Islamic Radicalism Slows Moroccan Reforms
09/10/09 12:43 Filed in: Articles
By STEVEN ERLANGER and SOUAD MEKHENNET
Morocco has long been viewed as a rare liberalizing, modernizing Islamic state, open to the West and a potential bridge to a calmer Middle East that can live in peace with Israel. But under pressure from Islamic radicalism, King Mohammed VI has slowed the pace of change. Power remains concentrated in the monarchy; democracy seems more demonstrative than real. While insisting that the king is committed to deeper reforms, senior officials speak instead of keeping a proper balance between freedom and social cohesion.
Many discuss the threat of extremism in neighboring Algeria. Since a major bombing of downtown hotels and shopping areas by Islamic radicals in 2003, and a thwarted attempt at another bombing campaign in 2007, there has been a major and ongoing crackdown on suspected extremists here. In 2003, anyone with a long beard was likely to be arrested. Even now, nearly 1,000 prisoners considered to be Islamic radicals remain in Moroccan jails. Six Islamist politicians (and a reporter from Hezbollah’s Al Manar television) were jailed recently, accused of complicity in a major terrorist plot.
The case was full of irregularities and based mainly on circumstantial evidence, according to a defense lawyer, Abelaziz Nouaydi, and Human Rights Watch. In a rare interview, Yassine Mansouri, Morocco’s chief of intelligence, said that the arrested politicians “used their political activities as a cover for terrorist activities.” “It was not our aim to stop a political party,” he said. “There is a law to be followed.” Morocco is threatened, Mr. Mansouri said, by two extremes — the conservative Wahhabism spread by Saudi Arabia and the Shiism spread by Iran. “We consider them both aggressive,” Mr. Mansouri said. “Radical Islam has the wind in its sail, and it remains a threat.” Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, especially active in Algeria, remains a major problem for Morocco, Mr. Mansouri said. Officials say it is appealing to the young and has recreated a training route to Afghanistan through Pakistan, and it just sponsored a suicide bombing in Mauritania.
Foreign Minister Taïeb Fassi Fihri said: “We know where the risks to our stability are. We know kids are listening to this Islamic song, so we have to act quickly.” King Mohammed, who celebrated his 10th year on the throne this year, has vowed to help the poor and wipe out the slums when radicalism is bred, called “bidonvilles.” One such slum, Sidi Moumen, where the bombers lived, is being redeveloped. Half of it has already been ripped down, some 700 families shipped to the outskirts of the city, where they are provided a small plot of land at a cheap price to build new housing. Hamid al-Gout, 34, was born in Sidi Moumen and built his own hovel here. Nearly everyone has been to prison, he said, and Islamist political groups quietly hold meetings. “Sometimes we talk, 12 or 14 people, about our lives,” he said, then added carefully, “But there is no radical thinking here now.” Abdelkhabir Hamma, 36, said that he has been told that if he and his family do not leave by the end of the year, they will be thrown out.
He said that while many respect for the king, few trust other authorities. The king sees himself as a modernizer and reformer, having invested heavily in economic development, loosened restraints on the news media, given more rights to women and shed light on some of the worst human-rights abuses of the past. These are remarkable steps in a region dominated by uncompromising examples of state control, like Algeria, Tunisia, Libya and Egypt. Because the king, a descendant of the Prophet Muhammad, is also revered as the “Commander of the Faithful,” challenges to Moroccan Islam are taken very seriously. In March, the king cut diplomatic ties to Iran, accusing Tehran of “intolerable interference in internal affairs” by trying to spread Shiism in Morocco and recruiting Moroccans in Europe, especially in Belgium, to participate in acts of terrorism, Mr. Mansouri said. The king has tried to be more inclusive, traveling for instance to the north of Morocco, where his father had refused to go. The north is also a hotbed of extremism and home for many of the Qaeda bombers of Madrid.
The king held a traditional ceremony of mutual allegiance, or baiaa, this year in Tetouan and highlighted significant development funds there. But Morocco’s response has also been to slam the brakes on reform, even of the corrupt judiciary and of women’s rights, in order not to inflame conservative and traditional views of Islam, especially in the countryside and among the poor, where extremists fish. For that reason, too, the king has not put Morocco forward as an interlocutor between Israel and the Palestinians, as his father did. The view here is simply that Israel — and other, harder-line Arab states — must move first, before Morocco exposes itself. The crackdown has also damaged Morocco’s human rights record. Muslim prisoners are treated roughly in jail, sometimes sodomized with bottles, said Abdel-Rahim Moutard, a former prisoner himself, his hands broken during interrogations.
He runs Ennasir, a rights organization for prisoners. But when they emerge from prison, they get little help, even from the mosques or Ennasir. “A lot of them are shocked that their country would treat them this way,” Mr. Moutard said. “After the bottle treatment, every time he goes to the toilet he’ll remember, and he will think of vengeance.” The main Islamist party, the Party for Justice and Development, is effectively neutered, but officials want to ensure that it does not combine with the socialists. So for recent elections for local authorities, the palace created the Authenticity and Modernity Party, run by Fouad Ali El Himma, 46, who as a youth had been chosen, like Mr. Mansouri and other boys from varied backgrounds, to study with the young king.
Mr. Himma is also a former deputy interior minister. The effort is to provide an alternative — sanctioned informally by the palace — but also to try to mobilize Moroccans, who don’t see their participation as having much effect on weak governments, to vote. The new party won, with 22 percent of the vote on a turnout of 52 percent; Mr. Himma is seen as a future prime minister. In an interview, Mr. Himma spoke passionately about the commitment of the king to aid the poor and reform the country. Morocco “has always been a country of transit, and we have found the cement for all this — our multifaceted monarchy,” he said. Critics, however, see the king and his friends as a closed, anti-democratic “monarchy of pals.” The king has concentrated much economic power in the palace, argues Aboubakr Jamai, former editor of Le Journal Hebdomadaire — becoming Morocco’s chief banker, insurer and industrialist. Moves toward a more democratic system, with more power to the Parliament, or even a constitutional monarchy, are off the table, certainly for now. The officials readily concede that poverty, illiteracy, and corruption remain serious challenges. Mohammed VI, they say, has made judicial reform a key goal. Yet in a nationally televised address on his 10th anniversary as king, Mohammed VI spoke of poverty and development. But he did not use the word “corruption,” and he only once spoke of “social justice,” making no mention of judicial reform.
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Au secours des hommes battus du Maroc
09/10/09 12:37 Filed in: Articles
Des acteurs sociaux s’organisent pour leur venir en aide. Les hommes battus choisissent souvent de taire leur calvaire afin de ne pas être rejetés par la société. Au Maroc, une association et une assistante sociale retraitée accompagnent ces victimes et tentent de briser le cycle de la violence. Une initiative pas toujours bien vue… par les femmes. Rabat, au début des années 80. Dans un tribunal, une épouse attaque son mari qui l’a battue. Lorsque le juge lui demande pourquoi il en est arrivé là, l’accusé répond que sa femme l’avait auparavant frappé à plusieurs reprises.
Interloqué, le magistrat lance en substance : « C’est vous l’homme et vous vous êtes laissé battre par une femme !? ». La réaction du juge, qui a condamné le mari indélicat, résume encore bien aujourd’hui la perception des hommes battus dans la société marocaine. Ils font l’objet de quolibets, sont moqués et leur virilité est remise en question.
Il faut dire que, par le passé, une femme qui venait à rosser son compagnon pouvait quasiment entrer dans l’histoire. « Avant, les femmes ne pouvaient en aucun cas lever la main ou même la voix sur leur mari. On les frappait et elles restaient avec les gamins, surtout dans le Sud du pays. Et même quand elle venait à porter plainte, on réprimandait l’homme et il repartait avec une simple amende », raconte Jamila Arsalane, assistante sociale à la retraite et militante associative. Les Marocaines ne se laissent plus faire Les temps ont changé. Si les acteurs sociaux estiment que les hommes victimes de violences conjugales sont infiniment moins nombreux comparé aux femmes, ils constatent néanmoins une tendance est à la hausse. Selon Jamila Arsalane, « c’est un petit phénomène qui peut devenir un grand phénomène ».
Les jeunes couples seraient particulièrement exposés. « La femme instruite jouit d’une indépendance économique, poursuit l’assistante sociale. Elle se dit qu’elle apporte autant que son mari à la maison, ce qui est capital dans les rapports de force. » Un rapport qui tend à pencher en faveur des femmes. « Les hommes sont de plus ne plus au chômage. Par ailleurs, certaines femmes n’interprètent pas bien la Moudawana (le code de la famille, ndlr) et s’en servent pour faire pression sur les hommes », relève Abdelfattah Bahjaji, président du Réseau marocain pour la défense des droits des hommes (RMDDH), une association pionnière dans son genre créée le 29 février 2009. Conséquence : les Marocaines ne se laissent plus faire. Des hommes témoignent de leur expérience. « Au début de notre mariage, il m’est arrivé de gifler ma femme croyant qu’elle n’allait pas me la rendre, a confié Ali au quotidien Aujourd’hui le Maroc. Et pourtant, elle m’en a rendu une des plus terribles. Je l’ai frappée et elle s’est bien défendue. Têtu que je suis, je voulais aller au-delà des limites de ma nature d’homme. A chaque fois, c’est elle qui remportait la bagarre. Chose qui a éveillé en moi une sorte de crainte. » « L’homme sera toujours coupable ». M’Hamed, lui, est marié à un « genre de garçon manqué » bien charpenté. Son calvaire a commencé la nuit du mariage. « Elle m’a demandé de lui donner une véritable preuve d’amour.
Je lui ai alors demandé ce que c’était. Elle voulait me donner une gifle. J’ai accepté en me disant que la gifle d’une femme n’était pas aussi terrible que celle d’un homme. Et depuis, chaque fois que l’on se fâche, elle me demande la même chose et j’accepte. Au fil des années, c’est devenu comme une habitude », a raconté ce commerçant à Aujourd’hui le Maroc. Nombreux sont ceux qui ne ripostent pas comme s’y était risqué leur congénère condamné à Rabat. Car l’agresseur agressé pourrait aller trouver la police. Le danger est alors double. D’une part, « la société ne pardonnera jamais à un homme qui a battu sa femme mais, en plus, elle lui trouvera des circonstances atténuantes. L’homme aura beau se justifier, il sera toujours coupable », indique Me Abderrahim Bouhmidi, avocat au barreau de Rabat. D’autre part, une confrontation avec les forces de l’ordre, et une éventuelle plainte, c’est le lourd secret de l’homme battu qui pourrait être rendu public... Une idée insupportable. Alors beaucoup, pétrifiés à l’idée de perdre leurs enfants, se refusent à faire parler les poings. Et les rares qui décident d’obtenir réparation n’osent pas toujours aller jusqu’au bout. « Je n’ai eu qu’un seul cas d’homme battu dans mon cabinet, explique Me Mourad Bekkouri, avocat au barreau de Rabat. Cet homme était tout le temps insulté et battu par sa femme, qui l’a même frappé une fois au visage avec un couteau.
Chaque fois qu’il arrivait dans mon cabinet, il avait une cicatrice et, en colère, il me demandait d’engager une procédure judiciaire. Et puis après il se rétractait. » La société ne se contente pas de les juger : elle ne leur apporte aucun son soutien. Alors qu’il existe des associations et des refuges pour femmes battues, les hommes peinent à trouver de l’aide. Une injustice que tente de réparer le RMDDH. Il « apporte un soutien psychologique aux victimes, leur enseigne leurs droits et devoirs et les conseille lorsqu’ils entendent mener une action en justice », résume Abdelfattah Bahjaji. Le RMDDH s’investit aussi beaucoup dans la médiation et, dans certains cas, le couple rentre à la maison bras dessus bras dessous. Jamila Arsalane, qui a rencontré une cinquantaine d’hommes battus pendant sa carrière et espère monter une association pour eux, mise également sur la médiation. « Ça n’a aucune valeur juridique, mais je demande au mari et à la femme d’écrire ce que l’autre n’a pas le droit de faire. Si jamais ils se battent pour l’une de ces choses, je leur dis que je me porterai partie civile contre l’agresseur… et ça marche très bien ! ». Les prémices d’une révolution ? Il semblerait. « Les hommes ne pouvaient pas parler avant la création du réseau, parce que c’était honteux de dire qu’on était battu. Maintenant, ils commencent à parler », se réjouit le président du RMDDH, dont la petite équipe a reçu plus de « 300 » hommes maltraités par leur moitié. Une cause qui dérange. Reste que cette cause dérange. Des associations de femmes regrettent que tant d’énergie soit déployée pour combattre un phénomène marginal, alors que tant reste à faire pour que les Marocaines victimes de violences conjugales puissent parler librement.
Et sans qu’on ne leur dise plus qu’elles ont sûrement été battues pour une bonne raison. Un proverbe arabe ne dit-il pas : « Bats ta femme tous les matins, si tu ne sais pas pourquoi, elle le sait. » Aussi, si certaines partagent le combat du RMDDH ou y voient un « outil pour résoudre les problèmes avec leur mari », d’autres ont pris en grippe le mouvement. « Elles pensent que nous sommes des hommes qui voulons contrarier le mouvement de libération des femmes, conclut Abdelfattah Bahjaji. Mais nous sommes là pour défendre la famille marocaine, pas seulement les hommes ! »
Source: (Afrik.com)
Dr. Allal Boutajangout
09/10/09 12:24 Filed in: Who's Who
Dr. Allal Boutajangout
Dr. Allal Boutajangout is the Founder and President of The High-Council of Moroccan American Medical and Biology Doctors (HC-MAMBD, a a non-profit scientific organization registered and incorporated in North Carolina. He is also a Research Assistant Professor Department of Psychiatry at NYU Langone Medical CenterNYU School of Medicine where researchers have prevented the development of Alzheimer's disease in mice genetically engineered with the human gene for the disease using a new vaccine.
