Moroccan jokes - no laughing matter.

Back in September Tel Quel magazine launched an Arabic-language sister publication, under the title Nichane. Now, like its French sister, the Magazine is in hot water.

In the past Tel Quel got itself a certain notoriety with cover stories on the king's salary, the Western Sahara, homosexuality, and atheism. The problem for Tel Quel was it was playing to a "home crowd"- the French speaking "elite" who have long been pushing for a more liberal society. So Nichane was born to take satire and liberal ideas across the language divide to the Arabic-readers.

Now Nichane has sparked a minor storm amongst the traditionalists who are not quite ready to embrace freedom of expression. The magazine ran a story on the most popular jokes in Morocco. Sure, these are the jokes most people are laughing at in private - but to repeat them publicly crossed a boundary and presented the traditionalists with a target. It is worrying, that in a time when the West is calling for a greater voice for moderate Muslims, Morocco is caught in a bind. Analysts claim that the the kingdom is in danger of succumbing to a wave of political Islam imported from the Middle East that aims to unite Muslims under Sharia, or Islamic law, and reject western secular values.

As a recent widely published article put it: A visit to an average Moroccan town suggests the scarves worn by some young women are inspired by fashions further east, fitting tightly to the head and covering the neck completely and long beards, favoured by conservative Muslims, once hardly seen in the Maghreb, are a common sight in poor areas.

Prayers are broadcast in taxis, shops and banks. Newspapers speak of moral vigilantes patrolling beaches and upbraiding sunbathing couples. Office workers tell of pressure from colleagues to observe the fast at Ramadan.

According to a survey by the Sunergia Institute for L'Economiste newspaper this year, close to half of young Moroccans consider themselves religious conservatives and 42 percent of those agree religion should guide political parties.

The road ahead for Morocco is not an easy one - balancing between the urgent need to continue with the reforms on one side and the political realities of a rising Islamic vote on the other. Indeed, a recent poll by the U.S.-based international republican institute forecast the moderate opposition Islamist Justice and Development Party (PJD) could win parliamentary elections next year, posing a potential obstacle to King Mohammed's liberal reform programme.

The PJD says it will focus on fighting corruption and poverty rather than pushing a fundamentalist agenda, although some statements by party members are seized on by the liberal press as evidence of a strong reactionary undercurrent. For example, Telquel magazine quoted Ahmed Raissouni, a cleric regarded as being close to the PJD, as saying Moroccan music festivals introduced ''alcoholic drinks, drugs, dancing, adultery, homosexuality and sexual and intellectual perversion'' into society.

So, in this climate of uncertainty, is there a future for magazines like Nichane? There is certainly a need for them, but in the future they might be best to avoid Moroccan jokes - even if most people laugh at them.


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