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Vivant le monde méditerranéen tous les jours, à travers nos travaux, nos lectures et nos expériences personnelles sur la riviera française, il serait bien temps pour nous de le goûter aussi. < Back Le Régime Méditerranéen: La Clé Pour Une Approche Plus Équilibrée À Notre Existence? Margarita Kopsia September 30, 2024 Entre readings , examens et deadlines de toutes sortes, la vie courante des science pistes mentonnais, soucieux de mieux comprendre le monde méditerannéen et moyen-oriental, peut parfois s’apparenter à un flot continu d’aventures et de responsabilités. Si c’est précisément au sein de cette expérience singulière du temps où réside toute la beauté de la vie mentonnaise, force est de constater qu’une approche plus équilibrée de notre quotidien nous serait fort bénéfique et ne ferait qu’embellir ce ravissant trajet. Vivant le monde méditerranéen tous les jours, à travers nos travaux, nos lectures et nos expériences personnelles sur la riviera française, il serait bien temps pour nous de le goûter aussi. Intéressons-nous aux modes d’alimentation qui sont propres à la Méditerranée et surtout à la manière dont ces principes ont pris forme dans l’espace et dans le temps, reflétant les valeurs et les idéaux véritablement méditerranéens. Qu’est-ce qui fait du régime ou de la diète méditerranéens un mode d’alimentation et d’existence qui mérite d'en parler, si ce n’est d’éventuellement en emprunter certains aspects? Capables de nous inciter à adopter une posture plus harmonieuse vis-à-vis de nos études et de notre quotidien, ces derniers sèment la voie pour une réflexion que nous nous devons à nous-mêmes: comment pouvons-nous tirer profit des ressources dont il est possible de bénéficier ici à Menton, ville qui ouvre sur le bassin méditerannéen et qui est caractérisée par un climat qui lui est propre? Mais, avant d’attaquer tous ces différents points et avant de tenter de discerner ce lien subtil qui peut exister entre ces deux modes de consommation, entre consommation alimentaire et consommation de la vie, il faut s’efforcer de comprendre ce que signifie réellement la notion de « régime méditerranéen » : qu’est-ce qui fait la spécificité et l’intérêt de la diète méditerranéenne? La diète méditerranéenne: une approche singulière à la tradition, à l’histoire et à la culture S’il s’avère que les concepts de régime méditerranéen ou de diète méditerranéenne ne furent eux-mêmes inventés que dans les années 1960 et 1970, ces derniers puisent leurs origines dans des habitudes et des traditions qui remontent bien plus loin dans le temps. Ainsi, parler de régime méditerannéen ou de diète méditerranéenne semble être une affaire relativement contemporaine, ne datant que de quelques décennies, c’est pourquoi il faudrait plutôt s’intéresser à l’histoire et aux principes de l' alimentation méditerranéenne, qui nécessite de changer entièrement d’échelle pour parler en fonction de siècles, voire de millénaires. Entre ses débuts, ses nombreuses redécouvertes et évolutions jusqu’à sa théorisation et sa conceptualisation, l’alimentation méditerranéenne rassemble en elle et à travers le long chemin qu’elle a parcouru la grande majorité des éléments qui caractérisent aujourd’hui ce qui est plus largement désigné comme la « culture » et le mode de vie méditerranéens, dans une optique visant à dépasser les différences entre pays et cherchant précisément à en faire des entités comparables, voire similaires, sur certains points. Ainsi, il n’est possible de parler du régime et de l’alimentation méditerranéens sans faire allusion au rôle déterminant des acteurs qui ont cherché à en acquérir une meilleure connaissance et qui ont examiné leur efficacité, de sorte à avoir éventuellement engendré leur adoption par des populations de plus en plus nombreuses et différentes. Ancel Keys, surnommé « Mister huile d’olive » et « pionnier de la recherche nutritionnelle moderne » selon les auteurs de l’article Histoire de l’alimentation méditerranéenne , participa alors de manière décisive à la redécouverte de l’alimentation méditerranéenne et à « l’invention » du régime méditerannéen. Le terme qui fut alors employé pour caractériser ce mode d’alimentation fut la « Mediterranean Diet », la notion de « régime » ( diet ) étant ici comprise en fonction de ces racines étymologiques pour se référer directement à un ensemble d’habitudes bien ancrées dans les mœurs et dans le temps, conformément à l’origine grecque du mot diaita signifiant « way of life ». Cela nous incite alors à détourner notre attention d’une vision erronée du régime méditerrannén qui serait associée à l’idée de la restriction alimentaire, pour insister directement sur ce qui fait son cœur et sa force, c’est-à-dire le fait qu’il ne soit en fin de compte que le partage de certains motifs répétitifs bien précis, promœuvant la santé et le bien-être général, résistant aux frontières géographiques et incarnant les valeurs du dialogue et de la convivialité. En effet, le régime méditerannéen pourrait et devrait être compris à la lumière du « climat », des « festivals » et des « célébrations » à travers lesquels il se manifeste et qui permettent aux valeurs de la « transmission intergénérationnelle et interculturelle » de prendre forme. Il n’est également possible de traiter de la diète ou du régime méditerranéens dans leur ensemble sans commenter les résultats de la Seven Countries Study , c’est-à-dire l’enquête menée par A. Keys depuis 1957 sur sept pays différents (les États-Unis, l’Italie, la Grèce, la Finlande, les pays qui à l’époque constituaient la Yougoslavie, les Pays-Bas et le Japon), qui s’était fixée pour objectif d’établir une corrélation entre la santé cardiovasculaire, la résistance aux maladies et le mode de vie et d’alimentation. Nous pouvons en effet supposer que cette étude, ayant mis en évidence l’importance de consommer des céréales complètes, des fruits et légumes en abondance et à limiter la consommation de produits transformés et ceux riches en graisses et en sucres, a eu une certaine incidence sur la composition des différents modèles de nutrition qui lui ont succédé, tels que la fameuse pyramide alimentaire qui est elle-même censée refléter un équilibre nutritionnel quasi-parfait. C’est en 2013 que la « diète méditerranéenne » fut inscrite sur la Liste représentative du patrimoine culturel immatériel de l’humanité de l’UNESCO et qu’elle est officiellement définie comme « un ensemble de savoir-faire, de connaissances, de rituels, de symboliques et de traditions qui concernent les cultures, les récoltes, la cueillette, la pêche, l’élevage, la conservation, la transformation, la cuisson et, tout particulièrement, la façon de partager la table et de consommer les aliments. », selon le site officiel de l’UNESCO pour le patrimoine culturel immatériel . Ce n’est pas un hasard: vous l’aurez compris, la diète méditerranéenne constitue bien le reflet d’une approche singulière à la tradition, à l’histoire et à la culture, qui mérite d’être protégée et célébrée. De ce fait, nous lisons qu’ « elle joue un rôle important dans les espaces culturels, les fêtes et les célébrations en rassemblant des populations de tous âges, classes et conditions. » Un regard de plus près sur le lien fondamental entre équilibre et nutrition Mis à part tous ces attributs exceptionnels du régime méditerannéen, « présenté comme un bouclier contre la “westernisation” de l’alimentation, et comme un outil majeur de prévention » , il faudrait également comprendre qu’un tel rapport à la nourriture, marqué par le respect et la qualité, peut avoir des répercussions directes sur notre bien-être général. Ainsi, il est tout à fait possible de tisser des liens entre cette approche alternative à la nourriture et différentes philosophies de vie, telles que celles issues de la Grèce antique. Cette dernière constitue d’ailleurs le berceau de l’alimentation méditerranéenne, sachant que « le style alimentaire méditerranéen s’est très vite cristallisé autour de la triade fondamentale du pain, de l’olivier et de la vigne. » Ainsi, l’éthique épicurienne, qui peut être résumée comme la sagesse qui « consiste à vivre au présent [...] et à atteindre le bonheur en recherchant à satisfaire les désirs naturels et nécessaires [...] de façon à éprouver les plaisirs stables que procure une vie saine , » semble être tout à fait adaptée à un style de vie et d’alimentation qui cherche à concilier le plaisir de bien vivre avec celui de bien manger, d’autant plus que la richesse des goûts et des couleurs qui caractérisent la diète méditerranéenne figure parmi ses plus grandes forces. Mener une vie saine et équilibrée passe aussi par un rapport plus harmonieux à notre environnement: nous constatons alors que de plus en plus d’études n’hésitent pas à faire allusion aux bienfaits environnementaux de la diète méditerranéenne, en expliquant en quoi il est possible de voir dans ce mode de production et de consommation de la nourriture des pratiques prometteuses et plus durables. En effet, l’alimentation méditerranéenne est censée privilégier la production locale, dans le respect de la terre et des ressources qu’elle a à offrir. Ainsi, mener une vie plus équilibrée, c’est aussi assumer une plus grande responsabilité dans notre rôle dans la crise climatique et écologique actuelle, en revisitant des pratiques qui rappellent l’importance de bien produire et de bien consommer. D’ailleurs, c’est dans l’article « Underrated aspects of a true Mediterranean diet: understanding traditional features for worldwide application of a “ Planeterranean ” diet » que ce régime devient un régime « planétaire », en promouvant « une approche respectueuse de l’environnement, contrôlée et inspirée par des procédures plus anciennes et traditionnelles [...]. ». S’il semble qu’aujourd’hui nous soyons de plus en plus réduits en consommateurs cherchant à maximiser leur plaisir individuel et à en tirer profit, essayons du moins à en devenir une meilleure sorte. Engageons-nous en faveur d’idées et de pratiques qui nous permettent d’être plus respectueux envers nous-mêmes, envers les autres et envers l’environnement. Atteignons un meilleur équilibre tant dans nos assiettes que dans nos vies.

The trend of "sassy-man politics" shows a shift in politics, where personality and showmanship often take priority over serious policy discussions. Politicians using humor, boldness, and sarcasm to connect with the public are gaining attention, especially on platforms like TikTok, which favor short, attention-grabbing clips over deeper conversations. < Back Sassy Man in Politics Nil Çelik October 31, 2024 Donald Trump infamously stated in the course of his 2016 presidential campaign: “I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody, and I wouldn’t lose voters.” This audacious assertion explicitly exemplifies what has come to be known as the “sassy-man in politics.” In this approach, male politicians shift away from profound, thoughtful debate and instead depend on arrogance, sarcasm and stage performance, leading to significant social and cultural changes. The rise of media-influenced political leaders is often seen as the root cause, starting with television and later amplified by social media platforms. These platforms award politicians who amuse viewers and provoke controversy instead of concentrating on significant issues with screen time. Political figures such as Trump and British statesman Boris Johnson have evolved into the symbols of this initiative. This transition in political discussion indicates a concerning deviation from established principles of leadership like skill, morality and responsibility. With it, the priority has shifted to politicians who behave in a manner resembling performers who strive to gain “likes” and “shares” instead of the trust of the public. The social media platform TikTok, renowned for its short and entertaining videos, has contributed greatly to this transition. The TikTok phenomenon “ Sassy Man Apocalypse ” is a projection of men who are often referred to as flamboyant and emotional, accepting and celebrating their “sassy” characteristics. The term “sassy” was originally utilized to ridicule men who displayed non-traditional masculine manners. Nevertheless, TikTok creators such as Prayag Mishra have begun to reshape it, shifting being sassy toward a more positive demonstration of self-confidence, and emotionality. These characteristics are now established as acceptable, instead of being seen as a weakness. Although this development has led to crucial debates about toxic masculinity, critics argue that trends alone do not lead to actual social change. Even though the “sassy-man apocalypse” began as a joke on the internet, it has now impacted real-world politics, with male politicians integrating this demeanor to relate to meme-loving younger viewers. A relevant example is Mustafa Sarigul, who is currently serving as the member of parliament in Erzincan, who used a playful and non-traditional style of campaigning during the 2023 elections. Sarigul posted several theatrical and entertaining videos on his TikTok and Instagram, including one where he drove a tractor on the Erzincan fields, addressing local voters while combining political messages with everyday life. His over the top delivery where he humorously, combined with relatable humor led to the videos going viral, allowing him to connect to younger audiences. His social media presence through this approach led to him being erected for parliament. This approach shows Mustafa Sarigul utilizing internet culture to remain relevant in Turkish politics. However, young viewers have also utilized this internet phenomenon to ridicule the bold statements that male politicians make. The result of this change has been consequential. Sassy-man politics decreases the importance of governance, downplaying substantial subjects in the interest of self-centered acts. This action resonates with a public that concentrates more on personality than policy. This produces a series of politicians who must constantly outperform each other with controversial arguments to stay relevant. Since social media platforms gradually change the cultural environment, this manner of politics may continue, drawing concern about whether future leaders will be determined by their skills to lead or by their skills to entertain the public. As politics becomes more about spectacle, there’s a danger that the focus on governance and long-term solutions will be replaced by short-term popularity contests, potentially leading to leaders who lack the necessary expertise to effectively manage public affairs. The 2024 presidential debate between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump openly displayed the concept of sassy-man politics, characterized by sharp discussions, interruptions and sarcastic remarks. Trump didn’t withhold from delivering sarcastic and offensive statements. At a particular moment, he stated , “Biden doesn't even know that he’s running for president.” This mocked both Biden’s age and cognitive capabilities. Biden retaliated, claiming, “I’ve been doing this longer than you’ve been making money off bankruptcies.” These sassy remarks entertained some viewers but transitioned the debate from profound policy discussions to personal insults. This led to viewers seeing viral moments of the debate instead of having a concrete understanding of the candidates plans for governance. The overall result of this “sassy” back-and-forth was a debate that was concentrated more on personal drama instead of real policy issues. Short clips of this debate circulated on social media platforms such as TikTok and Instagram, strengthening the view that sassiness in politics is seen as a main way to achieve the attention of the public. Likewise, the 2024 presidential debate between Vice President Kamala and Former President Trump followed a similar sassy style. Trump stated that “Harris was the worst Vice President in history” and that “she’s so good at being invisible, I forget she’s even on the ticket.” These indicated Trumps’ strategy of attacking Harris by using sharp and repeatedly mocking comments. Although his sassy attitude and remarks resonate with his fan base, it demonstrates the more profound issue of how women, specifically women of color, are treated in political debate. This pattern becomes even more distinct when political figures face attacks that question their competence and authority through demeaning humor or stereotypes. While these tactics may rally Trump's base, they also serve to reinforce harmful gender and racial stereotypes, diminishing the legitimacy of women, particularly women of color, in positions of power. This evolution in Trump's approach signals a broader issue of how women in politics are not only undermined in their capacity as leaders but also weaponized as subjects of ridicule, demonstrating the intersections of misogyny and racism in modern political discourse. Harris rebutted his statements firmly, but it was difficult to overcome Trump’s offensive language. This trend of shifting political discourses into witty interactions is altering American politics, promoting entertainment instead of profound debates, and influencing political norms and gender roles. The trend of “sassy-man politics” has also affected the Governor of Florida Ron DeSantis , who has become a primary target on TikTok after the phenomenon of the “sassy- man apocalypse.” While the TikTok trend didn’t start politically, DeSantis has been the topic of millions of views on TikTok, as users developed and shared content ridiculing his character. Recently videos of an irritated reply from DeSantis concerning a Guantanamo question have led to hundreds of viral contents, gathering over two million views. His aggressive standpoint as a savior of traditional values, especially with the anti-LGBTQ+ legislation such as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, has made him a figure of mockery for young progressive Americans. Polls in the beginning of the year showed that DeSantis had one of the most negative ratings among Republican candidates between the voter age group from 18 to 34. The given age group could be said to respect diversity and expression of gender and sexuality more, driving DeSantis to be a primary target for critics due to his policies. As he is known for being defensive and sensitive, this leads to the creation of the “sassy man” and “short king panic” memes that are commented on posts that involve him. However, Ioana Literat, an associate professor at Teachers College Columbia University who studies the civic engagement of young people, stated that these videos indicate a more comprehensive critique on what acceptable actions are in today’s politics. The trend of "sassy-man politics" shows a shift in politics, where personality and showmanship often take priority over serious policy discussions. Politicians using humor, boldness, and sarcasm to connect with the public are gaining attention, especially on platforms like TikTok, which favor short, attention-grabbing clips over deeper conversations. Leaders like Donald Trump, Boris Johnson, and Mustafa Sarigul show how this entertaining style appeals to certain groups, but it can also distract from real issues. This trend has also highlighted stereotypes and, at times, undermined the authority of women and people of color in leadership. Overall, "sassy-man politics" raises concerns about whether leaders are more focused on gaining popularity than effectively addressing important problems, potentially weakening trust in the political system.

