Spanish PM gets mixed welcome in occupied Melilla

Spain's prime minister may have received a warm welcome from some when he toured Mellia, but his actions drew protests and a rebuke from Morocco, which has long awaited the return of the territory from Spain. The only thing between Morocco and its claimed territory are fences fortified with razor wire. Unfortunately the enclaves have beccome a transit point into Europe for Sub-Saharan Africans trying to escape poverty.

Melilla was the site of a humanitarian crisis last year when waves of destitute Africans tried to cross over from Morocco. Melilla and Sebta, a city farther west along the Mediterranean coast, are still in Spanish hands despite being in North Africa and realistically part Morocco.

Zapatero's trip is the first by a fully empowered Spanish prime minister since Adolfo Suarez visited the enclave in 1980. Zapatero also will visit Sebta during his two-day trip. Spanish King Juan Carlos has never traveled to the cities.

According to the Spanish press, African immigrants cheered Zapatero when he toured a refugee camp, applauding as Zapatero walked amid rows of barracks-style housing units and stopped to chat with inmates. Some immigrants demanded "Papers! Papers!" - an allusion to the almost impossible hope of receiving residency permits.

Hundreds of immigrants stormed the border in September and October here and in Sebta. Eleven people died in clashes with security forces.

A Moroccan government spokesman called the visit "inappropriate" but said it would not damage relations with Spain. "Ties between Madrid and Rabat are excellent, and this visit should not hurt the good quality of relations," Nabil Benabdallah is reported as saying.


But on the Moroccan side, Moroccans protested the visit, slowing down traffic at a busy border crossing with Melilla. The rally was called by the nationalist Moroccan Liberal Party, which considers Melilla and Ceuta to be occupied cities.

Zapatero visited the immigrant holding camp, ground zero of the humanitarian crisis last year, and pledged the Spanish government's firm support for Melilla as a Spanish city.

"I reiterate the government's commitment to the people of Melilla," Zapatero said in a speech, unveiling plans for a new hospital, two new schools and other government spending in the crowded city of 70,000.

"The government is very conscious of the singularity of Melilla, which needs special attention."

Zapatero's detractors in Spain deemed his advance notice to the Moroccan government as if the Spanish government asked Morocco for permission to visit the two seaports, which have been controlled by the Spaniards for over five centuries.

Arabic-language daily Al-Ittihad Al-Ichtiraki says that “the visit puts our friend Zapatero in contradiction with the policy of good neighbourliness and mutual trust.”

The paper, which belongs to the leading Moroccan party – the Socialist Union of Popular Forces (USFP) – added that the Spanish prime minister should have worked “towards ending colonisation rather than bolstering it.”

It also stressed the urgent necessity of bringing to a halt the “colonial process that has haunted those two Moroccan seaports,” as both Morocco and Spain collaborate to build a prosperous conflict-free Mediterranean area.

Morocco wants Melilla and Sebta back, but Zapatero has stressed the cities' status "is not and will never be up for discussion." Newspapers in the African nation denounced the visit as provocative. The visit "is badly perceived in Morocco," wrote Le Matin du Sahara.

"The fact that a Spanish head of government makes ... an official visit to the fortified posts that are the object of a territorial disagreement with a neighboring ally country, is in itself a source of major concern," wrote L'Opinion, the paper of nationalist conservatives of the Istiqlal party.

The on-line journal Morocco Times says:

By visiting the two occupied towns, Zapatero gave a strong blow to the Moroccan-Spanish relations and showed disrespect for the Moroccan people. Whether he had good or bad intentions, his move is regarded as a step that would spark another political crisis between the two countries.

OTHER LINKS:

International Herald Tribune: Zapatero stirs anger of Morocco

LA Times: Spain's Little Piece of Africa

Our Previous Story: Sebta and Melilla

Also see Moroccan News Briefs #7


Tags: Morocco, Fes, Maghreb, Spain

Moroccan weather turns chill!

Heading to Morocco? Then take a warm coat! The Moroccan weather services have announced that heavy showers will continue over the coming week, with a strong, cold wind on most days. Heavy rain will overspread all Morocco, especially northern areas where rain falls will exceed 30mm every nine hours.

This forecast mainly concerns the northern cities of Tangier, Tetouan, Larache, Chefchaouen, and Taounate, but Fez is extremely cold (2 to 13 degrees celsius).


Heavy downpours will be accompanied by gusty winds reaching up to 72 Km/h, in addition to snow falls over the mountainous areas above 1,200m altitude. Temperature is expected to fall between -1° in Ifrane, north, and 13° in Laayoune, south.



In related weather news, an Iranian ship has run aground in the Oulad Hmimoun beach in Mohammedia (17 km from Casablanca), as a result of the bad climatic conditions which have prevailed in the past few days in Morocco, reported MAP news agency.

"Iran Madani", a phosphate ship of 200 m built in 1985, was carried by the currents and the wind. It had been in the port of Casablanca to load some 40,000 tons of phosphates. At the moment bad weather is preventing any rescue attempt.

Tags: Morocco, Fes, Maghreb, news

Riad Zany - Fez Medina - Morocco

Sometimes you just want to leave the politics and have a glass of mint tea.


Riad Zany - prior to restoration.

Tags: Morocco, Fes, Maghreb, photographs

Morocco’s Difficult Task of Combating Money Laundering

Article from The North Africa Journal

Morocco will need a major commitment to law enforcement if it really means to make a dent in stopping money laundering and financial crimes. Forced to upgrade its practices in accordance to international law, Morocco is implement a bold new legislation that incorporates harsher prison terms and higher fines for white-collar criminals.

After tightening its anti-terrorism legal arsenal, the Moroccan government is working to establish a much more severe anti-money laundering law. In its current draft, the law seeks to correct the perception foreign observers have on Morocco related to its stance on financial crime and dirty money. Its authors are working to line up the country’s laws with international standards. In fact, the draft law largely comes from recommendations made by the OECD's Financial Action Task Force (FATF).

The FATF is an inter-governmental body whose purpose is the development and promotion of policies, both at national and international levels, to combat money laundering and terrorist financing. The Task Force is a policy-making body created in 1989 that works to generate the necessary political will to bring about national legislative and regulatory reforms in these areas. The FATF has published “40 + 9” recommendations to combat money laundering and the financing of terrorism, which Morocco is considering to adopt.

The Moroccan law considers the involvement of a much larger number of institutions, from the traditional role of the finance ministry as the main government entity, to the treasury, banks, currency exchange office, lawyers, real estate agents, financial analysts, the stock exchange and others. The authors of the law are attempting to incorporate all institutions that could be used by money traffickers and enlisted them as future enforcers of the law, or at least make them more responsible. All of these players will have to use what is called a "suspicion declaration," meaning that any time they have doubts over the origins of the funds, they are required to report them to the proper authorities.

Removing the Deeply-Rooted Professional Secrecy:

But in this push for more transparency, the Moroccan professionals will be required to make major changes in the way they conduct business vis-à-vis their own clients. The biggest change is the requirement to eliminate the so-called "professional secrecy." Secrecy has long been used as a means to avoid disclosure and protect financial crooks. But the Moroccan law protects professional secrecy. It is prominently present in the national legislation, in particular in the penal code and the banking law of 1999, and so its removal will not be easy.

While maintaining some level of professional secrecy, the draft law does not shield professionals when providing information for intelligence gathering purposes. The coordination on information gathering will be the responsibility of an organization to be named "Unité." This unit will be based in the treasury department after the issue of its location was subject of a feud between the finance ministry and the interior ministry.

The Unité will have vast investigative and enforcement powers with its own police force. The law involves also the Royal Prosecutor. Article 17 says when the intelligence shows evidence of wrongdoing; the Royal Prosecutor would issue the proper investigation authorizations. With the permission of a judge, the prosecutor can issue an order to freeze or confiscate assets of a suspicious individual or company. The suspected individuals and companies can either be based in Morocco or abroad and their alleged crimes may not have to be committed in Morocco proper.

Skepticism Over Enforcement:

These proposed changes have received positive feedback from FATF in particular following the creation of a regional FATF-equivalent for Middle East North Africa call MENAFATF. But many observers remain skeptical as to the real impact such a law would have. This is because the weight of the informal sector in Morocco is so significant that authorities are likely to face major hurdles in implementation. The challenges are indeed monumental. Many specific regions in Morocco are known to generate a great deal of revenue from the informal sector, where dirty money rules. Regions such as Tangiers and the northern provinces closest to Spain and Nador are essentially considered the biggest sources of illegal financial activities since they are home of cannabis production and the illegal immigration business. Revenues from these two activities alone are estimated to be in the dozens of billions of dirhams and largely fuel the local economy and generate jobs. Indeed this money is recycled into the local and national economies, and often moves beyond the borders. There are entire sectors that are victims of trafficking and money laundering, including but not limited to agriculture, real estate, arts trade, jewelry, gambling, and even postal stamp trading. Because the informal sector accounts for a substantial share of many of these sectors, trafficking makes a major impact on them. As most businesses are cash-based transactions with no invoicing or paper trail, identifying illegal activities can be tricky to impossible, with the biggest winner being the criminal networks and the biggest loser being the state with uncollected taxes.

But for the optimists, in particular in the legal community, there has to be a time when traffickers need to recycle their money into the formal and official markets to sustain their investments, hence it is only a matter of time before they are caught. This position, although optimistic, eventually suggests that for the time being the implementation of the new law will have limited to no impact, at least in the medium term. Despite this assessment about a sector that uses informal channels, the fact is that money launderers and traffickers manage to use today the banking sector. This is the reason why the law added a list of requirements for banks to follow to identify wrongdoers, including basic reporting requirements that identify the source of the money and the identity of the clients.

Attempting to stay ahead of the curve, the Moroccan central bank Bank Al-Maghrib already issued an order in January 2004 relative to the issue of accounts and account holder monitoring. The aim of the order was to reassure skeptical international financial institutions that Morocco was on the right path prior to enacting a new legislation. The new law provides additional clarifications on specific points such as allowing individual banks to determine at their discretion the criteria that makes a depositor suspicious and worth reporting to authorities. These criteria will be in addition to a certain minimum for deposits and transactions that the authorities will determine. In other words, banks could alert authorities if the amount involved is even lower than what was determined by the authorities as a point of suspicion.

A Shock to the Banks and the Court System:

Not only banks but also lawyers, real estate firms and financial experts will be required to submit a written report to the "Unité" of suspicious transactions. The concerned individuals or companies will have to wait for the court decision that must be made within 48 hours. While this looks like a fast process, observers fear the Moroccan court system is not ready to react that quickly. For the past five years, the Moroccan court system has been going through an important transition with the introduction of information technology (IT), computing and databases. Five years into the process and the effort has not yet yielded the expected outcome. Courts continue to function the old-fashion way with the massive paper trail and lengthy bureaucratic proceedings. Only a solid IT platform could help take a bite out of criminal organizations, while streamlining and speeding up the decision making process.

Banks are also not ready and will have to adjust to compliance issues very soon. A few banks have begun to make changes in their processes to introduce compliance as part of their systems. BMCE Bank has established a fully dedicated anti-money laundering unit within the General Control and Compliance division. The bank is acquiring special software that is capable of filtering and analyzing accounts and transactions behaviors to identify specific risk profiles. The software will reportedly be operational this year. But BMCE is one bank among many and not all appear to be taking the issue seriously. And there are not just the banks in the anti-money laundering ecology. Some 38 professions and sectors are on the hook to contribute to this clean up operation. Not all of them are ready to endorse the move given the added cost and troubles for them.

But before getting there, the draft law will have to undergo a multi-step process, the most important of which is the coming debate in parliament. Some lawmakers fear that the amount of pressure they are facing from lobbyists could lead them to diminish the content of the law to a point where it could become irrelevant.

Tags: Morocco, Fes, Maghreb, news

Avian Flu: How Prepared is Morocco?

While the government is attempting to calm fear over the possibility that bird flu can reach Morocco, it has yet to be seen whether the existing surveillance system is efficient enough to prevent a potential pandemic.

Several Moroccan analysts fear the current state of preparedness remains inadequate. Having observed how the carcasses of chickens are discarded in public waste fields in a report published by the press last November, they argue that waste management remains a critical problem, in particular when dealing with birds and poultry.

At least the usual way of selling chickens in the souqs, where you select the bird to be killed, means that you can see if the bird is healthy or not.

Meanwhile, he U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization will help North African governments monitor the potential outbreak of the avian flu. With the flu already spread in nearby Turkey, fear that an outbreak in North Africa is inevitable is causing a lot of worries about the population and authorities. The project will, over an 18-month time span, assist the recipient countries of the North Africa region to mount emergency preparedness for the eventuality of introduction of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza.

Other links: Moroccan News Briefs - #15

Tags: Morocco, Fes, Maghreb, news

Dutch organisation launches Moroccan media support programme

In welcome news to the Moroccan media, a Dutch organisation working in the field of support of media expansion, announced a subsidies launch for Moroccan journalists.

Funds of up to 5,000 euros for a project constitute the first phase of a new programme, which aims at supporting independent investigative journalism in Morocco. The eligible projects should contribute toward the development of the debate on relevant questions to Moroccan society and the ongoing issue of freedom of the press in Morocco.


Tags: Morocco, Fes, Maghreb, news

Mysterious release of al-Qaida detainee

The media has been making much of the mystery surrounding the release by U.S. authorities in August 2004 of Abdallah Tabarak a Moroccan, suspected of having once been the bodyguard of Osama bin Laden. Yet it is by no means a new story.

Back in 2003 the news media was making much of his capture: Here is what was being said back then...

With American forces closing in on him during the battle of Tora Bora in late 2001, Osama bin Laden employed a simple trick against sophisticated United State spy technology to vanish into the mountains that led to Pakistan and sanctuary. A Moroccan who was one of bin Laden's long-time bodyguards took possession of the al-Qaeda leader's satellite phone on the assumption that US intelligence agencies were monitoring it to get a fix on their position, said senior Moroccan officials, who have interviewed the bodyguard, Abdallah Tabarak.

Tabarak moved away from bin Laden and his entourage as they fled, using the phone to divert the Americans and allow bin Laden to escape. Tabarak was later captured at Tora Bora in possession of the phone. "He agreed to be captured or die," a Moroccan official said. "That's the level of his fanaticism for bin Laden. It wasn't a lot of time, but it was enough. There is a saying: 'Where there is a frog, the serpent is not far away'."

More than a year later, Tabarak, 43, has become the "emir", or camp leader, of the more than 600 suspected al-Qaeda and Taliban members being held at Camp Delta in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, according to officials who have visited the military compound twice to interview Moroccan citizens.

Some of the prisoners, by symbolically holding day-long fasts on the orders of Tabarak, have maintained some semblance of a command structure in defiance of US attempts to isolate and break them, Moroccan officials said. Tabarak's authority there "comes from his proximity to bin Laden, because of the confidence Osama bin Laden had in him", said a Moroccan intelligence officer. "He has charisma, and all the combatants at Guantanamo are deferential to him."

Tabarak, also known as Abu Omar, is respected even more because he helped bin Laden escape, the official said. The ploy involving the satellite phone is widely known and celebrated among the prisoners at Camp Delta.

But then in August 2004, he was suddenly released and now Tabarak lives near Casablanca, and, although free, is certainly under constant observation.

According to a report in the Washington Post, his case comes to light as the Pentagon gets ready for the first of its military tribunals. It points to the mysteries of U.S. priorities in deciding who to keep and who to let go - neither the Pentagon nor officials in Morocco seem willing to publicly offer any explanation why he was released.

Tabarak's attorney says his importance as an al-Qaida figure has been exaggerated.

And as for the man himself, he is very shy of the media but did speak out in February last year. Tabarak said that he still suffers from the consequences of the torture he underwent at Guantanano.

“I am now concerned about my health. I can’t see very well, because I spent more than eight months in a tiny, dark, and single cell. I also have a constant backache due to the series of beating by American soldiers. I can not sleep now; I still have nightmares,” he said.

Tags: Morocco, Fes, Maghreb, news

Maghreb's anti-globalization activists on the move

Over 450 Maghreban anti-globalization activists, working in various social and immigration fields, have set up a regional social forum in Morocco.

According the Lahbib Kamal, a member of the Moroccan Social Forum steering committee, the 1st session of the Maghreban Forum is scheduled for May 2007. This was announced at a press conference themed "Pateras of Dignity" at the end of the preparatory assembly of the Forum held on January 27 to 29 in the Atlantic town of Bouznika (50 km from Rabat). Patera is the name used in Spain to describe the dinghy boats that illegally ferry would-be immigrants to the European country. As we have reported beforem these precarious boats sometimes capsize or sink in bad weather killing some of the passengers.

This is the result of a process started in July 2004, at the occasion of the second meeting of the Moroccan social forum, where anti-globalization Maghreban activists called for a federation of all the social movement actors as part of the Porte Alegre dynamic, recalled Kamal, adding that the assembly aims to harmonize local, regional and world dynamics as well as to contribute to the strengthening of regional associations' links and to allow networks to emerge.

According to the organizers, the Maghreban Social Forum will be a space for elaborating alternatives in accordance to the wishes of the people of the region.

Tags: Morocco, Fes, Maghreb, news

Immigrant smuggling. Spain detains 200

Moroccan measure to curb immigrant-smuggling rings appear to have had some effect. However instead of curtailing the illegal movement of people, they may have simply shifted the problem elsewhere.

In the biggest such swoop this year, Spanish police have detained about 200 African undocumented immigrants. The north and sub-Saharan Africans were captured off Almeria and Granada on the southern coast as well as the Canary Islands after arriving on five boats over the week-end. According to reports in the Spanish press they were in good health except for two, who were treated for hypothermia.

There has been some use of electronic detection devices but the latest group of immigrants are reported to have travelled from the southern part of Moroccan-controlled Western Sahara and from Mauritania to western Canary Islands - areas which are not yet covered by electronic surveillance systems.

Boats leaving from Mauritania look like fishing vessels, with the would-be immigrants pretending to be crew.

More than 10 000 African illegals were arrested on and off the Spanish coast and in the enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla last year, with the situation peaking in the autumn when Spain and Morocco sent thousands of police and soldiers to prevent thousands of migrants from climbing over the border fences surrounding Melilla and Ceuta.

Morocco deported large numbers of sub-Saharans to the desert and hundreds of them are now waiting in Mauritania to cross over to the Canaries, according to the Spanish daily El Mundo.

The situation inside the Spanish enclaves is just as dire. When potential immigrants from Morocco, Algeria or other African states manage to enter Ceuta or Melilla without being checked, they discover that the next step, namely crossing to Spain, is far more difficult. The Spanish authorities make sure that the ('the paperless') cannot head in that direction, even though they are officially on Spanish soil. Even if they succeed in crossing, on the other side of the straits - whether in Algeciras, Almeria or Malaga - further checks and strict control by border guards and police are waiting for them. Meanwhile, more and more migrants in Ceuta and Melilla, hoping for legal status and the opportunity to travel on, have to spend a long time in overflowing camps. The situation in the camps, which have expanded dramatically in recent years, is marked by inadequate sanitary facilities, lack of drinking water and generally poor provisions. The food, for example, is insufficient and not at all adapted to the needs of different religious groups.

The Calamocarro camp in Ceuta, originally intended for 400 people, is now notorious all over Spain for its unendurable living conditions. The fact that up eo 2,000 men, women and children from Algeria and other African states have been locked in there for periods of up to six months or more has brought protests again and again from human rights organizations and NGO's. The La Granja camp near Melilla has an equally disastrous reputation. When the move to a new camp was delayed in September 1999, the inhabitants lost all patience and riots broke out, leaving the camp practically demolished. The installation of refugee camps in the Spanish enclaves is just one more step in the shift forward of Fortress Europe onto the African continent.

Tags: Morocco, Fes, Maghreb, news

Evangelical stumble?

Liosliath in the blog Morocco Time has an update on the evangelist who was heading out to Morocco to harvest a few souls. The update is here: Update on the Evangelist

If you missed the fascinating saga, then maybe start here and follow the links: Evangelical Missionaries in Morocco.

Tags: Morocco, Fes, Maghreb, evangelical

Islamic architecture workshop

The Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Isesco) was set up way back in 1979 at the Tenth Islamic Conference of Foreign Ministers, which was held in our historic city of Fez. The following year, the Statute (Charter) of Isesco was adopted at the Islamic Conference of Foreign Ministers, which convened in Islamabad, Pakistan, in May 1980. Important objects of Isesco are: To strengthen and promote cooperation among member states and consolidate it in the fields of education, science, culture and communication; to develop applied sciences and use of advanced technology within the framework of the lofty and perennial Islamic values and ideals; To consolidate Islamic culture, protect the independence of Islamic thought against cultural invasion and distortion factors, and safeguard the features and distinct characteristics of the Islamic civilisation.

The latest initiative is four-day workshop on the management and conservation of Islamic architecture that got under way at the Salalah hall of Haffa House in Muscat. It was organised by Ministry of Heritage and Culture and the National Committee for Education, Culture and Sciences, in partnership with the Morocco-based Isesco and will introduce participants to basic knowledge, information and updates of Islamic architecture and current topics regarding heritage management, set down the underlying principles of value-based heritage management, identify strategies pertaining to Islamic heritage management and explain techniques for the conservation of Islamic monuments. The four-day workshop will be followed by a field trip.

Given the pressing problems of conservation of the Islamic architecture in Morocco, it is to be hoped that information from the meeting will transform into action on the ground in Morocco where restoration and conservation is under a lot of pressure from development and the sale of properties to western investors. See our story: Too much of a good thing?

Speaking at the inauguration, Ali Rashid Al Mudhirwi, assistant manager, department of castles and forts at the Ministry of Heritage and Culture, said that they are proud of the rich, historical cultural heritage of Oman and there is a need to keep that alive for the posterity. He said this workshop is being held as part of the celebrations marking Muscat as capital of Arab Culture. He averred that history is the collective memory of people and historic buildings tell us the story of our past. And thus we need to take care of them with affection.

He said that this workshop would highlight the different aspects of Islamic architecture and the need to preserve them.

Talking to the Times of Oman, Dr Monther Jamhawi, vice-dean of Queen Rania College and professor of architecture at the Hashemite University, who is a part of the organising team, said that Islamic heritage is threatened not only by physical decay but also by the changing socioeconomic conditions prevailing in society.

He said that this workshop would explain the Islamic architecture as a concept, Islamic city, its beginning and development, management of cultural heritage and conservation of Islamic monuments. He said there is a common myth that Islamic architecture is identified with domes and arches.

He explained: “Islamic architecture starts with how people lived and does not attach much importance to material components. Take for instance souqs, traditional homes, open spaces, etc. which do not have any link with domes and arches.” Showering his encomiums on the government, Dr Monther said this workshop reflects the determination on the part of the Oman government to focus on Islamic architecture and the need for its protection and restoration.