Genetic Mutation Linked to a More Abundant Form of Alzheimer's Protein Allal Boutajangout, PhD, Research Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine and Psychiatry at NYU Langone Medical Center NYU researchers found that a specific gene mutation previously associated with an increase in production of an Alzheimer's disease-causing protein, amyloid beta, also promotes the entanglement of another protein, tau, which also is associated with the neurodegenerative disease. Mice that produced human types of tau while expressing the gene mutation showed a significant increase in the harmful form of the tau protein in the brain. The research provides a new model for Alzheimer's onset and progression.
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Aïcha Ech Channa | 2009 Opus Prize Finalist | Awards Ceremony Invitation
18/09/09 19:19 Filed in: Events
Dear Friends, what a proud moment for our community!
It gives me great pleasure to share with you this historical moment, the nomination and classification of Aïcha Ech Channa to finalist for the Opus Prize.
Opus Prize Finalists: Aïcha Ech Channa, from Morocco; Sister Valeriana García from Colombia; and Father Hans Stapel from Brazil. The Opus Prize recognizes individuals whose work and story can inspire us to tackle the world’s most deeply rooted problems.
Aïcha is Founder and president of Association Solidarité Féminine, providing services in Casablanca, Morocco, to help unmarried women with children gain the knowledge and skills necessary to ensure their own livelihoods.
During the 1980s, Ech Channa worked in the Moroccan Ministry of Social Affairs, where she was confronted by the ordeals these women and children faced on a daily basis. In 1985, Ech Channa established Solidarité Féminine to assist mothers in similar situations. The association opened a modest canteen where women could work, learn skills, make money and take literacy classes. Programs expanded to teach skills such as cooking, baking, accounting and hairdressing. The mothers also have access to medical services, psychological counseling, legal assistance and day care for their children.
On November 4th, 2009, the Opus Prize winner will be announced at the Orchestra Hall in Minneapolis and our Moroccan community in the USA is invited to be present and show support to Aïcha Ech Channa.
The $1 million Opus Prize, with $100,000 awards going to the other finalists, recognizes unsung heroes who create lasting social change and inspire others to do the same and we wish Aïcha Ech Channa the best in the finals.
The event tickets are free for the public and can be obtained beginning Oct. 1 at the St. Thomas Box Office, the Orchestra Hall Box Office. For more information on this event and other activities around this occasion please visit the Moroccan American Community Center for updates.
Wining this prize will be a great honor for our country, our people and the future generation. Please show your support by attending the event.
Driss R. Temsamani
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About the Opus Prize
The Opus Prize is given annually to recognize unsung heroes of any faith tradition, anywhere in the world, solving today’s most persistent social problems. Opus Prize winners combine a driving entrepreneurial spirit with an abiding faith to combat seemingly intractable global issues. The Opus Prize Foundation is a private and independent foundation. The prize is awarded through a partnership with a university or college as a way to inspire lives of service. The Opus Prize Foundation does not accept unsolicited nominations. For more information visit www.opusprize.org.
Moroccan Mobile Consulate in Orlando Florida
15/09/09 23:01 Filed in: Events
The Moroccan American Community Center and Moroccan American Social Cultural Center is pleased to announce that the Consulate General of the Kingdom of Morocco in New York will be in Orlando Florida on October 24th & 25th, 2009 to conduct the Mobile Consulate Services. CIN TO CNIE and all other consular services will be offered during the Mobile Consulate event. All community members are welcome to attend.
During this event we are are also inviting the community to participate in a Townhall with special guests the Consul General Mr. Mohamed Karmoune & United Nations Chairperson Mr. Abdelhamid Jamri.
Date October 24 & 25 - 2009 | Time 10:00 AM to 5:30 PM | Fees $20 | Address 6427 Westwood Blvd Orlando Florida 32821 (Next Door to Shiraz)
During this event we are are also inviting the community to participate in a Townhall with special guests the Consul General Mr. Mohamed Karmoune & United Nations Chairperson Mr. Abdelhamid Jamri.
Date October 24 & 25 - 2009 | Time 10:00 AM to 5:30 PM | Fees $20 | Address 6427 Westwood Blvd Orlando Florida 32821 (Next Door to Shiraz)
Moroccan Arabic Interpreters Needed
15/09/09 22:42 Filed in: Classifieds
Pacific Interpreters is a rapidly growing organization with 17 years experience in the interpretation industry. Our specialty is medical interpretation but we also service utility companies, financial institutions, refugee service centers and social service organizations. Our agency provides interpretation service 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
We are looking for interpreters who are reliable; customer service oriented and has had prior experience in the medical interpretation industry. If you have never done interpretation before, we offer an orientation to familiarize you with our company and the industry once you have passed our Language Proficiency Test in your target language. Our Language Proficiency Test is approximately a one hour telephonic exam of your knowledge in industry standards and ethics, and basic medical and business terminology in your target language.
Once you have passed the test, you will be mailed an interpreter guide and contractor agreements. All interpreters are independent contractors for Pacific Interpreters, not employees. You should review the materials and return the signed contracts. Once we receive your contracts you will be contacted to join a one hour orientation by phone (for telephone interpreters) or at our office (for on-site interpreters). You can begin interpreting after all these steps have been completed.
If you choose to do telephone interpretation you must use a telephone that plugs into the wall and is not battery operated. Cellular phones are not allowed for telephonic interpretation. Also, we do not allow interpreters to have call waiting or Privacy Guard® on their telephone. Privacy Guard® is a service that blocks solicitors from contacting you. This service can be removed by contacting your local telephone service provider.
If you have any further questions about the position you are applying for please contact the recruitment department at (877) 272-2434 or recruitment@pacificinterpreters.com. You can mail or fax your application to Pacific Interpreters. A member of the recruitment department will contact you to confirm receipt of your application. Please note that the
average turnaround time for an application is approximately seven business days.
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We look forward to working with you!
Pacific Interpreters
707 SW Washington Suite 200
Portland, OR 97205
Amir Ali
15/09/09 22:16 Filed in: Who's Who
Amir Ali
Born in Meknes Morocco, Ali devoted 8 years in the art of music theory and classical violin. He started composing and writing music at age 15 and became soloist of a 30 piece orchestra at age 17. At an early age Amir Ali decided to migrate to the USA where he settle in Orlando, Florida.
While pursuing his American dream, Ali expanded his musical career to jazz, Funk, American Pop, Blues, R&B and Hip Hop. He recorded for Sony Music, Warner Brothers, Crescent Moon Studios and Disney.
Amir Ali has toured the world and played with famous musicians, such as Abboud Abdel Al, Haj Younes, Ahmad Doughane, and many more. He is now releasing his first solo album titled One World. The album features all original cuts with an amazing fusion of Arabic melodies and lyrics combined with both World Beat and Hip-Hop rhythms.
Giving Ramadan a Drumroll in Brooklyn at 4 A.M.
15/09/09 21:53 Filed in: Articles
Listen to Mohamed talk about why he drums on Ramadan in NY
By KIRK SEMPLE
A few hours before dawn, when most New Yorkers are fast asleep, a middle-aged man rolls out of bed in Brooklyn, dons a billowy red outfit and matching turban, climbs into his Lincoln Town Car, drives 15 minutes, pulls out a big drum and — there on the sidewalk of a residential neighborhood — starts to play.
The man, Mohammad Boota, is a Ramadan drummer. Every morning during the holy month, which ends on Sept. 21, drummers stroll the streets of Muslim communities around the world, waking worshipers so they can eat a meal before the day’s fasting begins.
But New York City, renowned for welcoming all manner of cultural traditions, has limits to its hospitality. And so Mr. Boota, a Pakistani immigrant, has spent the past several years learning uncomfortable lessons about noise-complaint hot lines, American profanity and the particular crankiness of non-Muslims rousted from sleep at 3:30 a.m.
“Everywhere they complain,” he said. “People go, like, ‘What the hell? What you doing, man?’ They never know it’s Ramadan.”
Mr. Boota, 53, who immigrated in 1992 and earns his living as a limousine driver, began waking Brooklynites in 2002. At first he moved freely around the borough, picking a neighborhood to work each Ramadan morning.
Not everyone was thrilled, he said. People would throw open their windows and yell at him, or call the police, who, he said, advised him kindly to move along.
As the years went by, he and his barrel drum were effectively banned from one neighborhood after another. He now restricts himself to a short stretch of Coney Island Avenue where many Pakistanis live.
Fearing that even that limited turf may be threatened real estate for him, he has modified his approach even further — playing at well below his customary volume, for only about 15 to 20 seconds in each location, and only once every three or four days.
The complaints have stopped, he said. But as he reflected on his early years of drumming in the streets of New York — before he knew better — wistfulness seeped into his voice. He rattled off the places he used to play, however briefly: “Avenue C, Newkirk Avenue, Ditmas, Foster, Avenue H, I, J and Neptune Avenue.”
“You know,” he reluctantly concluded, “in the United States you can’t do anything without a permit.”
Mr. Boota wants to be a good American, and a good Muslim. “I don’t want to bother other communities’ people,” he said. “Just the Pakistani people.” Read more on the NY Times
The Moroccan American Treaty of Friendship Awards Gala
10/09/09 19:09 Filed in: Events
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Trail-blazing for Morocco's Berber speakers
10/09/09 17:10 Filed in: Articles
By Sylvia Smith
Aischa Bardoun sees herself as a trail-blazer. She is one of the first Moroccans to get a masters degree in the Amazigh language, spoken by the country's Berber majority. "We are very excited," she says. "We studied the older texts that were passed down orally, but we are also writing new literature to reflect the current situation for Berbers in Morocco. It's really ground-breaking."
Although Berbers were Morocco's first inhabitants and account for some 60% of Morocco's population, they faced widespread discrimination and it is only now that the language is required to be taught in public school. Some students feel having a degree in the language will help get a job. Unfortunately that is not necessarily the case. Their academic qualifications may not help them much on the jobs market, but the availability of a further degree in a subject that was once virtually outlawed in their North African country underscores Berber success in gaining official acceptance of the language. As well as the University of Ibn Zohr offering degrees in Amazigh, an umbrella term for the three dialects of Berber that are spoken in Morocco, the previously oral-only language has moved further into the mainstream with the creation of a Royal Institute of Amazigh language and culture.
Ms Bardoun and her classmates are all big fans of the doyenne of Moroccan Amazigh singers Raissa Talbensirt. Raissa Talbensirt is the doyenne of Amazigh musicians. In her late 50s, Ms Talbensirt speaks only Tashelheit, the local dialect, but was a huge hit at the annual Berber festival, Timitar, attended by tens of thousands of young people. She can neither read nor write but composes traditional music with local musicians. "I am glad that the music is being carried forward by the new generation," she says. "They listen on iPods and watch video clips on their computers, but it all helps our cause."Although many Amazigh are illiterate, the government has put in place measures to assist schools to teach the written form of the language.
The Royal Institute of Amazigh has overseen the creation of an alphabet based partly on the mystical signs and symbols of the Tuareg found inscribed on tombs and monuments. This drain cover has the town's name written in three different scripts. This written form is expected to have a unifying effect. It is essentially a new form of the language which, it is hoped, all Moroccan Berbers will speak and understand. It has also raised unrealistic hopes according to Ahmed Sabir, Dean of the Faculty of Arts at the University of Ibn Zohr. "We were very oversubscribed when we started accepting applications for our Amazigh courses," he explains. "Some students feel having a degree in the language will help get a job. Unfortunately that is not necessarily the case." Fears of extremism. But while many Berbers, until recently excluded from jobs in education and government, make up Morocco's underclass, there are also the super-rich who have made fortunes in business.
Many live in the commercial capital, Casablanca, and in the past funded Berber activist groups. My parents couldn't read a newspaper or understand the television because they were in Arabic. According to Gerd Becker, a German cultural consultant living just outside Agadir, the main reason for the recent change of heart over Berber status stems from the government's desire to provide an alternative model to the radical Wahabi form of Islam. "There was a danger of the country being taken over by fundamentalism," he says. "The Amazigh culture offers a ready-made, more liberal identity that many Moroccans already identify with." Although most Berbers are Muslim, some are Jewish or even Christian and with Amazigh stretching across northern Africa from Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria, Niger and Mali to Morocco, it is language that holds the rather disparate elements together.
And while Arabic remains the official language of the country, when it comes to music, young Moroccans either listen to Western music, or to rap in Amazigh. Fatman, lead singer with the Agdir-based hip-hop band rap2bled says that the Berber language is being used to pass on messages about drug use and unemployment. "My parents couldn't read a newspaper or understand the television because they were in Arabic," he says. "Now we have our own television channel and magazines in Berber. We feel much closer now to people in the Rif and Atlas Mountains."