Tandis que les élections européennes approchent, l’Union européenne a décidé dans la nuit du 20 mars de réinstaurer des droits de douane sur certains produits agricoles ukrainiens. < Back Terres fertiles et défis amers : L’Union européenne et l’agriculture ukrainienne By Jonathan Smidtas March 30, 2024 Bon sens paysan ou trahison ? Tandis que les élections européennes approchent, l’Union européenne a décidé dans la nuit du 20 mars de réinstaurer des droits de douane sur certains produits agricoles ukrainiens. Le pays, un des principaux producteurs mondiaux, avait vu ses exportations vers l’Union européenne grimper en flèche à la suite de l’invasion du pays par la Russie car les taxes sur les importations agricoles ukrainiennes imposées par l’Union européenne avaient alors été supprimées. Depuis, la colère des agriculteurs européens dénonçant une concurrence insoutenable a marqué l’actualité. Alors que l’invasion à grande échelle de l’Ukraine a commencé il y a plus de deux ans, il semble de plus en plus clair qu’aucun camp n’est en mesure de l’emporter militairement, sauf retournement de situation majeur. L’on parle déjà de l’après-guerre, de la reconstruction de l’Ukraine et de son intégration à l’Union européenne. Alors que pendant des années les capitales européennes se sont opposées à l‘entrée de l’Ukraine au sein de l’UE, généralement en invoquant la faiblesse de l’état de droit et la corruption qui minent ce pays, une autre raison émerge aujourd’hui : l’agriculture. Des terres exceptionnelles Depuis des siècles, l’Ukraine a été surnommée le grenier à blé de l’Europe. Grâce à sa concentration en humus très élevées, les “terres noires” ukrainiennes sont extrêmement fertiles. Aucun pays au monde ne dispose de sols cultivables aussi productifs. Cela constitue un avantage comparatif certain pour ce pays, mais n’a pas été sans tragiques conséquences tout au long de son histoire. L’Ukraine a ainsi été conquise tantôt par les polonais, les autrichiens et les russes souhaitant, entre autres, assurer leur sécurité alimentaire grâce à l’Ukraine. Le pays était avant guerre le premier producteur mondial de tournesol, et dans le top dix pour ce qui est du blé, du maïs, de l’orge et du colza. Des salaires bas En comparaison avec les pays de l’Union européenne, l’Ukraine est un pays très pauvre. En dépit de l’héritage industriel de l’époque soviétique, le salaire moyen y est inférieur à 400 euros, sept fois plus faible qu’en France et encore trois fois moins important qu’en Pologne. Les coûts de la main-d'œuvre très faibles permettent à l’Ukraine de proposer des prix agricoles très intéressants sur le marché mondial. Un potentiel L’intégration de l’Ukraine dans l’UE permettrait d’assurer la sécurité alimentaire de cette dernière. Les capitaux et technologies des pays riches transférés en Ukraine entraîneront une hausse de la productivité des terres en dépit des normes environnementales européennes qui devront s’appliquer. La concurrence accrue sur le marché européen causera une baisse des prix de l’alimentation et augmentera le pouvoir d’achat des consommateurs européens. Les investissements d’entreprises agricoles européennes en Ukraine permettront de relancer l’économie du pays après la guerre et la pression exercée sur le marché de l’emploi poussera les salaires à la hausse. Les craintes Qu’adviendra-t-il des agriculteurs des autres pays européens ? Ils dénoncent déjà une concurrence insoutenable et craignent d’être les grands oubliés de l’entrée de l’Ukraine dans l’Union européenne. Après l’expérience de la désindustrialisation qui a entraîné une hausse du chômage dans les pays de l’Ouest et déstabilisé les sociétés, l’idée de voir le même schéma s’appliquer dans le domaine agricole est effrayante. De plus, concentrer la production agricole en Ukraine, c’est s’exposer à une vulnérabilité si la Russie décidait un jour d’attaquer de nouveau. Espoirs Il faudra donc assurer à l’Ukraine des garanties de sécurité afin de pouvoir sereinement y investir. Une démilitarisation de la Russie semblant irréaliste, l’intégration à l’OTAN et le stationnement de troupes occidentales nombreuses sur le sol ukrainien pourraient être une solution. L’agriculture des autres pays européens devra monter en gamme afin de pouvoir faire face à une nouvelle concurrence. La réduction du nombre d’agriculteurs, dont beaucoup ne parviendront vraisemblablement pas à demeurer compétitifs, implique la nécessité de penser dès maintenant aux solutions politiques afin d’éviter une catastrophe sociale. La formation semble être une des clés, alors que les subventions ne feront que créer une distorsion de concurrence inefficace. L’entrée future de l’Ukraine dans l’Union européenne représente un risque existentiel pour notre modèle agricole actuel. Transformer ce risque en opportunité est possible, mais nécessitera une implication forte des pouvoirs publics afin de repenser l’agriculture européenne. C’est bien plus facile à dire qu’à faire et cela explique pourquoi l’entrée de l’Ukraine dans l’UE ne semble pas être pour demain. Cette entrée soulève de véritables dilemmes. Certains suggèrent d’exclure initialement l’agriculture ukrainienne du libre marché et de progressivement abaisser les droits de douane. Ce serait une façon d’intégrer l’Ukraine dans l’Union en évitant un choc fatal aux agricultures européennes. Néanmoins, assumer de créer une Europe à différents niveaux c’est ouvrir la boîte de pandore. Quant à faire patienter trop longtemps l’Ukraine hors de l’UE, c’est la priver du développement économique qu’a entraîné l’UE pour ses États-membres. Il est dans l’intérêt des démocraties européennes d’avoir une Ukraine développée et prospère à ses frontières afin de contribuer à la stabilité et la paix de la région. Ne ratons pas le coche.

< Back A Guide to Menton’s Places of Religious Worship Stanimir Stoyanov While relatively small in size, our beautiful town of Menton has a significant number of various religious sites. We all know about the picturesque basilica in the old town and we all hear the church bells ringing throughout the day. Have you ever wondered why those bells ring at specific times? What about other religious denominations? This article will look into the world of religion within Menton, providing answers to these questions and adding interesting information about its religious sites. Religion is a multifaceted topic and this article does not have any purpose of discussing different religious practices; its goal is to simply showcase information on different places in Menton affiliating themselves as religious. In France, secularism is a constitutional principle and the 1905 French law on the Separation of the Churches and the State ensures the freedom of conscience and guarantees the free exercise of religion. While the majority of the population doesn’t identify as religious, the most prevalent religious affiliation in France is Catholic, with a sizable population of people following religions such as Islam, Judaism and others. Our town of Menton also reflects this diversity to an extent and, despite its small size, has a total of ten places of religious worship. These include seven Catholic churches and chapels, an Orthodox church, an Anglican church, a Mosque and a Synagogue. So, what is there to know about them? Basilica of Saint-Michel-Archange Probably Menton’s most famous attraction, the basilica was constructed between 1619 and 1819. At the time, Menton was part of the Principality of Monaco and Prince Honoré II commissioned it in order to affirm the role of the Catholic faith at the time of the Reformation in Europe. The basilica’s baroque architecture was heavily influenced by the Genoese style and is exceptional in its detailed and intricate facade and interior. The church bell, locally known as the “Campanin” was erected in 1701 to serve both a religious and functional purpose, acting as a watchtower over Menton. Until Dec. 31, the basilica is open to the public from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. everyday except Sunday, when it is accessible only for mass at 11 p.m. It is located on Place de l’Eglise in the old town, admission is free and when visiting you even have the possibility to climb up the tower for a one of a kind view over Menton. The Mosquée Taqwa in Menton Located on 113 Avenue de Sospel, Menton’s Mosque offers the Muslim population of Menton a place of worship. It is open five times a day for the different prayers throughout the day, with opening times varying each day according to the changing times of prayer. Even small in size, the mosque has separate praying spaces for men and women. It is associated with the Association Culturelle Mentonnaise and also engages in cultural events and community activities, such as offering guided tours for Europe’s Heritage days on Sep. 21 and Sep. 22. Synagogue de Menton “Centre Altyner” This synagogue, found on 106 Cours du Centenaire, was founded in 1964 by Holocaust survivors who discovered that there was quite a significant Jewish population in Menton. In 1987 they decided to construct this synagogue with the help of donors, whose names are inscribed on a marble plaque in front of the synagogue. One of these names, interestingly, is that of the renown fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld, who lived nearby at the time and was moved to donate by a friend of his. The synagogue offers regular Shabbat services and observes Jewish holidays, its open hours are Friday, 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., Saturday 9 a.m. until 2 p.m. and at 5 p.m. and on Sunday between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. The synagogue also facilitates cultural events and celebrations, organizing events for the local Jewish community. The Orthodox Church “Our Lady's Church, Joy for the Afflicted and Saint Nicholas the Miracle Maker” This church is located on 12 Rue Paul Morillot and serves as a place of prayer for Christians following the Orthodox denomination. It is operated by the Russian Orthodox Church under the Moscow Patriarchate and its history spans from 1884 when a Russian duchess found its establishment important, recognizing the expanding Russian presence in the region. Originally, it was housed in a small chapel that can still be found at the old castle cemetery on Mnt du Souvenir. In 1892, the current church was built in an unconventional architectural style blending Eastern and Western designs. During WWII, the church was damaged from bombings and, in 1958, it was renovated. It is frequented by the surprisingly large Orthodox population of Menton and the region as both a place for prayer and cultural exchange. It is still worth a visit by anyone interested due to its unique appearance in contrast with the local architecture. Unfortunately its working hours are not clearly set and vary each month with the specific times for mass being posted at the entrance of the church’s garden. The Saint John's Anglican Church Found on 31 Avenue Carnot, this is the neo-Gothic church that you see when walking near the city center. Established in 1867 to service the growing British community in Menton, this church nowadays serves the Anglican population of the town. It regularly holds Sunday service in English starting at 10:30 a.m. The church also houses the St John's English Library, offering around 4,500 books, open to the public on Wednesday afternoons from 2:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. and Saturday mornings from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. It is also equipped with a pipe organ, used during services and concerts, enhancing the musical experience for congregants and visitors. It is part of the Diocese in Europe, often collaborating with other local churches and organisations for events and celebrations. Its fascinating blend of Gothic elements and Italian influence makes it a unique site worth paying a visit to. Other Catholic churches and chapels Menton also houses another three Catholic churches and three smaller Catholic chapels, more notably the Église Saint-Joseph, Église du Sacré-Cœur, Église Notre-Dame du Borrigo, Chapelle des Pénitents Blancs, Chapelle des Pénitents Noirs, Chapelle Saint-Roch . While the listed chapels do not have working hours and are rarely open to the public, the two churches are often open during mass hours and can be accessed for visits if you have the interest. As we can see, even our quaint Menton has a vast list of places of religious worship and hopefully now you are a bit more familiar with them. If this article has sprung your interest you can feel free to visit and enjoy them so long as you remain respectful to the people who may be practicing their religion there. They all have their unique architectural characteristics and religious significance. As a person who has had the fortune of visiting all of them, I truly recommend the aforementioned places if you want to experience Menton in all its character. Previous Next