Sahrij and Sbaiyin Madrassas

Recently American Express announced it is donating USD 75.000 for the rehabilitation of the Sahrij and Sbaiyin Madrassas complex in the historic Medina of Fez.

Tags: Morocco, Fes, Maghreb, Oman

Blogger on the warpath.

You have to love the ripple effect of a good post or article.

When we read Karima Rhanem's report: Evangelical missionaries in Morocco back in the limelight, we followed up with our own response: Evangelical missionaries in Morocco, and now the ripples have flowed on to Morocco Time blog, where our intrepid blogger went a step further and hunted down an evangelist before he even arrived in Morocco!

In a great post she links us to The Warrior's Code where Sam proclaims "I'm looking change my small, Springfield, Ohio outlook to a larger, world perspective". Unfortunately part of that outlook includes heading to Morocco and converting the faithful.

Morocco Time responds: Normally I try to live and let live - if I happen upon a missionary or evangelizer here, I wouldn't turn them in. However, this jerk insulted Scotland in the same scintillating blog entry, "Scotland has never had a king worth bowing to - it's up to us to show them what a great King is like. Amen?" At this, gritting my teeth and muttering bits of "Scotland the Brave" (since part of my family once inhabited Dunbar Castle), I vowed to expose these wack jobs whenever and wherever they're found.

We await further developments. Let us hope Sam the Warrior does not end up as a 'news brief' item.

Go to source: Morocco Time : Love the Lord but Burn Evangelists at the Stake.

UPDATE:

And now Sam enters the fray and Morocco Time responds:

“Do not argue with the followers of earlier revelation other than in a most kindly manner – except those of them who did wrong and are oppressors – and say ‘we believe in that which has been sent down to us and that which has been sent down to you; for our God and your God is one and the same, and it is unto Him that we surrender ourselves.’” Quran 29:46

Read more: Morocco Time:1 Peter 3:9 and Quran 22:67-68, 29:46

Tags: Morocco, Fes, Maghreb, news

Partir - New book by Tahar Ben Jelloun

At the heart of Partir, the new book by Ben Jelloun, is the issue of illegal immigration.

Ben Jelloun was born in Fes, 1944. Educated in French studies, he became a philosophy professor at Tetouan and then left Morocco in 1971 to live in the French capital to do a thesis in psychology. "I had not been educated in the arabisation of philosophy and the teaching of Islamic thought instead of, and in place of, universal thought. That is why I left. For this reason I do not feel as though I am a writer in exile. Even though there have been difficult periods, I have never felt that I could not return; that the doors of my native country had been closed for me."

Partir by Tahar Ben Jelloun, will be published in September 2006 in Italy, (Bompiani Milan) Spain (Groupe 62), Germany (Berlin Verlag) and Sweden (Alphabeta).

European current affairs magazine, Cafe Babel has an interview with Ben Jelloun that is worth reading.

Go to source: Cafe babel.

The Ben Jelloun site ( French )

Tags: Morocco, Fes, Maghreb, Literature

What is happening across the border?

Maghreb Arabe Presse (MAP) are reporting unrest in Algeria. According to the reports some 300 young Algerians attempted to cross the border to Morocco in protest at social conditions, such as deterioration of their living conditions, problems related to housing, roads, schools and drinkable water. For their part the Algerian media is claiming the problems are more related to the cancelling of a football match.

There have been various similar incidents in recent times, but the trouble last Thursday in the Algerian town of El-Abed ( across the border from the Moroccan village of Sidi Boubker, 80km from the city of Oujda in north-eastern Morocco) is the largest to date.

According to MAP several Algerian cities have recently witnessed similar demonstrations in protest of the deterioration of economic and social conditions in the country.

Tags: Morocco, Fes, Maghreb, news

This week's most viewed posts

Each week we track the most popular posts so that we can get an idea of what you like to read about. Here are the top posts from the last seven days.

A rare Islamic experiment

Learn Moroccan cooking in Fes

Morocco at a glance - A quick tour.

Joujouka - Sufi Trance Masters

Fes Festival of World Sacred Music Program

Black Widow - A novel on the aftermath of Beslan.

And our favourite blog this week is a French language blog.



Moroccan journalist, Nadia Lamlili, won the CNN Francophone General Award, an annual prize in recognition of African journalists. Lamlili's award was for an article on migration to the north shore of the Mediterranean Sea. The piece focused on the intentions of migrants, the difficulties they encounter and the groups that profit from the human tragedy. Nadia's Blog.

And this week from Global Voices: Moroccan blog roundup


Tags: Recipes Morocco Islam
Fes, Literature

Moroccan News Briefs - #18

Moroccan News Briefs published in The View From Fez draw on open source material, contributions from readers, as well as material from Maghreb Arabe Presse (MAP), Morocco Times and official Moroccan Government press releases.

King lays mosque foundation

King Mohammed VI has set in motion the building of a new mosque by laying the foundation stone in "Al Matar" place in the northern town of Tetuan. According to the Morocco Times, the mosque is expected to cost MAD 18Mn, about US$ 02Mn. The mosque is to be constructed on 4970 m2, in 24 months and would accommodate up to 3000 people for prayer. The facility comprises a room for men and another for women, a library and a Koranic school.

After the Friday noon prayers at the Hassan II mosque of Tetuan, The king was briefed on the literacy program conducted in the mosques of the kingdom by The Habous and Islamic Affairs Ministry.

In The 2005-2006 academic year, some 60,000 people benefited from the literacy program courses dispensed by 2091 teachers in 1655 mosques throughout the country, including 677 in rural areas.

The Ministry literacy program to span from 2005 to 2010 is to target during this period around 500,000 people to attend the courses in 2334 mosques under a 1837 strong teaching staff and some 265 supervisors. The Habous Ministry earmarked MAD 22.8Mn for 2005-2006 and could spend MAD 53Mn for the program in 2009-2010.

Call to back political solution of Western Sahara issue

"It is in the best interest of the United States, France and Spain to support a political solution to the Sahara conflict," said former UN deputy-secretary general and former special representative of the UN secretary in Western Sahara Eric Jensen. For "different motives, the United States, France and Spain should support a political, negotiated and mutually accepted solution," he said at the opening of an international conference called "Sahara: Visions for the Future" on Thursday (26 January) in Las Palmas, Canary Islands.

The former UN official cited a number of changes that have challenged the region recently -- especially globalisation, terrorism and illegal immigration. He said Morocco witnessed great changes since the coronation of King Mohammed VI, "who has put the country on the way of modernisation, democratisation and respect of human rights". Jensen noted history has shown that "Sahrawis are pragmatic" and that Algeria "aims to leave behind her bitter past".

44% of young say al-Qaida is not a terrorist organisation

A recent survey by the Moroccan daily, L'Economiste has revealed that 44% of young Moroccans aged between 16 and 29 believe that al-Qaida is not a terrorist organisation, 31% said they had no idea whether al-Qaida is a terrorist organisation or not. The paper questioned if the 31% were really ignorant about al-Qaida or whether it was a way of not stating an opinion.

According to L'Economiste, claiming that al-Qaida is not a terrorist organisation is mainly due to the US-led war in Iraq. For 76%, the US war in Iraq is unjustified and negative. The paper said there is a real condemnation by the Moroccan youth of the US foreign policy. �For them the al-Qaida represents an opposition to the US power. That could explain why many young Moroccan say al-Qaida is not a terrorist organisation,� explained the paper. However in an interesting socio-economic view, the survey points to the fact that those who asserted al-Qaida is not a terrorist organisation belong to lower socio-economic groups. Only 30% of rich people said it is not. "The poorer we are, the more we love al-Qaida," reported L'Economiste.

In other findings the survey, which questioned a sample of 776 young people, showed that 85% of young Moroccans practise their religion regardless of where they live or their social background. 99% of young men and women fast in Ramadan, and 90% of them perform their prayers regularly or occasionally. Only 9% of them declared they had never prayed.

The survey stated that age is not a factor that contributes to the change in religious habits. However, the social background may be a reason why some young people don't perform their religious rituals. The survey said there are more "non-performers" among the rich and middle class: 16% of them belonging to rich families said they don't pray or have never prayed; 8% from Middle class and 9% from poor families.

Asked about marriage, 67% of them said they could marry a non-Moroccan, but 73% said they won't marry a non-Muslim. In a surprising finding, given the influence of modernity in Morocco, the survey also revealed that 49% of young men prefer their wives to wear the veil.

These results explain, according to the paper, that the majority of Moroccans feel themselves Muslims before being Moroccans. "And this gives us an idea about the identity of the adults of tomorrow," stated the paper.

Huge drug hauls in north-east Morocco

Authorities in the north-east region of Morocco seized over 15 tons of chira (extract of cannabis) in 2005 to 18 tons in 2004, a senior Customs officer in the region said. The drug was seized in 650 operations lead by local authorities in the north-east towns of Oujda, Taza, Nador and Al Hoceima. The figures were announced by El Arbi Belbachir, Customs Director of the north-east region, in a press conference during the celebration of the World Customs day.

The said quantities do not include other substances seized as (kif, tobacco, cocaine, heroine, and ecstasy), Belbachir stressed.

UNESCO sets up chair at Al Akhawayn University

The UN Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and Moroccan university Al Akhawayn of Ifrane have signed an agreement to set up a UNESCO chair under the theme "Water, Women and Decision Power". The main objective is to teach women in rural areas how to use water as a sustainable resource, as well as to facilitate collaboration between professors, researchers and decision-makers with UNESCO/chair international network members -- particularly in Argentina, Sudan, Burkina Faso, and Brazil.

African Cup hopes bleak

Morocco desperately need to come out victorious in their last Group A fixture against Libya on Saturday while hoping for already-qualified Cote d'Ivoire to beat hosts Egypt, if they are to make it through to the second round of the African Cup of Nations. The 2004 finalists, who are yet to score a goal in the tournament after a 1-0 defeat and a goalless draw, are third in the pool standings with only one point.

Full Story: Morocco Times - Atlas Lions grasp at straws.

Tags: Morocco, Fes, Maghreb, news

Hamas victory and the rush to judgment

Today we woke up and the sky was a different color. We have entered a new era - Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat, of Fatah.

While many Palestinians who have been disillusioned with a Fatah weakened by divisions and corruption allegations and yearning for change are celebrating the landslide victory, the blogosphere and the mainstream media seem to be in a rush to judgment over the win by Hamas in the Palestinian elections.

The Ottawa Citizen published an article today headed Hamas won't change its spots, by Barry Rubin... "Why should we believe that Hamas will do anything other than murdering thousands of people and installing a terrible dictatorship over Palestinians? Well, there's always naive wishful thinking."

The Blogger News Network was frankly horrified:

If you've ever said that it's not the Palestinian people that hate Israel, just their government...

...if you've ever said that the Palestinians just want to live in peace with the Jewish state...

... if you've ever had any illusions about what it would take to get peace between Arabs and Jews in the Middle East...

...this is your wake-up call.

Palestine Blogs was slightly hopeful... "I believe that since Palestinians are all alone facing their destiny with no one ever being able to stop their suffering, then it�s only Palestinians who have the right to choose their representatives. Let�s give Hamas a chance, and hope that things will become better� I know I sound extremely optimistic, but let�s wait and see!"

Beshara Doumani from the Department of History at Berkeley, writing in the hikm: an attempt at wisdom blog sees that ... "On the regional level, Hamas� victory is part of a larger trend of the ascendance of political Islam via the iconic vehicle of the secular liberal political order of the Enlightenment: the ballot box. The incredible scenes of women supporters of the Muslim Brothers in Egypt scaling walls in order to reach polling stations sealed off by police sent in to prevent a certain electoral defeat of the ruling government party, reveals a great deal about the determination of Islamist political parties that have swept to victories in many other countries, including Iraq and the limited municipal elections in Saudi Arabia."

Ed Lasky writing in The American Thinker says that Hamas will not moderate when in power: "When Hezbollah became part of the Lebanese government it only emboldened them. Now Hamas looks set to become the leading Parliamentary party in the Palestinian areas and will likely assume control of the region."

In a well-reasoned piece Sabbah ( Back to Nowhere ) points out that Hamas has no experience in running a government. Fatah, he says "...must have learned by now that they need a new blood to run the field. They failed miserably in all what they did in the past few years". He also draws attention to the fact that "While this is the situation in Palestine, we have to keep in mind that this elections represent ONLY Palestinians inside Palestine. Not a single vote was cast by millions of Palestinian living in the Diaspora. This is another lesson Fateh should learn".

The Israelis and Americans appear horrified by the outcome of a democratic vote, yet there are other voices in the Arab world who appear to be taking a more cautious "wait and see" approach.


Queen Rania of Jordan (who is of Palestinian origin):

"It remains to be seen how Hamas will step up to the plate now they're in a position of responsibility: Whether they will pursue a peaceful track and change their course or whether they will remain focused on the ideology they've propagated in the past."



Afghan President Hamid Karzai:

"If the people of Palestine have expressed their will by voting for Hamas, we should respect that will, and give Hamas a chance to prove itself while in government." He also urged Hamas to have what he called "the courage" to treat Israel as a nation which has an equal right to exist as the Palestinians do. And he called on Israel to treat the Palestinians as a nation, and to try to live with them as well.

Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf:

"Let's give Hamas a chance. If Hamas was the organization obstructing peace previously, they may be the organization to have the power to reach for peace also."
He also stated that previous politicians who had been considered warmongers by Muslims, notably Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon, had transformed themselves into peacemakers.


Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman, Hamid Reza Asefi:

"The Islamic Republic of Iran congratulates Hamas and all the Palestinian soldiers and the great Islamic people. The Palestinians have voted for the resistance and have shown their loyalty. The allies of the Zionist regime must closely examine the evolution of the region and open their eyes to the undisputable realities of the Middle East. The result of these elections will reinforce the unity of the Palestinian people in defending their rights. The massive participation of the Palestinians shows their will to continue the struggle and resistance against occupation."

The reaction from the European Union has been more guarded, though not openly dismissive. The EU, the biggest provider of aid to the Palestinian Authority, said it would work with any Palestinian government that is committed to peace.

"We are happy to work with any government if that government is prepared to work by peaceful means," said external relations commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner in a statement.

"In holding competitive and credible elections the Palestinians have shown their commitment to determine their political future via democratic means," she added.



TIME FOR CAUTION.

There is no doubt that the Hamas landslide has shifted the balance of power in the West Bank and Gaza Strip away from the Fatah Party that has dominated Palestinian life for four decades. Yet the transition will not be without incident.

Across Gaza and the West Bank, thousands of Hamas supporters, marched, danced and sang in the streets, firing guns in the air in celebration. Streets in Hamas strongholds were awash in the group's hallmark green banner. Within hours of the victory Fatah official, Abu Ali Shaheen, was predicting heightened friction between Fatah and Hamas. Hamas' members "do not accept the other," he said. "If they don't dominate him and oppress him, then they think of pushing him aside."

Hamas official Naji al-Serhi dismissed such worries.

"We want to reassure all the brothers in the police and the security forces that we will not fire anyone unless they break the law," he said. "We are a disciplined movement...that does not settle scores."

But some trouble was immediate. Fatah loyalists clashed with triumphant Hamas supporters who briefly raised their green flags at the entrance to the Palestinian parliament in Ramallah. Fatah activists trampled on one of the banners when it was lowered. Shots were fired nearby.

We give the last sobering word to Karim Elsahy from the One Arab World blog:

"The terrorist organization has become the government. They can no longer hide under the pretence of splinter guerrilla factions. The next attack will be a formal declaration of war between two nations. Any advantage Hamas may have had under those pretences are now gone. Their old methods don�t stand a chance in this new paradigm shift."

Tags: Morocco, Palestine, Hamas Victory, news

100 days of detention, 100 days of hope

Abdelkrim Mouhafidi and Abderrahim Boualam, abducted in Iraq by Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, and today marks their first 100 days in detention. Petitions have circulated and behind the scenes diplomats have been doing their best to locate the pair. There is no word of their fate and yet Moroccans and others around the world continue to pray for their release. Link to the latest story below.

Go to source: Maghreb Arabe Presse: Moroccan hostages in Iraq:

Tags: Morocco, Fes, Maghreb, news

EU council ready to support Morocco's democratic reforms

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe is ready to support the democratic reforms programme ushered in Morocco, EU senior officials Bruno Haller and Mateo Sorinas stated after a meeting with Justice and Reconciliation Commission (IER) chairman Driss Benzekri in Strasbourg, France, Tuesday (24 January). Moroccan efforts towards law, human rights and civil and individual liberties are in line with EU council actions, said Haller, hailing the "unprecedented" experience of the IER, set up to look into and settle past rights abuses in Morocco between 1956 and 1999.

The EU Council can support Morocco in human right education and legislative reforms, notably in terms of fighting torture and ill-treatments," Haller said, underlining that the two parties "will further develop and consolidate" their co-operation. Sorinas said the IER's actions should have external support and called for closer relations between Moroccan and European members of parliament to promote a culture of tolerance based on respect of human rights.

Tags: Morocco, Fes, Maghreb, news

"Condom Culture" accusation from Islamists

The Inter Press Service in Rome is reporting that a telethon to raise AIDS awareness has caused a dispute between religious groups and other parts of society.

"The telethon held up use of condoms as the best way to protect oneself from HIV," said a long article in the PJD daily Attajdid (The Revival). In promoting use of the condom, the association was "copying foreign programmes and trying to implement them in Moroccan society without regard to Morocco as an Islamic country." The article condemned the organisers over "the condoms used in the telethon were designed by a French architect who had been brought to Morocco especially for this."

The article went on to say that; "fidelity to religion and marriage" are the way to fight AIDS, which it described as "divine punishment".

Such suggestions have been strongly challenged. "This is neither new nor accidental in our political and community life," writer Mohamed Janboubi told IPS. His recent work 'Marabouts in Morocco' shows that ancient religious leaders in Morocco fought against fundamentalism and obscurantism has been a bestseller in Morocco.

Read the full article here: Civil 'War' Over Condoms

Tags: Morocco, Fes, Maghreb, news

Update on the Fes Sacred Music Festival

According to the latest press release from the Festival...

From 3 to 7 June, at the Batha Museum , the colloquium �Les Rencontres de Fes: Giving Soul to Globalisation" will take place for the 6 th time. More than a hundred participants from all over the world will meet over five days to speak of their experiences and to define perspectives of hope by way of dialogue between cultures and conflict resolution.

We invite you to take a look at the five themes that will be presented.

At the round tables and in the workshops that are part of the ‘Rencontres’, we are particularly pleased to welcome award- winning filmmaker Wim Wenders, as well as Benjamin Barber, Leila Chahid, Katherine Marshall, Abdou Filali Ansari, Pierre Rabhi, Nicolas Hulot and many more personalities who are passionate about the protection of human values …

LINK: Fez Sacred Music Festival program details

Tags: Morocco, Fès, Maghreb, news

Morocco's Equity and Reconciliation Commission - Update

The Moroccan government must be very happy with both the political and media coverage that has followed the release of Morocco's Equity and Reconciliation Commission report.

Overwhelmingly it has been positive. While nobody claims there is still not a lot of work to be done, the steps taken by Morocco have set it on a path that few other Islamic states have embarked.

The latest article on the Commission comes from Georgie Anne Geyer who has a fine reputation for her opinion pieces on foreign affairs issues.

Her piece is worth reading. You will find it here: MOROCCO'S TRANSITION A MODEL FOR MIDDLE EAST AND BEYOND

Links to our earlier coverage:

THE VIEW FROM FEZ: Truth Commission Findings.

THE VIEW FROM FEZ: Equity and Reconciliation Commission get regional thumbs up.

THE VIEW FROM FEZ: King's address: full text

THE VIEW FROM FEZ: King's call for "collective forgiveness"

Tags: Morocco, Fès, Maghreb, news

Evangelical missionaries in Morocco

The general disquiet in Moroccan society about American evangelism appears to be justified. It is time the evangelists realised that respecting each others religious beliefs is important - as is respecting the laws of the country you are living in.

Photo: Morocco Times

Last week the Moroccan daily al-Ittihad al-Ichtiraki reported that police in Marrakech had recently seized documents which confirm the existence of a secret evangelical group operating in the city. The documents were seized in the apartment in Yacoub al-Mansour neighbourhood where an alleged foreign missionary lived with his wife and two daughters. The report claims that the missionary vanished when he learned that police were coming to interview him. Sources say that the seized documents reveal the existence of secret spiritual schools in Gu�liz, and al-Inara (central Marrakech) set up to teach Moroccans the concepts of Christianity.

According to the 2004 International Religious Freedom report, the Moroccan Constitution provides for freedom of religion, and the Government generally respects this right in practice, there are some restrictions. For example, proselytizing is forbidden in Morocco with the result that any attempt to induce a Muslim to convert is illegal.

According to Article 220 of the Moroccan Penal Code, any attempt to stop one or more persons from the exercise of their religious beliefs or from attendance at religious services is unlawful and may be punished by 3-6 months' imprisonment and a fine of $10 to $50 (115 to 575 dirhams). The article applies the same penalty to "anyone who employs incitements to shake the faith of a Muslim or to convert him to another religion."

In today's Morocco Times, Karima Rhanem has a detailed article looking at the recent developments and also events last year when the debate on Moroccan Christians reached its peak when the Moroccan authorities deported a South African pastor.

Read Karima Rhanem's report here: Evangelical missionaries in Morocco back in the limelight.

See the flow on from this post: Blogger on the warpath.

Love the Lord but Burn Evangelists at the Stake.

Tags: Morocco, Evangelism, Maghreb, news

Moroccan Torture Charges - Turkish press claims

On the same day that Dick Marty, the Swiss senator investigating into alleged CIA secret prisons in Europe, claimed that there is evidence the US “outsourced torture�? to other countries and it is likely that European governments knew about it, the Turkish press was reporting Moroccan security forces as have arrested 31 of their own colleagues in the police and prison administration on charges of torture. The Turkish press (Turkish Daily News- Ankara) said they were quoting a Moroccan a justice ministry spokesman. "They face legal action under the new law banning torture," said the official, who asked not to be named, explaining that the 17 police officers, nine prison officials and five gendarmes were picked up last year. The kingdom was the first Arabic-speaking nation to introduce legislation outlawing torture, which was passed by parliament in October 2005. The law provides for prison terms of between five and 15 years for anyone convicted of the offense. "The ministry will see that everything is done to prevent such abuse by the agents of the authorities and if it is established that any one of them has broken the law, he will be pursued for it," the official said.

While The View from Fez can not substantiate this report we do note that Justice Minister Cemil Cicek went to Morocco on Saturday evening as the guest of Moroccan Justice Minister Mohamed Bouzoubaa.

