to discuss the “double standard” for the treat- tion Point: American’s Foreign Policy Views After Afghanistan ment and welcoming of refugees of war. Nonetheless, the way Eurasia Group Foundation.

nant i m o d e h t s insofar a tem, s y s c i m o n socio eco sm, i l a t i p a c f o that wer.” o p n i s n i a rem

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Carnet de voyage d’une 3A des plus mentonnaises MATHILDE PICHON

CHRONIQUEUSE INVITÉE

Poussière sur les filles, flouka et se lèvent et font sans fin et tout est chronophage. Moi, ici je sur le Nil Égypte. Avril 2022

Dans le calme temporaire d’un matin de Ramadan à Abou Talet, je touche le cèdre d’or pendu à mon cou. On a plus envie de parler libanais qu’au Liban et des ‫ شو؟‬et merci ktir nous échappent un peu souvent. La brise égyptienne cingle les cols des chemises et le moment est à la contemplation ordinaire. Le linge pend des fenêtres et les breloques des rétroviseurs. Le soleil est là mais il ne brille pas, la poussière et le sable le recouvrent et se mêlent dans les boucles noires de Lounis, qui se tient la tête avec la lassitude voulue et presque apaisée de la vie dans un pays où la vie n’est pas vraiment douce. L’odeur du pétrole se mélange au vent agréable d’un air à la fois dense et sec pendant que la radio laisse échapper à volume moyen une belle sourate. Il fait bon de ne pas capter les ondes de 4G qui brouillent et occupent trop mon esprit, et de regarder un paysage qui à ce moment n’est pas vraiment beau. Les ventres ne sont pas remplis, la poussière se dépose sur nos peaux et nous allons doucement retrouver le bruit incessant du Caire. Bizarrement je pense au discours prononcé sur la place du Capitole, dans la ville de mes racines et de mes entrailles, par le candidat qui a eu mon vote procuré il y a de cela une semaine. “Savez-vous que le quart de l’humanité ne sait plus ce qu’est la nuit ? La nuit, le silence, l’obscurité, qui permet à chacun de par lui-même cultiver cette part de silence, cette part d’obscurité sans laquelle il ne jaillit aucune fleur de soi. Tout est politique : le bruit, le silence, la nuit, la lumière.” N’en rendant politique que cette bribe de pensée qui me traverse, j’observe. Un moteur pétarade pendant qu’on accélère. Je pense à ma conversation hier avec Lounis autour d’un café ‘américain’ qui n’était pas très bon. Comment est-ce que vous appréciez votre vie ici ? Souvent, tout y paraît difficile. Cet endroit ne ressemble à nulle part ailleurs. Il est comme suspendu dans le temps, dans un autre temps. Les gens ne dorment pas

vois Cuba parfois par transparence, et l’imaginaire de l’Orient que des représentations dont je ne saurai préciser l’origine me décrivent du cinéma aux romans d’aventure. Le Caire nous attend mais avant lui la poussière, sûrement quelques maux de tête, et d’autres moments d’attente contemplative. Je pense depuis plusieurs mois à écrire sur ce moment de ma vie qui m’aura appris, perdue et remise. La règle de trois, véhiculant l’harmonie certaine du déséquilibre du nombre impair. ‘Ma troisième année’. J’ai toujours été passionnée par le voyage. Bien sûr il m’inspire. Je n’ai rien écrit depuis janvier à part pour remplir les lignes d’un rapport, d’une lettre de motivation ou de recommandations de politiques publiques. Plus de bijoux traînent autour de mes mains qu’auparavant même si comme à mon habitude, mes préférés je les perd ou je les casse. Quand je reviendrai dans la chambre de Lounis, les pages de son roman pleines d’annotations seront scotchées sur ses meubles et ses miroirs car il est beau d’écrire. Il est beau aussi d’être ensemble. Rien n’est plus beau que d’être ensemble, disait Nawal Marwan. Celle qui toujours me réchauffe le cœur remet le col de ma chemise à l’intérieur de ma veste mais je le veux à l’extérieur. Tous fatigués, ou contemplatifs ou les deux ; j’écoute la sourate et j’écris un peu. Ces moments dont je chéris le silence se dédoublent entre présence de corps et présence d’esprit qui fusionnent entre l’instant et ce qu’il inspire. Ce n’est sûrement pas le moment de ma vie où je me sens le mieux, et mon corps n’est certainement pas au plus confortable, mais ce moment-là, il me va. Ici le temps s’allonge peut-être aussi parce qu’il se fige un peu. Et pendant ce temps, bien sûr les prix montent.

En Égypte je tâcherai donc d’écrire. Pas le grand écrit bien sûr, puisqu’au diable cet exercice intéressant mais désintéressé de nos âmes errantes en cette troisième année, souvent entre une certaine dépravance qu’on embrasse dont on rit se peine et se complait, dont on tire le meilleur et parfois le pire. J’écrirai pour moi mais aussi pour vous lecteurs et lectrices du journal du campus où l’on a tous laissé une partie de notre cœur. Eh oui, la dernière édition annuelle du Zadig est habituellement celle des larmoyants émus et riches articles des deuxièmes années qui vous quitteront la tête pleine, envolés vers, je l’espère, des aventures telles que aventurières ont été les miennes. Et à celui-ci, un peu personnel, que j’ai voulu écrire depuis bien longtemps mais dont je ne trouvais pas vraiment la forme ou l’inspiration juste. Un carnet de voyage un peu intro-et extro-spectif me paraît comme la meilleure manière de vous donner le goût d’une 3A, à la mentonnaise, car on ne quittera jamais vraiment ces deux années que l’on chérit non seulement comme une expérience mais une forme d’identité - même si on l’oublie un peu plus vite que ce que l’on pensait quand on l’a quittée, on ne l’oublie vraiment jamais.

es du monastère millénaire de Petra, les rires agréables et les rayons de soleil qui scintillent sur les grains de sel de la mer morte. Avec elle on ne coule pas, on flotte. Rentrées à Amman, fait des mains qui viennent de la frontière qu’on ne peut pas traverser derrière les hauts murs barbelés et les zones tampons pleines de voitures blanches, on mangera le meilleur Knefeh qu’il vous a jamais donné lieu de goûter.