< Back A Facebook Reckoning: Revelations from Frances Haugen’s Senate Testimony By Saoirse Aherne November 30, 2021 Former Facebook employee Frances Haugen left the company in May of 2021. She subsequently handed over thousands of pages of incriminating internal documents which she had collected during her time at Facebook to The Wall Street Journal. On September 13 of 2021, the Journal rolled out “The Facebook Files:” a collection of 11 major articles detailing the contents of Haugen’s leak. On October 5, Haugen testified before a United States Senate committee on commerce, science, and transportation, and asserted that Facebook harms children, sows division and undermines democracy in pursuit of “astronomical profits.” Who is Frances Haugen Haugen is a 37-year-old computer science and Harvard Business School graduate. She has worked for Google and Pinterest, and co-founded the dating app Hinge. Haugen began working for Facebook as a product manager in 2019, just three years after the Cambridge Analytica scandal when Facebook allowed the British consulting firm to collect data from millions of users without their consent for use in political campaigns. In light of Facebook’s reputation at the time, Haugen reportedly aspired to change the company from the inside. After two years at Facebook, Haugen felt her goal to rectify the ethical issues in the company was going nowhere. She came to realize that Facebook was aware of the harm of its products and was intentionally concealing this knowledge from users and investors. Haugen began to collect evidence of this through Facebook’s internal social network: Workplace. Employees share product research and discuss company strategy on this platform, thus making confidential information available to all company members. As Haugen encountered documents detailing unethical conduct, she took pictures of them and compiled a collection of evidence which exposed the role of Facebook products in aggravating a number of social and political issues across the globe. Haugen released the documents with the hope that they might increase public pressure for Facebook to change. She underlined that Facebook cares more about profits than public safety in an interview with 60 Minutes in spite of its claim that it does not “build services to make money.” Haugen has filed a whistleblower complaint with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). If the agency attempts to take civil action against Facebook, Haugen could receive between 10 and 30 percent of any fines Facebook is forced to pay. What did the documents contain? Over a dozen news organizations have reviewed the redacted versions of the documents and identified a number of key takeaways. As reported by CNN, the documents show that Facebook was fundamentally unprepared to deal with the January 6 “Stop the Steal” insurrection movement. This contradicts Facebook’s Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg, who stated that the company “took down QAnon, Proud Boys, Stop the Steal, anything that was talking about possible violence” in the weeks before the attack on the U.S. capital. In fact, the documents reveal that, leading up to the insurrection, almost all of the fastest growing groups on Facebook were related to the Stop the Steal movement. One of the leaked documents contains a picture of a table labelled “US2020 Levers, previously rolled back,” referring to the guard rails on misinformation and harmful content that Facebook removed before the 2020 presidential election. It is unclear from public statements why Facebook rolled back these measures, and Haugen asserted that the measures were only reimplemented after the insurrection flared up. The Washington Post commented on internal documents surrounding body image, teen mental health and appearance-based social comparison on Instagram, a social media network owned by Facebook. One document found that “social comparison is worse on Instagram,” and that “social comparison journeys mimic the grief cycle.” In response to this, the document said that the company must “engage at each step of the social comparison journey by creating targeted product interventions.” The documents noted that “mental health outcomes related to [social comparison] can be severe,” acknowledging the role of Instagram in prompting or exacerbating eating disorders, body dysmorphia, body dissatisfaction, depression and loneliness. Another document blatantly stated, “we make body image issues worse for one in three teen girls.” The Atlantic reported on another shocking revelation from the documents. In 2019, a BBC report found that a broad human trafficking network for domestic workers was facilitated by Facebook and Instagram, aided by algorithmically boosted hashtags. The internal documents released by Haugen make clear that this issue was known to Facebook before the BBC inquiry, and that the company only took action when Apple threatened to pull Instagram and Facebook from the App Store. According to the Atlantic report, the documents show that Facebook has the most harmful impact in vulnerable and unstable areas of the world. Facebook is aware that its products “facilitate hate speech in the Middle East, cartels in Mexico, ethnic cleansing in Ethiopia, extremist anti-Muslim rhetoric in India and sex trafficking in Dubai.” In an internal report from March 2021, Facebook admitted, “we frequently observe highly coordinated intentional activity… by problematic actors:” that is, “particularly prevalent… in At-Risk Countries and Contexts,” yet it stated that “current mitigation strategies are not enough.” An internal Facebook report from the winter of 2020 found that only 6 percent of Arabic-language hate content on Instagram was detected by Facebook’s systems. According to the documents, only 13 percent of Facebook’s misinformation-moderation staff hours were devoted to non-U.S. countries in spite of the fact that more than 90 percent of Facebook’s users do not reside in the United States. Despite at least 160 languages being spoken on the platform, Facebook has created AI-detection systems for only a fraction of those languages. Speaking to the Observer about her decision to come forward as a whistleblower, Haugen said, “I did what I thought was necessary to save the lives of people, especially in the global South, who I think are being endangered by Facebook’s prioritization of profits over people.” The Senate Hearing On October 5, Haugen testified to a United States Senate committee. Haugen emphasized that Facebook knows that its algorithm is harmful to users. She stated that Facebook's advertising-based business model needs people to stay on its platform for as long as possible, and the company exploits negative emotion to accomplish this. Lawmakers at the hearing were particularly concerned with the impact of Instagram on children. Subcommittee Chair Richard Blumenthal said, “Facebook exploited teens using powerful algorithms that amplified their insecurities.” Haugen also spoke to the structural issues faced by the company, stating that, “Facebook is stuck in a cycle where it struggles to hire. That causes it to understaff projects, which causes scandals, which then makes it harder to hire.” During her time at Facebook, Haugen “worked on the counter-espionage team, and at any given time… could only handle a third of the cases,” due to lack of manpower. Haugen does not believe Facebook should be broken up, but instead encourages more stringent regulation of the platform. Chair Blumenthal is discussing the proposal to allow private citizens to sue Facebook and other social media companies for harm caused by their algorithms. Currently, a law known as Section 230 immunizes social media companies from being sued over what users post, however Blumenthal is interested in “curtailing that legal shield and immunity so as to give victims… some recourse.” Other legislative responses currently being considered include a national privacy law and stronger safeguards for children online. Lawmakers insist that Haugen’s leak of internal documents and Senate testimony have motivated Capitol Hill to take action against Facebook. In response to the Senate hearing, Facebook spokesman Andy Stone said, “we continue to make significant improvements to tackle misinformation and harmful content.” Stone also questioned Haugen’s credibility on matters pertaining teen mental health, stating that “Frances Haugen did not work on child safety or Instagram, or research these issues, and has no direct knowledge of the topic from her work at Facebook.” However, Samidh Chakrabati, the former leader of the Civic Integrity Political Misinformation team at Facebook, said on Twitter, “there are countless other integrity professionals with experience on the issues raised today… who similarly agree with the substantive points shared at the hearing.” Going Forward This leak may inspire other whistleblowers to come forward. According to Haugen’s legal team, inquiries from other potential whistleblowers have been raised, and another SEC complaint was filed in October. The damning evidence brought to light by Frances Haugen has ignited a push to regulate Facebook and other social media giants. Haugen herself has expressed a desire to “start a youth movement,” to restore power among a portion of the population whose lives to date have been unquantifiably influenced by social media. Hopefully, this most recent leak will be enough to actualize Haugen’s desire for large-scale change.

Australia's treatment of children, particularly Indigenous and asylum-seeking children, violates global human rights standards and raises several critical questions: Why are these vulnerable children subjected to such mistreatment, and why does Australia continue to incarcerate and detain them unlawfully? What purpose are these punitive measures serving for Australia as an ongoing colonial project, and why are Australian people allowing such blatant violations of both national and global human rights to be carried out in their name? < Back Australia’s Colonial Logic of Child Imprisonment: How Indigenous Incarceration and Asylum Seeker Detention Violate Human Rights Finn Leary for Amnesty Menton October 31, 2024 Australia is a nation predicated on a fair go for all; a country that prides itself on its multiculturalism. Yet, these mythologies fail to stack up when applied to the First Nations People, who are victims of discrimination and marginalization. The same can be said when one looks at Australia’s vilification and demonization of refugees and asylum seekers. Australia’s carceral and immigration systems—systems designed to uphold and perpetuate a white, Anglo-centric Australia—continue to violate human rights, especially those of children. Indigenous youth are disproportionately affected by hyper-incarceration, facing imprisonment rates that far exceed those of non-Indigenous youth and global averages for youth incarceration. Although only about 5.7% of people aged 10–17 in Australia are First Nations, 63% of the children in detention on an average day in 2023 were First Nations. This means they are 29 times as likely as a non-Indigenous child to be in detention. For children aged 10-13, this figure rises to 46 times. The incarceration and brutal treatment of Indigenous youth in detention is a direct extension of the colonial logic that saw children removed, excluded and missionized in the 19th and 20th centuries. It is the Stolen Generations all over again—a period where Aboriginal children were forcibly taken from their families—simply in a new form. It seems inevitable that, like Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's 2008 apology , there will be many apologies to come for these concurrent violations of humanity. Despite a promise to eliminate the detention of all children by the end of 2019, asylum-seeking children remain in detention and alternative arrangements. The treatment of these children has been described as highly damaging, cruel, degrading and unlawful. Australia's treatment of children, particularly Indigenous and asylum-seeking children, violates global human rights standards and raises several critical questions: Why are these vulnerable children subjected to such mistreatment, and why does Australia continue to incarcerate and detain them unlawfully? What purpose are these punitive measures serving for Australia as an ongoing colonial project, and why are Australian people allowing such blatant violations of both national and global human rights to be carried out in their name? These questions demand serious reflection on Australia's commitment to justice, equality and human rights, especially as a nation predicated on a “fair go.” The answers shed light on the lasting impacts of colonialism and the twisted ways in which the colonial project continues to be upheld. The following stories are those of children who have been victims of Australia’s disgraceful carceral system and immigration system. These stories should unsettle, disturb and enrage. In February this year, the Queensland government released a report on the deaths of two boys who had spent extensive time in solitary confinement while in youth detention. Both were First Nations children with disabilities. Despite this, they were kept in solitary confinement for prolonged periods, a practice that the United Nations Expert on Torture has consistently urged to be abolished. The first spent 128 nights in detention, with 78% of that time isolated in his cell; the second spent 55 days locked in his cell alone for over 22 hours each day. Both had been repeatedly detained from the ages of 11 and 13. Both boys committed suicide following incarceration. This report arrived at the same time as the Queensland and Northern Territory governments are pushing to reduce the age of criminal responsibility back to 10 years. Queensland has had to suspend its Human Rights Act to rush through legislation to make this possible. The newly elected Northern Territory government is set to pass similar legislation in its first parliamentary session. These practices—of locking up young and vulnerable Indigenous youth—are fundamental to the youth carceral system in Australia. Incarcerating Indigenous youth sustains the prison-industrial complex, notably in remote and rural areas, by employing law enforcement, corrections officers, social workers, legal professionals and support staff. It costs approximately $1.03 million per annum to lock up one child, money that could be diverted into consistent and long-term community care and support services. Incarceration is the bedrock of coloniality in the modern era. It is the tool with which Indigenous sovereignty is denied. It is a continuation of the exclusions, interventions and social controls faced by Indigenous children over the past two centuries, cloaked in the legitimacy of pursuing ‘community safety’. As Matthews & Holden assert, “Whether on a mission or in a cell, Aboriginal movement is contained to prevent the transfer of language, knowledge, ceremony and culture to their descendants.” Asylum-seeking children continue to face a similar fate in Australia, driven by the same underlying logic of exclusion, control and dehumanization. Mandatory offshore detention has deeply damaged many lives over the past two decades, compounding the adversity, trauma and loss of family that many asylum seekers have experienced. Children forced to flee, often unaccompanied, from war, persecution, violence, sexual abuse and forced recruitment have found themselves detained, imprisoned, and isolated in Australian territory rather than receiving the protection and care they desperately needed. The National Inquiry into Children in Immigration Detention found that some children had spent over five years in detention before their applications were processed—for no reason other than to serve as examples of Australia’s ‘firm stance’ on ‘illegal’ immigration. The impact on the mental and physical health of these children has been severe, with over half of those detained experiencing post-traumatic stress disorder, self-harming behaviors and heightened anxiety or depression. A young child on Nauru, the site of one of the offshore detention centers, when asked about her experiences, said , “Of all the bad things that have already happened now, I feel I wish I died at sea instead of dying slowly here.” Another unaccompanied child said , “I don’t care about a visa anymore. I want to finish everything. My life is very difficult. I don’t understand why I am here. I am beginning to feel crazy; my situation is very bad and getting worse. I am alone, no family, nobody here. I’ve been here 15 months; I need to do something.” While no Australian government has officially abandoned mandatory indefinite detention, its application is in significant decline . However, this decline has led to a greater reliance on other punitive measures, such as the Temporary Bridging Visa Scheme. The story of Mano Yogalingam speaks to the failings of this scheme, particularly for asylum-seeking children. On Wednesday, the 28th of August, Tamil asylum seeker Mano Yogalingam self-immolated, setting himself on fire in an eastern suburb of Melbourne. He was a key organizer of protests calling for an end to the temporary visa scheme . Mano had arrived in Australia as a 12-year-old fleeing persecution in Sri Lanka. After spending over a year in detention, Mano was placed on a bridging visa. Ten years later, he remained on that bridging visa—his imprisonment had simply taken on a new form. This temporary bridging visa scheme has been designed to make asylum seekers deportable or re-detainable. By keeping people on this visa indefinitely it destabilizes and undermines their place in the Australian community. Many on the visa scheme are denied education, healthcare, and the right to work—leaving them trapped in poverty and positions of social exclusion, unable to access basic services or opportunities for self-sufficiency. This scheme—underpinned by a harsh regime of surveillance, control, and punishment—lies at the heart of the government's relentless strategy to punish and deter asylum seekers. So, where does the real connection lie between these two issues? Both Indigenous youth and children seeking asylum in Australia have been “othered” to serve as scapegoats, “othered” through being framed discursively as threats to security and community safety. Australia’s systems are rooted in settler-colonial norms and values upheld by racist institutions and political ideology. These systems are inherently designed to prioritize certain groups and "standards" over others while excluding those deemed incompatible with settler-societies norms. In Orientalism (1995), Edward Said asserted that modern colonialism relies entirely on having a knowledge system that separates the colonizer from the colonized. Said infers that those blatant forms of colonial violence—genocide, enslavement and segregation—have gradually been replaced by less visible expressions of coloniality, such as immigration laws, sterilization practices, child welfare apprehensions and an over-reliance on carceral systems. Institutionalized settler colonial norms and ideologies of whiteness have become so normalized that these racial hierarchies are rendered invisible. Australia as a country has been founded upon dangerous myths—myths that today express themselves in the eradication and silencing of certain minorities. These issues will not change without a strong commitment to meaningful truth-telling processes at both the community and national level. The more that history reveals its truths, contradicting the accepted “facts,” the more cracks appear in mythologised colonial narratives. This is the idea Naomi Klein describes in Doppelganger , referencing the discovered mass graves of First Nations children at Canadian missionary schools. In an age of resurging ultra-nationalism and far-right authoritarian governments, it seems these issues will continue to be complex battlegrounds. Given the widespread collapse of the rules-based international order and the erosion of international humanitarian and human rights laws , it is more important than ever that pressure is placed on our governments domestically to uphold commitments to human rights. This must begin with stronger commitments to our children, particularly the most vulnerable among them .