Speaking to reporters before his departure in Istanbul, Cicek said that the Moroccan Justice Minister visited Turkey a short time ago. ''We will sign a protocol on judicial cooperation,'' Cicek added.

Moroccan Justice Minister Mohamed Bouzoubaa welcomed Cicek when he arrived in Rabat, Morocco late Saturday. Noting that the judicial cooperation protocol would be signed on Monday, Bouzoubaa said that the protocol urged cooperation in countering terrorism and organized crime.

Cicek's visit will last three days.

Tags: Morocco, Fes, Maghreb, news

The Century of Women

Today's editorial in the Morocco Times by the veteran Moroccan journalist and columnist, Omar Alaoui (pictured left), comments on the rise of women to power around the globe. Alaoui is an interesting character in the Moroccan media.

Coming from Habous in Casablanca, Alaoui has been a working journalist for some 40 years and has a reputation for independence and a mischievous style.

It seems that the beginning of this century, despite all the hurricanes, earthquakes, and the spread of terrorism, is laden with good news and beautiful surprises. The best of these is the advances that women all over the world have achieved, irrespective of race, ethnicity or colour.

.... Therefore, this century might be a feminine one. I wish them more advancement.

Read the editorial: The century of women

Tags: Morocco, Fes, Maghreb, news

Moroccan News Briefs - #17

Moroccan News Briefs published in The View From Fez draw on open source material, contributions from readers, as well as material from Maghreb Arabe Presse (MAP), Morocco Times and official Moroccan Government press releases.

Morocco to unveil its plan for Western Sahara in April

Morocco is planning to submit a proposal in April to grant autonomy to Western Sahara. An unnamed Moroccan source close to the situation told Reuters, "Morocco will certainly present a paper (in April) in the framework of autonomy, but not independence. The UN has stated that it would welcome any Moroccan proposal in this direction".

The Moroccan government has repeatedly said it had a new plan to unblock the diplomatic impasse over Western Sahara, but it has never set a date for unveiling it. The UN Security Council has regularly adopted resolutions pressing Morocco and the Polisario to resolve their three-decade long impasse.

Spain requested to ban 'Polisario criminals'.

The chairman of the Association des disparus victimes du Polisario, Dahi Agay, sent a letter on Monday to the Spanish Foreign Ministry asking to ban Polisario torturers Spanish territory.

The letter, a copy of which was sent to the Moroccan News Agency office in Madrid, said alleged torturers such as Brahim Ghali, delegate of the Polisario separatist movement in Madrid, have to be banned from staying in Spain.

Agay said he was "pained by the welcome and support Spain gives to the torturers who victimize the true sons of the Sahara."

The Algeria-backed Polisario has been inflicting untold suffering to Sahrawis living in the camps of Tindouf, south-west Algeria, after the populations were lured into the camps in mid seventies by false propaganda and the movement's claim to separate the Moroccan southern provinces, known as the Sahara, from the motherland.

The southern provinces were retrieved in 1975 by Morocco from the Spanish rule in line with the Madrid accords signed by Spain, Morocco and Mauritania.

The association for the disappeared victims of the Polisario said the presence on the Spanish territory of Polisario criminals is abnormal and an offence that does not honour a democratic country, such as Spain that paid a high price for freedom?".

It denounces alleged Polisario criminals such as Brahim Ghali, Lincolon EL Mahjoub, Ahmeddou Ould Bad, Mohamed Louchaa Oubeid, Omar Boulsan Ould Salek and Mouilid Lahcen and other alleged torturers representing the separatist movement in Spain.

"We ask Spain, in line with resolutions and reports of international
organisations, such as Amnesty International, to ban these torturers from staying on its territory and that they are brought to justice?," the association said.

Three Brits awarded Alaouite Wissam

Three British personalities from the world of business received Moroccan royal decorations in recognition of their efforts in reinforcing friendship and cooperation ties between Morocco and Great Britain.

Josef J. Gaggero, president of the British airliner, GB Airways, and chairman of the British Moroccan Society, was awarded the Alaouite Wissam with the rank of commander, Jim Furlong, president of the Sunways company, and Annie Austin, director of CLM Limited were both awarded the Alaouite Wissam with the rank of officer. The Wissams were handed by the Moroccan ambassador in London, Mohamed Belmahi.

"Under the enlightened leadership of HM King Mohammed VI, Morocco achieves significant progress in all fields, especially in tourism," underlined Gaggero, who said he was honored by the royal decoration.

Annie Austin said that, by its strategic location, its culture and its multiple potentials, Morocco is a very promising market in tourism.

Furlong expressed the conviction that the reforms introduced in Morocco will surely attract more Irish investors.

African Union Summit opens in Khartoum

The 6th ordinary Summit of the African Union (AU) opened today in the Sudanese capital Khartoum amid controversy over Sudan's candidacy for the presidency of the Union. During the two-day summit, African leaders will discuss critical issues, especially the Darfur conflict.

The country hosting the Union's summit traditionally becomes the next head of the body. But most analysts expect the long lasting problem in the Darfur area could prevent president Omar el-Beshir (pictured above) from gaining the chairmanship.

Full Story: Morocco Times.

Tags: Morocco, Fes, Maghreb, news

Morocco fight for survival

Morocco's 2004 African Nations Cup finalists could find themselves making an ignominious early exit at the hands of host nation Egypt on Tuesday.

With Ivory Coast expected to comfortably beat Libya and reach six points in the day's earlier game, Group A's two slots in the quarter-finals could be wrapped up if Egypt notch their second win of the tournament.

Morocco are an attractive side going forward, moving smoothly through the gears with their neat short-passing game from midfield. But they paid a high price for a lack of finishing in their 1-0 weekend defeat by the Ivorians and will need to make the most of what looks a more suspect defence.

While Arsenal's Ivorian defensive pair Kolo Toure and Emmanuel Eboue were kept busy tackling and charging down most of Morocco's attacks, Egypt's defenders made a number of unforced errors in their 3-0 win over the Libyans on Friday.

Morocco's French-born striker Marouane Chamakh will doubtless provide a sterner test for a home team who view the support of their own fans as very much a double-edged sword.

Though euphoric in victory, the pressure they exert during games can be a real handicap to their players' performances and they may not be patient at Cairo's International Stadium on Tuesday.

Egypt's hopes rest on the broad shoulders of talismanic striker Mido, scorer of their first goal at the tournament and whose missed penalty led to their third in the ensuing melee.

Though relieved to have made a winning start, Mido made it clear that not too much could be read into their win over a shaky Libya side who finished with 10 men.

Tags: Morocco, Fès, Maghreb, news

Moroccan News Briefs - #16

Moroccan News Briefs published in The View From Fez draw on open source material, contributions from readers, as well as material from Maghreb Arabe Presse (MAP), Morocco Times and official Moroccan Government press releases.

Canary Islands seek "neighbourhood plan" with Morocco

The Canary Islands is seeking $121 million to develop the "Great Neighbourhood Plan" with Morocco. The programme will promote co-operation with Morocco in various fields and contribute to reduce illegal immigration.

At the end of a meeting with Benita Ferrero-Waldner, the European Commissioner in charge of foreign relations and neighborhood policy, Martin Menis said this program will promote cooperation with Morocco in various fields and contribute to reduce illegal immigration.He also stressed that the EU should promote co-operation and humanitarian aid policies in sub-Saharan Africa and to develop the "Great Neighbourhood Plan" suggested by the European Commission in May 2004.

Cited by the Canary Islands news agency “ACN”, Martin Menis recalled that the European policy of neighborhood cannot be carried out beyond Morocco, pointing out that the European Union should promote cooperation and humanitarian aid policy to guarantee development in the sub-Saharan Africa.

Morocco denies secret interrogation reports.

On Saturday the government of Morocco denied reports that the country had taken in al-Qaida suspects for secret interrogations by the CIA.

The Moroccan weekly, Le Journal Hebdomadaire, reported that two private planes had landed at the Sale military base near the capital, Rabat, in late December and early January, carrying suspected al-Qaida members sent by the U.S. intelligence agency.

"We categorically deny this information," Interior Minister Mustapha Sahel( pictured left) said, and added that he was "indignant about this type of irresponsible information aimed at sowing trouble."

He also underlined "with regret that the publication of this erroneous and partial information falls under the newspaper's line, which is characterised particularly by aggressiveness and the will to mislead."

The General Inspector of the Royal Armed Forces, General Abdelaziz Bennani also denied these “allegations".

He "regretted that certain newspapers do not check their information before publishing it.”

The private newspaper, Le Journal Hebdomadaire, was legally pursued several times for allegedly making false reports.

The latest lawsuit, which will start next Thursday in Casablanca, opposes the newspaper to the European Strategic Intelligent and Security Center (ESISC), based in Brussels.

ESISC has recently published a study on Morocco, which Le Journal Hebdomadaire described as favourable to Morocco and alleged that arrangements had taken place between the Moroccan authorities and the ESISC.

A Washington Post report in November alleged that the CIA flew terrorism suspects around the world to a network of clandestine prisons. The Council of Europe, Europe's human rights watchdog, is investigating claims that the prisoners were shipped through European airports - in breach of international and national laws.

A Swiss investigator in the case, Dick Marty, said in December that the prisoners held in Europe were hurriedly sent to North Africa - possibly to Morocco - when word of the secret program leaked out. The CIA declined to comment.

The report in Le Journal Hebdomadaire said the planes' "deliveries" to Morocco were then transferred to a detention center run by the Moroccan security agency, known by its French acronym DST, in Temara, just outside the capital.

An Amnesty International report in 2004 accused Moroccan investigators of "systematic" torture and mistreatment of inmates at the Temara detention center.

Morocco's prime minister acknowledged that there were isolated cases of prisoner abuse but promised the government would crack down on such mistreatment.

Morocco is party to the following UN human rights treaties which have corresponding treaty bodies:; the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the United Nations Committee Against Torture, the International Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Racial Discrimination, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Morocco has also signed the Rome Status of theInternational Criminal Court.

Morocco football setback

A controversial penalty converted by Didier Drogba (pictured above) gave the Ivory Coast a 1-0 win over Morocco in the second Group A game at the African Cup of Nations on Saturday. The Elephants were awarded the penalty when Walid Regragui was judged to have dragged down Drogba in the 37th minute. But television replays show that the initial contact was made outside the area. Drogba scored from the spot with a low shot into the left-hand corner that beat Tarik El-Jarmouni, who dived the right way but was unable to get his hand to the ball.

The match was played out in front of an almost empty Cairo International Stadium - a sharp contrast to the turn out for Egypt's win over Libya on Friday. Drogba's goal stung the Moroccans into seeking an equaliser but the Ivorian defence, marshalled by Kolo Toure and Emmanuel Eboue, held firm.

The second half saw Youssef Hadji and Maroune Chamakh initiate a series of spirited attacks. But with Ivorian goalkeeper Jean-Jacques Tizie in fine form, the Moroccans grew increasingly desperate.

The crowd and the man controlling the stadium scoreboard were briefly fooled by a 20-yard strike from Youssef Hadji, which seemed to hit the back of the net - but the ball had actually hit the side netting, to the disappointment of the Moroccan fans.

Morocco are now third in Group A, with zero points and a goal against. Hosts Egypt, who sealed a 3-0 victory over Libya in the tournament's opener on Friday, are group leaders with three points, followed by Côte d'Ivoire on goal difference. The Libyans are at the bottom with no point and three goals against.

The Atlas Lions will take on the Pharaohs on Tuesday in the second match of the group stage, while the Elephants face outsiders Libya on the same day.

“The game against Egypt will be decisive,” Fakher said. “We will have to win if we are to stay on course for a ticket to the coming round. We will join efforts to come out victorious and make a better performance,” the Morocco coach concluded.

Tags: Morocco, Fès, Maghreb, news

Fes Festival of World Sacred Music Program

Here is everything you need to know about the Fez Sacred Music festival! Although the festival site is splendid, at this stage it does not contain a lot of background information, so The View From Fez has done some research for you.

While every effort has been made to give you accurate information, any errors are those of The View From Fez - and you should always refer to the official site. There are further links at the bottom of this post.

The 12th annual Fes Festival of World Sacred Music (2 – 10 June 2006) is titled Harmonies. And, if the provisional programme is anything to go by it should be a wonderful event. Please bookmark this page as we will develop this post as more information comes available. Some details may change, but at the moment the programme is as follows.

Friday 2 June

08:30 p.m. At the Bab Makina
William Christie and Les Arts Florissants (France) - Rameau, Mondonville, Rigel & Mozart.

William Christie, harpsichordist, conductor, musicologist and teacher, is the inspiration behind one of the most exciting musical ventures of the last twenty years. His pioneering work has led to a renewed appreciation of Baroque music in France, notably of 17th and 18th century French repertoire, which he has introduced to an ever-growing audience.

The vocal and instrumental ensemble Les Arts Florissants is one of the most well known and respected early music groups in the world.

Performing in an historically informed manner, the ensemble was founded in 1979 by the Franco-American harpsichordist and conductor William Christie, and takes its name from a short opera by Marc-Antoine Charpentier.


Les Arts Florissants were largely responsible for the resurgence of interest in France in 17th and 18th century French repertoire, and in European music of this period more generally.

Saturday 3 June

04:30 p.m. - At the Batha Museum
Hassan Haffar & Omar Sermini (Syria)
08:30 p.m. - Bab Makina
First part : Keyvan Chemirani - Rhythm of Speech (Iran, India, Mali)
Second part : Abida Parveen (Pakistan)


Hassan Haffar is a Syrian musician whose latest album is "Jardin d'Eden" (Hassan Haffar et les Munssheds d'Alep)He has a wide following in the Arab world as well as in France. Omar Sermini is a disciple of the famous muedhin of Aleppo, Sabri al Mudallal.

Keyvan Chemirani is the son of the zarb player Djamchid CHEMIRANI. Keyvan was born in Paris in 1968 and grew up surrounded by his father's music. At the age of sixteen he started to play with his father. For his fascinating album The Rhythm of Speech, Keyvan Chemirani has gathered together a group of musicians from a wide variety of musical horizons. Through improvisation, Chemirani shows the innate rhythmic connections that exist between disparate languages and musical styles. Featured artists include Neba Solo and Nahawa Doumbia from Mali, Suda Ragunathan from India, Alireza Ghorbani from Iran, Delphine Aguilera from Provence, Erik Marchand from Brittany, Franoise Atlan from Andalucia,Halil Neciboglu and Kudsi Erguner from Turkey and Faiz Ali Faiz from Pakistan.

Abida Parveen is a popular singer of Ghazals, Sufiana kalaam and Punjabi folk. She was born in Larkana, Sindh, Pakistan in 1954. Her father Ghulam Haider, ran a music school. The family was also close to shrines of Sufi saints and she was brought up in the environment of deep mysticism, poetry and music of Sufi saints. She learnt music initially from her father and then from Sham Chorasia gharana master Ustad Salamat Ali khan. Her singing career took off after marriage to Ghulam Hussain Sheikh, senoir producer in Radio Pakistan.

Her style of singing is full throated, almost manly. The strong influence of Begum Akhtar is evident. Her classical background gives her command over ornamentation and control over notes. The intensity she brings to singing makes her a compelling artist.

Abida primarily sings Qawalees, Sindhi & and Punjabi Kafees of great Sufi poets of the past. After the death of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, many consider her the next great mystic singer on the world stage. She is also adept at singing ghazals. An album released by Times Music, Faiz by Abida, made a splash by featuring on the international world music charts. The album was notched at number 12 among the top 20. It features the master poet Faiz Ahmed Faiz's ghazals captured in an exquisite fashion.

Sunday 4 June

04:30 p.m. - At the Batha Museum
Agrupación Música - Missa Criolla (Argentina) - 17th & 18th century music from Latin America.
08:30 p.m. - At the Bab Makina
Fuji Yama Ondekoza: Taiko Drumming from Tokyo (Japan) - Running Drumming and Dancing on the earth.

The original and still the finest of the folk Masses, Missa Criolla by Ariel Ramírez, comes straight from church liturgy. It is a setting of the Ordinary of the Roman Catholic Mass, sung in Spanish. This setting differs from the settings of Palestrina, Bach, Mozart, et al. The principal differences are that this Mass features Argentine, Creole and Bolivian folk dance rhythms, accompanied by authentic instruments. The similarities are that this Mass has the same deeply moving religious prayers and jubilant praises. Agrupación Música was formed by the Argentinean composer Juan Carlos Paz, in Buenos Aires in 1937.

Taiko is the heartbeat of Japan. As percussion instruments are generally the most primitive instrument in any society. The taiko existed and was used in the ancient Japan over 2000 years ago. According to some archeological and anthropological researches, ancient people in the Jyomon era already used drums as a communication tool or an instrument for religious rituals. However, the percussion they used is guessed to be quite different from the one used today.

In 1969 Tagayasu Den founded the group Za Ondekoza on Sado Island located in the northern part of the Japan Sea. The group was totally different from the other groups ever formed. The members were not natives of the island, actually they came from all over Japan, and some of them were youths disaffected with bustling big city life. They lived together in a commune, cultivated fields, and ran a marathon daily. The rigorous physical training seemed to be the group's dogma to create a good sound. In 1975, the sensational event that they performed taiko on stage just after they run the whole Boston Marathon astonished the entire world. Za Ondekoza was credited with the first Japanese group with spreading the taiko music all over the world.

Monday 5 June

04:30 p.m. - At the Batha Museum
Yungchen Lhamo (Tibet)
08:30 p.m. - At the Bab Makina
Curro Piñana - Missa Flamenca (Spain)


Yungchen Lhamo literately means "Chant Divinity". Yungchen has also performed in support of many Tibet organizations, including Tibet House New York, The Milarepa Fund, Students For a Free Tibet, Tibet Relief Fund, Australian Tibet Council, The Dalai Lama Trust New Zealand, AIPLP, the Pema Tsal School in India and for such aid groups as Amnesty International, Walk Against Want, Reebok Human Rights Awards, IUCN and Survival International. At such events, she has performed alongside a variety of luminaries, including Philip Glass, Annie Lennox, Michael Stipe and Sheryl Crow.

Yungchen is currently at work on her much-awaited fourth album, in what promises to be the next chapter in an already exquisite musical career.

Although she spent years in Australia, Yungchen Lhamo now lives and makes music in New York City.

Curro Piñana is the grandson of the flamenco maestro Antonio Piñana has a huge reputation for meticulous and careful performance, as well as working with emotion and commitment. According to one reviewer... "Curro Piñana has found a field that is promising in terms of developing different styles with an abundance of tonalities, using a continuous and generous array of qualities that allow his voice, which is laden with nuances, to stand out with brilliance. Curro Piñana took care of breaking the ice, accompanied on the guitar by his brother Carlos. He began with cartageneras, followed by taranta and soleá which he said "is very close to my heart because the verse is from a great poem by a great poet, Jorge Luis Borges. Among his work there is a very small book titled 'Entre las seis cuerdas', where he tells the story of Alejo Albornoz, a rich man who is stabbed to death"." MISSA FLAMENCA was composed by the flamenco guitar master Paco Peña.

Tuesday 6 June

04:30 p.m. - At the Batha Museum
Jordi Savall: Roots & Memories - Christian, Sephardic and Arabo-Andalous music of the Mediterranean Music. (Spain)
08:30 p.m. - At the Bab Makina
Antonella Ruggiero : Sacramonia with the Arké Quartet (Italy)



JORDI SAVALL, is the most celebrated viola da gambist in the world. His sound track for "Tous le matins du Monde", a film on French composer Marin Marais, starring Gérard Depardieu, brought SAVALL international recognition and sold over half a million copies worldwide.

Jordi Savall was born in Igualada in 1941. At the age of six, he started his musical formation in the school choir of his native city (1947-55). He later completed his formation at the Barcelona Conservatory of Music (cello 1959-65).

Immediately afterwards he began his training in ancient music, collaborating with Ars Musicae and studying at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis in Switzerland (1968-70). In 1974, with his wife, the soprano Montserrat Figueras, and other musicians from different countries, he created Hesperion XX. With this ensemble, he rapidly came to the forefront of the interpretation of medieval, Renaissance and baroque music, and created a new style of interpretation, characterized by great musical vitality and the same time maximum historical fidelity. After living in Switzerland for twenty years, he returned to Barcelona to found La Capela Reial de Catalunya, an ensemble dedicated to the interpretation of vocal music prior to the year 1800. Finally, in 1989 he created the baroque and classic orchestra. Le Concert des Nations. Unanimously recognized as one of the main present day interpreters of the bass viol, during these last twenty years Jordi Savall has carried out an intense activity as a concert performer and director. He has made more than 100 recordings and won numerous distinctions such as the "Grand Prix de I'AcadEmie du Disque Lyrique" 1990. In 1988, he was designated Officer of the "Ordre des Arts et des Lettres" by the French Minister of Culture. In 1990, the Generalitat of Catalunya awarded him the Creu de Sant Jordi.

Since 1973, he has been a teacher at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis. His work in teaching, research and as a concert performer makes him one of the main figures in the process of revaluation of historical music which is happening in Europe during these years.

Jordi Savall (b.1941) is a viol player & conductor from Catalunya. He has been one of the major figures in Early Music since the 1970s, and has been a major exponent of solo viola da gamba performance as well as various innovative approaches to ensemble. His repertory ranges from the medieval era to the French baroque and beyond. In the early music newsgroup, Savall is so popular, he is often referred to as God. In fact, this is something of an "in" joke there. Savall's popularity really took off with the movie Tous les matins du monde, although he was well-known to viola da gamba enthusiasts prior to that.

Italian pop singer Antonella Ruggiero used to sing at parties as a child, his first step to becoming a local star years later. After attending the Fine Arts Academy, the young woman started working as a designer for an advertising company. In 1975, Antonella Ruggiero joined Matia Bazar, a popular vocal group founded by Aldo Stilita, which achieved international recognition in the late '70s. In October of 1989, the singer decided to leave the band. After an inspiring length of time in India, Antonella Ruggiero began her solo career with the release of an album called Libera in 1996. That was followed by 1997's Registrazioni Moderne, produced by Roberto Colombo. It included the song "Per Un'Ora D'Amore," which climbed the most important Italian charts. In 1998, the artist came in second place at San Remo's Festival for singing "Amore Lontanissimo."

In Sacramonia Antonella explores new territories with great power, with music from the sacred repertoir such as... Hail Mary, Kyrie, Missa Luba, Gloria and Missa Criolla.