Nous rentrons dans la chaleur et la 3aj2a - ou plutôt ici, la za7ma - et les bruits sourds qui s’apparentaient à un silence laissent place aux Klaxons et à quelques plaintes. Il nous attend sûrement au moins encore trois heures de périple un peu difficile. Au Caire j’y retournerai.

Cris doucement étouffés des sirènes de la mer morte Jordanie. Octobre 2021

Au volant de la jeep, Mufleh se tient droit et humble, d’une dignité rarement observée. Le sable est rouge, le décor martien et les personnes assises à mes côtés sur les banquettes colorées de tissus bédouins me font me sentir bien. Ce soir on s’allongera sous une pluie d’étoiles, sur le sol d’un désert dans lequel se tenir vous fera vous remplir de gratitude. Il est presque dix-neuf heures à Wadi Rum et je crois n’avoir jamais vu un tel spectacle. Dans les routes sinueuses, la roche ne parle pas. Je la regarde, apaisée, ses bras posés sur la bordure du 4x4, et je vois bien que si Sarah appartenait à quelqu’un ou à quelque chose, ça serait sûrement bien à cet endroit. Mimette a sur ses lèvres ce joli et tranquille sourire qui apparaît lorsque son cœur se calme et qu’il se calme d’autant plus que se calment ceux des autres. Nos cris intérieurs ces jours-ci ont été étouffés par l’argile, les tapis, les deux milles march-

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Beyrouth est un paradoxe qui enivre sans lasser. Mais au-

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Beyrouth n’en finit plus de nous accueillir. Tout à propos d’elle me manquera comme une chance infinie. On se doit d’honorer la liberté qu’elle nous donne et nous laisse à prendre. Trayant cette douceur de vie et cette liberté avec imposture. Quand le gin basil bien frais dans la main, les enfants de Badaro et de Mar Mikhaïl t’attrapent le bras pour que tu leur achètes une rose pour cinq mille livres. Il est minuit et demi et le gosse a sept ans. La habibi, ma badde shi. Où va cet enfant après sa nuit dans la rue ? Tu espères qu’au moins c’est dans une maison, sans électricité comme la tienne. Tu monteras les étages en t’éclairant au flash et tu te demandes si tu as bien éteint l’interrupteur avant de partir, car tu risques un réveil bien lumineux lorsque Electricité du Liban enverra l’heure journalière au milieu de la nuit ou lorsqu’à huit heures au benzine le générateur s’allume.

Quelques-uns diront peut-être qu’à Beyrouth je suis devenue plus belle que jamais car mes cheveux sont soyeux, mes yeux plus sensuels et j’ai peut-être un petit peu minci. Beyrouth flambe et il faut y aller de tes flammes pour toi aussi la réchauffer. C’est une compétition de respect vis-à-vis de la beauté toujours appréciée et souvent triste des choses et des gens qui t’entourent. Depuis le premier semestre les prix ont doublé. Tout le monde veut partir, même ceux qui veulent rester, tout le monde veut rester même ceux qui veulent partir. Tous les cœurs sont brisés et tous s’attèlent lassement à les recoller.

Beyrouth me remplit et me brise le cœur tous les jours. Jamais on ne s’est sentis plus en vie que dans cette ville à moitié morte. Lorsque sur un toit de Hamra ou un restaurant de Byblos ou une plage de Batroun ou le sommet d’une montagne verdoyante, le soleil rouge se couche sur la Méditerranée calme et turquoise, rien n’est plus parfait et nos yeux n’ont jamais touché plus beau. Puis dans le noir, la jeunesse dorée avec des ‘fresh’ plein les poches se livre aux excès. Quand il me regarde les pupilles dilatées je n’ai même pas l’impression qu’il est défracté comme ces personnes confuses qui titubent, jubilent, tombent, crient ou rient aux éclats. Si j’y pense à tout moment, j’ai comme l’impression qu’il va s’effondrer. Il me dit que tout va bien et me laisse voir au-delà d’un regard vitreux quelque chose de trop triste. Puis quand quelqu’un ne parle plus, il ne reste que le bordel fantasmatique de ce qu’on s’imagine.

Liban. Août 2021 - Juin 2022

jourd’hui il est sûrement mieux de la vivre en sachant que l’on va la quitter. Sur mon banc je regarde droit vers Menton depuis l’autre rive de la Méditerranée. Pas de vagues, ici jamais. J’ai troqué les 15m2 du campus Mentonnais pour un campus américain de la taille du village, la basilique Saint-Michel Archange pour la mosquée Mohammad al-Amine, le parcours civique pour le bureau d’une ONG, le parking de Lidl Vintimille pour la petite école de 26 Letters, la boulangerie suisse pour les furn de mana2eesh, Côté Sud pour Ta Marbouta, McDo Bord de Mer à deux heures pour ZwZ Bliss à six, les cocktails du Monkeys pour ceux de Ales&Tales, les cookies de Edwige pour les NFT de B.Hive, la Pelforth pour la Almaza, le TER PACA pour les taxis et les voitures louées à Mike, les mentonnaises bronzées-ridées pour les tantes d’Achrafieh, les beaufs de Inky pour les NDU boys qui se croient dans GTA, mon petit appartement sur le Boulevard de la Mer loué à des expats de la Côte d’Azur pour le quatrième étage d’un bâtiment arc-en-ciel appartenant au plus cocasse des vikings végan, la chaleur de Ghar Hira et les cris des mentonnais pour la brise d’un toît au douzième étage et les platines des rémois, les darty de Soundproof pour la fermeture du Ballroom Blitz, le 3 rue de Bréa pour la résidence de l’ambassade Tunisienne, les cigarettes sur les remparts du Bastion pour une chicha à Manara. Mais devant moi, la Méditerranée, turquoise, est toujours là.