But for intellectuals and activists, this is just the beginning. Abullah Aourik, an artist and publisher of a magazine in Amazigh, wants to see Berber replace Arabic as the official language of the country. "We think it would be appropriate to change part of our constitution so that Arabic is no longer required for legal documents or for any official communication," he insists. "Most Moroccans grow up speaking Berber - why should they be at a disadvantage in having to use classical Arabic which is a foreign language whenever they brush up against bureaucracy?" The government may not be ready yet to entertain this idea which seems far-fetched to even the majority of the Amazigh themselves, but the teaching of Amazigh in public schools and at university level could in the future lead to it being recognised as a national language - as it already is in Algeria, Mali and Niger.
Sauver Socrate
10/09/09 17:05 Filed in: Articles
By Fouad Laroui
En se promenant dans les rues de Casablanca, on peut constater que leurs noms ont tendance à changer de la façon la plus arbitraire qui soit. Certes, on peut concevoir que l’avenue des Régiments-Coloniaux soit devenue le boulevard Ziraoui ou que les noms de certains colonialistes purs et durs aient immédiatement disparu à l’Indépendance. Mais il y a des cas qui laissent songeur.
Par exemple, la rue Galilée est devenue « Taha-Hussein ». Taha Hussein était un grand monsieur, un écrivain de talent, un érudit. À tous ces titres, il mérite pleinement d’avoir sa rue. Mais fallait-il pour autant rejeter Galilée dans les poubelles de l’Histoire ? Le Maroc est en pleine croissance urbaine, il se crée tous les mois des quartiers entiers à Casablanca. Pourquoi ne pas mettre Taha Hussein là, lui donner son avenue et laisser les mânes du pauvre Galilée en paix ? Faut-il croire que la commission chargée de baptiser les rues de Casablanca ne savait pas qui était Galilée ? Ou bien voulait-elle, en l’expulsant de la ville, donner des gages à ceux qui veulent nous rejeter dans les Moyen Âge de l’esprit, ceux qui disent : « Il n’y a que le Livre, la Terre est immobile et au diable Galilée » ? Mais alors, au diable également Newton, Pasteur et Einstein, abêtissons-nous, tristement hirsutes, et que toutes les rues s’appellent Ibn Taymiyya.
De plus, tout cela est assez illogique. Ainsi, il existe toujours une « rue du Soldat-Raphaël-Mariscal ». J’ai eu la curiosité de « googler » ce brave troufion : il ne survit plus que par le nom de cette rue casablancaise. C’est étonnant, non ? Le monde entier a oublié le soldat Mariscal, sauf la poste casablancaise, qui continue, imperturbable, de délivrer des lettres à cette adresse. Peut-être n’a-t-il jamais existé, ce pioupiou ? Peut-être la commission idoine, sous le Protectorat, manquait-elle de noms et en inventait-elle, froidement ? Maintenant que j’y pense, qui aurait l’idée de s’appeler Raphaël Mariscal et de s’engager dans l’infanterie ? Avec un nom aussi beau, on devient au moins poète ou violoniste. Quoi qu’il en soit, pourquoi l’illustre inconnu Mariscal a-t-il survécu et pas Galilée ? Pire : il paraît que l’antique rue Socrate, à Casablanca, est menacée. On n’attend que la mort d’une grosse légume pour envoyer Socrate se faire oublier chez les Grecs.
Ça, c’est un scandale de proportion olympique. Socrate ne fait-il pas partie du patrimoine humain ? Ne sommes-nous pas tous les enfants de la pensée grecque ? Toute la philosophie arabo-islamique est un long commentaire – parfois génial, comme dans le cas de Farabi, d’Avicenne ou d’Averroès – de la philo hellène. Même Ghazali, qui ne portait pas les falasifa dans son cœur, est inconcevable sans Platon et Aristote. Ils sont des nôtres ! S’il n’y a pas de raison particulière de vouloir sauver le soldat Mariscal, tous les Casablancais devraient grimper aux barricades pour sauver le pacifique Socrate.
Nous lançons donc ici même notre campagne : il faut sauver Socrate !
‘Made in China’ sinks Morocco shoe repair shops
10/09/09 17:00 Filed in: Articles
By Saad Guerraoui
Abdel Salam Jawhari, a 73-year-old owner of a shoe repair shop in Casablanca’s upmarket Hassan I Avenue, has just turned down a posh female customer despite going through difficult times because of her sarcasm. He insists the future is bleak for this profession which he has been practising for 62 years, blaming it on Chinese products flooding the domestic shoe market.
The flood of Chinese products has increased since China's entry into the World Trade Organization in late 2001, a development which has had a negative outcome on Morocco’s textile and manufacturing industries. Jawhari said clients run away when they “are told the price of repairing their shoes” that can go up to 80 Moroccan dirhams (10 US dollars). “Why would you bother yourself repairing your shoes whereas you can buy brand new ones for less that their repair cost?” Asked Jawhari. Jawhari stressed that raw materials and machinery “are all imported from Europe, particularly Germany for their good quality, which reflect the repair costs.” Many shops across Morocco’s industrial capital sell beautifully-designed shoes for as little as Dh70 (7 US dollars), but the quality is quite poor. Jawhari recalls this profession was dominated by foreigners and Jews until the 1960s when Moroccans started to take over. He highlights the golden years when he used to make between Dh900 a day and employ 3 to 4 people.
Today, he hardly makes Dh150 a day, which is barley enough to cover the shop’s increasing expenses and bills. “Today, we repaired only three shoes and there are other days where it goes dead,” he sighed He thanks God his married son, the only employee left in the shop, lives with him. Otherwise, he would have closed a long time ago like many other shoe repair shops which could not withstand the Chinese tide. Jawhari proudly shows his scars from accidents, which did not stop him from carrying on his job despite not being covered by the social security. “Only old customers keep coming in.
The new generation is fussy and thinks I have got Moses baton to repair the unrepairable,” he said with laughter.
Obama hosts Ramadan dinner at White House
05/09/09 01:58 Filed in: Articles
By Christina Bellantoni
Showcasing the contributions of American Muslims he said represent "extraordinary dynamism and diversity," President Obama hosted a White House dinner Tuesday to celebrate the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.
Mr. Obama was extending a presidential tradition and pushing forward his goal of reaching out to the Muslim world in an attempt to show cultural understanding.
The interfaith dinner was held in the State Dining Room after sunset, when Muslims are allowed to break their daily fast during Ramadan. White House aides arranged the seating to mix the officials, diplomats, religious scholars and citizens who had been invited to what Mr. Obama called a "feast."
"Together, we have a responsibility to foster engagement grounded in mutual interest and mutual respect," Mr. Obama said. "That is central to the new beginning that I've sought between the United States and Muslims around the world, and that is a commitment that we can renew once again during this holy season."
The president was recognizing the "new beginning" he called for in a speech to the Islamic world in Cairo in early June.
Ben Rhodes, a speechwriter who helped to craft the Cairo address, was seen mingling among the guests before the dinner began.
Mr. Obama paid tribute to some of his guests, recognizing the family of a highly decorated Muslim soldier and army specialist, Kareem Khan, who was killed in Iraq.
The president said the fallen soldier had won the Purple Heart and Bronze Star and is now buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
"A crescent is carved into his grave, just as others bear the Christian cross or the Jewish star," Mr. Obama said. "These brave Americans are joined in death as they were in life -- by a common commitment to their country, and the values that we hold dear."
Kareem Khan's name was in the headlines last fall, when retired Gen. Colin Powell, a Republican, mentioned him when endorsing Mr. Obama on NBC's "Meet the Press."
Morocco loving the McArabia
04/09/09 12:53 Filed in: Articles
by Erik German
Walk into a McDonald's in Morocco and you'll find a sandwich you can’t get anywhere else in the world: a cumin-spiced flatbread creation called the McArabia Tagine. The McArabia was launched across the Middle East in 2003, but this year the 23 McDonald's franchises in Morocco further localized the recipe by tweaking the seasoning and sauce. “Honestly it tastes Moroccan,” said Noor El Ghoumari, 34, a man who had just paid 53 dirhams, or about $6.60, for a meal with one of the ground beef sandwiches in Rabat on a recent afternoon. “This is a local McDonald’s and obviously they have to adapt.” McDonald’s is far from the only fast-food giant to embrace an expanding trend of localization, nor is the Arab world alone in inspiring new dishes.
Domino’s pizzas come topped with squid in Taiwan, black beans in Guatemala and feta cheese in Greece. In China, Kentucky Fried Chicken sells rice congee, while Col. Sanders in India woos vegetarians with offerings like the Chana Snacker, a chickpea burger topped with Thousand Island sauce. “They’ve all adopted this strategy,” said Tom Miner, a principal at Technomic, a Chicago-based international food industry consulting firm. “It’s accelerating because the number of brands going international is accelerating.
Now instead of two or three brands going global in their menus, now you’ve got two or three dozen.” Miner said his company has helped dozens of global chains tailor their recipes to local tastes. He said the necessary flavor adjustments tend to follow a pattern mapped out by a pair of Cornell University biologists in 1998.
After surveying more than 4,500 meat recipes from 36 countries, the scientists found that cultures in hotter climates overwhelmingly favored recipes with higher concentrations of anti-microbial spices like garlic, cumin and pepper. The biologists posited that developing a taste for spice gave people in hot climates an evolutionary boost by making them less likely to eat contaminated food. “The culinary preferences are similar in concentric bands around and parallel to the equator,” Miner explained. “When you’re on the equator you need a different kind of spice to make those proteins last longer in heat,” a fact that “hardwired the genetic food preferences.” Profiting from those preferences is now easier than ever, said Joseph Lampel, a professor of corporate strategy at Cass Business School in London. Fast food kitchens and the methods used to supply them have advanced to the point that a totally standardized menu is no longer a necessity, he said.
McDonald’s can now afford to sell Shrimp Burgers in Hong King, lemon pepper Shaka Shaka Chicken patties in Japan and chili-spiced SingaPorridge breakfast dishes in Singapore — and in some ways it can’t afford not to. “Everybody is racing not only to be cheaper but to have more variety,” Lampel said. “They’re beginning to see it as an advantage and not a compromise.” The McArabia was launched across the Middle East just after the United States’ invasion of Iraq — a troubled time when both American policy and consumer brands sought footholds in a newly hostile region. For the Morrocan version, McDonald's scrapped the McArabia's garlic-based tahini sauce and seasoned the meat with spices Moroccans use for stews made in traditional cone-lidded pots called tagines. Elongated Quarter Pounder patties are first spiked with cumin, coriander and other flavors.
Then they’re fried, slathered with a piquant tomato sauce, sprinkled with bell peppers and wrapped in soft, pita-style bread. McDonald’s officials here said the effort has been a success so far. Sixty percent of the country’s regular McDonald’s customers have tried the sandwich this year, according to a regional marketing and communication director, Abdellah Bniaiche, who said harder sales figures weren’t available. At franchises in Rabat, the sandwich drew decidedly mixed reviews. “It doesn’t work,” said Asma Smeli, 32, as she left a McDonald's in Agdal, one of the capital’s upscale outer neigborhoods. “It’s not really Moroccan. It tastes more Egyptian to me." Inside a McDonald’s in downtown Rabat, Laila Alami, 30, said she’s ordered the sandwich frequently since it came out. “It’s not really a tagine, but it’s good,” Alami said. “It’d be better if they spiced it a little bit more."
Morocco is Morocco: Ambassador Aziz Mekouar Speaks to the Washington Diplomat
02/09/09 12:54 Filed in: Articles
by Anna Gawel
In a rundown Moroccan pool hall, an elegantly framed picture of King Mohammed VI hangs on the walls alongside faded posters of pop singers like Avril Lavigne. Likewise, in the luxury Golden Tulip Farah hotel in Casablanca, the king’s picture stands in the gleaming lobby against a backdrop of plasma-screen televisions broadcasting CNN and the latest HBO shows.
Right up the road, old-fashioned cafés are mostly filled with old men smoking and sipping on mint tea, while a few blocks away, fashionable young women and men gather at ocean-side restaurants with names like Tahiti Beach Club. Some of the women are clad in flowing headscarves, while others don designer tops and jeans.
But in a Muslim nation such as Morocco, it’s not that modern-day women eschew the teachings of Islam. Rather, the North African nation of 34 million uses the Koran to preach a progressive brand of Islam — one that allows women to counsel in mosques or prisons, for instance. Likewise, King Mohammed VI uses his title as “commander of the faithful” to expressly protect all faiths, not only Muslims but also Christians and Jews, who’ve thrived in Morocco for centuries. At the same time, Mohammed VI is one of only two kings in the Muslim world to trace his lineage directly to the Prophet Muhammad (only Jordan’s King Abdullah shares that distinction), earning him a special place among the world’s 1.2 billion adherents of Islam.
This is Morocco, a moderate Muslim nation embracing modernity without shrugging off its valued traditions. It promotes women’s equality, human rights, religious tolerance and social liberalization — all while remaining true to its Islamic heritage. That unique mix has led many in the West to prop Morocco up as a model for the Muslim world, although Aziz Mekouar, Morocco’s man in Washington, cautions that this formula can’t necessarily be replicated throughout the region.
“It’s very difficult to say the country is a model because each country has its own realities, its own history…. Morocco is Morocco,” Mekouar told The Washington Diplomat.
The ambassador emphasized that this transformation has been 100 percent “made in Morocco” — a homegrown movement that’s tailor-made to the country’s religious beliefs and propelled by a forward-looking king. “In our case I think our society, our social and political fabric, allowed the country to open up.”