Wednesday 7 June

At the ancient ruins of Volubilis
First part : Songs of the Brotherhoods of Morocco, Al Bouçairi (Morocco)
Second part : Aygun Baylar- Mystical songs - Mugam from Azerbaijan. (Aïzerbadjan)

Thursday 8 June

04:30 p.m. - At the Batha Museum
Black Voices – Sacred songs A capella (England)
08:30 p.m. - Bab Makina
Enrico Macias et Lotfi Bouchnak (France and Tunisia)

Quietly and gently, informally and gradually, Black Voices was nurtured under the directorship of Carol Pemberton and Bob Ramdhanie. Since 1987, these two friends have steered Black Voices into one of the most solid performance and teaching companies, sharing a cappella, primarily from Africa but also throughout the Diaspora.
The company has been inspired by Sweet Honey in the Rock, Mahalia Jackson, Take Six to name a few, but since inception, has forged its own dynamic way of distilling and re-presenting black music from a Caribbean, black British perspective. Grounded in the black church, the group began presenting a cappella, both sacred and secular, which was always challenging and entertaining. From Gospel to spirituals, Caribbean to African, jazz and blues, Black Voices is firmly rooted in music that energises and uplifts, challenges and educates.
The company hosted and presented its own a cappella series with BBC Radio 2, has performed for radio and television in numerous countries around the world, has produced six CDs, researched, produced, directed and performed in several international collaborations.

Enrico Macias, whose real name is Gaston Ghrenassia, was born on December 11 1938 in Constantine, Algeria, into a Jewish family. He had a normal schooling, but also enjoyed music, particularly the guitar. His father was a violinist in the orchestra of Cheick Raymond Leyris, the great master of Maalouf, the Arab-Andalucian music unique to Constantine. At 15, young Gaston was already a member of this prestigious orchestra, and soon became the heir-apparent to Cheick Raymond.

In the beginning of 2003, Enrico Macias released "Oranges Amères", his latest album produced by his son Jean-Claude Ghrenassia. Featuring the singer’s come-back to the eastern sounds of his early career, the album also proposed lyrics conveying a pacific message. Also entitled "Oranges Amères" and penned by Marc Estève and Art Mengo, the first track set the subtle mix between tradition and modernity that ran throughout the rest of the album.

For the first time in six years, Enrico Macias embarked upon an enthusiastic tour around France to present his new songs to his faithful public. Starting with the Olympia from March 1st to March 9th, he also took part in many summer festivals including the Vieilles Charrues in Carhaix in July.

Along with many other public personalities, he participated in the Women’s March "Ni putes, ni soumises" (Neither a whore, nor a submissive housewife) in order to demonstrate against the rise of sexism and poverty within the French inner cities.

As sales of the album "Oranges amères" topped the 100,000 mark, Enrico kicked off a major autumn tour which included a date at the Zénith in Paris on 15 November. Around this same period Enrico also released a double live album entitled "Live à l'Olympia 2003," which featured a selection of recent hits and old favourites.

Lotfi Bouchnak. Born in Tunis in 1954, Bouchnak is a vocalist, lutist and composer. His music is essentially rooted in the tradition of classical Arabic song, and he is considered by many to be one of the best vocalists in the genre. Bouchnak is a true musician who must be heard to be appreciated.

Friday 9 June

04:30 p.m. - At the Batha Museum
"Sufiyana" Music - Sacred music from Kashmir (India)
08:30 p.m. - At the Bab Makina
Saber Roubai sings Abou al Hassan al Shusturi (Tunisia)

Sufiyana - the core of Sufi thought is for each being to be "in the world, but not of it". To be free from all material aspirations and to to achieve a spiritual experience of intensity and immediacy that transcends conscious striving. Over the centuries, this practice has engendered a vast corpus of poetry articulating the mystical experience and the experience of the mystics.

In Kashmir, the Afghan rulers introduced Sufiyana music has its origin from Iran and was dominant in the early twentieth century.The instruments generally being used are Kashmiri Sontoor, Saze-Kashmir, Kashmiri sitar and Tabla. The leader sings and the accompanist follow and play the instruments also.

The instruments which are generally being used in the Chakri are: Rabab, Sarang (Kashmiri), Natu (the earthenware pot), lately Harmonium and Banjo have been added to it. Chakri is followed by Roff, sung in continuation with Chakri but the tempo is slightly faster.


Saber Roubai has a huge following in the Arab world and is known to give marathon concerts that go on to the very early hours of the morning. He has many cds but information about him in English is unfortunately scant.

Saturday 10 June

04:30 p.m. - At the Batha Museum
Mystical songs of the Women of the Maghreb (Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia)
08:30 p.m. - At the Bab Makina
First part: Cantates (France)
Second part: Salif Keita (Mali)

One of the world music mega-stars, Salif Keita is known as The Golden Voice of Mali.

Salif Keita's unique sound blends the traditional styles of his West African homeland with influences from Cuba, Spain, Portugal, and the Middle East. The instrumentation that accompanies his singing represents a fusion of European and African popular music, ranging from guitar, organ, and sax to traditional African instruments such as the kora, balafon, and djembe, often synthesized and sampled. He has enjoyed a prosperous career not only in his native Mali, where he was awarded the National Order of Guinea by President Ahmed Sekou Toure, but also in Europe and America, where he became well-known after moving to Paris and collaborating with other African pop stars there.

"Happiness isn't for tomorrow. It's not hypothetical, it starts here and now. Down with violence, egoism and despair, stop pessimism. Let's pick ourselves up. Nature has gven us extraordinary things. It's not over yet, nothing's decided. Let's take advantage of the wonders of this continent at last. Intelligently, in our own way, at our own rhythm, like responsible men proud of their inheritance. Let's build the country of our children. And stop taking pity on ourselves. Africa is also the joy of living, optimism, beauty, elegance, grace, poetry, softness, the sun, and nature. Let's be happy to be its sons, and fight to build our happiness."

- Salif Keita, December 2001

*****************************************************************

As well as the main program, there is a secondary festival -The Festival in the City.

It runs from the 3 to 11 June at different venues :

• Bab Boujloud Square : Free concerts of sacred music.
  
  Some of the concerts given at Bab Al Makina are repeated at Bab Boujloud.

• Dar Tazi : Sufi Nights featuring various Sufi Brotherhoods, in a convivial and spiritual atmosphere.

• Youth Hostel of Fès : Art Workshops

• Batha Museum, Bab Boujloud Square and Dar Tazi : Art Exhibition

There will also be film screenings at the Jnan Palace Hotel.

At this stage the provisional program for the Festival in the City will include:

Saturday 3 June

• Fanfare March, Salé Airforce Base
• Naima Samih

Sunday 4 June

• Hamid El Kasri

Monday 5 June

• Ibn Al Arabi Ensemble
• Rachid Gholam Ensemble

Tuesday 6 June

• Youth Talent Show
• Najat Atabou

Wednesday 7 June

• An evening with Azzedine Montasser, accompanied by
  • Amal Abdelkader
  • Fadwa Imalki
  • Ahmed Ibrahim

Thursday 8 June

• Bnet Aichatah: Hassani songs

Friday 9 June

• Fatima Tabaamrant: Amazigh songs

Saturday 10 June

• Evening of Tribute

Sunday 11 June

• Hadda wa aki

LINKS:

Official Festival Site


THE SPIRIT OF FES

THE VIEW FROM FEZ: The Fes Sacred Music Festival

THE VIEW FROM FEZ: More on the Fes Sacred Music Festival

THE VIEW FROM FEZ: Festival Accommodation Shortage!

Tags: Morocco, Fès, Sacred Music, Festival

Sahrij & Sbaiyin Madrassa Complex - Responsible Tourism

In a comment to yesterday's post about the funding for renovation of the Sahrij and Sbaiyin Madrassas, David wrote: One shocking thing I noticed when I was there yesteday is that tourists are breaking off pieces of the original zellij mosaic from the walls to take as souvenirs. Much is missing that was there six months ago. Something needs to be done to stop this...

There have been too many recent cases of vandalism and in some cases outright theft of cultural artifacts. If you are a tourist visiting the medina of Fez, please act responsibly and if you do see incidents of theft or vandalism, please report them to the authorities. The medina is our common heritage. Let's preserve, conserve and protect it, together.



Sahrij and Sbaiyin Madrassas

Symbols of dynastic piety and power, the Sahrij and Sbaiyin Madrassas were commissioned in 1321 and 1323, respectively, by the Merinid Crown Prince Abu al-Hassan. The madrassa complex served as a boarding house where scholars lived, studied, and prayed in close proximity to the Andalous Mosque, one of the most important religious centers in the Fez Medina.

Today, the complex is plagued by mold and vegetation growth, a result of poor drainage and ground water infiltration. Frequent seismic tremors have spread floors and separated walls. Masonry columns buckle precariously into the central court of the Sahrij, destroying the veneer of decorative plaster and carved wood clinging to their surfaces. While the Sahrij still houses a few dozen scholars, the Sbaiyin is sealed to keep out squatters. Debris covers the marble floor; rusted scaffolding supports the sagging rooftop terrace. A feasibility study for the restoration of the buildings is underway. Following restoration, the Sahrij Madrassa will continue to function as a school while the Sbaiyin Madrassa will be used as an exhibition space.

Tags: Morocco, Fès, Maghreb, news

Moroccan film nominated British Academy Film Award

"Le Grand Voyage" by Moroccan Ismaël Ferroukhi is among the nominees in the non-English language category of the 2006 Orange British Academy Film Awards. French films "The Beat That My Heart Skipped" by Jacques Audiard and "Merry Christmas" by Christian Carion, Chinese film "Kung Fu Hustle" by Jeff Lau and "Tsotsi" by South African Gavin Hood are also nominated in the category. The official opening ceremony of the Orange British Academy Film Awards will be held at the Odeon Leicester Square in London



Tags: Morocco, Cinema, Maghreb, news

Andalusian Music Festival in Fez - De la musique andalouse à Fès

The 11th Andalusian Music Festival will open in Fez on Jan. 26, under the theme: Andalusian music between the past and the future.

Dedicated to the late Haj Mohammed Touizi, the event, organised by the urban commune of Fez, will gather a number of artists, musicologists and university researchers in this kind of music, said the organizers of the festival during a press conference held on Thursday in Rabat.

Many orchestras will participate. These include Mohammed Labrihi orchestra directed by Anas El Attar, Chabab Al Andalous directed by Mohammed Amin Doubli, Abdelkrim Raiss orchestra directed by Mohammed Briouel.

Participants will also include El Baat orchestra, the orchestra of Tetuan conservatory and the orchestra of Tangier conservatory directed by Abdelfatah Benmoussa, Mehdi Chaachoue and Ahmed Zitouni respectively.

The event also features a colloquium themed “Moroccan Andalusian Music between the past and the present” and Master Classes in which students from Sidi Mohammed Ben Abdallah University (Fez), Al Akhawayn University (Ifrane) and the Fez conservatory will participate.

The festival is initiated in collaboration with the Wilaya of Fez-Boulemane and the council of the Fez prefecture. The organisers said that they decided to pay tribute to Haj Mohammed Touizi, who passed away in 2005, for his exceptional Andalusian music performance.

La 11ème édition du Festival de la musique andalouse, initiée par la commune urbaine de la capitale spirituelle du Royaume, aura lieu du 26 au 28 janvier à Fès sous le thème "La musique andalouse entre le passé et l'avenir". Dédiée au ténor de la musique andalouse, feu Haj Mohamed Touizi, cette édition réunira un panel hétéroclite d'artistes, des universitaires et des représentants du monde des arts et de la culture.

Tags: Morocco, Fès, Maghreb, news

Sahrij and Sbaiyin Madrassas to be restored

In very welcome news to those of us who are committed to the restoration of the Medina of Fez, American Express announced it is donating USD 75.000 for the rehabilitation of the Sahrij and Sbaiyin Madrassas complex in the historic Medina of Fez. We understand that a huge amount of effort was put into obtaining the funding by Bonnie Kaplan, who has worked very hard for several years on a grant to save these two medersas. Our congratulations to you Bonnie.

Sahrij Madrasa

This first part of a bigger financial assistance was given to the World Monuments Funds to safeguard and revamp the architectural heritage of the two Madrassas, dating back to the Merinid era.

The emergency aid was made to preserve the two historical Koranic schools which were listed in the 2004 World Monument Watch list of 100 Most Endangered Sites.

The rehabilitation works are to be made by the Moroccan Commission in charge of historical sites of the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), a world professional association working for the protection of monuments and cultural heritage.



Madrassas or Islamic schools were established throughout the Arab world. They were inspired by the schools established in Baghdad. The first Madrassas in Morocco were founded by the Merinid sultans. They were Islamic colleges with boarding facilities. The syllabi was heavily based on the study of Islamic thought and the Koran, but also included the Arabic language, astronomy, mathematics and medicine.


There are many Madrassas in Fez, the most important is Bou Inania, built in the mid 14th century by Sultan Abu Inan, the first ruler of the Marinid Dynasty. The El Attarine Madrassa was built in the 14th century by the Marinid Sultan Abu Said. Sahrij Madrassa is another Koranic school in Fez. It was built in 1321 and named after its ablution pool (or sahrij in Arabic). Madrassa Sbaiyin was built in 1323.

The World Monument Watch was set up in 1995 at the Initiative of American Express with a USD 10Mn budget for ten years.

It is to be hoped that other major businesses will follow the example of American Express.

Tags: Morocco, Fes, Maghreb, news

Thermal imaging camera in Casablanca airport to prevent bird flu

Next time you enter Morocco through Casablanca's Mohammed V International airport, expect to be caught on camera. No, its not a talent quest or a new form of drug detection, but rather the latest use of technology to step up the war on Avian influenza.

The View From Fez understands that the system is designed for mass screening of public areas for individuals with elevated body temperatures. As a group of people walk past the camera head a thermal image is displayed. Body temperatures above a predefined value, such as a fever, can be visually identified and then further assessed by medical personnel.

The dynamic real time thermal imaging camera system that is capable of evaluating hundreds of people a minute, so pedestrian flow is not restricted.

Several thermal imaging cameras have been installed at the airport to "detect bird flu among passengers and prevent the disease entry" to Morocco, Health Minister, Mohamed Cheikh Biadillah announced.

"Faced with the geographical spread of the virus, Morocco has taken additional drastic measures," the minister told the French-speaking daily "L'Economiste," underlining that the epidemiological situation in Morocco is "normal both for avifauna and husbandry as well as for humans."

He reassured that the "virus does not transmit, up to now, between humans," noting that Morocco, which has already chosen the vaccine prototype against the virus in case it mutates, "has ordered 1 million doses from Pasteur Institute."

On Tuesday, a meeting gathered the inter-ministry committee together to fight bird flu. The meeting was chaired by Prime Minister, Driss Jettou.

In a statement to the press, Biadillah had said that “the check up of poultry and migratory birds raises no concerns,” ensuring that there is a “pre-emption for vaccination and hygiene measures.”

Earlier the Minister had said "The situation of bird flue in Morocco is very calm," but the evolution of the disease at the international scene requires reinforcing the surveillance measures of migratory birds.

For his part, the high commissioner for water and forest, Abdelaadim El Hafi, affirmed that “up to now, there is no indication as to the possible presence of bird flu (in Morocco),” as attested by analyses and samplings, he said.

Internationally, the disease has claimed, since it was first documented in 2003, 79 lives around the world, and some 148 cases tested positive to H5N1 virus.

The Pledging Conference on Avian and Human Influenza is convening, as of Tuesday, in a two-day meeting in Beijing to secure funding for avian and pandemic influenza control and preparedness.

Tags: Morocco, Fès, Maghreb, news

Writing without Veils

On 21 January a conference will be held in Turin called "Writing Without Veils: Words and Women from the Maghreb to Iran" will be attended by 20 female literary figures from North Africa and the Middle East. It will precede the award ceremony of the International Premio Grinzane Cavour Award for Literature, which is being bestowed this year to Algerian writer and filmmaker Assia Djebar.



The Algerian novelist, translator, and filmmaker, is one of North-Africa's best-known and most widely acclaimed writers. Djebar has also published poetry, plays, and short stories, and has produced two films. In her books Djebar has explored the struggle for social emancipation and the Muslim woman's world in its complexities. Her strong feminist stance has earned her much praise. Several of her works deal with the impact of the war on women's mind.

"Just so I could have worries that never change whether it's peace or wartime, so I could wake up in the middle of the night and question myself on what it is that sleeps in the depths of the heart of the man sharing my bed... Just so I could give birth and weep, for life never comes unaccompanied to a woman, death is always right behind, furtive, quick, and smiling at the mothers..." (from 'There Is No Exile' in Women in Their Apartments, 1980)

Premio Grinzane Cavour President Giuliano Soria describes the conference: "The purpose of the Turin conference is to foster greater knowledge of Arab and Islamic culture in Italy, from a female perspective, transcending widespread stereotypes that prevail in Western countries".

Premio Grinzane Cavour was established in 1982 by Chairman Giuliano Soria, in the most authentic heart of Piedmont, Italy, firstly in Alba and then in Turin, with the institutional intent of drawing young readers closer to books. Seat of the Award is the Grinzane Cavour castle, built in the first half of the 13th century, home during this past century to the great Italian statesman, Camillo Benso di Cavour. Objective of the Award is to privilege schools and students, spreading the pleasure of reading books not strictly related to school curricula. This is where the idea two panels - the critics and the students - was born.

Literary critics, essayists, writers, journalists and Italian cultural world personalities are called to assess the competing books. Students play a leading role: organised in seventeen School Panels, members are recruited in high schools throughout Italy, in Italian Lyceums in Brussels, Buenos Aires, Fiume, Paris and Prague, in the Italian Studies Institute at the universities of Moscow, Salamanca (Spain), Connecticut (USA) and Stockholm.

Faithful to this democratic mechanism, the event fulfils the institutional objective. The central issue of reading is not about "selling more books" but about encouraging reading. Premio Grinzane aims at facilitating and proposing a new way of living and perceiving reading, well aware that the award's maximum justification is creating new readers.

Tags: Morocco, Algeria, Maghreb, literature

Atlas and Rif mountains blocked by snow

For the past two days snow has blocked several roads in the Rif and Atlas mountains, in north and central Morocco. A communiqué from the Transports Ministry said that between 15 to 40 cm fell in these regions on January 16 and 17.

The snow fell on more than 1,710 km of roads, including 347 km of main routes, the communiqué said adding notably that the roads linking Chefchaouen and Al Hoceima, (North) Marrakech and Ouarzazate, (South) Imouzer and Ifrane, El Hajeb and Midelt (Center) were closed to traffic.

The Ministry said the 13 territorial relevant services in these regions are clearing the snow to return road traffic to normal and advising drivers and people to be cautious when traveling.

The services have maintained traffic flow on the main routes and organized convoys to prevent cars being stranded in other roads, the Ministry said.

Tags: Morocco, Fès, Atlas, news

Morocco's Volubilia named world best olive oil

Volubilia Olive oil from the Meknès-Tafilalet region has been named "The World Best Olive Oil Extra-virgin of the Year", said a communiqué from the National School of Agriculture in Meknès (138Km east of Rabat).

The prize is given by the Italian Guide Extravergine 2006, which awards the world best certified quality olive oils, said the document, noting that the tasting panel had selected 459 olive oils among 3,000 samples from Europe, North Africa, East of the Mediterranean, South Africa and Latin America.

The Guide also set up a top 15 of world olive oils.

Volubilia olive carries more than 200 years of tradition, as can be testified still today by Historical landmark "Volubilis" a few miles away from where this oil is produced.

Volubilis was a Roman settlement constructed on what was probably a Carthaginian city, dating from 3rd century BC. Volubilis was a central administrative city for this part of Roman Africa, responsible for the grain producing in this fertile region, and exports to Rome.

The historical site include remains of the olive oil presses that made Volubilis wealthy. Olive trees grow in the nearby hills - and in profusion throughout much of Morocco - and olives and olive oil are important to the Moroccan diet and the country's economy.

Located at the steps of Middle Atlas –800 meters high–, the olive trees benefit from pure air, rich soil and a temperate and mild climate which confer to Moroccan oil its typical taste. The oil is obtained from best selection of the olives, hand-picked and pressed immediately by a modern temperature controlled system.

Tags: Morocco, Fès, Meknes, news

Global Voices Maroc blog roundup

Just a reminder to check out Farah Kinani's weekly look at the Moroccan blogosphere.

Fatwas and Tragedies

Tags: Morocco, Fès, Maghreb, news

Ice hockey in Morocco!

Morocco becomes first North African nation to set up ice hockey club, build ice skating arena in Rabat.

Morocco, where summer temperatures reach a scorching 40 degrees, has become the first North African nation to set up an ice hockey club and build an ice skating arena.

The team will be known as the Rabat Capitals with the stadium built at the Mega Moll here, the largest commercial and leisure centre in the country.

"The goal of the ice hockey team is to eventually play against foreign teams," club president Mimoun Lamrini said.

The team will play its first fixture on February 8 in an international tournament in Quebec, marking the first time either an African or Arab Muslim side had taken part.

Tags: Morocco, Fès, Maghreb, news

Archaeological Museum for Rabat

The Moroccan French language daily Aujourd'hui Le Maroc is reporting that the old buildings of the Ministry of Communication in Rabat are to be converted into an archaeological museum. The newspaper quoted as a source Mohamed Achaari, the Minister of Culture.

The project is said to have been submitted recently for examination by the Technical Study Bureau (BET) Pyramide-Ingénierie. This office is entrusted with carrying out studies on the structure, electricity, plumbing, air conditioning and so on.

According to the minister, the construction of the museum will start in February of this year.

This archaeological museum project is one of several other cultural building projects, including the Museum of Contemporary Art, the National Library, and the Higher Institute of Music and Choreographic Arts.

An archaeological museum already exists in Rabat. It covers all the periods, from prehistoric to Islamic sites and discoveries.


Tags: Morocco, Rabat, Maghreb, news

Moroccan Human Rights call for Press Freedom

The independant Moroccan Human Rights Association has announced it will be marking a day of solidarity with the independent Press in Morocco, which is exposed to what it described as a "systematic campaign" and use of judiciary to settle matters with it. The association has called on all democratic forces to support and back the Press.

According to the Moroccan Government there are four main Moroccan Associations for the Defence of Human Rights: Since 1972, four associations have been established so far, and are now very active in the field of Human Rights. These are : Moroccan Human Rights League (1972), Moroccan Human Rights Association (1979), Moroccan Human Rights Organization (1988), Committee for the Defence of Human Rights (1992). In addition, the Moroccans Lawyers' Association has always been very active in the field of Human Rights.

Noor Aldeen Moftah, editor of the independent weekly newspaper Al Ayam will appear before a court in Casablanca on January 23 after the Public Prosecution referred the file of a case on the insult of top government figures as well as publication of false news. The paper was sued for carrying out an investigative report on the secrets of palace women during the reign of three kings, as well as publishing pictures of royal family members.