Beyrouth, mille fois morte mille fois revécue

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Le Zadig

Global | Europe | Campus

BREAKING NEWS: We are all witnesses of justice: Rocco Mangiardi and the choice of freedom GRETA MURGIA

GUEST COLUMNIST

ON BEHALF OF

COMPRENDRE LA MAFIA

In Lamezia Terme, a city of 70000 inhabitants in the province of Catanzaro, Calabria, the presence of the ndrangheta and of the cosca run by Pasquale Giampà emerges in every aspect of citizens’ lives. In fact, in Via del Progresso, ‘everyone pays from A to Z’, says Rocco Mangiardi, quoting the Mafia boss. By this he means that sellers, restaurateurs, shopkeepers, all pay a fee set by the cosca in order to be able to keep their business and receive protection. The penalty if they refuse? Their business would be set on fire. A ‘little present’ of 1200 euros Rocco Mangiardi is a man who has had to make a choice in his life, and he chose to be on the side of justice, of good, because “we are not all bad,” he says. He started his business project, that is now MANGIARDI AUTOMOTIVE SRL, when he was 15 years old, and the business grew until 2006 when, one day, four men showed up at the shop, asking for a “little present” of 1200 euros so that he could continue his business undisturbed. 1200 euros was the payroll that an employee of MANGIARDI AUTOMOTIVE earned per month in 2006 and Rocco, in order to pay that sum, would have had to fire one of his employees. “It’s not true that the mafia creates

jobs, as they want people to believe,” he says, “the mafia doesn’t want people to do well, they want people to be in need of favors from them, instead of being able to enjoy their rights.” Once home that evening, Rocco told his family what had happened in the shop in the afternoon, and in the eyes of his daughter, who was 18 years old at the time, he read “don’t you dare give up and pay”. This confirmed his determination to not undergo the cosca’s will

The police asked Rocco to prove he was telling the truth, told him they needed 20 days to investigate the case and arrest those involved, and asked him to cooperate to provide the necessary evidence. Rocco arranged another meeting with Pasquale, while the police intercepted calls and put microchips in the workshop, in the trucks and on Via del Progresso, and told the boss that he could not give him more than 250 euro. The boss, already angry about the delay with which Rocco had shown up to the appointment, said that if he had gone the next day, he would have had someone burn down the shop. Rocco, terrified and by the threat, did not let himself be dissuaded and asked for a period of 20 days, saying that he had to go to Milan with his wife for family reasons. Pasquale agreed. 20 days later, the Mafia boss and three other men, including a 20-yearold boy, Angelo, were arrested.

and not to sell his freedom in exchange for protection. The next morning, therefore, he went to the police to report the event.

A chain reaction: witnesses and revelations Due to insufficient evidence, Rocco was asked to testify in court. This event is defined by Rocco as “the best thing that could have happened”, as it allowed not only Pasquale and the men involved in

A 20-days long wait

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Le Zadig

the extortion to be convicted, but also, through testimonies and trials, it enabled Angelo to repent, and his statements shed light on several other murders of which Pasquale was the instigator. These revelations led to the repentance of 24 other witnesses after Angelo and allowed to almost defeat the cosca controlling Lamezia Terme.

Global | Europe | Campus

anza, declared himself a civil party in the trial, which supported the judge to rule in favor of MANGIARDI AUTOMOTIVE and of Rocco.

The trial allowed Rocco to understand that he was making the right choice, that fear exists as long as we are alone and isolated and believe that evil is invincible, but that if we speak out, if we make our voices heard, even the most powerful enemies can be defeated. Rocco says, mentioning the moment when, in court, he identified Pasquale as the man responsible for the attempted extortion: “in court I understood that my finger

A murder-business financed by extorsions During the testimonies of the repentance, it emerged that Angelo, enlisted by Pasquale because “fragile” due to the fact that he had recently lost his father and uncle – who had been killed by Pasquale himself, as it turned out during the investigations – decided to repent thanks to the words that Rocco used in court. During the trial Rocco said that he would not let the mafia take his freedom and, referring to Angelo, he pointed out how the young boys involved were nothing more than pawns serving the bosses, who would get killed in their place and for their profit. At that time, Rocco reports,

pointed towards Pasquale was more powerful than their guns”. He added that on the day of the trial the mafiosi were terrified, unable to react in their helplessness and inability to defend themselves, defeated for the first time by a man and his voice. The city’s mayor, Gianni Sper-

two boys were dying each week due to a war between the gangs. During the interrogations, Angelo revealed that he was the executor of at least four murders, and Pasquale shed light on the numbers related to the killings: these cost between 20000 and 25000 euro per person, depending on whether the executor is local

or comes from outside. Rocco, reporting these numbers, states: “If I had accepted to pay 1200 euro per month from 2006 until today, I would have financed the murder of 14 people, and probably my own. No one will be killed with my money.” And he continues: “if I had agreed to give them even 1 euro, I would be theirs now, because once you are in, you don’t get out, and your life is not really yours anymore” A life under protection: the price of freedom Rocco has been living under protection since 2006, but only if he is in Calabria, since the Italian state has cut the funds for the protection of witnesses of justice. Rocco says, however, that he has never liked this term: “All of us, when we see an injustice and decide to rebel, become, in some way, witnesses of justice”, he says,

“and therefore this term is inadequate, and it should be replaced with witnesses of peace, as we are, as citizens who live in service of good”. When asked why he decided to trust the police and denounce the extortion, he replies: “Good is everywhere, people are not all bad. I decided