Il semble important de se rendre compte que donner une presence mediatique aux organisations telles que Women Wage Peace est un premier pas crucial pour faire evoluer les termes de la discussion et rapeller qu’aucun conflit n’est purement noir et blanc. Soutenir ces associations est le seul moyen de soutenir un drapeau blanc et un futur ou les deux peuples on l’opportunite de faire le deuil ensemble. < Back Women Wage Peace: Donner une Voix à L’Espoir Anna Halpern October 31, 2024 W omen Wage Peace est le plus grand mouvement populaire pacifiste israélien. Fondée à la suite de la deuxième guerre à Gaza en 2014, l’organisation est maintenant forte de plus 44 000 membres, en majorité des mères de famille qui s’opposent à voir leurs enfants mourir dans une guerre sans fin. En 2022 il s’associe au mouvement palestinien Women of The Sun, crée en 2021. Depuis, bien qu’on ne leur donne pas le quart de l’attention médiatique qu’elles méritent, ces femmes commencent à être reconnues pour leur immense travail. En effet, Dr. Yael Admi and Reem Hajajreh, représentantes de ces deux mouvements, ont été nominées dans la liste des 100 Femmes de l'année 2024 du Times Magazine. De plus, ces deux organisations ont été nominées pour le prix Nobel de la paix de 2024, le prix Sakharov (présentées par les groupes parlementaires européens S&D et Renew Europe ) et ont reçu le Albie Award. Dans le conflit brutal qui secoue la région, avec une prolifération de haine et de violence qui peut sembler omniprésente, ces femmes représentent une lueur d’espoir que l’on se doit de mettre en avant. En effet, ces femmes ne se sont pas perdues dans des discours de vengeance et de haine après la mort de Viviane Silver—activiste israélo-canadienne et co-fondatrice de Women Wage Peace —assassinée durant les attaques du 7 Octobre 2023. Elles n’ont pas non plus cessé leur combat au long cette longue année pendant laquelle les partis extrêmes de tous côtés n’ont eu cesse de promouvoir une idéologie de haine qui semble avoir touché le monde entier. Elles n’ont jamais cessé de se battre pour un meilleur futur pour leurs deux peuples. Elles représentent une opposition bien réelle à la politique du gouvernement d'extrême droite du Premier Ministre Benjamin Netanyahu qui, depuis le 7 Octobre, est souvent tenu pour responsable de cette guerre désastreuse qui a causé tant de morts et n’a toujours pas atteint son objectif affiché de ramener les derniers otages et « détruire le hamas. » Ces femmes offrent une alternative, une vision pacifiste d’un futur où ces guerres n’auraient plus lieu d'être. Women Wage Peace agit concrètement, rencontrant des dirigeants internationaux, mobilisant des foules en Israël et à l'international et sensibilisant à la réalité du conflit. Elles ont soumis une proposition de loi au Knesset qui, si adoptée, obligerait le gouvernement à considérer toutes les options politiques avant l’utilisation de moyens armés. Elles organisent toujours des marches, des rencontres avec des experts, des veillées, et des discussions avec des personnalités politiques israéliennes. Chacun d’entre nous peut activement participer en signant l’« appel des mères » lancé en association avec Women of The Sun , mais il est encore plus important que, chacun à notre échelle, nous gardions en tête que personne ne gagne jamais vraiment dans une guerre: les deux sociétés qui en souffrent se retrouvent chaque fois plus fractures et plus endeuillée. C’est une idée simple et universelle que ces organisations s’efforcent de soutenir malgré la difficulté de se faire entendre à travers le bruit des divisions partisanes qui s’empressent d'ajouter de l’huile sur le feu. Les personnes et gouvernements à qui ce conflit tient à cœur ont donc un devoir de partager et de promulguer cette vision plutôt que de répéter des slogans et discours divisifs proférés par les membres les plus extrêmes de chaque camp. En ce qui concerne l’attention, et l’« instrumentalisation » internationale du conflit, le fils de Viviane Silver le met extrêmement bien en mots, il ne sert a rien d’« importer notre problème au lieu d’exporter des solutions. » En effet, chaque vie compte, chaque personne mérite de vivre une vie longue et heureuse, et ceci ne devrait pas être une question partisane. Chaque dirigeant, chaque activiste et chaque individu devrait pouvoir s’en rendre compte et réussir à comprendre que « la vengeance n’est pas une stratégie , » et peut choisir d’apporter son soutien et son attention aux associations telles que Women Wage Peace . Chacun peut soutenir leur « appel des mères, » demandant aux dirigeants israéliens et internationaux de soutenir une solution pacifique au conflit et de promouvoir un futur viable pour les deux peuples. Malgré tout ceci, cette organisation, et les multiples autres organisations pacifistes, anti-gouvernement et pro-dialogue restent aujourd’hui largement noyés dans un raz de marée de violence et de discours brutalement insensibles proférés par les dirigeants de tous les partis. Il n’y a pas une seule raison à ce manque d’attention médiatique et cet abandon du public international de la cause pacifiste. Néanmoins, nous pouvons souligner quelques choses que nous avons souvent pu voir au niveau personnel en tant qu'étudiants en sciences politiques, mais aussi comme toute personnes subissant les spams des réseaux sociaux et de la politique du clic. Notre besoin de simplifier tout en ‘bien’ et ‘mal’ et de se placer dans une case bien définie pour se rassurer parmi un groupe établi de ‘partisans’ sans nuance nous pousse à des positions extrêmes qui justifient de perdre de vue l'humanité de ceux en face. Il est beaucoup plus difficile et courageux de savoir prendre ses distances et se positionner dans un juste milieu ou l’on accepte d'entendre des opinions divergentes et de sacrifier un peu de sa sacro-sainte doctrine pour une vision de paix. Il semble important de se rendre compte que donner une presence mediatique aux organisations telles que Women Wage Peace est un premier pas crucial pour faire evoluer les termes de la discussion et rapeller qu’aucun conflit n’est purement noir et blanc. Soutenir ces associations est le seul moyen de soutenir un drapeau blanc et un futur ou les deux peuples on l’opportunite de faire le deuil ensemble. En effet, « la mort est impartiale et la guerre est aveugle » comme l’a dit Yonatan Zeigen dans son hommage a sa mère Viviane Silver. Ces deux peuples ont le droit de se reconstruire sans la manipulation politique et internationale dont ce conflit a souffert depuis des décennies. Pour ceux que cela intéresse, je vous redonne le lien vers la pétition en vous encourageant à la signer: L'appel des mères - Women Wage Peace .

< Back Tuition Faces Historic Rise Amidst Menton Administrative Chaos By Peyton Dashiell February 28, 2023 In Nov. 2022, word broke through French news outlets and social media that Sciences Po Paris tuition fees will increase by 7.5 percent for the 2023-2024 academic year. The initial increase, which passed unanimously among the Sciences Po Paris board minus two abstentions, was planned at 9.5 percent. However, it was slightly reduced after representatives from the Union Nationale des Étudiants de France (UNEF) and NOVA met with administration on Nov. 23, 2022. Citing inflation and the European energy crisis as factors influencing the hike, tuition at Sciences Po for undergraduate non-scholarship holders will rise to 14,437 euros, while graduate students can expect to pay over 20,000 euros. As recently as 2020-2021, tuition stood at 10,760 euros — this measure represents more than a 30 percent increase in just three years. Furthermore, this tuition increase will have particularly severe consequences for scholarship holders. Neither CROUS nor supplementary scholarships from Sciences Po will rise according to this new calculation. CROUS scholarships will increase by a mere four percent, while Sciences Po scholarships like Emile Boutmy will increase by seven percent. These plans directly contradict remarks made by Sciences Po President Mathias Vicherat, a former UNEF representative himself, as recently as March 2022, when he pledged that “les frais d’inscription n’augmenteront pas” (enrollment fees will not rise) during his presidential term. But despite this promise, the tuition hike is not unprecedented. Measures taken following Vicherat’s ascendance to director of Sciences Po have been characterized by financial prudence. To bankroll the costly Paris campus move in January 2022, he announced that he planned to prioritize economic consolidation and profitable “continuing education” initiatives. Additionally, the Sciences Po administration has remained silent in the face of the increase. While major French media outlets like Le Monde rushed to publicize the “vertigineuse” (steep) increase, Sciences Po administration has failed to release a single statement or email to the undergraduate student body, forcing student unions like UNEF and NOVA to liaise between administration and students and share information about the tuition rise via Instagram and Facebook. In a series of Instagram posts, UNEF president Anissa Chehbib labeled the increase as “une hausse colossale, qui nous révolte,” (a colossal increase that revolts us). Furthermore, UNEF noted that ongoing increases in inflation and cost of living have exacerbated the financial situations of low-income Sciences Pistes and their families. NOVA’s social media advocacy echoed these complaints — in addition to negotiating down to the 7.5 percent increase rate, they pledged to ensure that Sciences Po administration will improve social assistance measures and eliminate “useless expenditure.” Additionally, Solidaire joined UNEF and NOVA in condemning the increase, telling President Vicherat, a former Danone executive, that “a university should not be run like Danone” and denouncing the “unacceptable process of liberalization and privatization of education and research.” They also noted their exclusion from the meeting between President Vicherat and representatives from UNEF and NOVA. This announcement also comes at a time of particular administrative upheaval on the Menton campus — with the majority of the already weary administrative staff out on leave, the myriad of registration issues that naturally accompany the beginning of a new semester have largely gone unfixed as mid-February approaches. Many students still miss language and atelier classes, and repeated emails and visits to the office rarely grant resolution. While a student-led letter prompted a visit from the Paris administration and several measures to help administrative staff regroup and resolve issues, significant problems have persisted, making this steep rise in tuition even harder to fathom. When students cannot take required courses, promises of campus facilities go undelivered and administration is unresponsive through it all, does rising tuition truly reflect the student experience?