Abdul Aziz Kokas, editor of the New Weekly was sued for publishing an interview with the fundamentalist activist Nadia Yaseen, daughter of the general supervisor of the semi-banned Justice and Benovelence Group, in which she called for the setting up of a republican regime instead of a royal one. Kokjas and Yaseen stood trial in Rabat last June in the presence of members of the group, journalists, and representatives of himan rights organisations.

Idris Shahtan, editor of a weekly paper Al Mishaal, was summoned for carrying a story on the embargo of Al Baidawi weekly from publishing a cover story with a headline the authorities regarded as insulting Morocco and Islam. The editor of the local Spanish language daily La Maniana issued by Maroc Soir Publishing House was also summoned for publishing a report saying that the late King Hassan 11 had exploited Morocco, and described the Moroccan presence in the western desert as an invasion.

A court in Casablanca slapped a huge fine and issued a suspended sentence against Ahmed Rifha Benchemsi, (pictured left) editor of the weekly newspaper Tel Quel and the reporter of the same paper Karim Al Bukhari on the charge of slander and insulting a woman MP. They were also convicted for affronting the chairperson of a charity association. Journalists and human rights circles have expressed resentment over the statements of the Minister of Justice Mohammed Bu Zobaa on the existence of a cell in the ministry tasked with moving and following up lawsuits.

The Federation of Newspapers Publishers (FMEJ) has also expressed "astonishment" at the recent declarations of the Justice Ministry to set up a "follow-up unit" in charge of monitoring all press publications. The move, due to survey articles published in the print media, is considered by the ministry as perfectly lawful, as it abides by the legal provisions and can, therefore, not be considered as an impediment to the freedom of the press, opinion or expression.

Citing the legal framework that governs and allows the creation of the unit, a press release of the justice ministry said that the unit will be tasked with documenting citizens' complaints and the unlawful practices within the State's bodies.

FMEJ deplores that the justice ministry has resorted to "emergency measures and used certain terms to designate unprecedented facts in the press act, which consists an unjustified escalation against the press."

The federation underlines the need to urgently set up a “national council of the press, wherein journalists take on their hands the organisation of their profession, and prevent any possible drift of the authorities or those who work in the sector.”

A statement issued by the Moroccan Human Rights Association said Morocco is known in recent times for launching a systematic campaign against the independent Press in which it has used the judiciary in a bid to silence media voices which have worried the authorities. The statement also referred to the police assault against Al Nahar, which contravenes the freedom of the Press.

The association has vehemently denounced the systematic campaign against the local independent Press on the pretext of safeguarding prominent and important figures, which is regarded as a flagrant violation of the freedom of opinion and expression. The only red line in front of the freedom of opinion, the expression and the Press is respecting the dignity and honour of others, and protecting the individual and collective human rights of the citizens. The association called for speeding up the amendment of the Press law to ensure that it is in harmony with the values and standards of human rights in the world.

See our earlier story: THE VIEW FROM FEZ: Tel Quel Campaign Gains Momentum

Tags: Morocco, Fes, Tel Quel,

Buying and restoring a house in Fez

Although buying a riad or dar in the Fez Medina may sound like an attractive and even romantic proposition. It is important to remember that this is a World Heritage listed city. That means that any restoration must be carried out in a way that conserves the heritage values. This can be time consuming and difficult. Below you will find some more information on Fez and also some photographs of the kinds of problems facing anyone wishing to start work on a renovation.

Damaged woodwork in a Dar

The Medina was listed by UNESCO in 1981. Founded in the 9th century and home to the oldest university in the world, Fez reached its height in the 13th–14th centuries under the Marinids, when it replaced Marrakesh as the capital of the kingdom. The urban fabric and the principal monuments in the medina – madrasas, fondouks (inn and storehouse, known as a caravanserai in the eastern part of the Arab world), palaces, residences, mosques and fountains - date from this period. Although the political capital of Morocco was transferred to Rabat in 1912, Fez has retained its status as the country's cultural and spiritual centre.

A Dar with extensive structural and zellij damage

Fez has fortified walls, 8 kilometres long. Cities with complex and labyrinth alleys were built in the Mediterranean region to thwart invasions. The ancient city of Fez is a superb example.

Construction began at the end of the 8th century. Mosques were built in the centre, and shops and houses were built as close as possible. The tangled narrow streets make up the world’s most complicated labyrinth city. It is almost impossible for newcomers to find their way.

There are bicycles but there are no cars. People rely on donkeys to carry goods. Women in Muslim society have kept to the tradition of not revealing their faces to men other than their family members. There is a tradition of sitting by a rawashin window. The women used to watch the outside world through its holes.

Courtyard of a Riad. The modern tilework on columns needs replacing

The doors in the medina were built in alternate positions because the alleys are so narrow. Though the alleyways are dark, the houses inside are bright and open. A patio allows fresh air and light to stream in, while the high walls block the sun’s rays. A central aspect of Islamic architecture. The medina’s rooftops include a series of open air spaces leading to a patio below.

A Dar needing a great deal of careful restoration

People living in the Old City of Fez are said to spend their life within the city walls without ever going outside. The spirit and tradition of medieval Islamic society lives on, here, in Fez.

Hand carved plaster can be difficult to repair

LINK: A Moroccan Glossary

LINK: Introduction to Domestic Architecture in the Fez Medina

LINK: THE VIEW FROM FEZ: What is a riad?

LINK: THE VIEW FROM FEZ: Why restore a house in Fes?

LINK: Everything you need to know about conservation/renovation

The central courtyard of a Riad can be a lot of work!

Tags: Morocco, Fès, Maghreb, Medina

New website offers help in purchasing in the Medina.

A new website offers to help foreign buyers with the tricky job of purchasing a dar or riad in the Fez Medina. The site says: Our services are generally focused on the process of buying a property in the Fez Medina. This includes, but is not limited to:

* Providing a reputable notaire/ adul (legal representative)

* Arranging all necessary meetings with owners, agents & notaire/adul

* Providing translation services at all meetings (Arabic, French, English)

* Representing your interests through a limited power of attorney that allows for completion of the buy/sell process on your behalf, if you are not in Morocco (optional)

* Assisting with bank accounts and wire transfers

* Serving as contact person for the purchase with agents, owners and notaire/ adul throughout the process

* Tracking the progress of sale and providing regular updates

You can contact the owner of the site, Adil Ait Hamd, by email: medina@insidefezmedina.com

Visit the site here: Fez Medina Consulting


Tags: Morocco, Fès, Maghreb, Medina

Moroccan News Briefs - #15

Moroccan News Briefs published in The View From Fez draw on open source material, contributions from readers, as well as material from Maghreb Arabe Presse (MAP), Morocco Times and official Moroccan Government press releases.

Morocco at no threat from Bird Flu

On Tuesday Morocco's Health Minister, Mohamed Cheikh Biadillah issued a statement claiming..."The situation of bird flue in Morocco is very calm," but the evolution of the disease at the international scene requires reinforcing the surveillance measures of migratory birds.

At a meeting of the inter-ministry committee to fight bird flue chaired by Prime Minister, Driss Jettou. The Health Minister affirmed that "the check up of poultry and migratory birds raises no concerns. But there is a "pre-emption for vaccination and hygiene measures."

For his part, the high commissioner for water and forest, Abdelaadim El Hafi, affirmed that “up to now, there is no indication as to the possible presence of bird flue,” as attested by analyses and samplings, he said.

Internationally, the disease has claimed, since it was first documented in 2003, 79 lives around the world, and some 148 cases tested positive to H5N1 virus.

The Pledging Conference on Avian and Human Influenza is conveningfor a two-day meeting in Beijing to secure funding for avian and pandemic influenza control and preparedness.

Sahara Issues: Regionalisation the answer

According to the Secretary General of the Istiqlal (Independence) Party, Abbès Fassi, regionalisation is the key to political, economic and social progress in Morocco. He considered that the southern provinces should be granted large attributions and insisted on the need to act now in this direction.

The Istiqlali official called on the Algerian authorities to stop interfering in the Moroccan Sahara issue and to seek to strengthen the bilateral relations and build the Union of Arab Maghreb countries.

Full story: The Morocco Times

Moroccan Brunch in Germany!

Moroccan culture and gastronomy were in the spotlight on Sunday during a brunch organised by Moroccan Embassy in Berlin. The brunch was attended by thousands of guests, including parliamentarians, high ranking officials from the German administration, members of the German diplomatic corp as well as journalists.

Moroccan ambassador to Germany Rachad Bouhlal expressed his pleasure that Morocco had been chosen by the chain of hotels “Maritime” for the inauguration of brunches in 2006.

“The brunch was a sample of what awaits every visitor in Morocco,” he added, reminding the guests of the outstanding development achieved by Morocco in political, economic and social fields.

The brunch, initiated to promote Morocco's image, will be organised each Sunday during January.

Spanish foundation to provide 10,000 PCs to poor families in Essaouira

The Moroccan Ministry of Social Development, Family and Solidarity and Spanish foundation Bits Inspiring People (Fundación Bip Bip), in partnership with the local Essaouira-Mogador Association, signed an agreement Monday (16 January) to provide 10,000 personal computers (PCs) over five years for needy populations in Essaouira. The "BipBip Essaouira" initiative aims at promoting the use of information and communication technologies as a means of social integration.

A pilot project will benefit 50 families and create five training centres, which will be equipped with 20 PCs each. The Spanish foundation will also provide an electronic learning program with interactive multimedia on support courses, craft teaching, and education about citizenship and literacy, which will be launched in partnership with local education and training institutions.

Serbians Visit Morocco

According to MAP a Serbian economic mission, led by the Serbian Minister for Overseas Economic Relations, Milan Parivodic, is expected to arrive in Casablanca today.

During this visit, Paridovic will be accompanied by several of his country's top officials and economic decision-takers. Commercial exchanges and industrial partnership will be at the centre of the meetings between the Serbian economic operators and their Moroccan counterparts. The two parties will examine opportunities to cooperate, especially in the fields of agriculture, trade, tourism, services and civil engineering. Building complexes, the tyre industry and pharmaceutical products will also be taken into consideration.


Tags: Morocco, Fès, Maghreb, news

Photographs from Morocco

There are a lot of predictable photographs taken by tourists in Morocco, but once in a while we stumble on some that are worth sharing. Rowena Harding is an Australian living in Suomi (Finland) and her fine photgraphs can be found here: Rowena Harding

Tags: Morocco, Suomi, photography, Fez,

Sarah Ben Mansour Injured

Sarah Ben Mansour's chance to become Africa's first female alpine skier to compete at the Olympics has been put into jeopardy because the Moroccan will need surgery on an injured knee later in the week, her team leader said on Monday. The View From Fes reported on Sarah last year when high hopes were held for he inclusion in the Olympics.



Doctors estimate the 18-year-old has a 50 per cent chance to make it to the Winter Games in Turin after she injured her anterior cruciate ligament during a race in Courchevel, France, last month, Derek Giroulle said.

The Belgian-born skier will have arthroscopic surgery on Thursday and will need five more days of full rest before she can resume exercise. She will test her left knee in minor races in Italy early next month before making a decision on taking part in the giant slalom on Feb 21.

"I still hope the doctors can get me back on my feet for the Games, and I'm very motivated to work hard with the medical team for a speedy recovery," she said in a statement. "If it doesn't work I know that I was working very hard for the games, this is just a piece of bad luck, and especially bad timing, but it's the risk of being in this sport."

The daughter of a Moroccan mother and Belgian father, Ben Mansour was born outside Antwerp but always held Moroccan nationality and the family name of her mother. The international skiing federation has said it knew of no other African women who competed in alpine events at the Olympics.



Tags: Morocco, Fès, skiing, Fez,

King Mohammed VI's Quiet Revolution

Moroccan King Mohammed VI is using a tolerant interpretation of the Koran in an attempt to modernize his country. Will it become a model state for a democratic version of Islam? This is a question being asked both inside and outside Morocco. Sadly there are few good pieces of analytical journalism addressing the issue. However, the German Der Spiegel is running a fine article by Helen Zuber ; Morocco's King Aims To Build a Modern Islamic Democracy

In the article, Zuber says ... "Morocco's 42-year-old King Mohammed VI has discovered religion as a means of modernizing his society -- and progress through piety seems to be the order of the day. By granting new rights to women and strengthening civil liberties, the ruler of this country of 30 million on Africa's northern edge, which is 99 percent Muslim, plans to democratize Morocco through a tolerant interpretation of the Koran"


Zuber also goes on to look at the role of women in Moroccan society and the impact of the new Family Law provisions, the Mudawwana... "Despite the popularity of the new family law, the monarch had to step in himself after the parliament failed to ratify the new legislation. Mohammed told the members of both houses of parliament, to whom -- in another unprecedented move -- he presented the law for ratification. The new version of the "Mudawwana" was then unanimously approved. The law is an historic compromise, one that is compatible with both the International Bill of Human Rights and Sharia."

Zuber concludes that the Moroccan King is on the right track and that so is the country. She also makes the point that even the Islamists see the value in attracting tourists to a liberal Islamic country... "If the king has his way, Moroccans will liberate themselves from the slogans and handouts of radical Islamist preachers. Although they may represent a threat to Mohammed VI's reform policies, the only Islamist party seen as capable of succeeding in next year's parliamentary election is the Justice and Development Party.

The party's young leaders are using the Turkish ruling party, AKP, and the German Christian Democrats as their model. In the eight cities controlled by the Islamists, they have already dispensed with prohibitions on serving alcohol, Western films and provocative swimwear -- knowing full well that Morocco's economy depends on tourism."
(Translated from the German by Christopher Sultan)

Read the full article here: Der Spiegel

Tags: Morocco, Fès, Maghreb, news

Another Moroccan Filmmaker hits the big time.

And it is another woman. Following on the heels of the controversial Marock by Leila Marrakchi, another young Moroccan music video director has made her debut in filmmaking. Sanaa Hamri, from Tangier, a young director who made her name directing music videos with many famous artists, is awaiting the release of her first full length film on the 2nd of February.

Her film, a romantic comedy called Something New stars Sanaa Lathan and Simon Baker. The film is about finding love where it is least expected.

Kenya (Sanaa Lathan) is a career woman who, while being professionally successful, yearns for comparable personal satisfaction. Looking for the perfect man, she even has a checklist at the ready. Much to her surprise, she sets off sparks with Brian (Simon Baker), who is not what she had pictured for herself. They share a mutual attraction, passion, and a deepening connection. It's when her perfect match, Mark (Blair Underwood), enters the picture that Kenya is truly thrown into confusion. Ultimately, she has to decide for herself and follow her heart no matter where it takes her.

Tags: Morocco, Film, Maghreb, news

Sheik's death raises concern over oil prices

HM King Mohammed VI has sent a condolence message to Sheik Saad Al Abdullah Al Sabah, new Emir of Kuwait, and ordered a three-day mourning in Morocco, following the death of Emir Cheikh Jaber al-Ahmad al-Sabah.

The Emir of oil producing Kuwait, Sheikh Jaber al-Ahmad al-Sabah, key US ally, died on Sunday at the age of 78, after a long illness.

Sheikh Jaber, third ruler since Kuwait's independence in 1961, suffered from a brain haemorrhage in 2001. This limited his duties in the country which sits on a tenth of the world's crude oil reserves.

Sheik Jaber will be buried Sunday afternoon at the Sulaibikhat cemetery.

The government announced 40 days of mourning and said government offices would be closed for three days beginning from Sunday.

Crown Prince Sheik Saad Al Abdullah Al Sabah, a distant cousin, will take over. He is in his mid-70s and suffers colon problems. Hence, political analysts expect Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah to be the de facto ruler, which he has been four years now.

Sheik Jaber's death raised concern over oil prices, but "Kuwait's (oil) policy will not change," an official, who declined to be named, told news agencies "The oil sector is running as normal, both production and exports."

Full report: Morocco Times

Tags: Morocco, Fès, Maghreb, news

First Impressions. Not always love at first sight.

It is fascinating to trawl through the blogosphere reading the travellers tales about Morocco. So today I've collected a few snippets to share.

Doc Rampage has mixed feelings about the Medina of Fes:

One of the remarkable things about the old city, Medina, in Fez is that the buildings are so dense that you cannot see some of the impressive architecture of the city from inside the city. Ahmed showed me an Islamic school, claiming that it was the oldest still-active university in the world. From inside the city, I saw only a dirty wall and a large, time-worn door. It was dramatically unimpressive. He also showed me a famous mosque where I saw nothing but a courtyard with some nice mosaics and a pleasant fountain. I observed through a door from the street because the non-faithful were not welcome inside. Later, Ahmed took me to a high vantage point, perhaps two or three miles a way, and from there the university was an impressive tower and the mosque a beautiful domed building.

But later, the Medina begins to work its magic and in a subsequent post Doc Rampage is well on the way to getting hooked:

Ahmed took me to the Medina, an enormous and ancient walled city that still has people living in it. As I mentioned before, I wasn't all that thrilled in the beginning about visiting Spain and Morocco, but I was thrilled to see this ancient city for two reasons: first, because it was an entirely new experience. I had read descriptions of places like this, but until you see such a thing for yourself you can never really grasp what it is like. Second, I write fiction about places like that city, and the experience of actually being there will allow me to describe the place more vividly.

The streets were so narrow that one must often stand aside to let pass a heavily laden mule. We walked through deep dim canyons beneath massive yellowed walls that seemed to radiate the cold of the winter day. The streets were too narrow for any car. Even scooters could not traverse these streets because of the many stairs and steps, probably following the contours of an earth buried now for a millennium beneath the concrete. In many places the streets became caverns, roofed over by ancient builders seeking more space in the wealthy and growing city. The walls were continuous, high and massive, eighteen-inch-thick brick and mortar with an occasional block of embedded ceder for pliancy. There was no space between individual buildings; any break in the walls was another street. Old and unsafe-looking electrical cables snaked along the walls, often just above the small doorways --old for electrical work, but astonishingly young compared to the walls that they adorned.

Still, ancient as the city was, it swarmed with activity. Behind the heavy walls were shops and homes, workshops and temples, and little tea houses catering to somber rough-looking men. It was a working, breathing city, not a mere tourist setting. In consequence, the streets were overrun with men, mules and donkeys bearing burdens to such an extent that I was astonished at the energy that was spent in merely moving things from one place to another. Mules with baskets on each side on top carried food and supplies and raw materials into the maze of cobbled streets and carried out again the products of the craftsmen, many of whom worked with their hands very much as their forefathers had done a thousand years earlier. The narrower alleys could not even pass mules, and for them we had donkeys, intricately packed to make the most of their small size. Some burdens were too awkward for animals. Several times I passed a line of men carrying long boards and beams, raw material for some construction project, probably some sort of maintenance for the ancient buildings.

A common theme in many blog reports is trouble with guides. Caroline Lawrence, writing in Epistolae Flaviae seems to want to be pampered and finds Fes not up to her usual standards. Apart from thinking it okay to suggest the guide misses out on a "dog biscuit" poor Caroline also has trouble with the pointed hoods of the djellaba:

We meet our guide for the day outside the hotel. Ali is dressed in the "uniform" of Morocco, a djellaba. For some reason this hooded robe makes wearers look like evil monks. What does a peaked hood seem sinister and a rounded hood spiritual?

As Ali drives us back to the hotel mid-afternoon, I ask if he knows a place where we can hear some Moroccan music. He tells us he'll take us to a restaurant in the Kasbah where we will hear authenic Moroccan and Berber music, see belly-dancers, etc. It sounds very touristy but Ali assures us the whole evening costs 'only' 300 dhirams per person (about £25) and that the restaurant will provide a courtesy car home.

He picks us up at the hotel at 8.00 and drives to the Restaurant Palais La Medina, then leaves us. I pay him and give him a nice tip and a signed book for his kids, and later wish I hadn't. This place is a huge disappointment. Although the tiled interior is stunningly beautiful and the performers mostly good, the food is terrible and it's full of tour groups. Also it ends up costing over 1000 dhirams. We do not get a courtesy car home.

Bad Ali! No dog-biscuit!

In direct contrast is the sweetly observed writing in Thoughts on Sweetness by Jessie Speer:

The call to prayer. It’s eerie and beautiful, especially when it is called by a real live muezzin, and there are several going off at once, overlapping calls to the worshippers to take five minutes out of their busy days to bend their foreheads to the ground in worship. I remember on the first day after I arrived I was walking through the medina when the call to prayer went off. There was a nearly imperceptible split second at which everyone in this bustling, quickly moving crowd stopped. It was as though time stopped, and then it was over and people continued moving on their way.

A much bleaker posting comes from "nistix" writing in Meaning in Maddness:

We had to pass though a city called Tetouan where the bus stopped for a while. Yet again we had arrived in another seemingly soulless concrete mess in an area of pure natural beauty. From the bus the tell tell box housing thrown together with haphazard indifference emerged on the horizon. Driving into the station there is a truly mad experience. It is a dark, underground complex full of people. Some of them sit, some stand and some run around shouting, rubbish is littered all around them with abandon and the smell is nauseating, it is one of the truest representations of squalor I have ever seen.

Back on the bus children trust various produce in my face. Their father kept banging on my window and pointing at them making tear gestures. Although I was hungry I was so angry at every encounter that I had had with the people here that I refused to buy anything. I realise now that they were probably really desperate and perhaps I should have helped them.
It was on leaving Tetouan that I began to liken the Moroccan people to blood sucking insects. I was aware that the thoughts entering my head were based on a limited experience of the country but making that analogy at that time was unavoidable.

The bus snaked away from the city through the mountains. We were sitting next to two Australian girls a bit older than us who had been treated to some genuinely warm hospitality. They had been eating their breakfast and got chatting to a Moroccan who took them back to his house in Tetouan for lunch with his family, a sumptuous affair! He then took them to the bus station and waited on the bus with them until it left to shield them from the hustlers. They had been in Morocco for about the same time as us and hadn’t been offered hashish once.

Arriving in Chefchaouen was a liberating experience. The sun was brilliant and was reflected of the jagged rocks of the dramatic landscape and the whitewashed houses of the town. We walked to our hotel with no hassles, just warm welcomes from the genuinely friendly locals. I was finally seeing a brilliant side to this country.

And then there is Scottish Danny. You may have read about him in our post on restaurants. He was the enlightened traveller known for his adventurous spirit - "We were only ever comfortable living the colonial lifestyle in Tangier, which consisted of eating out in plush restaurants, receiving impeccable service from deferential waiters and lying in bed watching BBC World on the widescreen television." Well it will come as no surprise that he was not exactly happy about a trip out in the Medina ending up at a carpet shop. Here he is writing in The Melancholy Death of Danny Boy:

We were taken upstairs into a beautiful leather shop and saw the Tanneries, which is a surreal formation of hand crafted limestone rock pools. There were men crawling all over them like mating seals, slipping and soaking camel, goat and sheep skins inside wide porous holes. Afterwards we were rushed through the medina at a tremendous pace and shunted into a carpet shop, where this chubby Moroccan man with a creepy American accent started interrogating us about carpets. His gurus immediately started rolling out ten foot mosaic carpets and really started pressurising us into buying them, despite the fact we had never even hinted that we wanted to buy anything, let alone, a seven hundred dollar rug.