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Fear and hope Rocco says he was afraid, he says that in the recordings gathered by the police during the 20 days previous the arrests, he was often praying, and he says he is

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He talks about a bakery in the centre of Lamezia Terme, owned by the Angotti brothers, which was blown up with a bomb when the brothers became in charge of it, due to the fact that they refused to pay the pizzo. Instead of being paralyzed by terror, they decided to react, combining their efforts and rebuilding the bakery in a few weeks. Rocco says how he went to buy bread early one morning so that people would not notice him, and he reports how he was recognized and thanked by the brothers: “You don’t know us, but we know who you are. If we had the courage to do what we did, it is also thanks to you”, he reports quoting the words of the brothers. Rocco says that although omerta is still widespread, society is changing, and points out that “the more people stay silent, the more the mafia works”. And this is the reason why we need to break the silence and defeat fear.

not ashamed of it. He says he is a man who, in his physical minuteness, decided not to give up to injustice and to protect his freedom and that of his family at any cost, even at the cost of his own life. He says he has received threats in the form of letters over the past few years, sent in the hope that they would be published and would spread terror within the community once again, but Rocco says the way to counter these actions is simply not to publish the letters. He says that before Christmas one year he found crosses drawn on the bins in front of the workshop, with the aim of taking away his and his family’s serenity at a time of cheerful celebration. His reaction? He turned the bins around and went on with his life. Asked if he ever thought of leaving Lamezia, he replied: “When they offered me to be transferred to a different location I refused. Why would I leave? I denounce the mafia and I have to leave? I want to stay, leaving would be a defeat.” And so, Rocco Mangiardi stays, tells his story, and invites his listeners to react and choose to be on the right side, the side of good. ■

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Omerta: a monster that has to be fought Rocco is also keen to emphasize how the new generation is different from his own, and that although the other shopkeepers in Via del Progresso decided to remain silent when he decided to denounce Pasquale in 2006 – perhaps out of fear, perhaps out of convenience – today Lamezia Terme is different.

Less killing and more corruption: a maxi-trial in the shadow Being asked how the mafia operates today, Rocco replies that there are and will always be fewer killings and more corruption, and brings up as an example the Rinascita Scott trial, that started in Lamezia Terme on 19 December 2019, which has so far led to over 400 arrests and involves 1200 lawyers in the Vibonese area, but which is almost not talked about. This is due to the interests that both local and national politicians have in keeping the trial as hidden as possible, due to the high number of politicians that are being investigated. He gives the example of Judge Petrini, arrested in Lamezia, who used to acquit the mafiosi in exchange of “little gifts”: travels, women,

to trust the police. I made the right choice, because if you don’t trust anyone, you won’t get anywhere. Someone helped me and so I managed not to become a victim of injustice.”

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FEDERICA BALLARDINI

GUEST COLUMNIST

What you’re about to read is the result of an encounter with a man. I can’t seem to remember where or when I met him. And I don’t know how much of this story is his, and how much of it is mine. I can only solemnly pledge to not tell the truth. The untruth is where we can find beauty most easily, sometimes.

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I was never brave enough to leave my house. There was too much space outside, while inside I felt safe. I’ve lived on my own for a long time but it still feels like I’m living with my mother and my sisters. When I wake up I make coffee, but it’s as if Ada’s long hands were doing it for me, while she’s quietly humming the song she danced to yesterday at the disco. “Chiamami, amore, chiamami ‘stasera. Chiamami, amore, chiamami ogni sera. Chiamami, amore, chiamami forte, chiamami, amore, il tuo amore.”If I look at the pantry, I see her in front of it. She wears my mother’s pearl earrings and she moves with grace and comfort, slow but steady, with her eyes half closed, because she’s always in love. While I drink my coffee in front of the window the sun embraces me, demure, like my mother; I close my eyes and let her lull me. Even if she’s small and fragile in her hug I feel like a little boy. She lifts my chin with two fingers, walks into my eyes, her frown caresses my scratchy cheek. It’s been days since I haven’t shaved. She always re-

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minds me of it. She reminds me of everything. When I need to do my groceries, or my laundry; important meetings; to take my pills. Her life hangs from a clock face marked by my commitments and her commitments to me. It’s not the radio that announces news: it’s Laura. She knows everything about the world and she always has an opinion. She speaks fast and knows exactly what to say. She is worried about me, I think. I may be too self-absorbed to notice everything that is wrong with the world, and if you miss the bad things the good ones don’t make any sense. But I worry about her too. A fire is continuously crackling in her chest but I fear she might be burning without even knowing why. Our mother smiles. She says: Laura, love. Let your brother finish his breakfast. You’ll have time to tell him about Argentina later. Laura keeps reading the newspaper with a shrug. The radio is mute. I sit at the kitchen table and the coffee is cold. The sun is hidden behind a livid cloud. I look outside of the window, like I always find myself doing. I think I suffer from amnesia because I’m perpetually looking for something in the sky and as soon as I think I’ve found it I forget about it, and my stare becomes glassy and blank again. Now that I have to, I’d never leave my house, if I could. At first, when I had been alone for a little while, it was easier to go out and forget I had a face by looking at those

of the lagging strangers around me. Some of them looked at me in the eyes but couldn’t walk in like my mother used to. It was tremendous, being at home, because I could not imagine anything yet and I was angry. I missed their voices and their laughter, and I missed my mother’s eyes. It’s different today. When I’m ready to go to work I turn around and blow a kiss to my sisters. I smile at my mother. It’s terrible leaving the house, because everything is massive outside and I can’t bring Ada and Laura and my mother with me. Nobody knows they exist. Nobody knows me. After work I go back home and it’s as if Ada had cooked her unbeatable roast for everyone. After dinner I like going up to the roof. I like it because you can see everything without being seen. At the beginning I felt exposed but then I understood there’s nowhere safer than a roof. People stop looking up when they start working and they know too much about the weather to check if it’s raining. So there is no chance I’ll ever be seen. Being on the roof used to scare me, too. The void was calling me and my ears were buzzing and I was afraid I wanted to jump. Then I understood that there’s nothing better for me on the other side. Here at least I have my mother and my sisters. I look down through the window, the light is on in the living room. My mother is probably reading, Laura is screaming at the news and Ada is out dancing, perhaps, but she’ll be back soon.