On the one hand, the eleventh of November is a day during which many people in the world reflect on the horrors that ancestors had to endure during the four years of World War One, reminding us that our freedom should not be taken for granted. On the other hand, this day has also become not just an anniversary of the end of the war, but also a celebration of militarism itself, leading to debates on whether it has not evolved into a day of military glorification instead of a day for reflection. < Back When does a celebration become an indoctrination? Viktorie Voriskova November 30, 2024 Each year, on November 11th, at eleven in the morning, the world goes silent for a minute, in commemoration of the anniversary of the signing of an armistice in Compiege in the region of Picardy, France. This agreement took effect at 11:00 am, ending the war on the Western Front and, with it, the First World War. This anniversary is celebrated mainly in the United States but also France, the United Kingdom, Sweden, Nigeria, Germany, Australia and New Zealand. Every year, these countries organize parades, their citizens wear the symbolic red poppy flowers, and heads of state give speeches at war memorials. Is there a line at which it becomes too much? On the one hand, the eleventh of November is a day during which many people in the world reflect on the horrors that ancestors had to endure during the four years of World War One, reminding us that our freedom should not be taken for granted. On the other hand, this day has also become not just an anniversary of the end of the war, but also a celebration of militarism itself, leading to debates on whether it has not evolved into a day of military glorification instead of a day for reflection. The duality of this internationally celebrated and appreciated holiday highlights the thin line between reminiscing about our past and glorifying it. Therefore, while the original aim of the celebrations of the Armistice Day war peaceful reconciliation and remembrance, these days there seems to be a shift towards militarism and glorification of military action, which has sparked discussions—even controversies—around the values the Eleventh of November embodies and its role in modern society. In the years following 1919, Armistice Day ceremonies were used to promote the message that “never again” should we engage in the brutality and futility of war. At this time, the grief caused by war was raw. People felt real loss—one fourth of the population in the Western world lost at least one family member during this conflict—and the need to have a collective ceremony to mourn nationally was understandable. Over decades, this anniversary has evolved into a day of solemn reflection for those lost in all conflicts. In the early 1950s, the celebrations underwent another change in their symbolism: in 1954, in the U.S., Armistice Day was renamed Veterans Day to honor all veterans, not just those who have fought in World War One. Some advocates argue that this change diverted attention from the original peace-oriented message, leading to a rise of glorification of military intervention, meandering away from the initial intention of reflecting on the war and remembering those who have lost their lives during the conflict. One of these critics is the professor of Environmental Health from Boston University School of Public Health, H. Patricia Hynes, who claims that the renaming of Armistice Day to Veteran's Day led to the discarding of “ all public ideals of peace with all other peoples.” She goes on to add that “the rebranding of Armistice Day to Veterans Day [is] enabling militarists and war profiteers “ to celebrate and promote militarism … misrepresent war members of the military as heroes, and encourage the enlistment of cannon fodder for future war for profit.” Controversies surrounding the nature, which often tends to be rather militaristic of Remembrance Day, the official name of the Armistice holiday in the United Kingdom, have a long history too: participants in Armistice Day events have almost always worn or displayed red poppies in English-speaking territories, cornflowers in France and Belgium since the poppy became associated with the holiday because of the popularity of the poem, “ In Flanders Fields ,” written in 1915 by Canadian soldier John McCrae. However, as early as the 1930s, people began wearing the white poppy instead of the original red one to reject the perceived militarism associated with Remembrance Day. Other scholars corroborate this view on the significance of Armistice Day: Olivia Abbott, a writer for the Organisation for World Peace, wrote an article titled: “ Rethinking Remembrance Day: Unpacking Memory, Identity And War” in 2019, where she voices her opinion as follows: “Remembrance Day prevents us from moving forward. We should not forget our national history, but the rhetoric of “keep calm and carry on” and “lest we forget” focuses on the past and stops us from looking forward. […] The longer we hold onto the emphasis on remembrance, the longer we will hold back from pursuing a brighter future.” Abbott’s criticism of Britain’s approach to Remembrance Day celebrations is yet another example of the controversies that this holiday creates—it represents a controversial focus on the past and its glorification instead of a reconciliation that would help the nation in moving forward. Furthermore, there is also a very recent example of the November 11th celebrations being controversial: the pro-Palestinian protests that took place in central London. Many people think that protesting on Remembrance Day as a sign of “ disrespect ” towards the fallen. Others talk about the dangers of militarism as one of the core values of this holiday and the glorification of war that is perpetuated through the celebration of this anniversary. On November 11th last year, Clément Voule, the UN’s Special Rapporteur for the Rights to Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association, discouraged painting the protests as “ hate marches .” He argued that it could risk public disorder and more public disagreement on the validity of Remembrance Day. Commemorating an anniversary of the end of a war or another military action will always spark controversies because of the thin line between appreciation and glorification. There has been a major shift in the symbolism of the Eleventh of November—renaming of this holiday in America or the rise of unrest these ceremonies bring about in the present exemplify this. Despite the shift in the values and importance of this holiday, which should be reflected upon during this anniversary, the core idea that led to its establishment is still relevant: the horrors of the past cannot be forgotten. Otherwise, we run the danger of repeating them.

Drunk on camaraderie and laughter, we mill about the shops we’ve been to hundreds of times before; we argue about the state of the world and how much more heavy cream should be added to our pasta dishes; we soak in the time winter break has allowed us, because for now, that’s all we have. < Back Beautiful Brooklyn Brownstones: Why We Should Live Near Our Friends By Marly Fisher January 31, 2024 Drunk on camaraderie and laughter, we mill about the shops we’ve been to hundreds of times before; we argue about the state of the world and how much more heavy cream should be added to our pasta dishes; we soak in the time winter break has allowed us, because for now, that’s all we have. My friends are my home. So why did we all leave it? In the age of the modern family, we are quick to move. For school, for careers, for our partners… my own mother (albeit reluctantly) traded her community of friends and familiarity in the suburbs of New York for the empty tumbleweeds of New Mexico and my father’s career. The Land of Enchantment is its motto. The Land of Entrapment is what she (perhaps not so) affectionately calls it. It seems that in a world of constant motion, our friends are the first to be left behind. Not truly, of course — technology makes for an easy way to stay in touch — but the physical location of the people closest to us is no longer as important. Living with companions — roommates in college, apartment-mates during internships and first big jobs — are a cherished stage of life. But it is seen as nothing more than a liminal space between childhood and the real world. There is a kind of time limit on these types of living spaces, at least until the purported love of our lives comes around to sweep us off our feet and we can create our true homes together. Our lives and purpose are structured around the love we build. So why don’t we live with our friends? At the very least, why don’t we make an active effort to be near them? One of the purest parts of the university experience, as profoundly demonstrated by the construction of the living spaces in Sciences Po, is its community. We cook together, we swim together, we laugh and talk until the sun is up. There is a unique sense of togetherness here, a promise that your favorite conversationalist is right next door. It is when college ends that separation begins. We leave the bonds we’ve created in search of the vague and inevitable next step. It is — was — what I’ve been preparing for my whole life. But I don’t want to. My best friend and I have a pact that we call the Brooklyn Brownstone, a promise that if we are unmarried by age 40 we will buy the most lavish brownstone in the city and live out the rest of our lives in companionship. But it rests on the assumption that our future would require a separation in the first place. I want to live near my best friend always. I want to live near all of my close friend always. It would make me happy. And statistically, happiness spreads, according to Atlantic writer Adrienne Matei: When one person becomes happier, their next-door neighbors' chances of also growing happier rise by 34 percent; friends living within a mile of each other are 25 percent more likely to feel happy, and their friends have a 10 percent chance of feeling happier too. Moving away from our chosen families does not just affect our personal wellbeing, however; we have lost kinship in the workplace, as well. Modernization and industrialization have taken away time as an entity that belongs to us. Where leisure and labor were once intermingled, where the workday ended on the family farm with the sunset, now an employer's time is acutely different from that of those who are employed. those. In the words of historian EP Thompson, the “employer must use the time of his labor, and see it is not wasted: not the task but the value of time when reduced to money is dominant. Time is now currency: it is not passed but spent. ” Existing with my friends need not not be temporary. When, or if, I do begin to raise a family of my own, I want to be surrounded by a community I have built myself. I want my children to know and love my companions the way I do. Especially after having lived with a roommate for the past few months, I have little desire to live alone. Ever. What good is independence if we are lonely? If we miss those we love the most? At the time that this article is being written, I’m sitting in the airport returning home after visiting my best friend at her college. Mark my words: in fifty years, a cluster of beautiful Brooklyn brownstones will be deemed the happiest square mile in America. We will change the world together.

It was arguably the recent administrative scandal, which sparked mass intercampus outrage on social media, that first put Le Havre on the radar of most Sciences Po students. However, upon transferring to Menton, I can only posit that the situation here is not as dissimilar as one would think. < Back ‘Isn’t That the Campus Where…?’ The Student Experience in Le Havre By Magdelena Offenbeck March 30, 2022 It was arguably the recent administrative scandal, which sparked mass intercampus outrage on social media, that first put Le Havre on the radar of most Sciences Po students. Upon transferring to Menton merely a month after the incident, I most frequently was asked “what happened with your admin?” when I told students that I came from Le Havre. It seems that the Normandy campus is now associated with two things: bad weather, and an even worse admin. However, my experience as a 1A for the first semester cannot be simplified to these two terms. The port city of about 274,000 inhabitants that inspired Jean-Paul Sartre’s “Nausea” creates a student experience of its own. Whether it be housing in shipping containers, nightly electric scooter races, or stargazing on bunkers from World War II, Le Havre has about as many similarities with Menton as it has differences. Here is my experience with the two campuses on opposite sides of France. The Weather Questions about the failure of the Le Havre (LH) administration are quickly followed by jokes about the Normandy weather. These are not unfounded, as it does rain constantly. Not only do the rain and the freezing cold of northern European winter make walks to class painful, but the wind will, at times, make it feel as though you are walking on a treadmill on maximum incline. Summer starts early and winter ends late, but when the sun does shine, the city transforms. The ocean promenade fills with skateboarders, ice cream shops, and brave swimmers who dip their toes into the 16-degree Atlantic Ocean. The cafés and parks come alive, and there is a sense of common appreciation for the rare days of sunshine. While it may be unfortunate that LH students are forced to leave their summer clothes in their suitcases, the weather does have two advantages. Firstly, complaining about the rain and wind with fellow Sciences Pistes is as much of a conversation starter as it is a bonding experience. Secondly, even though the wind makes every day a bad hair day, there is no risk of sweating on your way to class. The Student Life What Le Havre lacks in scenery, it makes up with vibrant student life. As there is no Côte d’Azur that provides a student experience for itself nearby, students have created a range of associations and clubs that entertain when the Le Havre city environment does not. Throughout the week, the hallways of the half-a-building campus Sciences Po shares with INSA become alive when student initiatives hold their meetings. In addition to the usual student activities, there are five different dance clubs ranging from Bollywood to Contemporary, three campus bands, as well as a sailing and a Mixed Martial Arts club to name just some. Furthermore, where the curriculum fails to holistically engage with most parts of Asia, student clubs, such as the Southeast Asia Society, fill the gap and create opportunities for cultural exchange. The party life also does the Sciences Po reputation justice, even though the Menton warmth favors more frequent and larger events. As home to 13,600 students, Le Havre boasts a wide selection of bars — open year-round — which can be used as an alternative to house parties. The Region Menton and Le Havre may both be port towns on paper, but they could not be more different. LH stands as a relatively isolated industrial city that has yet to be connected to a high-speed train network. Hence, there is nothing comparable to the ten-minute trip to Italy or short stopover in Monaco that Menton students use. Despite the lack of speedy public transport, LH is approximately two hours away from Paris by train, which allows for frequent day trips to the capital. Within Normandy, the regional capital Rouen and Caen are readily accessible. But, the most scenic nature can be seen at Étretat, which offers white cliffs with a view of the Atlantic Ocean. Le Havre itself is a UNESCO World Heritage Site for its post World War II concrete architecture designed by Auguste Perret. The city’s unique historical look creates an interplay of Parisian architecture and Soviet-style cement in the centre. Additionally, the hills above the city, notably the commune Sainte Adresse, still have countless French Norman style villas overlooking the ocean. While the statues and artistic constructions across the city only marginally counteract its dreary gray, stargazing on deserted bunkers while overlooking the ocean does provide for an inimitable experience. The Typical Day After checking the weather app to find out whether rain, wind, or clouds will be the challenge of the day, a LH student typically puts on a rainproof jacket and takes a Lime to campus. Limes are electric scooters that owe their name to their green-white color and can be found everywhere in the city. They are as much death traps as they are practical and constitute the main mode of transportation for those who do not like to cycle. As most teachers can take a direct train from Paris, Zoom classes are a rarity. However, one may need to make use of Zoom links when the bridge connecting most student residences and campus is closed, forcing students to walk around the entire basin. Between classes, students use the spacious library which is equipped with computers and study rooms. After class, student life usually takes place in 2A apartments or the many student residences. Most 1As live in CROUS residences, government-sponsored housing that usually offers rooms with en-suite bathrooms and kitchens for around 300€ a month. The most famous residence is arguably the repurposed “A Docks,” where students live in repurposed shipping containers. Even though Le Havre is a larger town, most students live close together, and it is almost as challenging to avoid SciencesPistes on the streets as it is in Menton. The Admin It is only appropriate to finish this portrait with a note on the controversial Le Havre administration. In general, the issues one faces with the admin in LH are similar to those in Menton. Both campuses share unresponsiveness, ignorance towards student needs, and a lack of organization. While the recent scandal concerning the LH campus director was a particularly shocking incident, it arguably only highlighted one institutional issue. Sciences Po fails on several ends to provide adequate support to its students, especially outside of the academic framework. In the course of the LH administrative scandal, many of the problems that were identified and passed on to Paris were entirely out of the hands of the regional campus administration. While they were no less pertinent and urgent, this created the image of an administration that fails on more levels than that of other campuses. Upon coming to Menton, I can only posit that the situation here is not as dissimilar as one would think.

“Bab el Hadid” captures the commotion and emotion of the Cairo train station as a hub: a place where people reunite after years apart; where people say goodbye to their loved ones; where people are always in a rush to get to the next destination. < Back Reflecting on Egypt’s Youssef Chahine: Film Review of “Bab el Hadid” By Celeste Abourjeili November 29, 2021 The movie “Bab el Hadid” brings back memories of the notorious Grand Central station in New York City, where I grew up. It captures the commotion and emotion of the train station as a hub: a place where people reunite after years apart; where people say goodbye to their loved ones; where people are always in a rush to get to the next destination. The Cairo station, like all train stations, is inherently not a destination but simply a part of the journey. However, in “Bab el Hadid,” which focuses on the station’s daily functioning, the place is redefined as a destination of its own with a community of its own. This raw vision of the train station provides a nuanced commentary on class struggles because it exposes the station for what it is: a place for homeless people to take shelter, for the crazy to roam around, and for the lower class to make a spare buck by selling newspapers and fresh drinks. Throw in a street performer and lost tourists, and you have Grand Central. But this was not Grand Central — this was the 1958 Cairo station at the brink of an era of underclass mobilization and women’s emancipation. In its realism, the movie unravelled the themes of women’s rights activism, sexualization of women in the workplace, and unionization of laborers. The film’s honest and brutal commentary on these themes made it by far and away more real and relevant than many other Arab movies of that era. While it maintained the theme of a tragic love story that could never come to be due to class differences (i.e. Kenawi’s love for Hanuma), the context surrounding this plot is so much more nuanced that one could hardly call it a love story. Moreover, the extravagant decor of Egyptian films in the early 1900s was long forgotten in the production of this film, where the most commonly featured house decor was lewd magazine clippings of women pasted on the walls. The portrayal of Kenawi’s fixation on women provided insight into the truth of sexualization of women: in many cases, it is incredibly creepy. By featuring an insane man in this role, the film was more sympathetic to women in instances of catcalling and stalking. It exposed the ugly truth that women are frequently physically threatened simply for the act of rejecting a man. After the idealized films from the earlier era, the honesty in this film was welcome, familiar, and, in a way, homey to me. The portrayal of a woman like Hanuma, who was sexy and desirable, in a tough and rude connotation was also a welcome reality and break from the “femme fatale” prototype in previous films, at least in the beginning of the film. However, her attitude and disregard for Abu Serih’s instructions along with his violent reaction brought back the power imbalance between men and women. Hanuma’s seductive response was even worse and regressed her character back to the “femme fatale” prototype, disappointing the earlier characterization of Hanuma as a new kind of woman. The theme of insanity with Kenawi matched his disconnect with the hub of the train station. He talked about moving to his village, away from the noise and the people and the confusion, when he proposed to Hanuma. He was an outsider from the get go, not belonging in the train station community nor in the train station itself. Despite his violence and creepy behavior towards women, I could not help but feel for Kenawi in the moment when Madbouli talks to him at the end of the film because we saw that his desires were quite simple, like anybody else’s, after all. This film succeeded at making unlikely characters relatable and telling the stories of those whom society would never have considered or accepted before.

