Monday, April 30, 2012

The Moroccan Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research Cops Flack For Dumbing Down


Larbi Arbaoui, writing for the influential Morocco World News. has given a well deserved serve to the Moroccan Minister of Education for what a majority of Moroccans are calling a very backward step. The new government is under fire from around the country for a series of political blunders from so called senior ministers. Many have called for the new prime minister to control the behaviour of his ministers but for some reason he remains silent and seemingly happy for his unskilled ministers to self-destruct.


Taroudant, Morocco, April , 2012.

Lahcen Daoudi -
a minister out of touch?
At a time when Moroccans were waiting to see the newly elected government make serious decisions that would have a direct positive impact on their daily lives, they were taken aback by a series of decrees from various ministers that have nothing to do with the needs of the underprivileged, illiterate, unemployed and homeless Moroccans. The recent decree that prompted dismay and disgruntlement among public sector employees was a circular sent by Mr. Lahcen Daoudi,  to the heads of universities, on April 10, 2012 which prohibits all public sector employees from completing their higher studies in Master Programs.

The present government in its recent resolution in the words of Mr. Lahcen Daoudi continues the series of human rights violations by depriving the public sector employees of the right to enroll in Masters programs. What is the purpose of preventing employees of this right, one that is guaranteed by the country’s constitution and international conventions, other than just to promote a culture of apathy and encourage moral decadence? On what basis can they prevent a person from obtaining an advanced degree? Is there a nation on earth that bans its own citizens from the resources of education for advancing their lives and contributing to the development of their country?

The main expected goal of the newly elected government, in addition to encouraging education was to fight corruption, cheating and to reform the decaying curriculum found in its universities. With the lack of clear regulations, university students are at the mercy of the moody character of some of their teachers. Most universities are in chaos and barely manage students’ affairs because of the insufficiency of assistants and administrators. University teachers are suffering from crowded classes, lack of speakers that project through entire lecture halls and disciplinary problems. These, I believe, are the main issues that have to be at the heart of the concerns of the government. But somehow we got this other decree, instead.

I should remind those in charge of such blameworthy decrees that Morocco is, like never before, in desperate need of people with high potential and distinguished skills. Any country that respects itself puts education–primarily the training of educators–at the top of its priorities. Since teachers are responsible for teaching and educating students who will, later on, be able to function positively and contribute to society, they are the ones most in dire need of Master programs and advanced training to provide them with enlightened knowledge, innovative techniques and advanced strategies to cope with the challenging tasks they are up against.

There is no glittering future for any country who despises its teachers and educators. Any nation that doesn’t consider education its main duty is implicitly paving the way for moral decadence, indirectly announcing its own social decline and at the end will find itself struggling in the heart of darkness.
I stood enthralled and delighted when I learned from one of my friends living in America that she enrolled last year in a university programme at the age of fifty. At the same time I felt sorry for our government to see that it is instead inventing new tricks to block a category of people from obtaining similar levels of knowledge, especially that the explicit platform of the ruling party advocates the pursuit of knowledge from cradle to grave.


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Women and the New Media - edited by Fatima Sadiqi - Now Out.


 Women and the New Media in the Mediterranean Region has just been published by Imprimerie des Universités (Fez). The book contains 19 chapters (11 in English and 8 in French) and subdivides into five parts.  Here is the table of contents:


Introduction : Fatima Sadiqi (International Institute For Languages and Cultures & Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah University, Fez, Morocco).


Part I: The Ambivalent Impact of the New Media on Mediterranean Women

Chapter 1: The Arab Woman’s Rights and her Images in the Media : Promotion of Gender Away from Sexism : Héla Kochbati (Women’s Studies and Gender Researcher, Tunisia), in French.

Chapter 2: Obstacles to and Victims in Development: the Treatment of Illiterate Women in Arab Media and Society: Melodee Baines and Natalie McGarry (Boren Fellow & Reed College, USA).