Here at least I have this. Even when I go back in from the rooftop everything is dark and silent, even if my mother died 6 years ago, Ada is living in Palermo and Laura doesn’t call anymore. I am happy because I learnt how to live in the memory. I can now live on a rooftop forever. Living your life on a rooftop is like being a tightrope walker. There’s really only one direction you can take. Without a noise I walk around at night. The tiles are damp but if I ever risk to slip I can grab a crooked antenna. Living your life on a rooftop means being so silent you don’t wake yourself up from your dream. It means longing for air so rarefied you are never completely lucid, never completely alert. It means you can replay the same day in your head over and over again, Ada making the coffee, Laura talking about wars, my mother hugging and frowning and understanding more than she’d like to. You can repeat this without ever being afraid of forgetting about the details. I was reading the news the other day and I remember thinking that there are in the world so many fractured existences. With no continuity, harmony, beauty, with only a twine to keep them together. Living your life on a rooftop means leading an interrupted existence. I keep walking even if I have nowhere to go, because I can’t go back and I’m still not ready to fall. •

IMAGE SOURCES https://www.flickr.com/photos/89119745@ N00/10614909766/

PHOTO BY RUSS

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ALLANI Coffee withLOUAI a Bedouin GUEST COLUMNIST

LOUAI ALLANI

GUEST COLUMNIST

In Biblical times, the Negev told the story of a land in “hardship and distress,” “of trouble and anguish.” For my doubtful friends, these descriptions certainly stand, not within the Negev desert, but its surroundings. Today, the Negev tells a different story. It appears to carry signs of hope, solidarity, and co-existence. A strategic trade route for its settlers, but more so, native land and birthplace of Bedouin-Arabs since 7 AD.

She poured her heart into our conversation and drew away from her studied responses. The woman reiterated her leanings more naturally and spontaneously shifted from the semi-formality observed in the beginning by giving informal hints; mixed our cultural similarities with proverbs. She is genuinely happy for what she has made of herself, nonetheless, concerned by external tensions. Yet, hopeful for more dialogue.

On March 2, 2022, I arrived in the desert, set my overnight bag in a designated tent, and made my way to the community’s majlis (place of sitting or living-room) for a scheduled lecture on Bedouin way of life. Sat at the head of the gathering, a Bedouin woman, the majlis’s leader. The woman brewed coffee beans from which echoed melodious music. She offered me cardamom qahwa (coffee) before beginning her rehearsed monologue, presumably recited to thousands of visitors. She spoke about her childhood, arranged marriage, and quickly transitioned into how she now “lives a modern life:” drives, works, travels to see her sons abroad, and engages in the Feminist movement. The animated lecture was followed by a Q&A. This was, for me, when coffee with a Bedouin began: a special moment, delicious drink, straightforward answers.

When I told her I was a Tunisian local to the United Arab Emirates, the conversation immediately moved to Middle East and North African geopolitics. The woman knew when to speak and when to hold back. As I attempted to use the leverage of this majlis to the fullest, bringing it to a close seemed most appropriate; we enjoyed each other’s company but were both receptive to the astute sense of timing.

I asked her common questions and moved from the general to the more specific, such as “how is cultural heritage preserved if more Bedouins begin to transition to modern life?” “What are your thoughts on your neighbors?” among other questions to satisfy my curiosity. The answers I got were well-articulated and, more so, calculated. They followed the same 3-step pattern: describing Bedouin life in the past, how it obviously does not compare to the present, and ends with a message of peace. While there were moments of hesitation in her expression, mainly due to a language barrier, she began to open up more when we spoke Arabic. Cue Mandela’s “If you talk to a [woman] in a language [she] understands, that goes to [her] head. If you talk to [her] in [her] language, that goes to [her] heart.”

From this conversation, I draw a sions. The first is that Bedouins questered in their own world; same elements of society as Bedouin women are no least from what this woman me, subjugated to male guardianship; they are free. Third, while life may be improving for Bedouin-Arabs, divisions within their environment and between other environments still exist. Finally, with regards to being hugged by geopolitical tensions in the middle of the desert, they feel safe hope to enjoy the company of more Arab itors.

few concluare not sethey reap the we. Second, longer, at told

and vis-

Bedouins inspire me because they are pragmatic. They place themselves in the direction of the wind. In other words, they know how to course-correct — as if their culture is consubstantial with the evolution of their surroundings. Bedouins are open-minded, they love change, and are accepting of the world changing. They rarely keep their heads down when it comes to making a difference. The purpose of this article is not to sell you an image of Bedouin life — I am not much of a marketer. Rather, I hope to tell the story of a changing population on a land severely marked by its history. The Negev was an arid desert where wars were waged. Although it is still quite dry, its people will never refuse to shower you in warm hospitality and a good conversation. Lastly, the article’s conclusions do represent all Bedouins. Having lived in the Gulf, this experience was not foreign; sitting in a majlis enjoying Khaleeji Gahwa. Though, I never thought I would be peacefully drinking coffee, with a Bedouin, under the stars of neighboring struggles — or strolling late at night in a maze of tents. . ■

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Images: https://wadirumdeserteyes.com/blog/wadi-rum-travel-destination https://www.pexels.com/de-de/ https://w7.pngwing.com/pngs/72/42/png-transparent-old-arab-man-arabic-traditional-muslim-arabian-pattern-culture-heritage-thumbnail.png https://www.publicdomainpictures.net/pictures/50000/nahled/silhouette-man-walking.jpg https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/uw4AAMXQhuVROhuq/s-l500.jpg https://starshinetours.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/sun.png

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Anonymous:

TALL,

CHARMING CIVIL SERVANTS AND ME Disclaimer: the article reflects the author’s personal views on a meeting that happened in Menton in March and does not have to reflect actual events.