What better way to start the new semester than to indulge in Nice’s flourishing art scene? Escape December blues with a range of new exhibitions from classical to modern art, spanning from Marc Chagall to Roman artifacts alongside modern sculptures. < Back Escape December Blues With a Range of New Exhibitions in Nice By Emilia Kohlmeyer December 29, 2021 What better way to start the new semester than to indulge in Nice’s flourishing art scene? Escape December blues with a range of new exhibitions from classical to modern art, spanning from Marc Chagall to Roman artifacts alongside modern sculptures. Marc Chagall, le passeur de lumière The intersection between colour and light Until when? January 10, 2022 Where? Musée National Marc Chagall What? On exhibit is one of the most notable aspects of Russian-French artist Marc Chagall’s work: stained glass. Considered one of the most important Jewish artists and a major influence on modernism with his synthesis of cubism, fauvism, and symbolism, Chagall’s work is now displayed in prominent places such as the United Nations headquarters with his stained-glass memorial “Peace.” His works are rich in iconography and his use of colors has been commended by artists such as Pablo Picasso, who said that after Matisse’s passing, Chagall would be the only artist left to comprehend colors. The exhibition highlights two important pieces: model of the rose as well as “The Creation of the World,” accompanied by professional lighting to highlight the intention of the works on the importance of spirituality and humanity’s “inner light,” in addition to musical renditions in the evenings. Voyage Musical A musical journey to Eastern Asia and Africa Until when? January 10, 2022 Where? Palais Lascaris What? Exhibited are 21 musical instruments from Eastern Asia and Africa from the collection of musician Zia Mirabdolbaghi. One can explore these artifacts ranging from Iran to Anatolia, all in playable condition following the collector’s aim to explore their cultural function, sound and evolution. After viewing this new addition, one can explore over 400 other instruments in the second largest instrument collection in France, kept at Palais Lascaris. Sosno Squatte L’Antique Connecting the present and the past Until when? January 23, 2022 Where? Museum of Archaeology of Nice/Cimiez What? The exhibition revolves around the art of renowned French artist Sacha Sosno. Native to the South, he is largely known for his sculptures and the application of the concept of obliteration, the dominant theme of his works. Along with artists such as Yves Klein, he was a part of the “Nouveau Réalisme” (New Realism) movement. The exhibition presents over 70 works set along Roman artifacts onsite the ancient city of Cemenelum. It invites the viewer to draw the relationship between the contemporary and the past. Les paysages de l'âme A contemporary love letter to landscapes Until when? February 2, 2022 Where? Musée Départemental des Arts Asiatiques What? Explored in this exhibition is the relationship between Chinese philosophy and aestheticism of 11 Chinese and Taiwanese artists. Themes which are under exploration include finding ‘The soul of nature‘, concepts of spiritualism and beauty, opposing the traditional Chinese approach to display of landscape, rather taking an abstract occidental approach. Artists represented in this exhibition include Li Chevalier, a practitioner of “experimental inkwork’” and Rao Fu, who utilizes an approach of double or triple perspective, immersing the viewer into his works. ‘Le routes du thé’ par Tuul et Bruno Morandi Tracing the significance of tea across Asian societies Until when? February 7, 2022 Where? Musée Départemental des Arts Asiatiques What? A photographic exploration of countries in which tea plays a significant role in terms of production and consumption, this exhibition takes the viewer on a journey to China, Japan, India and Sri Lanka over to Tibet, Mongolia and along the Silk roads to explore the medium of tea. From its philosophical conception to colonial trade, tea served as a means of socialization in tea houses, and the photographic couple explored the meaning of this celebrated beverage. Additionally, one can partake in a traditional tea serving ceremony on the 9 of January. Noël Dolla, visite d’atelier / Sniper, 2018-2021 Exploring the abstraction of violence Until when? March 31, 2022 Where? Musée Matisse Nice What? On display is a selection of the work of Niçois artist Noël Dolla, produced during the last four years in the context of his sniper series. The works are created by projecting paint from a compressed air gun, and they explore darker themes of war and death. The weapon represents an intercessor between artist and canvas. Considering himself a “baroque rationalist,” the artist explores concepts of abstraction in context of socio-political issues.

My best friend passed away from brain cancer when I was in middle school. I felt as though my Parcours Civique would be the perfect opportunity to honor her life. < Back Do Not Fear the Emotional Toll: A Reflection on a Children’s Cancer Center Parcours Civique By Riwa Hassan September 26, 2022 What did your Parcours Civique entail? My civic engagement took place at the Children’s Cancer Center in Lebanon, where I mainly interned in public relations and external affairs. Once a week, I acted as a friend and a support system for children undergoing chemotherapy. Why did you choose this Parcours Civique? My best friend passed away from brain cancer when I was in middle school. Her vigorous fight inspired me never to waste time. I always felt like I wanted to reward her, so I wrote paragraphs about her, mentioned her in most of my conversations, and always remembered her. I felt as though my Parcours Civique would be the perfect opportunity to honor her life. The children’s cancer patients I worked with never ceased to fill my heart with happiness and hope. Did you have trouble finding your Parcours Civique? In Lebanon, we have a civil society directory called “Daleel Madani” which I used to find my Parcours Civique. As such, I selected and applied to my internship on my own. Even before applying, I already had NGOs in mind. Was your Parcours Civique paid or unpaid? My Parcours Civique was unpaid. Did you get a lot out of your Parcours Civique? I benefited a lot from my Parcours Civique because I not only experienced field work and helped my community, but I was also introduced to a new field in my major at Sciences Po, Politics and Government. This helped me expand my career vision and my master’s program choices. If you could offer one piece of Parcours Civique advice to a 1A, what would it be? Do not overwhelm yourself; always prioritize thinking of the people you are helping before what you get from your work. Do not fear the emotional toll of doing certain jobs because once you start working, you will put your emotions aside.

Aux allures hollywoodiennes, “Afrita Hanem” nous emporte avec légèreté dans le riche univers qu’est la comédie musicale. < Back “Afrita Hanem” ou l’Âge d’Or du Cinéma Égyptien! By Morgane Abbas January 30, 2022 Amour et humour ! Voilà donc les deux élixirs utilisés par Henry Barakat qui, ensemble, forment la potion magique d’un succès mérité. Avec dans son casting une admirable Samia Gamal au sourire aussi radieux que malicieux, ainsi qu’un Farid Al-Atrache dont la prodigiosité musicale et artistique n’est plus à prouver, l’âge d’or du cinéma égyptien est bien en marche. Aux allures hollywoodiennes, “Afrita Hanem” nous emporte avec légèreté dans le riche univers qu’est la comédie musicale. Une comédie qui, certes, est loin de divertir Asfour, l’élégant chanteur gratifié par son talent et son sens du romantisme, mais infortuné par le poids de sa place dans l’échelle sociale… D’ailleurs, l’amour et la musique s’entremêlent divinement, comme en témoignent les nombreuses scènes où le brio de Farid al-Atrache est mis en avant. Il s’y livre à ce que nous pourrions qualifier une exaltation du sentiment amoureux, presque hyperbolique, dans toutes ses dimensions. Sa voix divine est mise en avant tout au long du film à travers des pièces musicales qu’il écrit lui-même, ce qui peut parfaitement s’apparenter au chant d’un oiseau qui prend son envol, d’où le choix non anodin du prénom “Asfour” (oiseau en arabe). Un amour passionnel, douloureux ou nostalgique… Ainsi, ce prénom, c’est aussi l’allusion, comme le montre l’une des dernières scènes du film, à un oiseau prisonnier d’une cage, d’un amour impossible... “يا حبيبي” (“ya habibi”, “ô mon amour”) est répété un nombre incalculable de fois, et est d’ailleurs le miroir de cette omniprésence. Certaines scènes possèdent même une dimension shakespearienne: l’un récitant ses paroles d'amour, l’autre l’écoutant passionnément du haut de son balcon, comme le feraient Roméo et Juliette, ou encore Cyrano de Bergerac et Roxanne ! Cependant, comme nous n’avons pas omis de le mentionner plus haut, cet amour, sous toutes ses facettes, est toujours accompagné par l’humour, comme s’ils étaient intrinsèquement liés. D’abord, c’est le scénario en lui-même qui est comique, notamment grâce à la dimension imaginaire et fantastique que Henry Barakat introduit dans son film, ce qui lui donne une grande originalité. Ainsi, l’invisible Kahramana use de ses pouvoirs magiques pour rendre la vie impossible à Asfour, par jalousie de son amour, bien que non réciproque, pour Alia. Mais ce côté humoristique est également présent à travers d’autres personnages, comme Boqo, notamment parce que nous pouvons observer que son jeu d’acteur est presque théâtral ! Parfois excessif et démesuré, nous nous attachons rapidement à sa nature presque niaise. D’autres scènes sont également très divertissantes, comme celles où Alia, en parlant à ses deux amants en même temps, fait croire à Asfour qu’elle accepte son mariage avec elle, de quoi faire tourner la tête à ce dernier… D’ailleurs, au début du film, nous pourrions même croire que la “Afrita”, la “diablesse”, c’était elle, avant que n’émerge le personnage de Kahramana. Pourtant, nous devons nous tenir d’affirmer que parce que l’humour joue un rôle central dans le film, ce dernier est seulement au service de notre divertissement, loin de là ! En y prêtant attention, beaucoup de messages sous-jacents peuvent être interprétés. D’abord, un questionnement d’ordre philosophique est notamment incarné par le mystérieux vieil homme, synonyme de sagesse et d’expérience de vie : qu’est-ce que le vrai bonheur et en existe-t-il un? Comment l’atteindre ? La question de la valeur de l’amour est également abordée. A travers les personnages de Asfour et Mimi Bey qui représentent des idéaux complètement opposés, et Alia au centre qui joue sur deux tableaux, nous relevons la vision dichotomique entre un amour loyal et sincère d’un côté, et de l’autre un amour fallacieux motivé par une avidité d’argent. L’esquisse d’une critique matérialiste ainsi que du poids des classes sociales dans la configuration des relations peut être aperçue. Additionnellement, il est clair que le réalisateur offre une vision du monde oriental et de la société égyptienne qui diffère grandement du cinéma colonial des décennies précédentes. Affirmons-le, il s’agit de mettre en avant les spécificités orientales, pas de les dénigrer ! Comparons seulement ce type de film à ceux du genre colonial ! D’abord, d’un point de vue du genre, on assiste à une redéfinition de la masculinité, notamment à travers Asfour, présenté comme un homme raffiné, séducteur, élégant, romantique et respectueux avec la gente féminine. L’émotion, la sensibilité et la fibre artistique sont valorisées. L’image de la femme arabe elle-même est en parfaite opposition avec celle présentée par les films occidentaux précédents. Elle est émancipée, nous la voyons par exemple jouer aux cartes avec les hommes sans difficulté. Cependant, nous pourrions nous demander s’il ne s’est pas opéré une régression des mœurs qui paraissent à cette époque plus ouvertes que celles de la société égyptienne contemporaine. Ainsi, à maintes reprises, le réalisateur ne se gêne pas à exposer des scènes de baisers, ce qui serait plus tabou aujourd’hui. Le cinéma arabe, notamment égyptien, a su manier de manière extrêmement subtile les outils cinématographiques d’abord développés en Occident au service des sociétés arabes. Ce film en est le parfait exemple, en témoignent les effets d’optique et de transition plutôt réalistes qui accompagnent l’apparition du fantastique et de l’imaginaire. Ces outils, ce sont aussi les codes de la comédie musicale à l’hollywoodienne. Si l’on retrouve beaucoup de similitude de cette dernière à travers les danseurs, les costumes, les mises en scènes, et même certains schèmes musicaux, c’est néanmoins les spécificités de l’art arabe qui sont mises en avant, notamment avec la mise en lumière d’instruments comme le Qanûn et sa sonorité si particulière et raffinée ! Il s’agit donc réellement de s’approprier les outils les plus modernes du cinéma de l’époque à des fins revendicatives et artistiques propres au cinéma arabe, et égyptien dans ce cas plus précis. Si l’on associe cela avec la popularité des acteurs, qui comme Farid al-Atrach sont des icônes de la musique dans la vraie vie, tous les éléments sont rassemblés pour que “Afrita Hanem” soit une des pièces maîtresses du cinéma égyptien !

