Maham Javaid is an independent journalist based in Brooklyn. Her reporting has also appeared in The Nation, Foreign Policy, Al Jazeera English, Women’s eNews and Herald. She holds a master’s degree in Near Eastern studies from NYU.
The first round of the local elections took place against a backdrop of widespread creeping fascism in France and comes after a brutal offensive by the far right, during which the traditional ‘Republican’ right has decisively broken from much of its historical framework and values.