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Gab

While this article is anonymous, I will right in the beginning reveal that my time in France, at least for now, is almost done. When I engage in an uninteresting small talk with someone in a couple of years, they will hear that I used to live here and they will ask me: what did you like the most about France? They would probably expect an answer along the lines of: “The lavender fields of Provence”’ or “the high culture.” My answer to them, already prepared and thoroughly thought-through, is instead going to be “its tall, charming civil servants.” Take France’s still incumbent president: Emmanuel Macron, “Manu,” “Not-Marine Le Pen,” with a face so impeccable that a 24-hour shade on his cheeks earns him comparisons to a warring Zelensky. With his identification with the elites so clear, that for his sake the French politics has rearranged itself along the rich-poor, rather than left-right axis. With pragmatism and bureaucraticness so evident, that when he screams “Viva La France, Viva La Republique,” it instantly becomes a meme. But why reach to the absolute highest echelons of power if Sciences Po produces a good deal of our own James Bonds? It seems as if our previous one was too good for his own good: he didn’t want to snitch on his friend. A commendable behavior, which would surely gain him popularity among us students, if not for the negative press. But now we

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have a new champion, a new bespoke-suited, white-teethed, almost-english-speaking amant. Monsieur Vicherat, in the vein of decentralization and representation of the hitherto underrepresented, in vogue as of late, decided to visit the half-forgotten, provincial campus of Menton. And what a visit that was. Right from the beginning, the students gathered in the Amphiteatre Richard Descoings could feel they were dealing with a persona of the highest caliber. Fashionably late, he allowed the trickle of students a couple of minutes after the scheduled hour to not miss a second of the meeting. When the auditorium was sufficiently filled with youths anxious for the royal audience, he nonchalantly descended down the stairs with his entourage: two clonelike, minor, short-haired bureaucrats, and our Madame la Directrice, blessing the audience with one of the widest of her repertoire of smiles. She truly embodied the BDE’s motto “Sea, Sun and Lemons.” They assumed positions on the pedestal. To the left: Him, comfortably resting by the speakers’ podium. The director, whose smile got even wider, even though it seemed impossible. Thus, she slightly resembled the cat from “Alice in Wonderland.” On the right, two scribes assumed their positions in front of their perfectly parallel laptops. Before Vicherat started talking, he looked around the room with confidence. Everything was in place. They

PHOTO BY THE WHITE HOUSE.

PHOTO BY DIOX-IN. <https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mathias_Vicherat.jpg>

were here to listen to him. In the end, the day before he visited one of the students’ apartments, he was well received, along with the director. The perfect harmony of hierarchical status quo was to be maintained also today. The students in the room didn’t get the memo. Instead of asking “Why is Sciences Po the Harvard of France?” The first question all of a sudden proceeded to inquire about the administrative difficult… What? So the youngsters decided to play it dirty. If they wished to shake the monolith of the university’s corporate unity, introduce a discord between the members of the corporation present in the room, they were sorely disappointed.

The unity was not shaken, it was not even remotely stirred. Monsieur Vicherat refuted the students’ concerns with politeness and elegance. The campus is understaffed? No, it is aptly-staffed. Sciences Po did not make you fluent in French after a year? But we are a bilingual university. Check. Your major only offers courses in French? But we live in France! Check-mate. To the bizarre nuisance that the MENA and Mediterranean campus is going to disregard one of its regions of focus, Madame Directrice came to aid the response by intoning an inspirational chant “Frankiyya Frankiyya, Italiyya Italiyya.” Uno-reverse. The students were caught by surprise by their own dreaded weapon: chants. Now,

they were helpless. The bureaucrat-clones never stopped relentlessly plunging their fingers into the keyboards of their laptops. Sciences Po triumphed again. As for students, they received an URGENT!! lesson of respect. After the spectacular fall of the previous Sciences Po prince charming, Frederic Mion, there were three candidates for succession. Somehow, the gods of academia managed to select the only young, charming bureaucrat type for the post. Luckily, Macron’s recent victory anticipates the continuation of the era of technocratic titans. May their reign be fruitful and boring.

ÉDITION N˚5 | MAI 2022

La Gestation Pour Autrui :