Indeed, over the centuries Morocco has opened itself up to an amalgamation of cultures that has shaped its multiethnic character. Located on the northwestern tip of Africa — a short ferry ride from Spain and less than an eight-hour flight from New York — Morocco’s Arab and Berber roots intermingle with European and African influences.
Though Western-friendly, Morocco is firmly ensconced in the sphere of Arabic-speaking nations in North Africa and the Middle East. But unlike some of its autocratic neighbors, hundreds of civil society groups operate freely in Morocco, some 600 independent newspapers and other publications abound, and recent local elections were widely considered free and fair by international observers.
But Morocco does not have a secular government. The Alaouite dynasty has ruled the kingdom since the 1600s, and today, King Mohammed VI wields absolute authority under Morocco’s constitutional monarchy. In fact, adherence to the king is almost a religion unto itself, with his portrait peppered throughout the country — including the ambassador’s office here in Washington.
“He is the ultimate custodian of institutions,” Mekouar said, describing the king as “a kind of referee” in the political process.
Yet Mekouar insists that authority doesn’t mean authoritarianism. Although Mohammed VI holds ultimate power, he’s clearly willing to share at least some of that power with an elected Parliament. The ambassador compared Morocco’s government to a European-style parliamentary system, whereby “the government needs a majority of the vote in Parliament, and obviously the majority is coming from the elections,” he said, noting that the Moroccan constitution resembles that of France, which was Morocco’s protectorate from 1912 until independence in 1956.
“It’s difficult for an American mind to understand that. For Europeans it’s easier. The monarchy gives a lot of stability. In fact, monarchies in the region tend to be more stable,” Mekouar explained, citing Jordan as an example. “The legitimacy of the monarchy gives huge stability to the country and allowed us to go through important reforms.”
And as for those reforms, Mekouar said “the king is the one who sets the long-term vision for the country.”
Fortunately, most Moroccans think he’s a pretty good guy.
This summer marked King Mohammed VI’s 10th anniversary on the throne, and his immense popularity has helped him usher in a wave of reforms that would have been unthinkable just a decade ago.
The ambassador noted that when the young king — who just turned 46 last month — delivered his first speech, he vowed to push democratization, human rights and gender equality. “And if you look at the last years of progress, he delivered,” said Mekouar, a polished, approachable diplomat who has served as ambassador to Italy, Portugal and Angola.
One of Mohammed VI’s most notable achievements has been supporting women’s rights, because “a country that doesn’t address 50 percent of its population can’t progress,” Mekouar said, echoing a statement often made by the king.
A major milestone was achieved in 2004 with the passage of a revamped family law, or Moudawana, that granted women extensive rights. Before the “imbalanced” code was revised, Mekouar said women could be entrepreneurs or ambassadors “but were not considered adults” in the eyes of the courts. “According to the new family law, the husband and wife are both head of the household,” he said, and as such, entitled to the same divorce, property, inheritance, custody and other rights.
Yet significantly, all of these legal changes were made according to Koranic text — part of a larger campaign to advance social liberalization within the confines of Islam. For example, women can teach Islam and counsel in mosques, schools and even prisons as mourchidates, or religious counselors, under a novel program that has underpinnings in the teachings of Prophet Muhammad. It’s feminism — Moroccan-style.
But Mekouar stressed that Morocco isn’t reinterpreting the Koran to justify new laws. “The family law was adopted by unanimity in Parliament, including the [Islamist] party, because they considered it perfectly compatible with Islam,” he said, noting that a commission of respected religious scholars, lawyers, women’s groups and others all had a hand in examining verses of the Koran.
“We showed there is no contradiction between Islam and equality,” he added. “This is because of the real will and real vision of the king, and because he put his legitimacy behind it.”
The king also single-handedly put his weight behind exposing human rights abuses perpetrated under the rule of his father, King Hassan II. Since then, the Arab world’s first “truth and reconciliation commission” has been the only such commission to actually pay out compensation on some 16,000 individual cases for a series of arrests, kidnappings, killings, forced exiles and “disappearances” from the 1960s to the 1980s. Compensation ranged from as much as $350,000 to no less than $10,000 depending on the circumstances, along with social projects for 11 affected provinces, universal health care for victims and families, and the closure of all but roughly 100 missing persons cases. And although no perpetrators were ever named or brought to trial, the effort appears to have peacefully closed an ugly chapter while avoiding vengeful bloodshed.
On the democratic front, municipal elections went off without any major hitches in June, with the Party of Authenticity and Modernity (PAM), a new party closely aligned with the king, edging out the Islamist Party of Justice and Development.
Most experts agree that ironically, the power of the monarchy has enabled such democratic strides to take place.
“While it seems counterintuitive, the king of Morocco is the greatest driving force for democracy in the country,” said Joseph Grieboski, founder and president of the Institute on Religion and Public Policy, a nonprofit in Washington that promotes religious freedom. “His majesty has supported and encouraged open and free elections, the establishment of new political parties, and a more open and free press. Something as simple as renaming the Ministry of Information to the Ministry of Communications is a demonstration of the devolution of power from the palace to the people.”
Yet not all is paradise in the Kingdom of Morocco. Some critics caution that the country’s reforms go no further than the palace’s door.
“While the king’s vision and support for these projects has been crucial to their success, the same appetite for reforms challenging the king’s authority or economic privileges has been lacking. Today, just over 10 years after Morocco’s experiment with political liberalization began, Morocco resembles an absolute monarchy much more than the democracy to which it rhetorically aspires,” Maati Monjib and James Liddell of the Brookings Institution recently wrote.
The authors accused the new PAM party of “influence peddling” to position itself “as a long-term stability buffer for the palace, capable of securing a majority in Parliament and marginalizing other parties.” They also cited the recent rejection by a Casablanca court of an appeal by two Moroccan news magazines whose weeklies were destroyed after they published opinion polls about the monarchy. Even though the poll showed an overwhelmingly positive response to the king’s 10-year reign, the court found that the country’s monarchy “cannot be the object of a debate.”
But the debate clearly doesn’t center on the king’s power, which most Moroccans respect. The poll in fact found that 91 percent of Moroccans thought well of Mohammed VI’s first 10 years in power, but they had “reservations on the king’s record in the fight against poverty and the promotion of women’s rights.”
Indeed, entrenched prejudices remain — delicately balancing the issue of polygamy, for instance, the king didn’t outlaw it but instead gave women the right to approve a husband’s request for more wives.
But even more so, the ambassador says it’s the economy that is the hands-down priority among average Moroccans. And it’s no surprise.
Morocco’s business-friendly environment has made it the top destination for foreign direct investment in North Africa (with FDI of $2.57 billion in 2007), contributing to GDP growth of nearly 6 percent last year — and expected growth of around 5.8 percent this year despite the global economic turmoil, according to the ambassador. Yet unemployment, poverty and illiteracy remain pervasive, especially in urban slums and rural areas. Mekouar admits the social inequity is palpable.
“When you travel to Morocco, you can see the first world and the third world,” he said. “There’s a tremendous social gap — it’s measured in terms of education, in terms of poverty, access to health care — and you can see it.”
But he credits another pillar of the king’s strategy for tackling the problem: the National Initiative for Human Development, a $2 billion social development plan whose goal is “to make sure the economic growth trickles down to the poor,” according the ambassador.
“And you can see the results,” he said, citing a reduction in the national poverty rate from around 15 percent five years ago to 9 percent today (though it remains much higher in rural areas), along with a steady drop in unemployment from 19 percent six years ago to between 9 and 10 percent today.
Moreover, Mekouar says Morocco’s banks weren’t allowed to buy those toxic assets that crashed the world economy, so the country’s banking industry posted a healthy profit at the end of 2008. “We also had a budget surplus from 2007 to 2008 so that has given us some room to maneuver.”
But Morocco’s textile and automotive parts industries have taken a hit, as have the amount of remittances sent to the country. And unlike some of its neighbors, Morocco doesn’t have a cache of oil or gas supplies to rely on, making it vulnerable to outside energy shocks.
But an even bigger problem is making sure the country’s young people have jobs to keep them occupied — and away from terrorist recruiters. Mekouar says a “lack of knowledge and integration in society” among the country’s youth is particularly dangerous because “when you’re young you want to be a part of something bigger, you want to make the world better — and you have to show them that there are better ways of doing that than killing people.”
“You have to give them something,” he stressed. “You absolutely have to give young people a sense that they are needed by society, that they have a stake in society, and of course that means jobs, that means education.”
And education entails a frank discussion of Islam, not vitriolic hatred. “We must teach Islam as it should be taught — to young people who lack the knowledge of what real Islam is,” Mekouar said, explaining that the message must be in line with the Sunni Maliki school of Islam practiced by Moroccans that preaches coexistence with other faiths. “Islam is a tolerant religion and has been that way for ages.”
Yet Morocco’s own tolerance has made it a target. In 2003, suicide bombers set off at least five blasts in Casablanca, killing 45 people (including 13 of the bombers) in the country’s worst-ever terrorist attack.
Since then, periodic arrests have been made, but Mekouar says that ultimately prevention lies with the people. “Every now and then the government announces that it has dismantled some terrorist cells,” he said. “You have to fight the fight. But it’s the people who must reject terrorism, who must say, ‘This is not Moroccan.’ It’s the population working with the authorities that prevents terrorism.
“Real Muslims do not recognize extremists as Muslim. It’s just not understandable for normal Muslims to kill innocent people in the name of Islam. In Islam, if you kill one person, you kill all of humanity,” Mekouar added, noting that more than 1 million people marched for peace just after the Casablanca bombings — including members of Morocco’s vibrant Jewish community, which numbers around 5,000.
“Jews are a minority but they are not treated like a minority in Morocco,” Mekouar told The Diplomat. “They’re not Moroccan Jews — they’re just Moroccans, and always have been.”
Indeed, Morocco practices what it preaches, with a long tradition of coexistence that dates back to 1492, when Spain’s Ferdinand and Isabella began expelling Moors and Jews, many of whom jointly sought refuge in Morocco.
“Then during World War II, King Mohammed V — grandfather of the current king — told the Jewish community leadership that ‘nothing will happen to you that does not happen to me and my family’ when confronted by the possibility of Vichy French persecution of the Jewish community,” noted Grieboski of the Institute on Religion and Public Policy.
Today, grandson Mohammed VI has continued that tradition— one of his top advisors, Andre Azoulay, is Jewish, and the king has been one of the few Arab leaders to denounce the Holocaust, recently calling it “one of the most tragic chapters in modern history.”
“I think the king just recognized the reality and it’s not acceptable to deny reality,” said Mekouar, referring to Iran’s Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who has denied the Holocaust’s existence.
Morocco also enjoys cordial (though unofficial) relations with Israel, serving for instance as a secret meeting place for Israeli and Egyptian officials ahead of President Anwar Sadat’s groundbreaking journey to Jerusalem in 1977.
But the ambassador also pointed out that Morocco is equally committed to the Palestinian cause and resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict based on the so-called road map. “The solution is to end the hardship of the Palestinians, who should be living in their own state, side by side, with a secure Israel,” Mekouar said.
He praised President Barack Obama for taking on what he calls “a core issue in the Middle East,” saying the new American president is “doing the best he can in a difficult situation.”
“I think there is a genuine will of reaching out to the Muslim world. The speech in Cairo was very well received in the Muslim world, and it’s clear he’s trying his best to show a commonalities of views,” Mekouar said. “The Muslim world is watching but they also recognize that efforts are being made.”
Mekouar, who oversees an embassy of 12 diplomats, has seen many ups and downs in U.S. politics during his seven years in Washington. He was here when Morocco signed a free trade agreement with the United States in 2004, when Morocco became a major non-NATO ally of the United States, and when it received a $697.5 million Millennium Challenge Compact in 2007.
But outside of official bilateral politics, he’s been equally impressed by the American people. “The election of President Obama was a message sent directly by Americans themselves — you can’t say that you can’t make it here. Americans today are not the Americans of 30 years ago,” Mekouar said, adding that Morocco could learn from the nation’s “sense of solidarity, community service, even fundraising — in other countries it’s the governments that are relied on. Here it’s people doing things with their own money,” he said. “The big success of America as a country was made by people for themselves, people who had a sense of ownership.”
Anna Gawel is the managing editor of The Washington Diplomat and news columnist for the Diplomatic Pouch.
"Number One:" Gender, class, and power in a Moroccan film
01/09/09 12:54 Filed in: Articles
By Elizabeth Hague
Yesterday was a national holiday, and marked the last day before the start of Ramadan, the holy month where practicing Muslims abstain from food, drink, and cigarettes during daylight hours.
Perhaps it was the holiday, or perhaps it was the impending fast, but a lull descended over my normally frenetic host family, and I took the opportunity to watch "Number One," a fascinating Moroccan film that touches upon the impact of the Moudawana, the reformed family code that governs marriage, divorce, child custody, and inheritance.
Another researcher, Charlotte, has already written a wonderful analysis, but I wanted to add my thoughts as well, many of which mirror Charlotte's. The basic plot is this: Aziz, a middle-class married man in an unnamed Moroccan city is a manager at a garment factory. He treats his employees (all female) poorly, and it's any kinder to his wife Soreya. With them, he is "Number One." Commendably, the film doesn't depict his behavior simply as a dichotomy between male and female, but brings in class elements as well.