His faced grimaced when I said I was Scottish and I was in no mood to defy any national stereotypes. When he was made aware of Judith's nationality, he suddenly became very fond of a saying he heard from one of her southern compatriots that 'an Irishman would rather part with his blood than his money'. It was fighting talk and we left pretty swiftly once I refused to buckle to his selling technique and were told to come back once we had a house. I don't know about Judith but I doubt I will be coming back to that carpet shop in the future but like Fes it was a fascinating lesson in human behaviour and one that will never be forgotten.

Mike and Michele’s Global Wanderings reports on their first trip to Fes with a typical Medina experience:

We are in Fes now and have been here for 3 days. Fes, and Morocco in general, is much different from anywhere we have been. The first day we walked around just getting used to the people and the culture. Mike and I very much stand out here. Many Moroccans wear robes and slipper type of shoes. Most of the women have headcoverings. We, on the other hand, are light skinned and wear Western style clothing. Despite our initial intimidation of the Moroccans, we have found them to be very friendly and kind people.

An interesting thing that immediately stands out here is that there are no women sitting out in front of the cafes around town. People watching is a national past time here but only the men do it. It is very strange to see cafe after cafe with the many tables outside filled with men only. We learned that it is o.k. for couples or women to go into a cafe as long as they go upstairs and/or sit in the back. The front tables outside are for the men. The other thing, as I mentioned previously, is that very few people speak English and every sign, newspaper, menu, and all other printed material, is in French and Arabic. So, we are learning both!


To end on a positive note: Howie Klein writes well and has a good eye for detail. This is not his first trip to Morocco and he makes the point that things have changed for the better. Here he is in Around the World Blog commenting on the new signposts in the Fes Medina.

There are now signs posted throughout the labyrinth that makes up the old city, marking sites and routes. I mean, it could be Rome or Dublin almost. It is no longer the forbidding, scary place it has always been reputed to be. We never even felt intimidated to not walk around late at night. We wandered around anywhere we wanted for 3 days essentially unmolested. Maybe the Fassi saw the benefits tourism have brought to Marrakech, but something-- maybe aggressive police action-- has made Fes' medina a lot more comfortable for tourists-- and a lot more profitable for bazaris. It isn't Disneyland yet and you won't see Ma and Pa Kettle ambling around alone yet, but that's probably coming soon. I definitely saw a lot more European families walking around freely.

LINKS:

Around the World Blog. Howie Klein continues to impress with his ability to get beneath the surface. Worth a read of all his posts.

Doc Rampage. A changing view of Fes

Epistolae Flaviae: Not as well written but telling about the authors prejudices.

Thoughts on Sweetness by Jessie Speer. A well observed piece

Meaning in Maddness First impressions are not always great.

Danny does not buy a carpet

Mike and Michele’s Global Wanderings

Tags: Morocco, Fès, Maghreb, news

Moroccan poet calls for ending suffering of Sahrawis

The Moroccan poet and writer Abdellatif Laâbi has stressed the need to find a fair solution to the Moroccan Sahara issue to secure success to the democratic project in the north African kingdom.

At a conference in Las Palmas as part of the "Dialog with America, Dialog with Africa: a culture of meetings" round, Laâbi insisted on putting an end to the suffering of Sahrawis and called on opening dialog to settle in "a fair, equitable and democratic" way the conflict.

Thousands of Sahrawis were herded away from their territory in the mid seventies to the camps of Tindouf, south-west Algeria, by the "Polisario" movement that has been claiming the separation of the Moroccan southern provinces, known as the Sahara.

The Algeria-backed "Polisario" has been detaining against their will these populations and inflicting them mistreatment in the camps. Numerous Sahrawis have either defected the ranks of the movement or simply fled the torture camps to return to the motherland Morocco.

The dialogs round is sponsored by the Canary government to bring together cultural, political and social science personalities to discuss issues on the American and African continents.

Tags: Morocco, Fès, Maghreb, news

Tractor driver involved in death of 26 people arrested

The public prosecutor of Marrakech court of first instance ordered the arrest of the tractor driver who was involved in the accident that killed, on January 10, 26 persons onboard of two coaches in the road linking Marrakech and Agadir

A probe is being conducted int the involvement the tractor driver who is accused of unintentional murder and wounds, and driving without lights, papers or insurance.

The investigating magistrate ordered the arrest of the driver after his interrogation.

Testimonies have revealed that the tractor driver is the cause of the deadly accident as he was driving in the middle of the road without lights.

The drivers of the two coaches that collided in the accident also died.

Tags: Morocco, Fès, Maghreb, news

Illegal immigrants force their way into Spanish ruled Mellilia

A vehicle transporting would-be illegal immigrants rushed on early Saturday through the Moroccan and Spanish check-points at the Beni Nsar border, north-east Morocco, forcing its way into Mellilia, a Moroccan northern town still under Spanish rule.

Spanish sources said the Mellilia registered Renault 25 was found later abandoned in the Spanish presidio, north of the town of Nador.

The sources said they do not know how many passengers were in the car, though they said the people could be of Asian origin.

The same day, in Las Palmas Canary island, authorities arrested 34 sub-Saharan illegal immigrants who landed from a patera, or makeshift boat, at a beach of Mogan, south of the island, according to the Red Cross.

The patera was the eighth intercepted in the Canary Islands since the beginning of the new year: on Thursday, 38 illegal immigrants were rescued off Fuerteventura after their patera engine broke down were on the verge of sinking. 26 others were arrested at their landing in Tenerife.

Morocco is used as a transit country by thousands of sub-Saharan nationals, but also by people coming from as far as India, trying to cross to Spain, either through the strait of Gibraltar or to the Canary Islands, farther south in the Atlantic Ocean.

Crossing attempts to Spain declined since in 2004, in part due to the efficient electronic detection of illegal immigrants boats by the SIVE surveillance system, which can track down 99 of the attempts.

Morocco and Spain conduct regular joint patrols to monitor illegal migration movements off Spanish coasts. They started the operations in July 2004 between Morocco's southern shores and Spain's Canary Islands. The joint patrols were later on extended to the Mediterranean.

Tags: Morocco, Fès, Maghreb, news

Moroccan News Briefs - #14

Moroccan News Briefs published in The View From Fez draw on open source material, contributions from readers, as well as material from Maghreb Arabe Presse (MAP), Morocco Times and official Moroccan Government press releases.

Four Moroccan Pilgrims Die on Hajj

Two more Moroccan women died following the injuries they sustained in a stampede on Thursday that occurred during hajj stoning ritual in Mina, bringing to four the number of Moroccan victims, said Moroccan Ministry of Habous and Islamic Affairs.

The day before, the Ministry of Habous and Islamic Affairs announced the death of two Moroccan women in Mina stampede that killed another 345 pilgrims.

See also: Hajj Tragedy. Stampede kills 345 pilgrims

King inaugurates Prince Bandar Bin Sultan library

On Friday in Asilah, King Mohammed VI inaugurated the Prince Bandar Bin Sultan library.The project was suggested in 1997 by former Saudi Arabian ambassador to the United States, Prince Bandar Bin Sultan, who was taking part in the cultural festival of Asilah, and late king Hassan II decided to call it: "Prince Bandar Bin Sultan library".

Built on 5,000 square meters, the library houses three conference rooms, a restaurant, a children's room, a newspapers' room, a manuscripts service, a cyber-café and a reading room.

Worth USD 9mn, the library is equipped with high-tech means of communication to provide searchers with means to communicate with the most renowned world libraries via satellite network.

The library, which will host various cultural activities, houses an auditorium for great events (650 seats) equipped with high-tech projection and translation techniques in four languages.

Princess Lalla Meryem launches construction of Museum of contemporary Arts

In Rabat on Friday Princess Lalla Meryem, sister of king Mohammed VI, launched the construction of the National Museum of Cotemporary Arts. The project, worth USD 8mn, is meant to offer a space of dialogue between the public and artists and sensitize and initiate larger public to art creation. The museum, which will be built on 6,813 square meters, will aim at preserving the Moroccan cultural landscape and exhibiting it for coming generations.

Morocco, India promote cooperation in low-cost social housing

Morocco and India have signed a cooperation agreement in low-cost social housing.

Signed by Moroccan minister of Housing and Urbanism, Toufiq Hjira and Indian minister of Urban Employment and Poverty Alleviation, Komari Selja, the agreement provides for promoting scientific and technical training, developing information and geographical systems (SIG) and intervention methods to fight unhealthy housing.

The agreement also provides for the creation of a Moroccan center of research and studies in low-cost social housing and the promotion of a micro-finance system to finance social housing.

The two ministers agreed on a joint action plan for 2006-2007 and voiced hope to promote their cooperation in this field.

Komari Selja arrived Friday on an official visit to Morocco.

Moroccan Media Freedom boosted

"A culture based on honesty, professionalism, transparency and dialogue..."

In yet another positive sign that the Moroccan media is moving to more freedom of reporting and comment, General Manager of the National Company for Radio and Television (SNRT) Faiçal Laâraïchi affirmed that his institution has "the duty" of providing information on the government's actions in favour of the citizens.

In an interview with the Moroccan daily Libération, Laâraïchi said that one of the missions of the SNRT consists of informing the general public on what happens in Morocco.

The High Authority of Communication and Audiovisual (HACA) approved on Monday the SNRT's specifications which gives a precise definition of the mission of the former Moroccan Radio and Television (RTM).

“If we do not cover the official and parliamentary activities, etc, who will do it?" Laâraïchi asked, adding that it is the role of the SNRT to inform the public as part of a proximity approach.

Evoking the charter envisaged by the SNRT's specifications, Laâraïchi considered that it represents a fundamental platform for a radio and television company, enabling it to have a culture based on honesty, professionalism, transparency and dialogue.

"In our job, when the data is processed, one needs to be very objective. Objectivity is not innate. It is an exercise," he said, expressing his determination that plurality is expressed in a clear and transparent way on the TV.

Laâraïchi stressed that the SNRT will not be "an instrument of propaganda but a means of free expression and plurality, noting that the approval of the SNRT's specifications is among the many reforms which marked the beginning of the 21st century in Morocco.

"We had to change the legal statute to meet these challenges and the SNRT's specifications come to define our mission and the resources that we can have in the future," he noted.

In an interview with the same newspaper, the president of the High Authority of Communication and Audiovisual (HACA), Ahmed Ghazali, praised the experience accumulated by his authority in terms of regulation and guarantees for pluralism.

"We will continue in this way and give more institutional, normative and behavioural visibility so that the media operators as well as the political and civil society know that the issue is about determining the development of our country," Ghazali pointed out.

Concerning the political parties' access to TV before the HACA undergoes the pressure of the 2007 election, Ghazali stressed that the authority has been working on this issue for more than a year.

“A working group in charge of this dossier has set up the general guidelines and that of formalisation in terms of principles and rules,” Ghazali said.

Tags: Morocco, Fès, Maghreb, news

Casablanca to host first Theatre and Cultures Festival

Casablanca will host the first edition of the Theatre and Cultures Festival 19-24 January. Initiated by the Arts Vivants Foundation and organised in collaboration with the Cervantès Institute and the Institut Français in Casablanca, the festival will feature plays performed by troupes from Morocco, Spain, France, and Algeria. In addition to the plays, the programme includes films screenings, including the works of Luis Bunuel and Souhail Benbarka. Other events include poetry readings by Adonis and conferences with the participation of Spanish poet Juan Goytisolo, Hassan Nejmi and Hassan Ouazzani.

According to organisers, the first edition of the festival is dedicated to Spanish poet, writer, musician, painter and playwright Federico Garcia Lorca, whose works marked 20th century Spanish history.

The festival's agenda features the performance of plays, halqas (street theatre), movie projections, poetry reading, exhibitions, in addition to a series of conferences and debates.

The plays to be performed include various adaptations of Lorca's works. Three will be given by Moroccan groups, “Bnet Lalla Mennana” and “Dar al Aman”, inspired from Lorca's The House of Bernarda Alba, and “Les Jardins de Lorca,” inspired from the playwright's Blood Wedding.

Lorca's Love of Don Perlimplin and Belisa in the Garden and Yerma will be played by French and Spanish groups respectively.

“The festival aims at making theatre more accessible in Morocco and increasing the audience attracted to this art,” organisers told Morocco Times.

The festival will also feature an exhibition including photos, manuscripts and documents on the “Biography of Federici Garcia Lorca”.

Poems will be read by Syrian poet Adonis, Moroccan actresses Sophia Hadi and Samia Akarriou, and Moroccan writer Larbi el Harti. The readings will be accompanied by Moroccan lutist Said Chraibi.

In addition to the halqas, which will be performed by traditional narrators and actors in open public spaces, live shows will include flamenco, rai, and modern dance.

Films and documentaries inspired from Lorca's life and works will be shown during the event.

Four major conferences will be held on the fringes of the festival. Debates will see participation of Laura Lorca, Garcia Lorca's niece, poets Hassan Nejmi, Hassan Ouazzani, and Juan Goytisolo, and writer Laarbi el Harti.

The debates will also be attended by sociologist Jamal Khalil, actors and directors William Mesguich, Samia Akariou, Mohamed Zouhir, and Younes Ahajjam, and traditional narrator Bariz.

The event is organised in cooperation with the Spanish and French cultural centres.

Lorca (1898-1936) was an emblematic figure of the 20th century literature. A poet and dramatist, he is also remembered as a painter, pianist, and composer.

Tags: Morocco, Casablanca, Maghreb, news

Restaurants in Fez (updated)

Eating out in Fes!

What makes a good restaurant is often an objective assessment. David, who runs the delightful Dar Bennis offers his guests a comprehensive list of eating places.

Howie on his Around the World Blog has some different views on one of the major restaurants; the Palais Jamai restaurant: Here are his comments on his first visit since it was acquired by multinational Sofitel in 1999...

A glorious era that began in 1930 has definitely come to an end. The hotel was never really inexpensive but Sofitel has not only made it blander and more acceptable to a lower common denominator (i.e.- people who like Disneyworld), they have also made it outrageously more expensive. I mean, although it is quite lovely, built into the walls of Fes-el-Bali (the old city medina), when you get right down to it, it is, afterall, just a nice old hotel afloat in a sea of donkey shit. Literally. (One of the principal charms of Fes-- less charitable people might say the only charm-- is that it is a mysterious warren on dark, narrow cobblestone alleyways, with steps everywhere. It is the world's most complete functioning medieval city. No motor vehicles in medieval cities; only donkeys. And mules. And they don't wear diapers. After a while it only bothers you when it's raining.) Anyway, the hotel is charging London and Paris prices-- in a sea of donkey shit.

For those prices you should at least expect top notch eats, right? Breakfast's included and the key word is bland. If a Moroccan wife served her husband's guests harira like they had at breakfast at the Palais Jamai, she would be beaten before she was divorced.

However the host of Dar Bennis says:

Palais Jamai, Bab il Guissa, great lunch buffet on terrace (you can get just the salad bar), and superb French cuisine in the evening; 100-270 DH. The Moroccan restaurant, open only in the evening, is part of the original palace and is fantastic, perhaps the most beautiful place to dine in Fez. Good traditional music. 430 DH.

Other bloggers write little about eating in Fes. Adam, from African Adventures writes:

After the medina, we ate at an Italian restaurant and walked home for sleep. Sunday morning, we woke up and went to the registered church where there were many expatriates that were in Fes for various reasons, whether to learn languages, business, teachers, and others. It was good fellowship. After church, we walked across the street to the most gigantic McDonald's I've ever seen in my life! I mean, it was two stories and it had an entire separate building for the kids' play area! Are you kidding me?? I hated eating at McDonald's in the States and they're here too!! America is everywhere! I do remember why I didn't like it there, and I must ask for forgiveness from those who like Mickey-D's, but I still think the food is terrible. It was okay, though. But after we ate, we had to leave already...

Others seem defeated by the old Medina, even before they have really explored it. It is sad to read how many tourists feel unable to vary their diet, or even venture far from the "safety" of a luxury hotel. One wonders why they ever left home. Danny from Scotland writes:

I am currently in Fes and its like being trapped inside a bible story, the road outside our hotel is a wide dirt passage and it certainly gives another meaning to going off the beaten track. Fes is an ancient medieval labyrinth full of donkeys, traders and hustlers, where everything is lost inside a maze of crumbling streets that smell of dung, spices and raw sewage. It is very different to Tangier, which is considerably more developed and is more like a throwback to the fifties than an ancient Islamic mecca. We left Tangier yesterday and it wasn't a particularly enjoyable place to visit, then again, how many people travel to Scotland by ferry and stay in Stranraer?

Sometimes I had to psyche myself up just to leave the hotel. We were only ever comfortable living the colonial lifestyle in Tangier, which consisted of eating out in plush restaurants, receiving impeccable service from deferential waiters and lying in bed watching BBC World on the widescreen television. Almost every restaurant offered us a complimentary basket of chips with our meal, it was embarrassing how they instinctively catered and pandered to our staple diet without even being prompted. We did however go beyond the main street and ventured up an old bustling market.

And then there are the adventurous who eat "on the street". Laura, (LauralostinEurope ) blogs:

We joined up and grabbed a bite. what did we have? camel meat kebab! wow. honestly, not bad not bad. all we had to do was order at the butchery, the butcher cuts up the meat and passes it to his assistant who grills it in front of you. talk about fresh. anyways, so eating as we walked we took in the sights and sounds of the area. later, we grabbed a drink later. the national drink - mint tea. Its served in a tall glass, mint leaves to the brim, and is very sweet. But real good stuff. I ordered some Moroccan cake. It didnt look anything like cake. so there was my birthday cake.

The main lesson from all of this is: Those who get out and about and experiment will be rewarded. Those who stay close to the hotel should have stayed at home. And one more thing - try the snail soup!

The English newspaper the Telegraph ran an article a couple of years ago on food and Fes which had this description:

In the food market on Tala al-Kebir, a few minutes' walk along the main thoroughfare that runs through the medina from the main gate, Bab Bou Jeloud, live turkeys and chickens glared madly and an unfortunate hedgehog scrabbled in a wire cage beside boxes of pigeons. "We eat it for many things, like colds," said Amine.

There were stalls piled high with sweet pastries shaped like cockles and skewers of roasted lamb smelling of cumin, and corner stalls selling snail soup from bubbling aluminium vats. Snail soup? "It keeps out the cold." Maybe, but it's a dubious greyish colour. And it tastes of snails.


Caroline Stone writes: Another shared taste is that for snails - not the large French variety but the small brown-and-cream banded snails known as babouch, the same word used for the curly-toed Moroccan soft leather slippers. A bowl of snail soup is considered a great restorative, and is one of the dishes commonly sold in the street.

See her comprehensive article here: Morocco by Mouthfuls.

And of course at the end of your meal don't forget the mint tea.

The senior guest is often invited to prepare the tea. In Morocco, green China tea is generally used. A heaped spoonful is placed in a good-sized pot which has previously been warmed. Add a little boiling water, two to three spoonfuls of sugar - this is a matter of taste, and Moroccans usually like things sweeter than Europeans - and a handful of fresh, dark-green mint leaves without their stalks. The mint should be pushed into the bottom of the pot with a spoon to crush it a little; there are arguments as to how much it should be crushed. Some people like to bruise the mint by rubbing it in their hands before putting it into the pot. Fill the teapot with boiling water.

In Morocco, the water is generally poured from a height of a couple of feet or so, and orange-blossom petals may be added when they are in season, or a few drops of orange-blossom water at other times. As in England, making tea is a formal social moment, and therefore each stage may be accompanied by small rituals and flourishes. The tea is then left to steep a moment or two before drinking.

In the future we will publish some suggestions for eating out in other Moroccan cities and towns, but just to keep you going in Casablanca: Dining cheap in Casablanca

In the heart of Casa you will find a small, traditional restaurant where you can order the most delicious roast chicken served with homemade French fries, salad and spicy rice all for a very reasonable price — less than $5. The owner is fluent in English.

Saladdin, Place Marechal, 23 Rue Jontil, Casablanca, Morocco; 011-212-67-93-8914.


Fes Restaurant List

Where to Stay and Eat in Marrakech

Tags: Morocco, Fès, Maghreb, news

Hajj Tragedy. Stampede kills 345 pilgrims

The team at The View From Fes extend our deepest sympathy to the victims and their relatives.



According to official Saudi sources, dozens of pilgrims died and others seriously injured in a stampede that occurred at one of the gates leading to the stone-throwing ritual site on Thursday in Mina. The site outside the holy city of Mecca is a notorious bottleneck in the week long pilgrimage and has seen deadly incidents in seven of the past 17 years, including a stampede in 1990 that killed 1,426 people and one in 2004 that killed 244.

Saudi Interior Ministry spokesman, General Mansour Ben Soultan Al-Tourki said the stampede took place following the falling of pilgrims luggage at the east gate of the Jamarat. He did not give the number of killed and injured nor their nationalities, but said that rescue teams rushed to the spot and security forces are controlling the situation.

Other reports put the number of dead at over 345. The Interior Ministry put the death toll at 345, and the Health Ministry said an additional 289 people were injured. State-run Al-Ekhbariyah television said most of the victims were from South Asia. Many Saudis blame the semi-regular tragedies of hajj on the pilgrims. It's not uncommon to hear Saudis complain that the pilgrims are illiterate, or that they arrive from rural areas in developing countries without knowing how to behave in large crowds.

After the 2004 stampede, Saudi officials widened ramps leading to a platform the width of an eight-lane highway where the three pillars are located and created more emergency exits to accommodate the crowds.

Saudi authorities have sought for years to ease the flow of increasingly mammoth crowds, but the tragedy underlined the difficulty in managing one of the biggest religious events in the world, which this time drew more than 2.5 million pilgrims.

The deaths on the final day of stoning came a week after another hajj disaster, the Jan. 5 collapse of a building being used as a pilgrims' hotel that killed 76 people in Mecca. (See earlier story in our News Briefs)

Tags: Morocco, Hajj, Saudi, news

The Marock Debate

The gloves are coming off in the increasingly unpleasant debate over Leila Marrakchi’s film Marock. When The View From Fès first reported on this issue Filmgoers outcry over Marock many thought it was a storm in a teacup and that it would soon go away. It has not turned out that way

After the screening at the National Film Festival in Tangiers back in December some fellow film directors attacked the film, and (in a fortaste of just how nasty it was to become) even questioned Marrakchi's nationality as a Moroccan. Mohammed Asli, director of In Casablanca, Angels don't fly, started a ferocious campaign against the young director, saying that her film ‘should not have been screened in the festival.’