FELIPE BOITARD

CHRONIQUEUR

AU NOM DE

AMNESTY

Quel pronostic pour le mandat présidentiel 2022-2027 ? La légalisation de la gestation pour autrui compte peu de partisans parmi les candidats à l’élection présidentielle. Seul un candidat s’est prononcé en faveur d’une “GPA éthique”. Ceci dit, la GPA est une réalité en France et dans le monde, de cette façon comment chaque candidat affrontera-t-il l’idée de reconnaître les enfants nés de la GPA? Ou même reconnaître la GPA comme un phénomène se déroulant sur le territoire français ? Qu’est ce que la GPA ? Avant même d’aborder les débats politiques sur la GPA, il faut définir et comprendre ce qu’est la gestation pour autrui en France. La gestation pour autrui, communément appelée GPA, est une technique de procréation médicalement assistée. Elle consiste à implanter un embryon, issu d’une fécondation in vitro (FIV) ou d’une insémination, dans l’utérus d’une mère porteuse qui remettra le bébé à un couple demandeur à sa naissance. En France, la gestation pour autrui a été interdite par la loi du 29 juillet 1994 relative au respect du corps humain qui a introduit dans le Code civil un nouvel article 16-7 selon lequel “toute convention portant sur la procréation ou la gestation pour le compte d’autrui est nulle”. De plus, l’article 16-1 du Code civil stipule aussi la “non-patrimonialisation” du corps, où toutes les parties du corps et ses produits ne peuvent pas être marchandés. Il faut aussi clarifier que la PMA ou la procréation médicalement assistée est désormais possible pour toutes les femmes (hétérosexuelles, homosexuelles ou monoparentales). Par un décret d’application de la loi sur la bioéthique ainsi qu’un arrêté sont parus le 29 septembre 2021 au Journal officiel. Ceci dit, la légalisation de celle-ci a fait scandale et a été un sujet très discuté lors de la précédente campagne présidentielle. En 2022 la GPA n’est pas une question clivante pour les candidats, sachant que la plupart d’entre eux s’accordent sur le rejet de toute légalisation. Le débat sur la GPA: Avant d’aborder les spécificités de la GPA Éthique proposées par Yannick Jadot, il est influent de connaître la position de la plupart des candidats présidentielles. L’opinion de la majorité des candidats peut se résumer sur la commercialisation du corps d’une femme. Leur argument se centre sur le fait que vendre l’utérus d’une femme est inhumain comme le dit Zemmour « La GPA,

c’est acheter un enfant dans un supermarché » ou comme le dit Le Pen « Il s’agit de faire porter par une femme un enfant, puis de se faire attribuer cet enfant. J’y suis opposé car je pense qu’on est là au cœur de la commercialisation de l’être humain ». Néanmoins la particularité du déroulement de la campagne électorale de Le Pen nous fait estimer qu’elle pourrait bousculer par rapport à son positionnement radical étant donnée la nouveauté de sa proposition d’un gouvernement par référendum. Un autre côté de cette exploitation énoncé par les candidats présidentielles et la dimension d’exploitation et qui la GPA commerciale visent particulièrement. HEATHER E. explique dans son livre “MOTHERS FOR OTHERS: A RACE, CLASS, AND GENDER ANALYSIS OF SURROGACY” qu’au État-Unis (ou la GPA est legale ) il y a une surrepresentation de femmes de classes populaires et de groupes ethniques minoritaires (asiatiques, latins et noirs). Les stratifications ethniques et économiques de nos sociétés visent particulièrement les jeunes femmes de ces milieux a être susceptible à vendre leurs corps (similaire à la prostitiution). Ainsi pourquoi la majorité de candidats se prononce fermement en contre de la GPA commercialiser. Pourtant, la réalité de la situation en France et en Europe mène à une approche plus pragmatique et donne naissance à l’émergence à l’encadrement de la GPA éthique.

“Pourtant, la réalité de la situation en France et en Europe mène à une approche plus pragmatique et donne naissance à l’émergence à l’encadrement de la GPA éthique. “

Malgré le fait que la plupart des candidats se prononcent fermement contre la GPA, Yannick Jadot se prononce sur le fait qu’il est pour une GPA Éthique, qu’est-ce qu’il entend par GPA éthique ? Il se base principalement sur les principes de Code civil (article 16) qui explique la non-patrimonialisation du corps et ces produits, or il comprend que la réalité des faits est que la GPA peut toujours avoir lieu par don. Tout comme la vente de sperme et d’ovules est interdite, ceci est toujours effectuable par le don. Il y a toujours une façon de contourner le code civil et l’article 16. La donation de sperme et d’ovules est encadrée par le gouvernement et fournit les infrastructures sanitaires adéquates pour collecter ces dons de façon sanitaire et hygiénique. De cette façon, pourquoi ne pas encadrer la GPA éthique en France et fournir l’aide et les besoins à ses femmes qui feront un don de ventre ? Sortant un peu du cadre Français, plusieurs pays en Europe ont légalisé la GPA ce qui incite certaines familles à faire appel au système médical des pays voisins et à faire recours à la GPA. Une des problématiques importantes par rapport à cette GPA migratoire serait la reconnaissance de ces enfants par le gouvernement français. Les détails techniques de la GPA compliquent la reconnaissance d’un citoyen français né d’une mère qui ne peut être française, comment va le gouvernement reconnaître la nationalité de l’enfant ? Mais au-delà de ceci, comment peut-on enregistrer la structure familiale de l’enfant ? La mère porteuse sera-t-elle considérée comme la mère, ou la mère biologique de l’enfant (par l’ovule) sera-t-elle elle aussi considérée ? Toutes ces questions troublent la légalisation de la GPA en France. Ceci dit, elle nous mène peut-être à prendre une approche plus pragmatique et comprendre que la réalité des choses vis-à-vis de la GPA nous force plutôt à aider et encadrer cette pratique.

la modification d’une loi est très difficile et a un certain degré dangereux pour le développement de notre démocratie. La tyrannie de la majorité peut très bien aboutir à un retournement de situation par rapport à plusieurs acquis sociaux pour la minorité en France. Que ce soi pour le mariage pour tous, la PMA, la GPA, l’avortement entre autres… Les débats sur la GPA ouvrent les portes à comprendre les mécanismes politiques de certains candidats qui peuvent mener à de sombres destins pour les droits sanitaires des femmes. En somme bref, le débat sur la GPA à première vue n’est pas une question clivante pour les électeurs. Néanmoins, d’un côté maintenir un statu quo ne fait que compliquer les choses et délaisser un part des citoyens qui font recours à cette GPA dans d’autres pays et complique la situation de reconnaissance de citoyenneté. De l’autre côté comprend la complexité de légaliser la GPA et la répercussion que peut avoir sur la stratification ethnique et économique en France et l’exploitation de celle-ci nie à notre concrétisation d’une opinion firme. Finalement, le débat sur la GPA et en général la thématique sur les droits médicaux des femmes nous mène à questionner si la décision vis-à-vis de certaines légalisations devrait être strictement prise par des membres du gouvernement et des spécialistes . Ou devrait-on exercer le rôle de notre démocratie dans son essence et donner place à une gouvernance par référendum ?