His condescension isn't reserved for women, but extends to everyone he perceives as being in a lower-class than him: the guard at his factory, for example. Additionally, his arrogant and abusive demeanor becomes submissive and cowering when he interacts with his wealthy boss. One day, after a particularly unpleasant argument with Soreya, she seeks the services of a female magician. (Sort of, the word shouwafah doesn't translate well into English.) That night, she adds a potion to his dinner, and the following morning he wakes up a changed man. He is sympathetic towards everyone, from his employees to his long-suffering wife.
Frightened by the changes in his personality, he seeks the advice of a male magician (again, sort of), who deems Aziz's problem unsolvable; it's "la syndrome de la Moudawana" (the Moudawana syndrome). Unable to revert to his old self, he embraces his psychological shift. He cooks, he cleans, he does the laundry. In one particularly memorable scene, he views a bustling city square, where men have changed into women and women into men. Women sit in cafes, smoking, drinking, and reading newspapers, while men beat carpets over balconies and do errands with babies strapped to their backs. To my readers who have never traveled to Morocco (or Egypt, or Palestine, or Jordan. I can't speak for other countries.), this may not be particularly note-worthy, but I found it hilarious, although I wished this scene had included some reverse street-harassment as well.
The tail end of the film deals with the fallout from his change. Other husbands in his neighborhood become angry with him for being so generous and lenient with his wife. His friends feel neglected because he spends so much time at home. He is fired from his job for being so kind to the workers. His wife begins to feel guilty, and returns to the female sorcerer to reverse the spell. Again, Soreya puts the potion in his dinner, and confesses to him that she is responsible for his transformation. However, he chooses to not consume the potion, and remains afflicted with the Moudawana syndrome. In an ending straight out of Hollywood, he gets his job back and is dubbed "Man of the Year" by the popular Moroccan woman's magazine Femmes de Maroc.
There is so much to consider in this film. First and foremost, I wondered how my host family would react to it. The parents are well-educated; the father, Abdelsalam, is a professor of Arabic and the mother, Fateeha, is an office worker. Since it is currently summer break, Abdelsalam doesn't have any rigid time commitments except the occasional Arabic tutoring he does with me. Meanwhile, Fateeha works 20 hours a week at the office. She also does all (and I mean ALL) of the cooking, cleaning, and laundry. While Abdelsalam has plenty of time to read, watch TV, and sleep, Fateeha is constantly busy, always on her feet.
Not that this is unusual, either here or in the US. But is it something I will never wrap my head around, and (potential future spouses, take heed) something I will never abide by. It would be interesting to ask Abdelsalam why he feels it's acceptable to contribute nothing to the household chores when both husband and wife bring in income (particularly since he spends quite a bit of time extolling the virtues of the Moudawana and of woman's rights in Morocco), but of course that would be overstepping my boundaries by about a mile. (On a very tangentially related subject, I find the recent revival of food politics in the US to be interesting from a gendered perspective. Authors and activists such as Michael Pollan advocate for a change in American food culture, arguing that we should revert to a communal attitude towards meals and meal production.
Meaning: Cook more, and start taking time out to enjoy your meals with your loved ones. Of course, this is seemingly a difficult sentiment to argue with, but this article over at Salon does a pretty good job. I have no gripes with the sentiment that we, as a society, should be cooking more, but, in practicality, who will the burden of cooking fall upon? Men or women? Pollan's male privilege is showing.) Anyway, my host sister, Kawthar, watched most of the movie with me, and I was curious to hear her thoughts. She thought it was funny (Indeed, it was.) and she liked it. I asked her if she knew what the Moudawana was.
She did not. But what did I expect from a nine-year-old? One of my main Fulbright research questions deals with the scope of law. In this way, "Number One" was interesting. On the one hard, the Moudawana is depicted as a sort of "the sky is falling" marker of radical social change, particularly in the eyes of the film's male characters. On the other hand, many of the female characters were dismissive of the law. When two female factory workers discuss the cruelty of Aziz, one says something about the Moudawana, and the other responds, "The Moudawana is for husbands, not employers." At the beginning of the film, one of Soreya's friends suggests she gets a divorce, which is easier under the new law. Soreya barely registers her friend's comment. The distance between the ostensible goals of the law and the realities of life for many Moroccan women remains daunting. The film is a powerful feminist statement, a comment on the common place gender disparities that exist outside the law.
While it lacks any sort of prescriptive value (should we use magic to show all chauvinists the errors of their ways?), perhaps the act of watching this film, which was widely distributed and well-received, is a good first step towards more constructive action.
Seeking Faith and Jasmine
30/08/09 12:55 Filed in: Articles
By Jamal Laoudi
It was one pleasant summer afternoon at a café by the beach in Casablanca, Morocco. I was sitting with a girl who has committed her life, heart, and soul to loving me but I did not reciprocate those same feelings at the time. I will call her Faith. Faith is someone many dream of but I was content appreciating and respecting her. I recall how she looked at me; a sad look that said “I am madly in love with you, why don’t you love me back?” Aware of that, and not willing to send Faith any wrong signal, I was very careful not to behave in any way that may give her the wrong impression. As we talked and chatted, I could see that sadness in her eyes that for some reason pierced through my heart and remains engraved in my memory until today.
A little girl, 12 years old of age or so, walked by. She was selling roses that she carried in a basket. I will call her Jasmine. Jasmine walked by couples offering the man to buy a flower for the object of his affection, bringing them closer together in return for a mere 25 cents that she could use to help her family. Ah! The power of the simple things in life.
Usually, I would buy one and pay much more than the asking price for it. Jasmine made her way through the tables proposing roses without persistence. As soon as she was told no, she quietly moved on to the next. It was our turn; she walked up to me and said: “Buy her a rose”.
I replied “We are ok; thank you.”
Until today, I am very surprise at my reaction whenever I think about it; Very unlike me. Even if I did not want to buy a rose, I know I would normally give some money but I was too consumed with not sending the wrong message to Faith.
I shiver now when I think of what was going on Faith’s mind. How desperately did she want a rose? Could I ever realize that? I realize now that she sure deserves more than a rose; she deserves the Garden of Eden.
Expecting Jasmine to walk away as she did with every couple she approached, she proceeded by telling me: “If you love her, you would buy her a rose; love is not just talk!”
Caught completely by surprise, not expecting that, and feeling put on the spot, I replied by raising my voice ever so slightly:
“Are you trying to start an argument or something? I said no thanks!”
Jasmine walked away and how I wish I had not let her!! As for Faith, she just watched quietly and how I wish she had said something. I pondered why Jasmine did not walk away just like she did with every other table. Was there something different about us?
Some time has gone by now. Whenever this scene plays back in my head, my heart skips a beat and I sweat. How could I have broken two innocent hearts who had offered me nothing but love especially Faith’s? A simple and effortless gesture from my part would have made both there days!
What lessons can be drawn from this?! What I dream of and long for is to marry Faith and we adopt Jasmine.
If you ever come across Jasmine, please let me know! As for Faith, it is up to faith!
Barak Obama Ramadan Message
16/08/09 12:55 Filed in: Interviews
Watch Video on Speak UP Radio
President Barak Obama Ramadan Message
On behalf of the American people – including Muslim communities in all fifty states – I want to extend best wishes to Muslims in America and around the world. Ramadan Kareem.
Ramadan is the month in which Muslims believe the Koran was revealed to the Prophet Muhammad, beginning with a simple word – iqra. It is therefore a time when Muslims reflect upon the wisdom and guidance that comes with faith, and the responsibility that human beings have to one another, and to God.
Like many people of different faiths who have known Ramadan through our communities and families, I know this to be a festive time – a time when families gather, friends host iftars, and meals are shared. But I also know that Ramadan is a time of intense devotion and reflection – a time when Muslims fast during the day and perform tarawih prayers at night, reciting and listening to the entire Koran over the course of the month.
These rituals remind us of the principles that we hold in common, and Islam’s role in advancing justice, progress, tolerance, and the dignity of all human beings. For instance, fasting is a concept shared by many faiths – including my own Christian faith – as a way to bring people closer to God, and to those among us who cannot take their next meal for granted. And the support that Muslims provide to others recalls our responsibility to advance opportunity and prosperity for people everywhere. For all of us must remember that the world we want to build – and the changes that we want to make – must begin in ourown hearts, and our own communities.
This summer, people across America have served in their communities – educating children, caring for the sick, and extending a hand to those who have fallen on hard times. Faith-based organizations, including many Islamic organizations, have been at the forefront in participating in this summer of service. And in these challenging times, this is a spirit of responsibility that we must sustain in the months and years to come.
Beyond America’s borders, we are also committed to keeping our responsibility to build a world that is more peaceful and secure. That is why we are responsibly ending the war in Iraq. That is why we are isolating violent extremists while empowering the people in places like Afghanistan and Pakistan. That is why we are unyielding in our support for a two-state solution that recognizes the rights of Israelis and Palestinians to live in peace and security. And that is why America will always stand for the universal rights of all people to speak their mind, practice their religion, contribute fully to society and have confidence in the rule of law.
All of these efforts are a part of America’s commitment to engage Muslims and Muslim-majority nations on the basis of mutual interest and mutual respect. And at this time of renewal, I want to reiterate my commitment to a new beginning between America and Muslims around the world.
As I said in Cairo, this new beginning must be borne out in a sustained effort to listen to each other, to learn from each other, to respect one another, and to seek common ground. I believe an important part of this is listening, and in the last two months, American embassies around the
world have reached out not just to governments, but directly to people in Muslim-majority countries. From around the world, we have received an outpouring of feedback about how America can be a partner on behalf of peoples’ aspirations.
We have listened. We have heard you. And like you, we are focused on pursuing concrete actions that will make a difference over time – both in terms of the political and security issues that I have discussed, and in the areas that you have told us will make the most difference in peoples’ lives.
These consultations are helping us implement the partnerships that I called for in Cairo – to expand education exchange programs; to foster entrepreneurship and create jobs; and to increase collaboration on science and technology, while supporting literacy and vocational learning. We are also moving forward in partnering with the OIC and OIC member states to eradicate polio, while working closely with the international community to confront common health challenges like H1N1 – which I know is of particular to concern to many Muslims preparing for the upcoming hajj.
All of these efforts are aimed at advancing our common aspirations – to live in peace and security; to get an education and to work with dignity; to love our families, our communities, and our God. It will take time and patient effort. We cannot change things over night, but we can honestly resolve to do what must be done, while setting off in a new direction – toward the destination that we seek for ourselves, and for our children. That is the journey that we must travel together.
I look forward to continuing this critically important dialogue and turning it into action. And today, I want to join with the 1.5 billion Muslims around the world – and your families and friends – in welcoming the beginning of Ramadan, and wishing you a blessed month. May God’s peace be upon you.
State of the Union
04/08/09 12:56 Filed in: Articles
By Karim Kadiri
After about sixteen months of Casablanca living, I feel it is time to put my thoughts on the experience into written text. As it is impossible to cover all the meaningful issues, I’ll limit this piece to mere daily observations that I deem significant and worthy of note.
In so many ways living in “my Morocco” is great and comfortable. So many things have evolved since my childhood days and so many have stagnated or even regressed horribly.
As a young man, my experience dealing with local authorities and attempting to obtain national ID cards, passports and alike was a nightmarish ordeal, today however for the most part accomplishing those same tasks would be an utter breeze in comparison.
There are noticeable exceptions in my personal limited field of operations; working in the car business I can point to the awful state of the so called “service des mines” or department of motor vehicles.
Said service has simply not caught up with the rest of the Moroccan evolution. Things have gotten worse and the waits gotten much longer while automated systems are being installed we are told.
The economic boom has made car buying an affordable proposition for more and more people that couldn’t think of it before. This increase in buying power has unfortunately engendered a scourge of unending queues of folks clamoring for titles and registrations, all made worse by our total lack of willingness to observe the first come, first served rule. Our eternal desire to find shortcuts and to be first has persisted and as such we continue to experience total mayhem in our government and public offices.
Leaving one country for another often comes with the weariness of the old in the pursuit of the new and with some variable degree of uncertainty toward the future. The anxiety is a bit lessened when the odyssey is taking us back to the homeland for at least we think we know what to expect for the most part.
That could be true or not in Morocco’s case given that so many standards have changed.
What a liberal mind would deem positive, a conservative one may see as negative and vice-versa. On the subject of women’s progress in our society for example I see a natural and positive evolution rather than a tragic end to our good traditions.
I was extremely pleased by the women’s unwitting liberation precipitated by many factors, not the least of which is the refusal of many males to settle down and the strikingly high rate of divorce that in yester years would have made our heads spin.
Now more than ever before, in towns like Casablanca and Rabat, you will readily find young successful but “manless” women living alone in relative peace after dozens of failed relationships. Many such ladies will proudly tell you that given the caliber of the Moroccan man, a life alone is an appealing prospect.
Moroccan women are slowly beginning to enjoy a semblance of equality in status in some circles and this evolution seems to be on a solid steady pace.
On a different front and from the hefty files of the “unreal” I could count thousands upon thousands of striking signs of ignorance and lack of basic civic education in our country:
Where to begin, would be a good question at this point!
They tell me that it is just a matter of time before I am used to the perpetual honking in Casablanca but I really have to disagree vehemently; just as one never gets used to being punched in the face or kicked in the groin, I cannot ever get used to this acoustic pollution.
I do not see how I can fail to be startled at every turn, whether attempting to relax at home, visiting family at a hospital or trying to enjoy a friendly conversation at a café.
Casablancans behind a wheel have become like whales, dolphins or bats communicating by sonar, eternally emitting some sort of sound wave to locate one another.
