Welcome to the Forward’s coverage of the nation of France.
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Opinion When History Is Closed for Debate
The spirit of the holiday season has just swept across the French National Assembly. On December 22, the nation’s representatives — or, more accurately, the handful in attendance — passed a bill that would criminalize the denial of the Turkish massacre of the Armenians in 1915. It was as much a gift to the government…
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The Schmooze Ovadia Yosef Frees Man Who Tried to Kill Him
What would be your attitude toward someone who had plotted to kill you? I can’t help thinking that I’d be more than a little broiges. You would imagine that the stakes are upped a little when the target of the murder plot is the former Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel Ovadia Yosef, spiritual leader of…
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Life In the DSK Case, a Silver Lining?
The sexual assault case against the former I.M.F. chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn seems to have all but unraveled. The credibility of the hotel chambermaid who accused DSK of forcing her to perform oral sex and attempting to rape her has been called into question by the defense team, which says that the accuser has been inconsistent…
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The Schmooze The Drugs Made Me Say It: John Galliano’s Hate Speech Defense
It was the alcohol and drugs talking, not John Galliano. That’s the defense being used, predictably, by the English fashion designer, who went on trial in Paris today for anti-Semitic rants made at a restaurant in the French capital in October and February. The comments qualify as criminal hate speech in France, where Galliano faces…
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The Schmooze Renault Grandchildren Sue French Government for Seizing Company After WWII
Sure, French automaker Renault made about 30,000 trucks for the Nazis, and even repaired German tanks during World War II. But does that make founder Louis Renault a collaborator? His granddaughter doesn’t think so. So along with seven other Renault grandchildren, Helene Renault-Dingli is suing the French government over what she calls “the illegal confiscation…
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Life Hello, France: Welcome to Israel’s Katsav-ian Nightmare
The French public is wrestling with the arrest a man who sat proudly on the top of the ladder of prestige and privilege, who is supposed to represent their country to the world and bring it pride. Instead, they are wallowing in the sordid details of his alleged sexual attack on a maid in a…
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Life The Feminist Debate Over France’s Burqa Ban
The burqa ban went into effect in France this week, and feminists are torn about what this means for women, religion and freedom. On one hand is the oppressiveness of enforced, excessive female body cover in the name of religion. Islamic custom, not unlike Jewish custom, has historically placed supreme emphasis on covering the female…
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The Schmooze Found in Translation
Crossposted from Haaretz Moshe Sakal lived for six years in France, where he learned to speak fluent French with a Parisian accent, but when he talked to his Egyptian-born, French-speaking grandmother back home in Israel – she would give him a haughty look. “She spoke like Dalida,” he said, referring to the popular multilingual Egyptian…
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