Marock, which is an autobiographical meditation on the director's own late teen years, spotlights the age when insouciance of adolescence gives way to first anxieties of adulthood.

The film tells the story of 17-year-old Rita and her handsome boyfriend Youri. They are from the same social milieu. The only difference is that he is Jewish. Sadly this fact has lead some to go so far as to accuse the film of serving a “Zionist cause” - not only is this outrageous, but given Morocco’s proud record of tolerance towards and protection of its Jewish citizens, shows just how far international conflicts have infiltrated the Moroccan psyche.

In defence of her film Laïla Marrakchi says, "Marock is a wordplay on "Maroc", the French name for Morocco. For me, the title illustrates my portrait of this group of young people, privileged but also kind of messed up and schizophrenic. They live according to Western ways but they're still very attached to their country and traditions. The opening scene in which a kneeling man prays outside a parked car where inside two teenagers are making out: that's Marock." Most modern Moroccans would agree.

Nourredine Sayel, the director of the Moroccan cinematographic centre, reacting to the accusations against the young director, affirmed that the film is “a Moroccan film, directed by a Moroccan filmmaker, shot in Morocco starring many Moroccan actors, regardless of their religion.” He added that “the film's director is one of the most intelligent female directors. The film, despite ideological differences, is a ‘Moroccan reality'.”

And that may be the cause of the problem. Morocco has been changing, growing up, maturing. The older generation may not like it, but it is a reality that will not go away.


The attacks on the film have now become political with Deputy Soumia Benkhaldoun raising the issue during a parliamentary session.

The Morocco Times: Marock' still sparking controversy reports:

In an all-out attack on Marock, Benkhaldoun asked the Minister of Communication and spokesperson of the government, Nabil Benabdallah, for the reasons why films bearing provocative and offending scenes receive approbation from the Moroccan Cinematographic Centre (CCM).

The Minister has made it clear that the commission, in charge of viewing films before their release to cinemas, is the only institution to accept or refuse the contents of the film, and this in conformity with the dispositions of the law related to the Cinematographic Industry Organisation in the kingdom.

He also added that the commission has to balance between many requirements, including freedom of artistic expression, the encouragement of national cinematographic production, the respect of Moroccan cultural identity and the differences of viewers' tastes.

Recently, the Arabic daily Attajdid published a communiqué from members of the committee of the Moroccan Theatre Syndicate, which denounced the screening of these kinds of artistic products in Morocco.

The Secretary General of the Syndicate, Mohammed Hassan El Joundi stressed “this kind of production must not be screened in a country which respects its traditions.”

About the communiqué, El Joundi said “this communiqué is not addressed to Marock only, but to all artistic creations having the intention of blemishing the reputation of our country. Everything has a limit, including freedom.”

El Joundi justified his rejection of Leila Marrakchi's creation by saying that “when I cannot watch a film with my wife and children, this means that the film is not worthy and affects my freedom.”

Responding to the arguments which say that Islamists are waging a war on a film which should be artistically judged, El Joundi confirmed “it is not because we are Muslims that we are more affected. Even Christianity and Judaism condemn this kind of offence.”

On Leila Marrakchi, El Joundi implicitly said “I think many things are thoughtlessly done. People no longer think about the consequences of their deeds. They have no experience and no notion of the social problems of their country. Otherwise, they have no conscience and no principles.”

The most revolting scene, according to attackers of the film, is that Leila Marrakchi preferred to make her heroes discuss religious issues in bed, which is considered an unforgivable offence to Moroccans' feelings.

Denouncing the supporters of the film, an Attajdid article referred to them as a “new party” which incites decadence, exhibitionism and defamation of Islam.

The article condemns people's naturalization of these social ills saying that “this secret party is ferociously defending the works inciting licentiousness and accusing opponents of being enemies of art.”

Nabil Lahlou, Moroccan director, condemned Leila Marrakchi's Marock and said “the film has nothing to do with Morocco because it serves all kinds of cultural colonialism.”



Despite the avalanche of criticism which fell upon Leila Marrakchi, the defenders of artistic works raised their voices and said ‘No to the censorship of Moroccan productions' and ‘No to the restriction of freedom of artistic expressions'.

As Marock's opponents said that defenders of the film are inciting decadence in the name of modernity, the supporters of the young director accused them of being schizophrenic, intolerant and accustomed to illogically prohibit everything.

Recently, a list of signatories has been opened to support Marock.

The discussion has spread across the blogosphere and a wrap up of how bloggers have reacted to the debate can be found in Foulla’s article on Global Voices.

In the beginning this debate might have been put aside as simple a clash between generations; the young versus the old. But the intervention of politicians and other groups has made it more than this. At the end of the day this issue goes to the heart of the directions that modern Morocco is heading. Under some strong leadership from HM Mohammed VI, Morocco has made very firm steps towards liberalising the society and freeing it from the shackles of poverty and prejudice. These moves have been applauded around the world and held up as an example that other countries in the region could follow. It would be a great shame if those who oppose this direction unite around issues like that of Marock and use it to close down the shutters.

A free democratic society needs a free press and freedom of expression. The Morocco shown in Marock, may not be the Morocco that some like, but to deny its reality is dangerous. At times like this it is wise to turn to Voltaire’s Freedom, where he famously said: I may not agree with what you say, but to your death I will defend your right to say it.

Link: The film site on the web

Tags: Morocco, Film Cinema, Film

Congratulations to Morocco - National Day

The national struggle against the French occupation started with the announcement of the protectorate in 1912. The publication of the Berber Dahir of 1930, a France-imposed decree seeking to divide Morocco into two, marked the beginning of the political strife, which later took the form of armed resistance.

In 1943, King Mohammed V called for the independence of the country at the Anfa conference, held in Casablanca. His initiative to present the Independence Manifesto to the occupation forces was a result of intensified contacts between the Royal palace and leaders of the liberation movement.

On January 11, 1944, some 66 Moroccan figures, including a woman, presented to the French colonial authorities a petition calling for Morocco's independence.

This year, the Independence Manifesto anniversary coincides with the celebration of Aid Al Adha (Greater Bairam), the 10th day of Dhu'l Hijja month in the lunar calendar, on which Muslims perform a ritual slaughter of a sheep, commemorating Allah's ransom of Prophet Abraham's son from sacrifice.

Tags: Morocco, Fès, Maghreb, news

Sebta and Melilla - again.

It is the story that won't go away. The latest contribution to the debate over the Spanish enclaves in Morocco comes from the L A Times:

This strategically significant geographic anomaly also serves as the gateway to Europe for tens of thousands of illegal immigrants from Africa and elsewhere.

Hugging the Mediterranean and hemmed in by Morocco, Melilla can be reached from mainland Spain only by airplane or an eight-hour boat ride. Looking at an official map of Spain, Melilla and Ceuta are like crumbs that fell off the table and are sitting on the floor.

Just about all the people who live in this relatively well-off city of 65,000 identify themselves first as Spaniards. Many of the Muslims, who were born in Morocco or have parents who were, also call themselves Berbers; some of the Christians refer to themselves as Spaniards "of peninsular origin."

"This is a special city," said Jonaida Sel-lam, 28, a Melilla social worker born to a Tunisian mother and Moroccan father. A secular Muslim, she figures she can be Spanish and Berber the way people in Barcelona can be Spanish and Catalan. "Given our unique and I would say privileged geography, the role we should play is that of the bridge between Morocco and Europe, between the First and Third Worlds."

The reality is quite different, she says. Life in Melilla as harmonious bliss is a myth, she says, the slogans about coexistence empty. Muslim residents of Melilla experience the highest unemployment rates, largest number of high school flunk-outs, lowest representation within the well-paid city government.

The mother tongue of most, Tamazight, is relegated to a second-class status, she complains — not taught in schools and infrequently heard on state TV. Most people of Moroccan ancestry, even if their families lived in Melilla for generations, could not hold Spanish citizenship until the mid-1980s.

Though few will talk about it openly, some Catholics view their Muslim neighbors as a potential fifth column.

"There is an uncertainty, a doubt, a kind of fear," said Joaquin Gonzalez, 61, a retired banker and local head of Caritas, the Catholic charity whose clientele in Melilla these days is nearly all Muslim.

"Melillianos wonder, if someone retains ties to Morocco, then, at the moment of truth, will they be a true Spaniard, or will they be Moroccan?"

Morocco periodically asserts a claim to Melilla. Sel-lam and others think politicians here use the threat of an attempted takeover by Morocco as a red herring to stoke anxiety in a Catholic population fearful of a threat to its Spanish identity — and to keep the Berbers in their place.

Read the full article: LA Times: Spain's Little Piece of Africa

UPDATE - The latest news: Spanish PM gets mixed welcome in occupied Melilla

Our Previous Story: Sebta and Melilla

Also see Moroccan News Briefs #7

Tags: Morocco, Fès, Maghreb, news

Global Voices Maroc blog roundup.

Farah Kinani (Refusenik) has contributed her first round up of Moroccan blogs for 2006.

In her post Foulla touches on two of the issues we have raised in The View From Fes and regular readers might be interested to follow the links she supplies....

In his latest post, Larbi disapproves (French) the recent declarations of the Moroccan Justice Minister Mohammad Bouzoubaa to set up a follow-up unit in charge of monitoring all press publications. The comments to this post were all surprisingly not surprised of such decision and focused mainly in condemning the Moroccan journalists .

Still in the national events and while I was suspecting a bigger reaction from the Moroccan bloggers to the Tel Quel’s sentence, only few blogs mentioned it last week .

Our thanks to Farah (yet again)! Read her full post here: The first week of 2006 in the Moroccan blogs

For those who did not catch the "follow-up" unit story and the Tel Quel sentence: here it is again : Moroccan News Briefs #6


Tags: Morocco, Global Voices, Maghreb, news

All the crew at The View from Fes wish you...

For our readers in malaysia: Selamat Hari Raya Aidiadha buat semuat umat muslimin diserata dunia !!!

Tags: Morocco, Fès, Maghreb, news

Moroccan News Briefs - #13

Moroccan News Briefs published in The View From Fez draw on open source material, contributions from readers, as well as material from Maghreb Arabe Presse (MAP), Morocco Times and official Moroccan Government press releases.

Id Al Adha - King grants 1059 pardons.

King Mohammed VI granted pardon to a total of 1059 prisoners, on the occasion of the Id Al Adha, Moslem ram sacrifice feast and of the Independence Manifesto day, both celebrated this year on January 11th.

Total pardon was granted to 116 over their remaining prison term or seclusion, reduction of imprisonment term or seclusion to 709, commuting of life imprisonment to time term to 11, total pardon over the prison term or its remaining time to 25.

The royal pardon also concerned writing off the fines to 89 individuals, total pardon of the imprisonment term with maintaining the payment of the fine to 103 and pardon of the prison term and fine to 6 prisoners.

In a congratulation message sent on the occasion of Id Al Adha to heads of States of Moslem countries, King Mohammed VI said the festival is the opportunity to remind Moslems of their religious duty to be in solidarity and to uphold fraternity, tolerance and moderation values, while rejecting extremism, ostracism and terrorism.

The Moroccan sovereign also said in the best wishes message Moslems have to strive to make right and justice triumph, spread good and virtue in the world and promote the noble human ideals both among themselves and in other parts of the world.

King Mohammed VI expressed wishes of good health and happiness for the heads of States of Moslem countries, and progress and prosperity for their peoples.

In the message, the monarch also prayed for the consolidation of the Islamic solidarity ties and the reinforcement of the relations between Morocco and these countries for the well-being of the Islamic Ummah.

A united Moslem community, said the sovereign, will better take up the challenges it faces and contribute to the wealth of the human civilisation.

Olive trees to replace kif in Larache

After the destruction of the cannabis cultivated on more than 4,000 hectares, which started in June 2005, the Larache authorities are providing alternative solutions for local farmers to substitute Cannabis with olive trees.

According to the Regional Agency for Agricultural Development of Loukous region (ORMVAL), studies showed that olive trees of “Haouzia” species constitute the best cultivating substitution for that region. This species could adapt to the region's rude climate and produce high quality oil. Hence, the farmers would have sufficient legal incomes.

Last Friday, the governor of the province, Maoulainine Ben Khalihanna, presided over the distribution of the first olive tree saplins in the rural commune of “El Kula” near Larache city.

This was the first step of the planting programme which combines the efforts of local authorities, local citizens and the ORMVAL.



The project received a common approval of local farmers. This has been the result of an efficient sensitisation effort that succeeded in convincing the locals of the possible benefits of an alternative cultivation.

The plan aims to distribute over 50,000 olive trees this year. A common agreement was made with all the rural communities in order to harmonise the efforts of all involved parties. The programme is worth MAD 5 million, say ORMVAL executives.

The cannabis framers are very poor. The culture of “Kif” constitutes the only, but a very low, income source available in the climatic and soil conditions of Morocco's northern regions. Farmers are completely exploited by drug traffickers, but they hardly profit at all.

Twenty-three people killed in Moroccan coach crash

Twenty-three people were killed and 63 injured, 11 seriously, when two coaches collided on a road in southern Morocco on Tuesday, state news agency MAP reported.

Two buses collided 20 km (12 miles) from the tourist city of Marrakesh, on the road linking the southern cities of Marrakech and Agadir and according to MAP the crash was blamed on excessive speed.

The injured were transported to hospitals in Marrakech.

Sixteen people were killed and 1,011 were injured, including 64 seriously, in road accidents that occurred on January 2 through 8 in urban areas in Morocco and according to the General Direction of National Security, the main causes behind these accidents are pedestrians' recklessness, speed excess and non observance of the traffic law.

Some 3,894 people were killed in road accidents in 2004, a 0.4% increase compared to 2003, according to the Ministry of Equipment and Transport. During the last ten years, road accidents increased at a yearly basis of 3pc, causing enormous economic losses.

The Moroccan government launched a road safety campaign two years ago after it was estimated that around 10 people died everyday in road accidents that cost the country 11 billion dirhams ($1.21 billion) a year - that is 2.5% of the GDP. .

Tags: Morocco, Fès, Maghreb, news

Not Ebay, but E-baa??

When The View From Fes went looking for a sheep for Aid Al Adha we discovered it could all be done from the laptop. No more treking off to Meknes (where the sheep are cheaper than Fes) - or heading out into the countryside looking for a bleating bargain. It turns out that a farm in Laghdira commune (El Jadida province) launched an online sheep market, revolutionising the traditional way of selling sheep. ‘E-Souk' or ‘E-Sheep' has recently been the center of attention of national media.

As an example, just click on the link to have a close inspection of what we thought was quite a bargain! Twenty month old sardi, 75kg... and only 2900 MAD

Locals claim that the launching of the website has changed the tradition in the region. People will no longer go to souks like Tlat Sidi Bennour, Khmis Zmamra, Chtouka or Jmaat Shim. The online souk, open 24h/24, has facilitated the task for customers. They are now able to choose the sheep at a simple click: (try it yourself!) Khairat Farms

The website provides the possibility of choosing at a click the race, age, weight and price of the sheep, according to customers' purchase power with sheep prices ranging from MAD 500 to MAD 10,000. Located in Douar Ait Ham, the farm takes charge of delivering sheep to El Jadida, Casablanca and Rabat, respecting the deadlines and inn case of delay, the client is notified via e-mail or phone calls.

“The aim of anaam.net is to open an international market to Khairat
Farms' products so as to establish direct relations between the producer and the consumer, removing all intermediaries,” reads a statement on the website.

The farm answers the demand of customers on different occasions, including Aid Al Adha, marriages and special events.

Electronic means have recently contributed to the buying and selling process at the period of Aid Al Adha. Many wives were reported to have chosen sheep through Multimedia Messaging System (MMS).

Tags: Morocco, Fès, Maghreb, news

Moroccan News Briefs - #12

Moroccan News Briefs published in The View From Fez draw on open source material, contributions from readers, as well as material from Maghreb Arabe Presse (MAP), Morocco Times and official Moroccan Government press releases.

Arab Media reaction to Justice and Reconciliation Commission

"Arab peoples are not used to these frankness from their leaders" - Qatari newspaper

The Arab press has described the initiative of King Mohammed VI to turn the page of human rights violations committed in the past as a "bold step" that ends a political phase and brings hope to the future.

The King has not only surprised Morocco but the whole Arab world with this initiative that will remain forever deep-rooted in the Moroccan history, wrote the Qatari newspaper Arraya, commenting the speech of King Mohammed VI addressed on Friday after the end of the works of the Justice and Reconciliation Commission (IER).

This body was set up in January 2004 to probe and seek out-of-court settlement to human rights violations committed from 1956 to 1999.

Arraya editorialist deemed that "Arab peoples are not used to these frankness from their leaders," pointing out that the king is aware that internal entente requires frankness and transparency.

The Moroccan King underlined in his speech the need to be freed from the repercussions of the past, calling on all Moroccans to consider the past a part of their history and turn to the future. The sovereign did not deny past violations but insisted on the need to draw lessons to prevent the repeat of these practices, noted the paper.

The Egyptian daily Al Hayat deemed, on the other hand, that the appointment of Abderrahmane El Youssoufi (former first secretary of the Socialist Union for Popular Forces –USFP) as prime minister in 1998 heralded the change in Morocco. The future challenge, it said, is to fight poverty, illiteracy, unemployment and all obstacles hindering the country’s development.

The Jordanian Al-Anbaa newspaper said it is important to draw lessons from the Moroccan experience, especially that it grants a great interest to human rights respect and preservation.

Since king Mohammed VI ascended the throne, it said, Morocco has witnessed a continuous political dynamic through more freedom, respect of laws and fighting corruption.

The Morocco Times is also running a story on the King's recent speech, saying that it was "one of its most significant days in its contemporary history." The piece by the managing editor, Karima Rhanem is worth a read: Royal Speech. Morocco admits past mistakes, lays foundations for prosperous future

Princess Lalla Meryem launches measles immunisation campaign

MAP reports that on Princess Lalla Meryem has chaired the start of a national immunisation campaign against measles and German measles. The campaign is part of the efforts to eradicate the two diseases by 2010 and will this year inoculate more than 477,100 school children nationwide, including 17,798 in the Haouz province (Marrakech region), where the Princess kicked off the campaign.

Princess Lalla Meryem also dedicated the "Dar Al Oumouma" health center built to help cut down mother mortality by providing pre and post natal care to birth giving women coming from surroundings places. The center, built part of the National Initiative for Human Development initiated last year to fight poverty and exclusion, the 370 sq meter centre will host some 800 pregnant women, annually. Women are allowed to stay in the center five days before giving birth.

The centre staff have been trained to raise awareness among the region’s women on issues relating to pregnancy, birth giving, child care and attendance is expected to total 3,000 women per year.

The ceremony was marked by the signing of an entente memorandum by the Moroccan Health Ministry and the UNICEF on the new purchase mode to be used by Morocco to buy vaccines and medical equipment requiring hard currency and pre-payment.

The princess, chairwoman of the National Observatory of Children Rights (ONDE), also chaired in Marrakech the inauguration of a Regional Centre for Taking Charge Women and Children Victim of Violence located at the Ibn Zohr Hospital. The centre, a first a series of eleven throughout the country, will host and rehabilitate violence victims, through inter alia providing needed care and follow up.

Call for Moroccans to return home

In 1968 it was estimated that the Moroccan community residing abroad numbered some 160,000 people. By 2004 that number had risen to 3.09 million, 2.6 million of whom live in France, the Netherlands, Germany, Italy, Spain and Belgium.

Now the Moroccan government is working on the reforms necessary to facilitate the return of the Moroccans living abroad and hoping to encourage their contribution to the Kingdom's socio-economic development. In an interview published by the Spanish agency EFE, Nouzha Chekrouni, minister delegate to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, expressed the government's determination to attract the return of many Moroccans. Chekrouni explained that the Moroccan government is working on the reforms necessary to facilitate the return of the Moroccans living abroad and their contribution to the Kingdom's socio-economic development.

“When these reforms will be implemented, a great deal of Moroccans will be encouraged to return to the Kingdom to invest and participate in its development,” she the government, who took part this week in Grenade in a study day on "the Moroccan migration and its contribution to the success of the process of human development,".

Tags: Morocco, Fès, Maghreb, news

Ex-Minister to form new party

Mohamed Oujjar, ex Minister of Human Rights and Member of the executive bureau of the National Rally of Independents (RNI), is believed to have withdrawn from the party and create his own new party - Morocco Times.

A number of members, including Mohammed Oujjar are said to have withdrawn from the party and are working towards the creation of a new political party.

The name of the new party will be revealed in few weeks. Its orientation is believed to be liberal and democratic.

Full story: Morocco Times.


Tags: Morocco, Fès, Maghreb, news

Moroccan News Briefs - #11

Moroccan News Briefs published in The View From Fez draw on open source material, contributions from readers, as well as material from Maghreb Arabe Presse (MAP), Morocco Times and official Moroccan Government press releases.

"The despicable self-loathing preached by Syriana"

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

Assahra Al Maghribia celebrates first anniversary of re-launching

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

Twelve new towns to relieve overcrowded cities

"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

Eating out in Fes

One of our readers has kindly posted a link to his take on eating out in Fes.

As we love to hear other people's stories of experiences in Fes, we are reposting the link so you can share it to:

Eating in Fes

Tags: Morocco Fes

Too much of a good thing? (updated)

What started as a slow trickle of Europeans buying properties in Morocco has developed into something of a torrrent - some might say a flood. Each month brings news of increased numbers and everyone, it appears, is keen to get a piece of the action. New airlines are offering direct flights to Morocco (the latest from Glasgow, of all places). And, of course, the media is playing along, promoting the idea or owning your own little piece of Morocco - "A Gucci riad"... "Ancient Glory (needs restoration)".

It has to be asked. What is this doing to the local economies, to the society, to "ordinary Moroccans"? Riads and Dars that housed extended families are being vacated to make way for trendy couples who want part of the "next big thing".

A riad or dar that once cost around 30 -40 thousand Euros is now likely to bring well over 100,000....

The latest contribution to the frenzy is The Observer from the UK.

Morocco is on the up: 170,000 Britons visited in 2004, an increase of 26 per cent on the previous year. And increasingly, they're buying. As Alistair Emery of Hamptons puts it: 'People are looking at Spain and Portugal, where there has been huge capital growth over the past five to 10 years, and they are seeing that Morocco is not that much further away, but offers the potential of much better growth.'

The appeal of Morocco goes beyond investment potential, however. It's probably the most exotic country you can reach on a three-hour flight; its decorative style, vibrant culture and warm year-round climate leave the likes of Spain and Portugal in the shade.

Marrakech is the epicentre of both the tourist trade and the real estate market. Peter Roberts, a director of development company Amazing Morocco, says: 'It has a fantastic climate, with over 300 days of sunshine - and it's a dry heat, so there are no problems with sleeping at night. It also has a wonderfully cosmopolitan character.'