In this noisy and stressful chaos you may notice that there are in fact several types of horn uses that are now intricately woven into our driving habits, making disarray and chaos our indigenous culture and who we truly are.
-It all begins with the friendly tap on the horn alerting our fellow drivers that the light has turned green; in some cases that it is about to do so.
This problem is naturally created by the simple fact that against all logic, red lights are placed to the right of the line and way too high, in other words where it is absolutely cannot be seen by drivers.
-We also have the “I won’t slow down in this small crowded street, so get out of my way” horn.
-There is the traffic jam “in case you didn’t hear the others honking” here is my contribution, horn.
-We have the “I have no intention of stopping at this intersection so get out of my way” horn.
-One of my favorites has to be the white cabs continually honking to alert passers-by that they have available seats.
-Not to be outdone, bus drivers being the loudest of all, often feel as though passenger cars are somehow not doing the trick when the green light comes on; unsatisfied with the reaction time of the traffic ahead and the noise generated by others, they are quick to help the flow with their heart stopping sirens.
Much could be said about this issue alone but simply put, our driving reflects and mirrors our civilization, education or lack there of. In Casablanca we see driving as a race to outsmart other drivers rather than a coordinated and synchronized set of rules to be followed precisely by all and for everyone’s equal benefit.
We simply have it all backwards for the most part and my confirmation of this fact is the pride visible on the face of those who among us commit the most frightening yet needless stunts endangering themselves and others. The more hazardous the maneuver, the smarter we think we are.
Nowhere in the Moroccan territory do you have bikers thinking they are Evil Knievel while riding their raggedy $50, old Mobylettes or Peugeot 103s weaving through traffic at maddening speeds rocking their bodies along the way adding to their show of acrobatics. Nowhere in the world do you have the vast majority of riders with unfastened helmet latches, completely oblivious to the purpose of this life saving gear.
I often wonder how and where we did go so wrong.
In the case of Casablanca things may be too far gone; one loses hope when educated, well traveled elites in $150.000 cars do not stop at red lights or pass you on the wrong side of the street, pedal to the metal throwing dirty tissue and other undesirables out their windows.
Not even our fellow Moroccans living abroad, returning in their foreign tagged cars are abiding by traffic laws. It is as if they would all leave their civic baggage in their respective host countries, reserving the lawless part of themselves to the homeland.
On a positive note if there is one on the subject, I have to say that no other city in the country resembles or equals the lawlessness that reigns in Casablanca. Driving throughout the country from north to south you sometimes forget you are even here. I spent a week in Agadir and was pleasantly surprised at how people observed the rules and awaited their turns at roundabouts (rond-points) etc.
Two weeks later I had the pleasure of spending time in Tetouan and its surrounding areas and was absolutely stunned at how well this city had absorbed all of its new government money and infrastructure. The place was as spotless as any Swiss town with cleaning crews struggling to find something to pick up.
I was also amazed that these northerners always walked on sidewalks no matter how packed those were. In Casa the sidewalks could be a mile wide, people (from all walks of life) would still choose to walk on the pavement while turning their backs to the traffic and the danger posed by racing drivers barely squeezing by.
I would be remiss not to mention some other bright and shiny spots on the Moroccan spectrum. Aside from the innumerable business opportunities available to those who have either money, imagination or both, there is also an environment where young educated folks with good diplomas can actually find decent paying jobs, quite easily nowadays.
A few years back doctors, engineers and alike would rally and riot, clamoring for employment after years of tough study. They would stage hunger strikes and marches to city hall demanding change from a powerless government.
As far as I’ve been able to see, the problem is no longer there should these young professionals agree to be dispatched to rural areas and small towns. I have personally had the pleasure of meeting many such young folks that agreed to a little sacrifice (away from hometown), but gained experience on the field while making themselves and the country better off for it.
I have also witnessed races and a battles by big companies trying to woo the best candidates or rather the candidates with the best diplomas in the car business (my field), engineering and alike. The human resources department is a very busy and pivotal segment of our Moroccan companies. HR reps can find themselves working 7 days a week at times, meeting important prospects in hotels and restaurants at all hours of the night.
I found it encouraging that ever since I accepted my position as a GSM for a dealership a few months ago, I have been courted by other brands repeatedly.
Certainly wages are not yet where we’d want them to be but they are certainly up substantially from years past and with very solid benefit packages, health insurance and so forth.
Unfortunately it is obviously not the case for everybody and every town. The problem in our country is mainly the number of uneducated people and their grim prospects for the future. Things are being done to help but some are simply out of the reach of “civilization” and do not know where to turn for good guidance.
Other highlights: Morocco is finally realizing that it is a coastal country and that it needed to tap into the ocean view resource to improve tourism and our lives in general. We are beginning to see marinas being built in many cities from north to south, beach front communities are being erected all over the place as housing and private beaches are becoming more and more popular.
Morocco has also averted this latest world recession almost entirely and something has got to be said for that. Not being tied to the stock market has its merits after all.
In summary, I must reiterate what I constantly say to friends and acquaintances that ask:
Yes I unequivocally prefer living here in Morocco! The main reason may be that I feel there is hope for constant amelioration and evolution of myself and those around me. The same could not be said for my latter years in Pennsylvania where I saw nothing but despair and worsening standards of living with very few exceptions.
Things will certainly turn around and what’s up now may be down later but for now I am taking my time to enjoy all that the new fast moving Morocco has to offer; I just have to find a way out of Casablanca.
Back Home, a Moroccan Rapper Sharpens His Words
04/08/09 12:55 Filed in: Articles
By Steven Erlanger & Souad Mkhenne | NY Time
He is treated like a prince in Hay al-Mohammadi, the district of slums, markets, immigrants and working-class Moroccans out of which he began to scramble as a teenager, 15 years old, singing with one of the first rap groups in Morocco, CasaMuslim. Muhammad Bahri, now 29, is proud of the district, which was central to popular resistance to French colonial rule, and the people here are proud of him, a kid who made it out, an old urban story. People slap him on the back, buy him coffee, ask him about his parents and his recent marriage, and talk about their problems — poverty, the police, drugs in the neighborhood, their kids.
But it has not been such an easy ride for Mr. Bahri, who goes by the stage name of Barry, printed on his yellow T-shirt. His political songs, criticizing a feared former interior minister and the police, have gotten him into trouble, and his performances at some music festivals have been disrupted. In one famous song, called “Driss,” he took on Driss Basri, who ran the Interior Ministry from 1979 to 1999, known here as “the years of lead.” Mr. Basri was considered King Hassan II’s tough right hand, his iron fist, keeping order through wide-scale detentions, repression and prison torture. “Driss was a farmer and became a policeman,” Mr. Bahri sings. “We told him to keep an eye on the stick and then he beat us with it. Enough, enough, enough from that stick.” Later, he sings: “They gave him the keys to the safe, and he locked it in front of us.” “People were quite shocked by this,” he said during a recent interview, laughing, pushing his Ray-Bans up onto his forehead. “But with each album I try to do a song that shocks the people.” Mr. Basri was dismissed by the current king, Muhammad VI, within months of his accession to the throne in 1999, after the death of his father.
The former minister exiled himself to Paris, where he died in 2007, at 69. He was buried in Rabat, but the only member of the government to attend the funeral was the current interior minister, Chakib Benmoussa. Near Hay al-Mohammadi, in Derb Moulay Sherif, there is an infamous underground prison, originally built by the French, where conditions for political prisoners were said to be unspeakable under Mr. Basri. The new king earned much respect from ordinary Moroccans when he made a personal visit to the prison without warning; it was later closed. Mr. Bahri’s grandfather, a poet, spent time in the prison, arrested for opposition to French rule, Mr. Bahri said.
A song like “Driss” would have been impossible under the reign of King Hassan, Mr. Bahri said. King Muhammad has loosened restrictions considerably on the news media and popular culture, but within limits that include criticism of the king and the monarchy. Under King Hassan, Mr. Bahri said, it was difficult to say anything, so musicians created a style, a kind of Moroccan popular music called “chaabi,” similar to Algerian “raï,” which plays with traditional folk melodies. But now there are more modern blends and stronger content. “Here it is possible now to bark, but gently,” Mr. Bahri said. In 2003, when Islamic radicals set off a series of bombs in Casablanca, killing 45, wounding hundreds and shocking Morocco, Mr. Bahri was playing at a club 200 yards from one of the bombings. “THE room was shaking, and we kept playing,” he said. “We thought it was an earthquake.” He soon understood differently and went into the street. “I saw everything destroyed,” he said, still astonished in the retelling. “There were a lot of arrests, and a lot of people put into jail who had nothing to do with anything, but we had a problem of Qaeda cells here.” His first response was to write a song aimed at Al Qaeda called “Who Are You?” “Who are you?” he asks. “Who are you today?” “You made terrorism, it was a present for Bush,” he sings, referring to former President George W. Bush. “Do you want peace, or do you want the politics of the C.I.A.?” The song continues: “You start to wear big trousers, and you grow your beard, and you wear tagia,” a knitted cap.
“You speak of resistance but you are tamed monsters. If you understood the Koran, there wouldn’t be bombs.” But Mr. Bahri also wrote a song attacking the international politics of Mr. Bush, called “Johnny Walker Bush, li man habbouch,” or “the one we dislike.” “The blood of every Arab is not enough for me,” he sings. “How greedy! We sent him to hell.” Mr. Bahri left the neighborhood five years ago, but he tries to keep in touch with his parents and friends there, partly in search of material that will make his songs resonate. “I always get my ideas from these poor districts, I read the newspapers and follow the news,” he said. “I have the feeling I can influence things through my songs.” Many of Morocco’s poor are illiterate, and Mr. Bahri believes that his songs can educate and inspire. “I see myself as an ambassador or a journalist, and I try to reach people who don’t read newspapers,” he said.
Mr. Bahri’s father was an excellent soccer player who made the national team. Later, he became an engineer on the national train network. He never made much money, but pushed Mr. Bahri to get an education. In Hay al-Mohammadi, where Mr. Bahri’s parents, brother and sister still live, there are signs of rebuilding and development. “Before M6,” as King Muhammad VI is known, “they forgot this district,” Mr. Bahri said. But beyond the market and the nearby hovels for the poor, there are some new and renovated schools, including a new sports center and playground. There are some programs to send children to seaside camps in the summer. BUT poverty and illiteracy remain high here. “These people were all in crisis before the crisis arrived,” Mr. Bahri said. “If you don’t work here, you don’t eat. If you stay at home, you die.” Muhammad Mardi, 66, a retired teacher, greeted Mr. Bahri and congratulated him on his marriage.
Mr. Mardi was supervising three young men cementing broken tiles in front of a shop, to create a more decorative walkway. One of the men, Khaled al-Omari, 24, said he had little work and lived with his mother, who sells vegetables at the market, and four siblings. “When I can, I clean fish at the market,” he said. “I don’t even earn 50 dirhams a day,” about $6.25. There is anger, too. In the market, near the fly-strewn stalls for butchered meat, a bearded vendor said in Arabic to Mr. Bahri, referring to the American journalist: “You take care of him. If not, we’ll slaughter him.” It was not said in a lighthearted fashion. “Poverty is also in the head,” Mr. Bahri said, then began laughing. “We all need psychiatrists.”
Citizen king
01/08/09 13:01 Filed in: Articles
Par François Soudan
Dix ans après son accession au trône, Mohammed VI est définitivement sorti de l’ombre de son père. Affichant peu d’appétence pour les médias et les jeux politiques, c’est en dehors des activités protocolaires qu’il est le plus à l’aise.
Rabat, début juillet. Un vent tiède et humide souffle sur le Palais, ocre, immuable et désert. Sa Majesté est à Nador, sur la côte méditerranéenne, dans ce Nord oublié de son père et dont il a fait l’un des chantiers majeurs du premier chapitre de son règne, comme pour rattraper l’Histoire et le temps perdu.
Elle y fait ce qu’elle aime tant faire, et que reflète chaque soir pieusement le petit écran : inaugurer, visiter, poser des pierres, couper des rubans, tenir des séances de travail, déchiffrer des plans d’urbanisme et de développement, se faire expliquer d’abscons schémas d’assainissement.
Ce qu’elle aime moins faire aussi : remettre des décorations, écouter des discours, s’asseoir face aux caméras sur l’avant d’un fauteuil de velours rouge, un sourire un peu contraint aux lèvres – le Makhzen as usual en somme, qui le suit partout où il va et qui lui pèse souvent. La vie continue et rien n’indique ici que Mohammed VI, 46 ans, s’achemine à grands pas vers le dixième anniversaire de son accession au pouvoir, le 30 juillet prochain. Ceux qui s’imaginent que le royaume prépare pour l’occasion des festivités exceptionnelles en seront pour leurs frais. « Ce sera comme pour le neuvième ou le onzième, rien de plus, rien de moins : la fête du Trône habituelle », explique un conseiller du Palais. Motif : un roi, on l’avait un peu oublié, n’est pas un président élu. Il n’a ni mandat à renouveler, ni échéance à célébrer, ni récapitulatif à présenter – si ce n’est le jour de sa mort. S’il est un mot tabou ces temps-ci dans l’entourage du souverain, c’est d’ailleurs bien celui de bilan.