Cryptocurrency has been the most recent craze among today’s youth. However, its recent collapse calls into question how lucrative crypto is after all. < Back Is Crypto the Future of Currency Afterall? By Noor Ahmad December 31, 2022 Cryptocurrency is the most recent craze among today’s youth. However, the recent collapse of the cryptocurrency trading platform, Futures Exchange (FTX Trading Ltd.), once valued at $32 billion, and other recent crypto failures like BlockFI, Voyager Digital and Three Arrows Capital, makes it seem as though cryptocurrencies and their underlying blockchain technology were mainly a gimmick. This is only corroborated by the fall in the market capitalization of the crypto sector from a peak of almost $3 trillion to less than one trillion dollars today. Many attribute the speculative excesses seen in the crypto space as caused by loose monetary policy, and further exacerbated by government handouts during the COVID-19 pandemic; this was a case of too much money chasing a supposedly scarce amount of digital assets. For example, Bitcoin, the benchmark standard in cryptocurrencies, has a limit of 21 million units that can be “mined,” against the current existing supply of about 19.2 million; this limit was put in place to keep Bitcoin scarce in order to maintain its value, much like real gold. For the last several years, many proponents have made the case that Bitcoin was the new gold, which would hold its value in an inflationary environment; and these supporters have advocated allocating a certain percentage of investment portfolios to cryptocurrencies. Furthermore, the valuations of cryptocurrencies have been promoted further by celebrities like Kim Kardashian, who recently agreed to pay a $1.26 million penalty to the Securities and Exchange Commission for promoting a cryptocurrency for which she was paid a promotion fee without disclosing it publicly. Each cryptocurrency is associated with a particular blockchain. The blockchain is a decentralized ledger system created to keep track of transactions using an ecosystem which has many unrelated validators (“miners”) who are paid for this work in the native currency of the blockchain, like cryptocurrency. Each time a validator competes and wins in validating a transaction, a certain number of Bitcoins are created (“mined”) and paid to the validator. Cryptocurrencies are not difficult to create, and many new ones have been started by merely copying the code of a pre-existing one. New cryptocurrencies are usually launched using a method known as an Initial Coin Offering (ICO) whereby founders of the unique blockchain seek to raise funds to build a new blockchain platform. The ease with which cryptocurrencies can be created and launched in an ICO has attracted both entrepreneurs seeking to build on this technology, but as with any unregulated system where raising money is easy, it has also attracted a legion of bad actors seeking to turn a quick profit. By some estimates there are over 10,000 different cryptocurrencies in existence. The recent scandal with FTX, seems to be, at best, a case of poor risk management, and, at worst, outright fraud. Only an in-depth investigation into the actions and accounts of those involved will clarify this. Its founder Sam Bankman-Fried claims there was no fraud. The collapse of FTX is important to the discussion of the future of crypto given its high-profile nature, and because of some of the notable investors who were involved. Sequoia Capital, the legendary venture capital firm, and Temasek, the Singaporean Government-owned investment company, both invested substantial amounts in FTX. Many are asking how such respected investors were duped and whether the whole ecosystem that surrounds the cryptocurrency world is built on a house of cards. Blockchains and their cryptocurrencies are a solution in search of a problem. So far, the best-known application to cryptocurrencies has been in money transfer. Many have derided the current state of traditional banking for its slow and time-consuming methods of moving money both within countries and internationally; beyond this, banks charge large fees for international transactions. However, the technology available even with one of the fastest and best known blockchains, Solana, is still less than 4,000 transactions a second. This compares unfavorably with a traditional processor like Visa, a credit card company, which claims to be able to process 24,000 transactions per second. And while newer blockchains will no doubt emerge with faster processing speeds, having 10,000 different cryptocurrencies, without wider usage, suggests that many of them will fail. The creation of cryptocurrencies and blockchains is reminiscent of the early years of the technology boom of the late 1990s and early 2000s. Then, as now, many new start-ups (“Dotcoms”) were able to raise funds despite having poor business plans; in addition, technology for the internet was still in its infancy, with connectivity defined in kilobits per second versus the speeds available today which are measured in megabits per second – a magnitude of several thousand times faster today than 20 years ago. And while many of the early companies failed, a handful dominate our daily lives today like Alphabet (Google) and Amazon. Today, entrepreneurs are building Web3.0 and the Metaverse; and while both concepts are vaguely defined and, in some ways, differentiated, they are interlinked. Web3.0 is the third generation of the internet; the first was the building of the infrastructure and companies which hosted content; the second was the social media revolution and user led content; and the third, or Web3.0, is likely to be built off the blockchain and will involve decentralized hosting of applications and content as opposed to the ring-fenced version we see today with the likes of Meta (Facebook), Twitter, and other social media companies. In Web3.0 each of us will own our own profiles and content, and will be able to control these, rather than having them held disparately by various technology companies. The Metaverse is the immersive and virtual world of the internet, which can be accessed by using headsets like the Meta Quest Pro or through applications produced by gaming companies like Roblox. While these two concepts seem to be developing in parallel, some see that the two will become interdependent. For example, companies like Decentraland and The Sandbox offer a Metaverse experience but are built on blockchain technology. The world of blockchains and cryptocurrencies is going through a difficult birth, and it seems like an unregulated and new field has been overtaken by speculation, greed and fraud. But the underlying technology is continuing to be developed, and new applications will eventually be realized. The Metaverse and finance offer two avenues for development. Beyond this, many major financial institutions and technology companies are investing on blockchain networks and the ecosystems that surround them. Twenty years from now it is likely a handful will become established as the bases for new applications, and no doubt many of the existing cryptocurrencies will fade into history like many of the Dotcom start-ups of the early internet age. For young and inexperienced investors, recent events are no doubt a warning to tread with caution in this new field; it will take insight to find the winners out of the 10,000 cryptocurrencies, and to avoid the majority which are likely to fail. So one should think twice before opening an account with brokerage companies.

< Back A Year in Retrospect Viktorie Voriskova I thought that coming back to Menton would feel like a fever dream. Spending nine hectic, anxiety-filled months in this small town and then leaving two days after the final exam made me think that I would have built up some sort of resentment towards Menton. It made me believe that I would have been forgotten by my friends, my neighbours, the place —who I am here and what role I played. After burning out in the second semester, I was more than happy to be back in Prague, the city where I grew up, physically and mentally separating myself from Menton and Sciences Po. I spent my holidays travelling and working, trying to recharge and relax so that I could start looking forward to coming back. Despite this, three months later, as I was boarding the plane back to Nice, I wasn’t really excited to be returning. I was scared of being exhausted and anxious again, afraid of spending another year overwhelmed. The moment I felt the warm air around me again, the moment I saw the sea, the palm trees and the beach, it felt like I had never left. As if I just hit the resume button on a long-untouched video game, which collected dust on the shelf for a few months. From the second I walked out of the Gare de Menton , on a humid night just a day before our summer school program started, because I really did not expect to be too thrilled to be back. I was with my friends, chatting away, laughing and sharing like it had been three days, not three months, since we had last seen each other. That we were only blocks away, not continents, for the whole time. It felt like placing the last piece of the puzzle —familiar, reassuring, and comforting. Despite the pessimistic introduction, I am happy to be back. I am a different person here – a bit freer, more social, even if more stressed and more chaotic. Here is what the last year taught me about living on my own and figuring out who I am outside of my home town. My first day in Menton, exactly one year and one month ago now, will forever be one of the most chaotic and stressful days of my life. I remember arriving in Nice with my two suitcases and a bag at least as heavy as my carry-on. I spent only about two and a half hours in the air, which felt like too little for how far I felt from Prague, from my old life. It was sunny, with only a few clouds in the sky. No breeze; it was a bit stuffy. I dragged myself and my luggage to Nice Saint-Augustin , taking the tram to Grand Arenas and then playing Tetris with my belongings to fit into the lift going up to the railway. I was already feeling too hot and questioning my decision to live in the South of France. It was a nagging feeling which would never really go away and something I still spend a lot of time pondering. I hate hot weather and I’m not the biggest fan of the sea. So really, what on Earth am I doing here?. The train ride itself was no less memorable – my valises and I were blocking the train door for my whole ride. Throughout most of the journey I was trying to apologize to angry locals and offended tourists in my broken French. When I finally got off and took my first breath of the Menton air, I realised that it was going to be me and my two suitcases against the rest of the world for the next two years. It sent waves of adrenaline, cortisol and serotonin crashing in my body in a weird mix of excitement and terror. Excitement and terror persisted. It took me 40 minutes to find my apartment because Apple Maps decided to show off the true horror that living in Menton brings - constantly taking the stairs. I was dragged up and down, ‘given an unwanted introductory tour of the town through staircases that I never took afterwards, since I realised I could just walk straight ahead. I managed to get to the place I had the (dis)pleasure to call home for a year, and I accidentally succeeded in turning off the water and electricity the moment I got into the apartment. That was also the exact time I gave up on fighting the system and went to get a croissant, leaving the problem for later. With my first meal of the day at 4 p.m., I walked along the Riviera, sending a Snapchat video to my best friend, talking about how “I can become someone who likes summer”. I can’t. I tried hard for a year but now I know I really, really can’t. I would not change the decision to study in Menton; it helped me discover more about myself. But moving to another country cannot change everything about who you are. I am still the person I was a year ago. I may be a bit more extroverted, perhaps a little bit more knowledgeable and even a bit more obsessed with lemons, but I still don’t like summer, I still hate slow-walkers, and I still want to throw a rock at every seagull I see. Yet, I would not exchange the friends and the memories made here for anything. Living here is special and goes by too quickly, and I can’t believe I am already halfway done. Accepting that “leaving one place does not mean that I leave my problems behind” is the biggest lesson this place has, accidentally or not, taught me. Being content where one is is a choice, although not an easy one. Life can be a lot of work, even when living on the Riviera. Despite it all, already a year here has brought me the memories of a lifetime. Passing long lectures filled with mispronounced Arabic names said in a French accent; GeoGuesser; laughing hysterically after every session with our beloved history professor from Marseille—because there really was nothing else to do but cry-laugh and open Padlet to at least attempt to make sense of what just happened. Being promoted to a higher language level just because my teacher was desperate not to teach me anymore. Getting yelled at by the locals every Thursday. Although not always an easy place to live in, it remains special. Photo Source: Rebecca Canton 2025 Previous Next