It should be mentioned that there is one group of foreigners that the Moroccans should be welcoming with open arms; those whose driving motivation is the preservation of the ancient architecture. The "conservation/renovation" ethos is alive and well amongst a small group of dedicated individuals and couples and already the Medina of Fes is the winner. Sadly not all investors have an eye for heritage or cultural values.

Read the full Observer article here and then spare a thought for the locals. Sure the renovations provide work for some artisans, but a majority of residents will simply sit back and watch in wonder at this influx of foreigners following yet another trend.

Link: The Observer: Capital from the casbah

Mind you if you really want to distract yourself from the realities of life in Morocco read the nonsense that appears as travel articles but are in fact thinly disguised advertorials by journalists who should know better. This link to an article by Susan Spano, complete with exfoliating treatments... is a clear warning of just how much romantic tosh there is swilling about: Capturing romance of the city in a riad- Susan Spano

Also see: Europeans buy up big in Morocco

And in French: Mehdi7 on development problems in Tangier

Tags: Morocco, Fès, Maghreb, news

refusenik: The Girls of Riyadh..

In her usual fine style, Refusenik has a really interesting post about Rajaa Al Sanii, a 24 years old Saudi dentist who has written a provocative novel, The Girls of Ryadh. Published in September in Lebanon, and already going into its third printing. Refusenik reports that "in Saudi Arabia, where the sexes are strictly segregated, authorities haven't decided whether to approve its sale, but pirated editions are circulating in photocopy form."

refusenik: The Girls of Riyadh.

Tags: Morocco, Islam, Literature, Saudi

Ahmed Barakat (Moroccan Poets #3)

Ahmed Barakat (1960-1994) grew up and spent most of his life in Casablanca.He was a journalist for the Moroccan newspaper Bayane Al Yawm. His death in 1994 at the age of 34, in the prime of his poetic career, felt like a personal shock to most Moroccan poets. Barakat was a champion of the prose poem in Morocco, and is believed to be the writer of the first Moroccan manifesto defending and celebrating the Moroccan prose poem. For more information on Barakat, visit the Poetry International Web



A small word


I am going to the market
Please wait till I come back
You can wash your clothes if you get bored
And if the door disturbs you
Take it off
And put anything in its place
Please don’t leave your face inside the mirror
And then quit by the window
Don’t commit suicide as is your habit

But
Wait
For me
Till
I come back

© Translation: 2004, Norddine Zouitni

Abdel-ilah Salhi. (Moroccan poets #1)

Mohammed Bennis (Moroccan Poets #2)

Tags: Morocco, Fès, Poetry, Ahmed Barakat

Paul Bowles in Fez

Visitors to Fez can often find themselves overwhelmed by the assault the city makes on their senses. The colours, smells, sounds and texture of the city at the same time can appear entrancing and disconcerting. The jostling crowd in the morning souqs, the constant movement of people and mules, threading their way through the myriad alleys that twist and turn in the medina like the web of a psychotic spider. It can be all too much. There are also, however, moments of pure bliss. The light on a minaret at dusk, a single figure silhouetted in an arched doorway... and always doorways. Doorways, dark, drab, worn and seemingly derelict yet strong, held together, in many senses, by the aged and heavy hand of Fatima. Behind these anonymous doorways; riads, dars, hovels, splendour, poverty, heartache and joy - mixed like secret spices in a tagine.

To unlock the secrets of the Fez Medina may not be possible, but clues are to be found in the work of those who, over the years, have been held in thrall by the city; writers, painters, poets... There is no better example than that of Paul Bowles. We have posted before about Paul Bowles and his wonderful novel The Spider's House, but those who love reading the work of a master wordsmith, should take time to explore his 1984 essay on Fez.

Here is a small sample:

The street goes down and down, always unpaved, nearly always partially hidden from the sky. Sometimes it is so narrow as to permit only one-way foot traffic; here the beasts of burden scrape their flanks on each side as they squeeze through, and you have to back up or step quickly into a doorway while they pass, the drivers intoning: "Balak, balak, balak..." Here is the bitter earth odor of new pottery, here the rank smell of hides being tanned, or the stench of a butcher's stall where the meat, black with flies, ripens in a shaft of dusty sunlight that points an accusing finger down through the meshes of the latticework. In dark recesses like grottos are mosaic fountains where woman and girls scream invective as they fill their pails and the dust under their feet turns to mud. Then you are walking under an elaborate carved portal hung with ancient bronze lanterns, and you smell the feline scent of figtrees. A cascade of water rumbles nearby, but it is behind a wall and you never catch a glimpse of it.
(Published with permission)

You can read the entire piece here; The authorised Paul Bowles website.

This wonderful site includes biographical essays, catalogues of his literary and musical works, and photographs by friends and colleagues. The site was started by the estate of Paul Bowles after his death in 1999. A link to the site is also in our links list.

Also check out our earlier post on The Spider's House.


Tags: Morocco, Fès, Literature, Paul Bowles

A quick reminder of why I love Morocco

A short pictorial trip around the souqs in Fes and Marrakech.








Tags: Morocco Fes

Moroccan News Briefs - #10

Moroccan News Briefs published in The View From Fez draw on open source material, contributions from readers, as well as material from Maghreb Arabe Presse (MAP), Morocco Times and official Moroccan Government press releases.

Morocco determined to enhance human potential

Since its independence, Morocco has adopted a long process to enhance its human potential and has worked to establish a modern economy capable of guaranteeing the country's development, noted a report on Morocco's human development during the last 50 years and on prospects for 2025. Today's Morocco Times carries a full report on progress towards this goal.

Full story Morocco Times: Morocco determined to enhance human potential

Morocco establishes academy for young scientists

Morocco has created an academy for young scientists which it is intended will encourage and promote scientific research and reinforce communication between Moroccan scientists.

Setting up this structure translates public authorities' determination to enhance scientific research as a strategic choice accompanying national and international evolutions, said, on this occasion, Minister of National Education and Scientific Research, Habib El Malki.

The academy, he said, will give a new impetus to scientific research in Morocco and contribute to promoting investments in the sector.

The Minister called on the academy to raise awareness on the importance of converging knowledge with religious and cultural values to contribute to sustainable development and take up challenges of globalization and international mutations.

The Moroccan academy was created in implementation of recommendations of a meeting of the World Academy for Young Scientists, held in Marrakech in December. The meeting called for the creation of such structures and of national networks for young scientists.

Some 160 would-be immigrants arrested in Morocco

According to sources in the Moroccan Interior Ministry, some 160 would-be immigrants were arrested in Morocco during the first five days of January.

About 90 foreigners were among the persons who were arrested during different control and surveillance operations in various regions in Morocco.

Thousands of Moroccans and foreigners, mostly sub-Saharans, attempt every year to clandestinely cross to Europe via Morocco in search for better life opportunities.

Morocco has made cracking on illegal migrants among its top priorities.

Delay over adoption of Pharmacy Law

The Moroccan Association of Pharmaceutical Industry (APIM) has deplored the delay registered in the adoption of the new Pharmacy Law and launched a call to pass it in order to liberalise the capital of the pharmaceutical industry.

“After the agreement on the majority of the amendments of this law and given the consensus of the Ministry of Health, the APIM is surprised that the law has been frozen in Parliament for unknown reasons,” said Omar Tazi, president of the APIM, at a press conference on Thursday in Casablanca.

According to Tazi, “freezing this important project harms national interests and has negative effects on the national pharmaceutical industry.”

Full story Morocco Times: APIM deplores delay over adoption of Pharmacy Law

Call for job creation in Morocco

According to an as yet unreleased report, Morocco must double job creation to 400,000 a year over the next 20 years to prevent mass unemployment that would threaten its stability. The report, ordered by King Mohammed VI as part of his on-going reforms, is the result of two years of work by dozens of Morocco's leading experts, who considered how to cure the country's problems of poverty, shaky economic growth and corruption.

The draft of the official report says Morocco would face economic stagnation, water shortage, and mass unemployment if it failed to embrace a sound strategy to steer the country towards a bright future. A less competitive economy, with a weak growth, will spawn an unemployment rate of more than 20 per cent and worsen poverty and social marginalisation.

The report goes on to say that the country has to change pace to create 400,000 jobs per year instead of the 200,000 currently created.

The report was supervised by one of King Mohammed VI's top advisors, Abdelaziz Meziane Belfkih (pictured left).

The report blamed government neglect of the rural population and of women in the past as among the main causes of the country's current difficulties.

Morocco, which now enjoys political stability and consensus between King Mohammed and most of the country's influential political and social forces over democracy and a market economy, has the opportunities to make prosperity take root, it said.

The report cited strengthening national consensus, a more integrated and competitive economy and winning the battle against poverty as among the factors required for Morocco to move on a prosperous path.

"The country has to break definitely with the woes which are the causes of its underdevelopment so it will be able to advance towards a better future,"

Morocco produces annually 55,000 tons of Couscous

Morocco produces 55,000 tons of couscous and 45,000 tons of alimentary paste per year, revealed the National Agency to Promote small and medium enterprises (ANPME).

In its latest bulletin, ANPME said the annual production capacity of the Moroccan companies (16 operational units employing 650 persons) is estimated at 170,000 tons.
The average national consummation of Couscous is around 1.6kg/year/person and of alimentary paste is at 1.55kg/year/person.

Moroccan annual exports of these products are estimated at 2,446 tons, while export/production ratio is around 1.5%.

Moroccan king awarded Rotary International's honor

President of Rotary International extended to king Mohammed VI of Morocco its award of honor for 2004-2005 in recognition of his actions in social and humanitarian fields and in the service of peace.

This coincides with Rotary International celebration this year of its hundredth anniversary.

The award was handed, here Friday, to Prince Moulay Rachid, younger brother of the Moroccan sovereign, by Rotary International President, Carl Wilhelm Stenhammar (pictured right).

The award of honor is the highest distinction granted by Rotary International to heads of State and eminent international figures.

The international organization extended its award for 1993-1994 to late king Hassan II.

Rotary is a worldwide organization of business and professional leaders that provides humanitarian service and helps build goodwill and peace in the world.

Approximately 1.2 million Rotarians belong to more than 31,000 Rotary clubs located in 167 countries.

Divorce rate in Morocco down 40 per cent since introduction of Family Code

Moroccan Justice Minister Mohamed Bouzoubaa has announced that the divorce rate has dropped 40 per cent since the introduction of the new Family Code in February 2004. He said the figure shows the positive impact of the amendments to legislation that provide for the enhancement of women's and child's rights, and the consolidation of family relations. Last May, Bouzoubaa revealed that the number of marriage contracts stood at 243,492 for the period from February 2004 until January 2005, an increase of 2.76 per cent from the same period the year before.

Tags: Morocco, Fès, Maghreb, news

King's address: full text

Ladies and Gentlemen,

My loyal subjects,

I promised to address you whenever we concluded a specific stage in the country's resolute march towards progress, or started a new one, as you display further mobilization, confidence and optimism, rallying around your King, the First Servant of the nation.

My address to you comes at a decisive juncture, a watershed moment in our history. Indeed, we are bidding farewell to the half century that has elapsed since our country gained independence, a 50-year period marked by the successes, failures and expectations which have accompanied the founding of a modern state. By the grace of the Almighty, this anniversary will also mark the beginning of the struggle to complete the building of a unified, democratic, prosperous Morocco.

By reminiscing about the past, my purpose is not to pass judgement on history, which has always been a mixture of positive things and negative ones. Only historians have the ability to pass objective, unbiased judgements, without being affected by transient political considerations.

Yet this hardly means we consider that period of history to be a bygone era, nor do we intend to remain prisoners thereof. Rather, it is an intrinsic part of the long history of our nation, and I am keen to ensure history remains, for all Moroccans, an effective means to read the past, understand the present, and confidently prepare for the future.

In this respect, and in order to keep public opinion informed, I have asked for the publishing of the final report of the Justice and Reconciliation Commission, and of the Study on our country's human development achievements and future prospects.

In addition to preserving this part of our heritage in the nation's collective memory, we must all of us draw the necessary lessons from it, in a way that will shield our country from a repetition of what happened, and enable it to make up for what was lost.

What matters most, however, is to have a constructive approach towards the future, and to muster our resources in order to address the pressing issues of our people and achieve the country's development. Indeed, there is much to be done, especially after the measures taken to speed up the pace of development. Our ultimate goal is to enhance solidarity in our society so as to achieve a life of dignity for all and promote responsible citizenship, striking a balance between rights and obligations. Otherwise, we cannot fulfil the aspirations of our youth nor, for that matter, keep up with the times.

On behalf of our young generations, I say: Enough selfishness; enough isolation and waste of valuable opportunities; enough squandering of resources and energies in false struggles. It is high time we turned to the present and the future of our sons, for they will not understand our failure to fulfil their reasonable aspiration for a life of dignity.

There is no other way of achieving this goal except by being committed to hard work, by pursuing the sacrifices made by the generations of the independence and of the Green March eras, and by forging ahead with a broad-based reform process, boosted by the resolve and enthusiasm of our youth. They are the generation that will achieve human development, while remaining strongly committed to the nation's identity and territorial integrity, and to its civic-minded monarchy.

My loyal subjects,
I have sought, with courage, wisdom and resolve, to achieve full and fair settlement of the question of past human rights abuses, a groundbreaking process started in the early 1990s by my revered father, His Majesty King Hassan II, may he rest in peace. I remember, with a great deal of humility and reverence, how my father, blessed be his soul, insisted in his last state opening of parliament address, in October 1998, on the need to settle all unresolved cases once and for all, so that, as His Majesty said, Morocco would no longer be burdened with a reputation which does not reflect the truth, nor does it tally with its reality, nor is it useful for its future.

When my father passed away, I sought to carry on that mission, using a unique, distinctive approach that has made it possible to resolve problematic cases, in compliance with the principle of “change within continuity”, which is a characteristic feature of our monarchy. Praise be to Almighty God that, as the loyal successor of my venerable father, I have seen to it this mission has been successfully carried out. On behalf of the entire Moroccan people, I send these glad tidings to his blessed soul to bring joy to his heart, as well as to the hearts of all victims, harm sufferers and grieving families, about whom I care so deeply.

I should like to commend the Justice and Reconciliation Commission, its president and its members, for their sincere endeavours, and I call on the Advisory Council on Human Rights to implement of the Commission's recommendations. I also call on public authorities to continue their fruitful cooperation with the Council; by doing so, they will be reflecting my determination to promote the pursuit of truth, justice and reconciliation.

The sincere reconciliation we have achieved does not mean we are putting the past behind us, for history is ever present in people's minds. Rather, this reconciliation is in keeping with the divine injunction which says: “So overlook (any human faults) with gracious forgiveness”.

It is a collective forgiveness which is likely to bolster the in-depth institutional reform under way, one that should enable our country to free itself from the blemishes of past civil and political rights abuses. This will help us pave the way for the second fifty-year post-independence period, and focus on the hard, decisive mission of promoting the economic, social and cultural rights of all Moroccans, especially those who suffer from poverty, illiteracy, unemployment and marginalization.

Hence, and in keeping with my overall perception of human rights, as well as my strategic outlook advocating integrated and harmonized public policies, a Board composed of eminent scholars and experts as well as a scientific commission and ad-hoc groups, was entrusted with preparing a comprehensive study on the outcome of fifty years of human development as well as the prospects for the future.

I should like to commend those who supervised this important work as well as the Moroccan experts and specialists who took part in it. I hope the individual and collective contributions underlying this study will serve as an incentive for all segments of our country's elite to resume their role in guiding the nation and spearheading strategic thinking. It is also hoped the study will lead to a broad-based, constructive debate on clear, distinctive projects for our society.

The task of finalizing and implementing these projects, and of reflecting the will of the people, lies with the nation's constitutional bodies, political institutions, trade unions and NGOs.

Ladies and Gentlemen,
My loyal subjects,
I wanted this address to be future-oriented in order to promote dignity-based citizenship and renew the pledge to implement the major, ongoing project of achieving human development.

For that, we need to muster the tremendous resources of our young generations, to facilitate wealth-generating projects, and to promote creativity in the sciences and the arts, inside as well as outside Morocco. Our ultimate objective is to build a society characterized by accountability and equal opportunity.

I shall continue to see to it state authorities do all they can in this respect. I also intend to ensure all Moroccans enjoy a life of dignity, and promote, to that effect, close cooperation between all the stakeholders concerned, be they public authorities, NGOs, groups or individuals.

The best way to attain this objective is through upholding the virtues of integrity and merit, as well as enforcing the mechanisms of accountability and transparency, within the framework of the rule of law and of responsible citizenship.

I shall continue to steer the ship in the right direction towards the shores of stability, security, progress and prosperity, through successive, in-depth reforms. I shall see to it the ship sails ahead confidently and purposefully in the waters of the international environment.

Wassalamu alaikum warahmatullah wabarakatuh.

Tags: Morocco, Fès, Maghreb, news

King's call for "collective forgiveness"

I announce the comforting news, with the hope that the merciful angels will carry it to the soul of my venerated father and the hearts of all the victims, the persons who had been wronged and their families, that we have sympathy and solicitude for them.
- King Mohammed VI.


As we reported yesterday, the Moroccan King addressed the nation on radio and television, marking the conclusion to the work of the Equity and Reconciliation Commission (IER). The Commission was set up early 2004 to probe past human rights violations and to seek out-of-court settlement for victims. King Mohammed VI said on behalf of the emerging young generation: "Enough selfishness; enough isolation and waste of valuable opportunities; enough squandering of resources and energies in false struggles."

"It is high time we turned to the present and the future of our sons," said the monarch, affirming that the only way to do so is to be "committed to hard work, by pursuing the sacrifices made by the generations of the independence and of the Green March eras."

The sovereign stressed this cannot be achieved unless by "being committed to hard work, by pursuing the sacrifices made by the generations of the independence and of the Green March eras, and by forging ahead with a broad-based reform process, boosted by the resolve and enthusiasm of our youth."

Recalling his orders to publish the report of IER and the study on the country’s human development achievements and future prospects, the monarch called for drawing the necessary lessons from our history, “in a way that will shield our country from a repetition of what happened, and enable it to make up for what was lost.”

On the past human rights violations, King Mohammed VI asserted having sought with “courage, wisdom and resolve” to achieve the fair settlement of this issue, a “groundbreaking process started in the early 1990s by my reserved father, His Majesty King Hassan II.”

Hailing the work of IER, the monarch called on the Advisory Council on Human Rights “to implement the Commission’s recommendations” to reflect “my determination to promote the pursuit of truth, justice and reconciliation.”

The sovereign stressed that the sincere reconciliation does not aim to “put the past behind us” but rather to foster “collective forgiveness.”

This forgiveness, he said, "is likely to bolster the in-depth institutional reform under way, one that should enable our country to free itself from the blemishes of past civil and political rights abuses," therefore paving the way for "the second fifty-year post-independence period, and focus on the hard, decisive mission of promoting the economic, social and cultural rights of all Moroccans, especially those who suffer from poverty, illiteracy, unemployment and marginalization."

The king noted that he has ordered the setting up of a board of scholars to prepare a comprehensive study on the outcome of fifty years of human development and the prospects for the future, voicing hope this study "will serve as an incentive for all segments of our country's elite to resume their role in guiding the nation and spearheading strategic thinking."

At the end of his address, the monarch promised to see to it that state authorities do all they can in this respect, to ensure all Moroccans enjoy a life of dignity, and promote close cooperation between all the stakeholders concerned, through “upholding the virtues of integrity and merit, as well as enforcing the mechanisms of accountability and transparency, within the framework of the rule of law and of responsible citizenship.”


It was clear that the address to the nation was aimed at sending a strong message that the king intends to put an end to divisions among Morocco's elite about past human rights abuses and focus efforts on combating poverty and mass unemployment.

Tags: Morocco, Fès, Maghreb, news

Contemporary Art in Fes

Recently we posted about modern Moroccan art and artists and in response, regular reader of The View from Fez, David, writes:

For those interested in contemporary Moroccan art in Fes, the best gallery in Fes is Orientalist Art Gallery, 38 Rue Abdelaziz Boutaleb in the Ville Nouvelle, 055 94 45 45. There's currently an exhibit of five artists: Fouzia Sekkat, Abdelali Belal , M'hamed Ghiati Achchabe, Taha Benedada, and Abdelhay Demnati.

One of the best young artists from Fes, Fouzia Sekkat

Tags: Morocco, Fès, Art, Fouzia Sekkat

King to deliver speech to the nation on Friday

After midday prayers on today ( January 06) King Mohammed VI will deliver a speech to the nation.

The ceremony is to be attended by the Prime Minister, speakers of the two Parliament houses, cabinet members, senior officers of the Royal Armed Forces General Staff, leaders of political parties and trade unions, chairmen of political groups at the Parliament, members of the Advisory Council for Human Rights, members of the Justice and Reconciliation Commission (IER) and the members of work committees and groups of the Report “50 years of Human development and 2025 Prospects”, as well as economic operators and association actors.

The speech to the nation is to be aired live on the Radio and Television.

The Sovereign lately gave orders to make public the final report of the IER, set up in 2004 to look into past human rights violations that occurred between 1956 and 1999 in Morocco, and asked to finalize the report on 50 years of human development in the north African country and widely circulate the latter.

The second report results from a work mainly revolving around the dimensions of human development potential in the kingdom and retraces the course Morocco took in this respect since independence.

The report’s approach and underlying principles are similar to those adopted in writing the National Initiative for Human Development announced by the King in May 18, 2005 to set up a prospective framework for efficiency in public policies and for boosting the fight of poverty and exclusion in the country.

The IER and human development reports are documents that integrate a better comprehension of the country’s past and allow Morocco foresee its future.

Tags: Morocco, Fès, Maghreb, news

World's biggest Arabic crossword

A young Moroccan crossword compiler has just completed the world`s biggest crossword grid in Arabic (100,560 words) beating the world record that had been retained by Robert Turcot from Quebec since 1982, Morocco news agency (MAP) reported in Rabat on Tuesday.

The huge grid, designed by Larbi Ouazbir, who was born in Tiflet, east of here, contains 19,102 horizontal enigmas and 18,280 vertical ones, the Moroccan News Agency MAP reported. Its design took eight months of hard work (from March 2005 to October 2005) and some extensive research in various fields.

The Moroccan crossword compiler used the famous dictionary "Lissan Al- Arab" (Arab Language) by Ibn Mandour, as well as some European encyclopaedias and some French and Arab dictionaries to complete his grid.

MAP reported that he should normally receive a reward for his efforts. Unfortunately he has not yet realised his dreams due to lack of material means to participate in international competitions so as to confront his peers.

Ouazbir particularly regretted that he failed to participate in the 2004 international comp