Quitte à laisser à d’autres le soin d’instruire, souvent à charge, le procès d’une décennie qui a changé le Maroc1, « M6 » se tourne ostensiblement vers l’avenir. Portrait en creux d’un roi citoyen… Un vrai paradoxe : le roi de l’ouverture et de la modernité est aussi celui de l’omerta médiatique. Sept interviews et zéro conférence de presse en dix années de règne. M6 n’a pas de conseiller en communication et le poste de porte-parole du Palais n’est plus pourvu depuis quatre ans. Question de nature : c’est un homme discret, peu loquace, mal à l’aise dans l’exercice d’effeuillage souvent impudique auquel voudraient le contraindre les journalistes.
Il lui arrive même de disparaître des semaines entières du journal télévisé quand il est en déplacement privé à l’étranger – phénomène inimaginable du temps de son père, Hassan II. Pourtant, le Palais n’a jamais été autant visible que depuis qu’il est là. Budget, parc automobile, salaire des conseillers, fortune du monarque : la cité interdite a été démantelée et la presse en fait son miel.
D’un côté, une liberté de ton largement concédée et un respect de plus en plus souple des fameuses « lignes rouges » : on peut, aujourd’hui au Maroc et à condition de ne pas trop le crier sur les toits, être indépendantiste sahraoui et même républicain. De l’autre, des centaines de demandes d’interview du roi condamnées à rester lettres mortes. Il y a quelques mois, un journaliste français de Paris Match croyait bien avoir décroché la lune : un livre-entretien avec M6 pour le dixième anniversaire. Tout était prêt et le Palais avait donné son accord. Il attend toujours… Sur ce point aussi, Mohammed VI n’est pas Hassan II. Pour lui, c’est « Morocco first », et jouer un rôle, surtout symbolique, sur la scène internationale ne fait pas partie de ses priorités.
Il n’aime ni les conférences ni les sommets où il faut se pousser du col devant les micros pour faire passer son message. Masquée, sans doute étouffée, par l’activisme et l’omniprésence de Hassan II, la diplomatie n’a jamais été, il est vrai, le point fort du Maroc. Sous M6, le ministre des Affaires étrangères ne fait plus partie des accompagnateurs obligés du monarque. Il voit moins le « patron » que ses prédécesseurs d’avant 1999, mais sa marge de manœuvre est plus large. De même, les personnalités de marque et les chefs d’État étrangers en visite privée ne sont plus systématiquement reçus au Palais. Bien souvent, c’est le wali qui les accueille à l’aéroport.
Une distance royale par rapport aux affaires de ce monde qui n’empêche pas M6 d’agir (ou de réagir) de façon parfois spectaculaire et – sur le coup – incomprise. La rupture des relations diplomatiques avec l’Iran, par exemple, ou la lettre ouverte culottée et très « rue arabe » envoyée par le roi à ses pairs lors du sommet extraordinaire de Doha sur la guerre de Gaza, voire la réactivité épidermique manifestée vis-à-vis de l’Espagne à propos de l’îlot Leïla/Perejil, démontrent que le patriotisme chatouilleux du fils n’a rien à envier à celui de son père, même si sa visibilité est bien moindre. Côté France, le roi s’est rapidement dégagé du paternalisme quelque peu encombrant de Jacques Chirac, sans pour autant devenir « copain » avec Nicolas Sarkozy, à qui il a imposé une visite d’État exclusive au Maroc, après avoir refusé une simple étape en queue de tournée maghrébine.
Seule vraie nouveauté : le tropisme subsaharien de M6, qui a déjà effectué une demi-douzaine de voyages en Afrique noire alors que Hassan II – hormis de rares apparitions aux sommets de l’Organisation de l’unité africaine – n’en a accompli aucun. Ceux qui l’ont vu s’affranchir du programme officiel pour parcourir au volant d’un véhicule emprunté les quartiers populaires de Brazzaville ou de Dakar savent que son intérêt pour ce continent délaissé par son père n’est pas feint. Mohammed VI préfère travailler avec des gens de sa génération.
Il n’est donc pas étonnant que sa garde rapprochée soit avant tout constituée de quadras et de quinquas issus du Collège royal ou des amitiés de jeunesse. Mohamed Rochdi Chraïbi, qui est de facto son directeur de cabinet (même s’il n’en a plus le titre ni le bureau), est celui qui le voit le plus. Mounir El Majidi, secrétaire particulier depuis sept ans, formé aux États-Unis, gère les finances du souverain ainsi que le holding royal Siger.
Mohamed Moatassim, politologue et universitaire, écrit la plupart de ses discours. Hors cabinet royal – une structure créée en 1957 et qui regroupe actuellement une centaine de hauts fonctionnaires à temps complet ou partiel – se situe le petit cercle des intimes. Un cercle mouvant : Rachid El Kohen, fils de diplomate, n’y est plus, contrairement à Fadel Benyaïch, dont le père, médecin de Hassan II, fut tué lors du putsch manqué de Skhirat en 1971. Mais nul, dit-on, ne connaît mieux M6 que Fouad Ali El Himma, désormais lancé en politique. Ce fils d’instituteur, très tôt séparé de sa famille pour entrer au Collège royal – ce dont il a souffert –, sait comme personne décrypter le roi, anticiper ses états d’âme et ses réactions, placer la bonne phrase (ou la bonne requête) au bon moment, le plus souvent le soir.
Un label d’« ami du roi » dont il s’est beaucoup servi pour installer son parti, le PAM (Parti authenticité et modernité), en tête des élections locales, mais qui ne lui vaut pas que des marques d’affection. Commentaire cinglant d’un conseiller du Palais : « Fouad était l’ami du prince héritier Sidi Mohammed. Le roi, lui, n’a pas d’ami. » Il est vrai que, dans ce petit monde que M6 n’hésite pas à houspiller, parfois à éloigner – tous ont connu, à un moment ou à un autre, une éphémère mais déprimante traversée du désert –, les tensions, les rivalités, les jalousies et les chevauchements de compétences ne sont pas rares. Au point qu’il a fallu récemment une réunion de recadrage pour apaiser les conflits et ranger les couteaux au râtelier… Un peu à distance se tient le deuxième cercle avec lequel le roi, qui lit, annote et fait volontiers réviser les dossiers qu’il reçoit, communique surtout par téléphone et par écrit. Les sexagénaires Abdelaziz Meziane Belfqih (conseiller économie et éducation), André Azoulay (dialogue interculturel) et Zoulikha Nasri (Affaires sociales et humanitaires) y ont toute leur place.
Tout comme le sécurocrate Mohamed Yassine Mansouri, qui coordonne pour le compte du souverain les renseignements extérieurs, dont il est le patron, mais aussi les services de la DST. Ainsi que, bien sûr, le ministre de l’Intérieur Chakib Benmoussa, celui des Affaires étrangères Taïeb Fassi Fihri et les généraux de corps d’armée (Hosni Benslimane, Abdelaziz Bennani…), dont M6 est familier depuis l’époque où il était prince héritier2. Enfin, le troisième cercle est constitué de la cinquantaine de grands managers, technocrates issus des meilleures écoles françaises ou américaines, qui font tourner l’économie du Maroc.
C’est sans doute l’une des déceptions majeures de Mohammed VI : ne pas avoir su, ou pu, tourner la page des relations conflictuelles avec le voisin algérien. Comme lui, le président Abdelaziz Bouteflika est au pouvoir depuis dix ans, mais les deux hommes ne sont définitivement pas faits pour s’entendre. Ils n’ont ni le même âge, ni le même langage, ni les mêmes références politiques et culturelles, ni le même tempérament. « Sa Majesté a baissé les bras ; elle pense que tant que Bouteflika sera là, rien ne sera possible », confie un proche. Les émissaires entre les deux capitales sont rares. La frontière commune demeure obstinément fermée depuis près de quinze ans. Il n’y a plus, au Palais, de « Monsieur Algérie » chargé d’entretenir un vrai réseau de contacts à El Mouradia, et Rabat a fait son deuil de tout progrès vers un modus vivendi acceptable par les deux parties au Sahara occidental. La Mauritanie, en revanche, mobilise ces temps-ci l’attention du roi, qui suit de très près l’échéance présidentielle du 18 juillet, avec un faible pour le tandem Abdelaziz-Ghazouani, tous deux formés à l’Académie militaire de Meknès et jugés plus proches du Maroc que Vall, Daddah et surtout Boulkheir.
Contrairement à son père, qui s’en délectait, M6 n’a que peu d’appétence pour les partis et les politiciens. Dans le fond, la politique ne le passionne pas, beaucoup moins en tout cas que les gens ordinaires et les déshérités, pour qui sa compassion n’est pas feinte. Il juge les leaders des formations traditionnelles assez peu représentatifs, les reçoit rarement au Palais, et chacun sait que son choix d’Abbas El Fassi comme Premier ministre procède du respect de la démocratie et non d’une quelconque empathie.
Ceux à qui le roi se confie parlent aussi de sa déception vis-à-vis de chefs de parti qui lui ont fait défaut à chaque décision cruciale de son règne. Lors de la bataille pour la Moudawana (le code de la famille), de la création de l’Instance équité et réconciliation (IER), ou lorsqu’il a été critiqué sur certains aspects de sa gouvernance, il a eu le sentiment d’être seul sur le front, les politiques se contentant du strict minimum. Idem à l’occasion de la publication du rapport-bilan sur le cinquantième anniversaire de l’indépendance, quasiment boycotté par les partis et qui n’a donc pas eu, à ses yeux, l’écho mérité.
Est-ce pour démontrer à ces partenaires incommodes qu’il pourrait éventuellement se passer d’eux et gouverner sans eux que le roi a laissé son proche Fouad Ali El Himma se réclamer de son soutien et remporter par voie de conséquence les municipales de juin ? C’est probable. C’est en dehors des activités protocolaires que Mohammed VI est le plus à l’aise. Et c’est sur le terrain qu’il se sent le mieux.
Une centaine de visites par an en moyenne pour inaugurer orphelinats, hôpitaux, lotissements, zones industrielles, routes, écoles, projets de développement, avec une prédilection pour le Nord et l’Oriental, provinces abandonnées depuis un demi-siècle et portes de l’Europe. À titre d’exemple : en dix ans, M6 s’est rendu seize fois à Oujda (et plus encore à Tanger, sa ville préférée), alors que Hassan II n’y mettait presque jamais les pieds. Il inaugure, impulse les financements (plus de la moitié du budget de l’État est consacrée aux secteurs sociaux), mais il contrôle aussi et, au besoin, sanctionne. Une visite surprise dans un orphelinat insalubre de Casablanca a déclenché une colère mémorable, une consultation fortuite à l’hôpital militaire de Rabat – au cours de laquelle il constate une panne d’IRM – a coûté séance tenante son poste au général Driss Archane, ancien médecin de Hassan II. Et quand il constate l’incurie des autorités lors du tremblement de terre du Rif, en 2004, il se rend sur place, installe sa tente caïdale et coordonne les secours pendant une dizaine de jours.
Autant M6 n’est pas, dans le cadre de son « job » quotidien de souverain, un homme de contact, autant il cultive avec son peuple une proximité qui n’est pas étrangère au maintien de sa cote (élevée) de popularité. Hassan II était le Père fouettard, il est le Père Noël : n’a-t-il pas, comme des millions de Marocains, souffert lui aussi de l’autoritarisme du défunt ? Cette spontanéité du « bon roi » envers les plus démunis, ainsi que quelques audaces prises avec les règles du comportement monarchique (le roi conduit volontiers sa voiture en ville, s’arrête aux feux rouges, n’impose pas le baisemain traditionnel, sert la soupe du ramadan aux pauvres, etc.), font que le Marocain moyen ne s’offusque pas du maintien – malgré quelques velléités initiales de réforme, vite oubliées – du train de vie du Palais, évalué au bas mot à environ 250 millions d’euros par an. Comme son père, M6 est aussi un propriétaire foncier (le premier du Maroc), un industriel et un banquier.
Le « Makhzen économique » se veut à la fois nationaliste et pionnier exemplaire : c’est lui qui, par exemple, draine la plupart des investissements marocains en Afrique subsaharienne. Roi citoyen, entouré de collaborateurs plutôt que d’une cour – dont le poids et la visibilité ont été considérablement allégés – structurée et hiérarchisée, Mohammed VI accorde à sa sphère privée une importance et une attention que ne lui portait pas son père. Souverain, seul à même de fixer son emploi du temps tout comme les limites de son pouvoir, il a largement conservé son mode de vie de prince héritier3 et reconnaît volontiers n’avoir ni horaires, ni jour de repos fixe, ni vacances planifiées.
Une aisance de fonction qui lui permet d’effectuer quand il le souhaite des escapades, le plus souvent discrètes, à l’étranger – Paris, New York, Londres, Rome… –, dont la durée varie : un jour, un week-end, un mois. La notion de « couple royal » a remplacé le fantasmatique harem, fermé dès l’accession au trône de M6 et dont les habitantes ont été dûment pensionnées. L’époux de Salma Bennani, une « première dame » ingénieur informaticienne, présente dans le domaine caritatif et qui, pour la première fois dans l’histoire de la monarchie alaouite, est autre chose que la simple « mère des princes », se comporte en père attentif de ses deux enfants Moulay Hassan (le futur Hassan III) et Lalla Khadija, 6 ans et 2 ans. Quant à la famille royale au sens plus large, à commencer par Moulay Rachid, le frère cadet du roi, elle est plutôt discrète et voyageuse, interférant très peu dans les affaires de l’État.
