It is not very often that film reviews make it to the editorial section of a newspaper - but the Morocco Times is carrying an extremely interesting and provocative review of Syriana, the new Hollywood blockbuster starring George Clooney.
The reviewer, Amir Taheri, is an Iranian author of ten books on the Middle East and Islam - he knows his stuff, and he has some questions to ask about this movie.
Syriana depicts the US as the power behind much of the terrorism coming from the Middle East. The film shows American oil companies as employers of Asian slave labor while the CIA is the key source of supply for bombs used by terrorists. So, why would any self-respecting American want to write or direct or play in “Syriana”? If the US is as evil as they suggest should they not be ashamed of themselves? And if the oil companies control the US government, presumably including the Congress, should we conclude that Hollywood is the last bastion of American democracy?.
Taheri goes on to write:
Pretending to be sympathetic to the “Arab victims of American Imperialism”, the film is, in fact, an example of ethno-centrism gone wild. Its message is: The Arabs are nothing, not even self-motivated terrorists, but mere puppets manipulated by us in the omnipotent US!
By suggesting that the US has stolen the Arab oil and decision-making process, the makers of “Syriana” are, in fact, trying to rob the Arabs of something more important: Their history. The amazing thing is that so many Arabs appear to be ready to help the thief.
This is an important review and well worth reading: The Morocco Times
The Morocco Times is carrying the story of the newspaper's relaunch, commenting "The re-launching of the paper constituted a quantum leap through which it changed form and content. It hence opened up on all the elements of the political scene and on the economic and social actors, along with focusing on ordinary Moroccans interests.
While the national press was monopolized by two or three partisan papers , the Group ‘Maroc Soir' gave birth in the late 80s to its third newspaper in Arabic to shoulder ‘Le Matin' and ‘Maroc Soir' in its struggle to give the right information to the readers at the time when local newspapers focused on opinions and analysis rather than information.
Full story: The Morocco Times
"The only way to unblock the big cities and improve living standards of the population is to build new towns."
Housing Minister Ahmed Taoufiq Hejira has announced that up to a dozen new towns will be built to relieve the chronic overcrowding in the large Moroccan cities.
The first of the new towns will be ready for inhabitants this year and will be followed by one new town a year through until 2020. The first of the planned new towns is Tamansourt located about 15 km (nine miles) northeast of Marrakesh. It could house up to 300,000 people. A similar town named Tamesma outside Rabat will begin construction in 2007 and the other new cities will be built outside the major cities of Casablanca and Agadir"There is a saturation in the cities and urban areas and the land prices are very high. Prohibitive, even for the middle class to get decent homes," Hejira said. "The prices of homes and land in the new cities will be two-thirds less than elsewhere,"
Tamansourt and the other planned cities offer various choices for inhabitants ranging from villas to buildings and neighbourhoods modelled on traditional Arab kasbah architecture.
In related development news, On Saturday King Mohammed VI launched a $1.08 billion project for the development of the Bouregreg valley between Rabat and Salé. The project, which will be executed by the Bouregreg Valley Development Agency over ten years, envisages restructuring the valley and protecting it from floods, the construction of the Oudayas tunnel, a marina at the estuary, and a tramline between Rabat and Salé. The project is sponsored by the Hassan II Fund for Economic and Social Development, the National Office of Drinking Water, water and electricity services company REDAL, and private investors.
Tags: Morocco, Fès, Maghreb, news
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