A Kosovar teenager’s recent YouTube plea to let her stay in Austria is making Europeans rethink some of their immigration policies.
Sarah Wildman
Sarah Wildman is a Prospect senior correspondent and a frequent contributor to The New York Times. She was a Spring 2006 Milena Jesenska Journalism Fellow at the Institute for Human Sciences, in Vienna, Austria, the first North American to receive this grant, and has been based in Europe since October 2005. Previously, Wildman was a contributing writer for the Advocate magazine and a Pew Fellow in International Journalism at the Johns Hopkins School for Advanced International Studies. Before accepting the Pew fellowship, Wildman was on staff at The New Republic. Her work has also appeared in Elle, The Christian Science Monitor, Travel & Leisure, Democracy: A Journal of Ideas, The Washington Post, Glamour, Marie Claire, Rolling Stone, Salon, The Jerusalem Report, and O (the Oprah magazine).
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Why Royal Flopped
Her loss to Sarkozy marked merely the latest in a string of missed opportunities for the Socialists in France.
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Chaos Reigns
In the two months since Basque separatist movement ETA (Euskadi Ta Asktasuna, or “Basque Homeland and Freedom”) ended the “permanent” ceasefire agreement with the government in Madrid by blowing up the Madrid Barajas Airport parking garage at terminal 4, one story has dominated the headlines here in Spain: the tale of a hunger striking ETA […]
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Act of Desperation
Anticipating a New Year’s travel crush, Valerie Miles arrived at Madrid Barajas Airport early on December 30. As her taxi pulled into Terminal 4 — the award winning architectural marvel that travelers here love to hate — it was stopped by police officers. Moments later, the parking garage blew up. Two men were killed and […]
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Strain in Spain
All summer long, Spanish television broadcasts were dominated by images of undocumented African immigrants arriving on the Canary Islands. Cameras panned over hundreds of would-be Europeans, emaciated, dehydrated, bewildered — and dolorous at the knowledge that they were now in immigration purgatory. Spanish authorities led them to and fro, most wearing gloves and masks, which […]
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Indepedenzia Day
Every year, in the Basque city of San Sebastian, demonstrators seeking independence gather hours before the commencement of “Semana Grande,” a week-long festival of bull fights, outdoor concerts, and fireworks. In years past, it wasn’t uncommon for Molotov cocktails to be lobbed from the crowd towards the police, who responded in kind. Last summer 20 […]
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Crossing Borders
As Israel hunkers down into a fifth week of conflict in Lebanon, a group of activists in Jerusalem remain intransigent — about World Pride, a week of gay rights demonstrations, teach-ins, and lobbying that rotates from city to city around the globe.* The event began on Sunday and ends this Saturday in the Israeli capital. […]
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Out of Bounds
Last week, on the night Spain met France in the World Cup, Madrid was, as always, stiflingly hot. Plaza Colon, in the center of Madrid, was teaming with red-shirted fans, restlessly waiting to watch the match live from Germany. Local bars were similarly packed and anxious. With tensions high for Spain to advance, few in […]
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Remembering Wendy
I met Wendy Wasserstein only twice, though it was the first time that made an impact. It was the purest “meet a celebrity” moment I’ve ever had. Before I tried to get into parties, before I was “cool” enough not to care. And, truth be told, the moment I met her — the drive I […]
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Slightly Un-Orthodox
Tova Rosenberg (not her real name) lives in Rosh Pina, a little hippie town in the Galilee region of Israel that overlooks the Hula Valley. She is pretty in an unadorned way — her long red hair is cut in a blunt straight style, her glasses are wire and speak to function over form, and […]