L’homme qui a fait raser le bagne mouroir de Tazmamart et lancé cette initiative unique dans l’espace arabo-musulman qu’est l’Instance équité et réconciliation (avec deux conditions fixées à son président, le regretté Driss Benzekri : « Ne jugez pas mon père et ne citez pas de noms ») a en dix ans soldé le passif des « années de plomb », déverrouillé l’économie et la société, démocratisé la vie publique, tout en préservant les fondamentaux – et la légitimité – de la monarchie.
Un bilan plus que positif, mais d’un poids relatif au regard des chantiers à venir, dont M6 a une vive conscience et qui ont pour noms justice et corruption, exode rural et démographie galopante, grande fragilité de la classe moyenne et progression d’un islamisme politique qui est à ses yeux à la fois une anomalie et une déviance. Il lui reste aussi à dresser et à proposer aux Marocains une vraie perspective d’avenir, une vision à la fois mobilisatrice et fédératrice. Préoccupé par la gestion des urgences, Hassan II n’en avait jamais éprouvé le besoin, pas plus qu’il n’avait défini sa propre pratique du pouvoir. Or, comme on le sait, un bon projet vaut mille bilans.
1. Pierre Vermeren, Le Maroc de Mohammed VI, La Découverte. Ali Amar, Mohammed VI : le grand malentendu, Calmann-Lévy. Ferran Sales, El principe que no queria ser rey (" Le prince qui ne voulait pas être roi "), Catarata. Tous trois parus entre avril et juin 2009.
2.Illustration frappante de la pleine réintégration des militaires dans la société - une autre révolution inaperçue de la décennie M6 : le cinquantième anniversaire des Forces armées royales, le 14 mai 2006, a été marqué par un défilé à Rabat en présence du roi. Et ce pour la première fois depuis... 1972 (l'année de la tentative d'attentat contre le Boeing de Hassan II).
1. Y compris en ce qui concerne son entretien physique. S'il semble avoir cessé la pratique intensive du sport en salle et du jet ski, un coach le suit partout, et il est un adepte occasionnel du jogging. Enième (micro) rupture : contrairement à son père, fan assidu, M6 ne joue pas au golf...
(Jeune Afrique)
A Muslim Nation's Successful Election
04/06/09 12:57 Filed in: Articles
By Rachel Ehrenfeld
In contrast to Iran, Morocco's recent vote marks a new degree of order, unity and tolerance. It is 131 degrees Fahrenheit in Marrakesh, Morocco, yet a slow but steady stream of voters--many of whom are women--enter the schoolyard to cast their ballots at the polling stations for the municipal elections. On June 12, 2009, 1,503 communities chose their representatives in orderly, transparent elections, according to Ahmed Herzenni, chairman of Morocco's human rights watchdog, CCDH.
His opinion was shared by more than 150 foreign observers, including the International Strategic Studies Association from Washington, D.C., and the New York-based American Center for Democracy (ACD). Unlike the Soviet-style election in April that led to the reelection of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika in Algeria, Morocco's eastern neighbor, or the controversial and violent presidential election in Iran, Morocco's election was "fair and free." The meticulously planned and executed election marked an important step in King Mohammed VI's reform plans to decentralize governance and empower local communities.
With 6% economic growth, large investment in education and development, $21.11 billion in foreign debt and $27.29 billion in reserve, Morocco has weathered the global economic storm better than most. In introducing a new form of governance, the king's reforms are designed to increase the participation of all citizens in political and economic systems. Morocco's interior minister, Chakib Benmoussa, an MIT graduate, led the planning, preparing and training of election officials and volunteers. A budget of close to $62 million was allocated to plan, organize and administer the elections.
Special efforts were made to include more women in local politics. To overcome the high level of illiteracy and encourage voting, the ballots included pictures of the political parties, which were well advertised in advance. These efforts yielded impressive results: Local elections attracted 15.4% more voters than the last parliamentary elections, in 2007. More than 7 million voters (52.4%) elected 27,795 council members; 61% of these were newly elected. The number of women elected rose significantly, from 0.4% in the previous local elections in 2003 to 12.3%. Most of these women are under the age of 35, and 75% of them have higher than secondary education. "We were impressed because we've seen very clearly that people were well-acquainted with the rules and were well-prepared for elections," noted Leslie Lebl, a senior ACD fellow, one of the international observers. "Everything took place in very good conditions." Jean-Charles Brisard, a French observer, noted the "professionalism" of the election supervising teams and said he was impressed by the "great sense of responsibility" demonstrated by participating officials and volunteers. Significantly, there was a high turnout of voters in the Moroccan Western Sahara region. Though this area is still the subject of international dispute, the local inhabitants' active participation demonstrated their self-identification as Moroccan citizens.
The Saharans clearly prefer Morocco's reform-oriented government to Algeria's repressive regime. Morocco's efforts to unify its diverse population of Arabs, Berbers, Jews and other small minorities are impressive. To attract more members, the Islamist Justice and Development party abended its religious rhetoric. Although it gained relatively more votes in the big cities, it came in sixth, with only 5% of the votes. In contrast, the royalist, modernist, and reform-oriented Authenticity and Modernity Party came in first with roughly 18% of the votes and won almost 22% of seats. In this Muslim country--where Jews and Christians can practice their religions freely, conversion from Islam is permitted by law, a big church stands in the center of the capital Rabat, and alcohol is freely sold in the supermarkets--the regionalization reforms underway promise that Morocco will become even more tolerant. Indeed, Morocco should be used as model by its neighbors in the region and beyond.
Rachel Ehrenfeld, author of Funding Evil: How Terrorism is Financed and How to Stop It, is director of the American Center for Democracy.
Escape from Agadir
04/06/09 12:57 Filed in: Articles
By Brendon Bosworth
A faint smell of feces rides ahead of the morning breeze, washing up from the river that trickles past my apartment and sullying the crisp air. Romantic visions of the sweet scent of saffron percolating with the shrill hail of morning prayers have long been shattered. The small fishing town of Taghazout, which swells with Moroccan holidaymakers in summer and is home to a motley crew of transcontinental surfing vagabonds in winter, is not an exemplar of sound waste management. Patches of trash dot the roadside: a haphazard collection of plastics, bottles, and glass. On some days these piles are in flames, but this morning they’re being picked apart by a tribe of scavenging goats. The hungry rogues ferret through everything, gulping down whatever edible morsels they find.
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Obama team should pressure Israel on settlements
04/05/09 13:05 Filed in: Articles
By Cecilie Surasky
Few Americans have had the opportunity to see firsthand, as I did in early July, the devastating impact of Israel's occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem, and why it's critical that we support President Barack Obama's call for a settlement freeze.
Settlements are the capstone in a system that gives Jewish people like me privileges and rights at the expense of the indigenous Palestinian population. Settlements, and the infrastructure of population separation, land appropriation, lawless violence and ethnic discrimination that supports them, are at the core of the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians.
Settlement expansion is made possible by some $3 billion in military aid the U.S. gives to Israel each year, and additional millions in subsidies provided by U.S.-based Jewish and fundamentalist Christian nonprofits.
That is why Obama has called first for the freeze of settlement expansion, to be followed, presumably, by negotiations to dismantle them and either swap or return this conquered and stolen land. What exactly are these settlements, where nearly 500,000 Jewish people now live?
They are communities created on land taken by force in 1967 and held and developed only through the extensive use of military power. Served by Israeli state-provided electricity, water, sewage and road construction, settlements are illegal under international law (the 4th Geneva Conventions prohibits an occupying power from transferring its population onto occupied lands). Some 40 percent of the land on which settlements sit is known to be privately-owned Palestinian land. Israel continues to confiscate more land — including the water aquifers and arable farmland on which the Palestinian economy relies — for the Separation Barrier (or Wall), new houses, and to build a network of bypass roads on which Palestinian cars are banned.
In U.S. and internationally-brokered agreements, Israel has already agreed to end settlement construction. Yet, during the last six years, the settler population in the West Bank (not including East Jerusalem) actually rose 37 percent. Forty percent of the increase in the settler population came from immigration, both from abroad and inside of Israel, incentivized through subsidies and discounts.
That's not natural growth, the excuse the Israeli government is using as a cover for continued settlement growth.
Meanwhile, Israeli soldiers mainly do nothing while settlers attack Palestinian farmers and their families. Settlers threaten Palestinian lives and especially livelihoods in numerous ways, such as by obstructing harvests and cutting down groves of olive trees, burning agricultural fields and intimidating people from their land so that settlers can claim it. The Israeli human rights organization Yesh Din says these Jewish groups perpetrate "systematic, organized and large-scale terrorist actions." The perpetrators are rarely brought to justice: 90 percent of complaints are closed by the police.
We need Obama and his foreign policy team to immediately hold Israel accountable for the welfare of the Palestinians living under Israeli occupation, which means an end to all settler violence, an end to the expropriation of Palestinian land, and an end to the destruction of Palestinian homes, including in East Jerusalem.
Obama should pressure Israel to end financial and other incentives that encourage Jews to move to the West Bank. Congress should support Obama in taking these steps because they are the right thing to do and because they are the only path toward resolution and an end to the conflict.
Cecilie Surasky is deputy director of Jewish Voice for Peace, a national organization located in Oakland.
It can be 'tough' to be a female in Morocco
04/04/09 12:56 Filed in: Articles
By Laila Lalami
Two years ago, I was invited to give a reading from my novel at a university in Ifrane, in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco. One of my cousins immediately suggested I hire a driver to get there, but I laughed off his suggestion. I can drive myself! I'm not some helpless princess! In the end, however, I had to admit I lacked the robust constitution it takes to drive on Morocco's roads and highways, so I did hire someone. His name was Younes, and he was a slight, short man with an easy smile and friendly eyes. Ordinarily, he drove a shuttle to the airport, but occasionally he took longer trips, especially in the tourist months of spring and summer. My husband accompanied me, as did two American friends on a short detour from their European holiday.
We stuffed our bags in the trunk of a dark green Peugeot 305 and headed out. I sat in the back, and was nervous until we left the suburbs of Casablanca behind us and began to see the expansive countryside, with the ubiquitous orange and tangerine trees and, as we approached Meknès, grapevines and olive trees. On the highway, it was impossible not to notice the gendarmes in their uniforms -- gray polyester suits, red epaulets, black boots and white gloves. They looked like little Lego men, ready to take action. Arms akimbo, they stood in the middle divider and watched for infractions, real or imagined: speeding, failing to wear a seatbelt, an unsafe lane change, an expired registration or a large load that could be contraband. This last breach was the most likely to result in a large contribution to their private retirement funds.
I worried we would get stopped. "I doubt if we will," Younes said, giving me an amused smile through the rearview mirror. "They usually don't stop cars with tourists. You remember how these things work, don't you?" "Good thing Ken is in the front seat, then," I said. Given his red beard, blue eyes and six-foot-one, 200-pound frame, it would have been hard to mistake my friend Ken, a software engineer from Seattle, for a local. "Do you get stopped a lot when you don't drive tourists?" I asked. "I was stopped last month. I had run a red light, and so the bulisia whistled and stopped me. You know they have women cops now, don't you? This one was tough." Tough was an adjective I had heard often in the past few months, applied not just to policewomen but also to female customs officers, female judges or female chief residents. The common wisdom was that women were not as likely to take pay-offs, a discordant note in a country where people routinely use bribes for everything, from getting a home phone line installed to obtaining a spot on the quota-limited list of pilgrims to Mecca. "What happened?" I asked. "She wanted to write me up, and the ticket was 400 dirhams. I tried to reason with her. I'm a shuttle driver and people like me, we spend so much time in cars, there are certain courtesies we should be able to have.
We're like cab drivers, you understand." Having lived in Casablanca for much of that year, I understood that there was indeed an unspoken agreement between police officers and cab drivers who routinely made illegal U-turns, gamely ignored red lights and cut across lanes of traffic to pick up a fare. What remained fuzzy in my mind was why this agreement seemed to extend to drivers of buses, trucks, mopeds, vegetable carts or government cars. No wonder I never wanted to drive. "I asked her to let me go," Younes continued, "and I added, 'May God have mercy on your parents.' I was just being polite, you understand. But then she said, 'Leave my parents out of this.' I couldn't believe it. I said, 'What are you, an orphan? You don't have parents? You don't want mercy for them?' So she got mad, and she said that my prayers wouldn't stop her from writing me a ticket." Now he pointed his thumb at his chest. "So then I got mad. I told her that she had no business being a cop and that her place was in the kitchen." "Uh-oh," I said.
Then I realized I had sounded terribly American, which meant Younes' questions about what I understood or remembered were not likely to stop any time soon. I thought of my mother, who had tried for years to teach me how to cook, until, faced with my complete lack of interest and culinary talent, she had eventually given up. Now she passed her recipes directly to my husband, without whom I would probably subsist on a diet of frozen pizza. She, too, had often called me tough. "What did the policewoman do?" "She picked up her walkie-talkie and called the police station and they sent a car to pick me up." Younes laughed heartily now. "And did you get the ticket?" I asked. "Well, sort of. At the station, I talked to the men officers and explained that I was a professional driver and she was a strange woman, being insulted by having someone pray for her parents. So in the end we settled on 200 dirhams." "For the ticket?" "No, no. Not for the ticket," he said, giving me a bewildered look. "For them, of course. They took the money. You remember how these things work, don't you?" Perhaps I had forgotten exactly how to negotiate a bribe, but I still remembered how women who didn't fit typical gender roles were undermined by men -- and by other women.
Lalami is the author, most recently, of the novel "Secret Son."
(Los Angeles Times)