Cette crise est donc révélatrice de défis de taille, mais également de discordances profondes concernant la politique agricole : alors, comment concilier ces revendications, comment satisfaire à la fois les agriculteurs qui souhaitent augmenter leurs productions et leurs revenus, tout en prenant en compte les enjeux écologiques du siècle, mis en avant par les partisans d’une transition agroécologique ?  < Back « Ce n’est pas l’Europe que nous voulons » : entre protectionnisme, libéralisme et écologie, l’explication d’une crise agricole européenne By Maëlys Malaboeuf-Lasselle for European Society February 29, 2024 Ces dernières semaines ont été marquées par de violentes contestations des agriculteurs dans toute l’Europe : Allemagne, France, Italie, Belgique, Pologne, Lettonie… ont été le terrain de grandes manifestations et blocages de la part du monde agricole. Leurs revendications sont nombreuses : hausse des revenus, améliorations des conditions de travail et de vie, suppression de certaines normes contraignantes en matière d’environnement, et amélioration des politiques nationales. Mais ils témoignent surtout d’un mécontentement général autour de la PAC, la politique agricole commune, qui ne date pas d’hier. Revenons à la mise en place et l’évolution de ce marché agricole européen, source première de la crise. C’est en 1962 que naît la PAC, suite aux ravages causés par la Seconde Guerre mondiale. Première politique commune de l’Union européenne, ses objectifs sont clairs : accroître la productivité agricole, assurer un niveau de vie décent aux agriculteurs, garantir la sécurité des approvisionnements, stabiliser les marchés, et harmoniser les règles de concurrence. Un système économique de soutien des prix et du marché est donc instauré, afin de relever le défi de l’autosuffisance alimentaire à l’échelle du continent. Réunissant les six pays fondateurs, elle est aussi un moyen de placer l’Europe sous le signe de la paix et de l’unité. Les résultats sont bénéfiques : la productivité alimentaire et la disponibilité des denrées ont augmenté. Néanmoins, les revenus restent faibles. C’est alors qu’un certain Mansholt, alors commissaire européen à l’agriculture, propose un plan modernisateur pour résoudre le problème. Appliquée en 1970, cette réforme passe par l’optimisation des surfaces cultivées, et la fusion des exploitations pour agrandir les unités. L’évolution de la PAC se poursuit en 1984 avec l’instauration de quotas afin de ralentir la surproduction et gérer l’offre, alors supérieure à la demande européenne. La PAC opère un revirement six ans plus tard, lorsque le soutien du marché est abandonné au profit d’une aide directe aux agriculteurs. Toutefois, des premières déceptions se font ressentir : le marché européen s’ouvre aux marchés internationaux, la concurrence s’accroît, ainsi que les pressions économiques qui effraient les agriculteurs. Malgré une volonté d’élargir les domaines d’actions de la PAC, à la dynamisation des zones rurales ou à l’écologie, elle est le sujet de fortes tensions, exprimées lors des blocages de ces derniers jours. Des divisions émergent au sein du monde agricole. Certains dénoncent un abandon de la part de l’Union européenne, qui, en dépit de la pression croissante des industriels et de l’accroissement compétitivité mondiale, multiplie ses traités avec les pays producteurs à bas coût, comme le CETA avec le Canada ou le traité avec le Mercosur, vu comme un véritable couteau dans le dos pour les agriculteurs européens. Le 1 février 2024, des milliers de manifestants de plusieurs pays et 1200 tracteurs ont envahi les rues bruxelloises, faisant entendre « ce n’est pas l’Europe que nous voulons », « sortons l’alimentation du libre-échange », « moins de normes ». Les lourdes procédures administratives de la PAC sont aussi visées par le mécontentement. D’autres en revanche, partisans d’une agriculture biologique respectueuse de l’environnement et de la biodiversité, reprochent à la PAC son laxisme en matière d’écologie. C’est aussi le reproche fait à la France, déjà condamnée pour inaction climatique en 2021 et pour non-respect de ses engagements environnementaux en 2023. Suite aux violents blocages en France, Gabriel Attal a décidé de stopper le plan Ecophyto, dont l’objectif était de réduire les usages de produits phytopharmaceutiques de 50% et de sortir du glyphosate, ce qui réveille la colère des agriculteurs écologistes et des ONG environnementales : c’est un « cadeau empoisonné fait aux agriculteurs » selon Marie Toussaint, « à contre sens de l’urgence écologique » selon Agir pour l’environnement (via Le Monde). Des agriculteurs sensibles aux questions environnementales interrogés par Le Monde disent vouloir conserver la production biologique et les traditions agricoles, mais l’abandon progressif de l’Etat, qui a supprimé une aide pour les exploitations biologiques en 2017, complique les choses. Alors que l’agriculture est confrontée aux défis du dérèglement climatique, aucun moyen n’est mis en place par l’Etat pour repenser nos productions et évoluer vers une agriculture plus durable. Toutefois, l’écologie est un sujet qui divise les agriculteurs. La FNSEA, la Fédération Nationale des Syndicats d’Exploitants Agricoles, s’indigne quant aux normes environnementales comme le plan Ecophyto, qui limitent la production massive et donc favorisent les productions des pays à bas coûts, peu chers, facilement importables par les pays européens, et plus accessibles financièrement aux ménages dans les supermarchés. Elle alerte également sur la dureté du quotidien des agriculteurs, indispensables à notre alimentation, travaillant sans compter, et dont les revenus et les rendements restent pourtant faibles. Or, selon Guilhem Roux, agriculteur économiste, la question n’est pas d’accroître la production mais le profit. Incités par le marché international et la pression en amont des emprunts à rembourser et en aval des distributeurs, ils sont poussés à vouloir toujours produire plus. L’important reste la marge, et un changement de modèle est nécessaire à l’augmentation des revenus des exploitants agricoles. Mais encore faudrait-il un consensus au sein de la communauté agricole, ce qui est loin d’être le cas. La FNSEA ne semble pas faire l’unanimité : sa négligence des questions environnementales lui vaut des critiques, vue comme ayant « sacrifié le bio » (via Le Monde). Les blocages ont finalement été levés après l’appel du syndicat, mais les revendications n’ont pas toutes été entendues : des efforts de la part de l’Etat français sont attendus, sans quoi les manifestations pourraient reprendre de plus belle, risquant à terme une panne agricole sans précédent avec des répercussions à l’échelle européenne. Mais la France n’a pas été le premier pays à se mobiliser : effectivement, le mouvement allemand dure depuis janvier, avec le blocage des autoroutes menant vers les grands ports ou les aéroports Les causes sont semblables à la France : ils s’insurgent contre la décision du gouvernement de supprimer les avantages fiscaux sur le gazole agricole, en place depuis 1951, et de taxer les véhicules. Or, cette décision suscite la colère car les agriculteurs n’ont aucune autre solution électrique pouvant remplacer le gazole. Tout ça en subissant de plein fouet les conséquences du dérèglement climatique : sécheresses, gelées tardives, pluies diluviennes qui bouleversent les récoltes et n’arrangent donc en rien le souci des revenus des agriculteurs, à la différence des distributeurs qui en profitent pour s’enrichir. Les subventions, estimées à plus de 9 milliards d’euros par an, alimentent la dépendance des agriculteurs envers l’État. D’autant plus que celui-ci tend à favoriser les grandes exploitations au détriment des petites. Ces révoltes fragilisent directement le gouvernement, jugé déconnecté de la réalité et incapable de répondre aux demandes, alors qu’il mène simultanément un combat depuis quelques semaines contre la montée de l’extrême droite en Allemagne. Même chose dans les autres pays européens : l’Italie, troisième puissance agricole de l’Union européenne, a vu ses agriculteurs aux portes de la capitale, rejoint ensuite par les syndicats espagnols, puissance exportatrice de la plupart de nos fruits et légumes, et portugais qui bloquent contre la Politique Agricole Commune, la précarité et la sécheresse que le secteur connaît depuis maintenant 3 ans. Mais aussi Belgique et Pays-Bas où des feux ont été allumés ; Pologne, Bulgarie et Lettonie qui dénoncent une concurrence déloyale de l’Ukraine ; Grèce où les agriculteurs déplorent le retard des indemnisations suite aux feux de forêts et inondations qui ont ravagé le pays l’an dernier. Enfin, contre toute attente, les agriculteurs suisses rejoignent le mouvement le 3 février, avec une première journée de mobilisation contre le maintien des importations de céréales et de denrées alimentaires russes dans l’Union. Cette crise est donc révélatrice de défis de taille, mais également de discordances profondes concernant la politique agricole : alors, comment concilier ces revendications, comment satisfaire à la fois les agriculteurs qui souhaitent augmenter leurs productions et leurs revenus, tout en prenant en compte les enjeux écologiques du siècle, mis en avant par les partisans d’une transition agroécologique ?

The Soviets needed a new way into the United States and Israel’s passport system was a ticking time bomb. Ultimately, the Law of Return, which was supposed to attract Jewish people from all over the world, became a golden ticket. The leniency offered by the law welcomed opportunists from the Soviet Union as well. < Back The Secret Backdoor Isabella Suels for Sciences Defense February 28, 2025 Israel stands as one of the United States’ strongest allies. Since its creation in 1948, Israel and the United States have enjoyed a strong bilateral relationship where the United States provides exceptional amounts of financial support. In return, the small nation-state conducts joint military exercises and military research alongside the United States. However, the military alliance between these two countries, which dates back to the mid-twentieth century, also served as a backchannel for Soviet espionage during the Cold War. During the Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union were two of the most advanced intelligence centers in the world. The race for intelligence gathering during the Cold War became known as Cold War espionage. Although this act relied mostly on military and civilian agencies in their pursuit of information, the young state of Israel unknowingly became a tool for the Soviet Union. Upon the creation of Israel in 1948, Zionist leaders wanted to attract Jewish populations from around the world, and in order to encourage Jews from around the world to come to Israel, the state needed to make immigration as accessible as possible. This is why the Law of Return, which grants every Jew in the world the right to settle in Israel, has been regarded as an easy pathway to citizenship. To be eligible for Israeli citizenship under the Law of Return, an applicant must meet the following requirements: (1) be a family member of someone recognized as Jewish who entered Israel before March 19, 1970 and received a permanent residence permit, (2) not be registered as "Jewish" in the Population Registry, (3) not have been granted Israeli citizenship through naturalization. In order to flee from the repressiveness of the Soviet Union, many Jewish immigrants migrated from the Soviet Union to Israel seeking protection. Israel was an accessible option because initially, when applying for citizenship, under the Law of Return, there was no explicit definition of Jewish identity. This was until the Knesset amended the law in 1970 by adding the definition that, “for the purpose of this law, a ‘Jew’ means a person born to a Jewish mother or converted to Judaism and who is not a member of another religion”. However, this definition falls short of addressing what kind of conversion is necessary to be considered Jewish. Unfortunately, the lack of specificity opened the door for abuse, as among the Jewish migrants seeking a better life, there were others who took advantage of the ease of gaining an Israeli passport and migrated to Israel under false pretenses, specifically on the Soviet front. Even before the Cold War, Russian migration into Israel had been fairly common, but following the collapse of the Soviet Union, the number of migrants pouring into Israel skyrocketed. However, there was a negative side to this immigration—the arrival of the Russian mafia. Benefiting from a prosperous economy, Israel attracted the attention of foreign investors, including illegal actors. Unfortunately, as a result, Israel became a prime target for Russian criminal elements because it easily bestowed citizenship on anyone who could show documents proving they were Jewish. Israel became a safe haven for organized crime as a result of a controversial law passed in the Knesset. This led to a negative stereotype of Russian immigrants in Israel, but the increased Russian immigration posed a threat to one of Israel’s closest allies, the United States. Alongside members of the Russian mafia migrating to Israel, members of Russian intelligence, or the Komitet Gosudarstvennoy Bezopasnosti (KGB), were also migrating to Israel in hopes of infiltrating the political system—giving them easier access to the United States. From 1954-1991, the KGB, also known as the Committee for State Security in English, was the main security agency of the Soviet Union. This agency was responsible for gathering information both domestically and internationally. While the KGB conducted most of its activities domestically on Soviet soil and targeting citizens, they would also operate internationally by posing as journalists or even businessmen. Specifically, Soviet records confirm the existence of an extensive Soviet spy ring in Israel that included Knesset members, senior IDF officials, engineers and members of the Israeli intelligence community. One of the prime goals of the Soviets was to penetrate the Israeli political system . To infiltrate the Israeli political system, the KGB had to get soviet nationals into Israel first— a task made easy due to the fluidity of the Law of Return. Once in the system, these spies could begin recruiting officials already entangled in the Israeli political system or even climbing the ranks themselves. Now that the spies were granted Israeli citizenship, the world truly was their oyster, and the path into the United States was no longer plagued with obstacles. Hiding behind Israeli passports, spies had a direct line to infiltrate the United States. While there is a shortage of direct evidence that Soviet spies used Israeli citizenship as a way to gain access to the United States, it is undeniable that arming loyal Soviet agents with Israeli passports allowed the KGB to disseminate spies worldwide with ease. While regular Soviet migrants were usually turned back, because Jewish people were one of the ethnic groups most prone to facing persecution under the Soviet Union, their path to the United States was easier. However, an Israeli passport provided an easy way to bypass American authorities and gain easy access to the country. The conflicting priorities during the Cold War culminated in the perfect opportunity for espionage. While the paranoia of the United States experienced during the Cold War led it to turn away Soviet Jews fleeing persecution, there was innovation on the Soviet front. The Soviets needed a new way into the United States and Israel’s passport system was a ticking time bomb. Ultimately, the Law of Return, which was supposed to attract Jewish people from all over the world, became a golden ticket. The leniency offered by the law welcomed opportunists from the Soviet Union as well. All in all, this law made Israel vulnerable to Soviet intelligence operations and in put the United States in the crossfire, as Soviet agents gained a new identity and a new passport to help fuel their missions back home. Photo credits: Swapnil1101, 2022

Throughout my first year, I had barely missed home, and now I was aching to walk along streets so familiar to my feet that I could not get lost if I tried, streets so full of memories that they blurred into one comforting blanket of belonging; I wanted to be wrapped up in that certainty again. < Back It Is Good To Go Home By Saoirse Aherne January 31, 2023 Sometime in mid October, I started to experience a feeling I cannot quite explain. It struck me first while I was walking home from a night out along a narrow and quiet cobblestone street in Menton. It was a full-body feeling, a longing to experience the same quiet and softness of night, but on a street right by the house in which I grew up. I pictured myself there, trudging through slush, watching snowflakes catch in the staggered beams of street lamps. I was not remembering any night in particular– I had walked this path more times than I could count– I was simply remembering being in that place. Throughout my first year, I had barely missed home, and now I was aching to walk along streets so familiar to my feet that I could not get lost if I tried, streets so full of memories that they blurred into one comforting blanket of belonging; I wanted to be wrapped up in that certainty again. By December I was desperately excited to return home. I am from a place that feels even smaller than it is. Gray and run down, it wilts in the glow of Menton’s beauty. But I love it for that. Peterborough, Ontario is unassuming and humble in such a way that I want to wrap my arms around it, either to protect it, or maybe in sympathy. Once I arrived home, I spent an embarrassing amount of time at the one local bar frequented by young people. On my first night there I met: six girls from my high school, two girls from my soccer team, a girl I know from community theater, two girls I went to daycare with, a girl who lives on my street and my ex-boyfriend's ex-girlfriend. Perhaps this is the case with every small town, but it is truly impossible to go anywhere in Peterborough without seeing someone you know. Some people hate it; when I lived there I certainly did. But now, I find it thrilling. I feel like my whole life is bottled up in “The Social” bar on a Friday night. I adore overly intense drunken reunions with people from the past, shouting over terrible music about school, jobs, growing up. Every time I go out, I meet a new set of friends that I forgot I missed. It reminds me of how many wonderful people I have had the pleasure to know, and it warms my heart to see them remember me as well. I feel like I fit right into a hole that was made for me, in this tapestry of hometown individuals. Peterborough used to trap me in a suffocating network of relationships, but now that I have left, settling back into this cradle is relieving and safe. I do not have to question whether these people like me or whether I will know them in 10 or 20 years. We don’t have to be close, but we will always be bound by the place in which we grew up. They are as inherent to me as Monaghan Road, Jackson’s Park, the London Street Bridge or Little Lake. When I walk around Peterborough, every setting sparks a flood of memories. It is so much deeper than concrete and bricks, a place more complex than anywhere in the world to me. I peel away layers and layers of life as I walk to and from my house; shockingly, so little has changed since I was a child. People and places — seeing how impermanent these things can be has made home so special. I do not regret leaving Peterborough for a second. I remember how desperately I wanted to get out, and in fact, almost all of my friends have left to study across the province. But I am glad I now see so much beauty in a town I used to resent. My friends and I have talked a lot about this in the past few weeks; leaving has made us all certain of our attachment to home. In Menton, life is in flux; we sentence ourselves to make wonderful friends only to disperse across the globe after two short years. I have spent my 2A feeling random. I loved that novel feeling in the first year, but it gets tiring. Now, rejuvenated by my time at home, feeling so perfectly known and so unwaveringly attached to my town and its people, I am ready to be untethered again.