Gouverner par référendum, l’instrument politique de Le Pen: Confrontée à une vague de discussion sur des sujets concernant directement les droits des citoyens français comme le mariage pour tous, la GPA, l’immigration et divers projets de loi, Marine le Pen lors de sa campagne électorale a modifié son opinion et décide donc d’intégrer dans son programme la consultation par référendum en ce qui concerne toutes ces thématiques... Donnant naissance à un gouvernement par référendum où les citoyens français décideront sur ces sujets.

ig ned B

DILLAWA,Y HEATHER E. “MTHE O RS FOR THE O RS: A RACE, CLASS, AND GENDER ANALYSI OF OG SUR AC.Y ” International Journal of Sociology of the Family, vol. ,34 no. 2, ,208 pp. ,301–26 http:/./w jstor.org/stable/230756. Accessed 20 Apr. 20.

Un programme assez populiste mais qui peut très bien basculer les projets politiques de Le Pen et ses convictions politiques. Convaincre le peuple français de voter en faveur d’une loi ou de

a A za d

ÉDITION N˚5 | MAI 2022

Ghosts of the exes: Do we ever forget our past love affairs ?

Immersed in my deepest sorrow, listening to the latest release of Taylor Swift—where she re-dives into painful memories of one of her oldest relationships, going back to 2012—I got to thinking about the notion of forgetting about your ex. But do we really ever do that? How much time do you need for that to happen and through what process or means does it even take effect? As someone that has a deep attachment to the past and an even deeper attachment to the people that enter my life, forgetting intimate members of my daily ritual, whether by physical presence or in my thoughts, is hard. In conclusion: I have trouble letting go of people that mean or meant something to me. It has always been my biggest struggle, since my childhood days, from when someone stopped playing with me in the playground, to now, when people detach themselves from me and abruptly walk out. However, all these introspections (Can you tell I don’t have a therapist?) led me to the following interrogation: is it just me, or are we all secretly like this? If you ask me, I think we all are. Without stating the obvious, a romantic relationship tends to be even harder to forget than a friendship, and I don’t know why, by the way. For a certain period of time (and it does matter how much), you share moments, feelings, love, money, beds, gifts and memories with a certain someone. When all of a sudden, one, or both parts, decide to put an end to it, all of this emotional and physical baggage is supposed to vanish in some old magical closet. We are conditioned to move on quickly and on the spot. I’m criticizing, but I constantly do it to myself. We are continuously rushing our feelings, in a race where the prize is forgetting about your ex. Thus, we easily find ourselves in a vicious cycle of masks, fake smiles, toxic positivity, hiding behind black screens in joyful Instagram stories and social media posts, fooling us into thinking that they are an authentic reflection of our feelings. We hide because we are scared of being the only ones who still remembers them, because somehow, it became shameful to embrace our sensitivity.

But mostly, we hide behind pride. Pride of admitting that you cannot stop thinking about that one person, despite all the hurt, tears and deception that they caused you, and you feel guilty about it, and you beat yourself to it (I’m so dumb for still thinking about that ass****, I should hate them). This big masquerade tricks us into thinking that the other person doesn’t think of us, that we don’t pop up into their minds, not even a second in a day, which makes the process of healing even harder for the other part. We build this facade when the other is still very much alive, in vivid colors, in our minds. To answer my very first question, I think that no, we never really forget our exes. In 10 years, you will find yourself singing about memories that you lived with someone, and you will find yourself remembering them all too well. Next month, you will be at the movies, and you will find yourself thinking “my ex-boyfriend from high school would’ve loved this film,” in two months, your boyfriend would tell you “This song reminds me of you” and you will make a face because it was already a melody you shared with someone else. And it’s okay, because you can move on, have casual flings, be in a relationship with twenty other people, get married, have kids (not necessarily in that order), and still think about your past love affairs. New people may come into our lives, but the older ones don’t go anywhere. They were not just ghosts passing through, like our society forces us to believe. No, they were flesh and bones that held you in their arms and told you that they loved you, and that in a specific moment in time, you meant everything to them, and that they will never forget you. ■ Images: https://img.freepik.com/free-vector/watercolor-halloween-ghosts-illustration_23-2149101078.jpg?w=2000 https://st2.depositphotos.com/2927213/6188/v/950/depositphotos_61880403-stock-illustra tion-vector-watercolor-hearts-card-valentine.jpg https://www.pngkey.com/png/detail/12-122412_note-paper-png-note-paper-image-transparent.png

n.b. This piece was written months ago, but the opinion is still the same.

~~~- anonymouss ig n e d B ar i m

Va n

sa Lo lo

ÉDITION N˚5 | MAI 2022

On behalf of Le Zadig’s team, we would like to thank you deeply for having followed our 2021-2022 editions and congratulate you for a, yet again, insipiring year ! Journalistically yours, Eliana Seroussi & Daniel Santana, your 2021-2022 Co-Editors-InChief signing out.

A special thanks to : Our permanent team of columnists : Ava GORDON, Ayse Lara SELCUKER, Cameron STERLING, Georgia McKERRACHER, Isabel CRONIN, Rime BEN ABDERRAHMAN, Stanislaw NAKLICKI, Yacine GHEDAS & Yusef BUSHARA. Our Heads of Staff Writers : Celeste ABOURJEILI, Madeline WYATT, Saad SEMLALI AATIF & Samy EL MALOUI. Our Head of Designers : Ada BASER. Our Designers : Gabriel ALEGRIA, Lucie CHARBONNEAU, Maria AZADIAN & Vanessa LOLOMARI. Our Communication’s team : Basak USTUN, Noa CHASLES & Selma SISBANE. And of course, all of our year-long guest columnists.