Chapter 3: Power and Production of Knowledge: The Case of Moroccan Feminisms : Osire Glacier (Bishop University, Sherbrooke, Canada), in French.

Chapter 4: Women and TICs in Algeria : Malika Akham (Saad Dahlab University, Algeria), in French.

Chapter 5: On Some Linguistic Minorities in North Africa : The Use of TICs in the Expansion of Mother Tongues in the South of Mauritania: Madina Borana Touré (University of Nouakchott, Mauritania) In French

Part II: Women, New Media, and Education

Chapter 6 : From School to Work: Hostile Representations of Women in Computer Science: Isabelle Collet (University of Geneva, Switzerland), in French.

Chapter 7: The Role of Video Games in Educational and Professional Choices : Christine Fontanini (Montpellier 3 University, France).

Chapter 8: Class 2.0 in Ukraine: Gender Analysis: Olena Goroshko (National University, Kkarkiv Polytechnic Institute, Kharkiv, Ukraine).

Third Part: Women, New media, and Activism

Chapter 9: Using New Media to Combat Violence Against Women: Moha Ennaji (International Institute For Languages and Cultures & Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah University, Fez, Morocco).

Chapter 10: Advocacy Strategies for Marginalized Women in Morocco :
Christie Edwards (Vital Voices, Washington D.C., USA).

Chapter 11: Iranian Women Transforming Culture, Building Movements, through the Internet: Sussan Tahmasebi (Founder, One Million Signatures to Reform the Family Law, Iran).


Part IV: Women, Literary Production and Blogging

Chapitre 12: Body and Byte: New Media and Live Performance: Faiza Shereen (California State University, Pomona, USA).

Chapter 13: Autofiction on Screen: Self-Representation of Egyptian Women in Literary Blogs: Teresa Pepe (University of Oslo, Norway)

Chapter 14: A Storm in a Teacup: How Could a TV Serial Unveil the Privacy of Ottoman Palaces? Protests, Discussions and Comments: Zehra Handan Salta and Zerrin Yanıkkaya (Yeditepe University, Istanbul, Turkey).

Part V: Women, New Media, and the Arab Spring

Chapter 15: When the Walls are Pulled Down : Arab Women’s Blogs : Chemseddoha Boraki (Abdelmalek Saadi University, Tangiers, Morocco), in French.

Chapter 16: Egyptian Women and the New Media: Mozn Hassan (Nazra Association, Egypt).

Chapter 17: Powering on, powering up the Arab peoples: Internet Technologies and the Arab Spring, The cases of Egypt and Tunisia :
Marlyn Tadros (Northeastern University, Boston, USA).

Chapter 18: The 20 February Movement and the Constitutional Reform in Morocco : A Sufficient Compromise ?” : Sara Borillo (L’Orientale University, Naples, Italy), in French.

Chapter 19: From Keyboard to Megaphone: Facebook and Moroccan Youth Female Activists: Zahir Rahman (Wake Forest University, USA).

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Sunday, April 29, 2012

A slow stroll through Fez Medina



Travel writing these days is usually about the ten best, biggest, fastest, must sees and do’s. When it’s your job you are expected to drop all life’s experiences into the lap of the reader in around one thousand words, allowing them to move on to the next enriching moment in a life cluttered with guide books and next stops on the adventure itinerary. Good in many ways, but frankly, quite boring if you are the one who has the job of writing yet another list of places to tick off, which was probably ticked off in the last magazine you read.


Sadly, there is no place these days for the ‘sit and watch’ observational article, the sort that almost every journalist loves to write, but rarely gets the chance. It’s our opportunity to paint our personal picture beyond the hurly-burly rush that most editors commission. So while Suzanna and Sandy are on the high seas somewhere between Rio de Janeiro and Venice, I’m going to take this opportunity to sneak in an extract from the notes I made as I wandered through the Medina in Fez.


Mid afternoon, Saturday, 14th April.


I’m hungry. I was up bright and early and have had nothing other than a couple of cups of coffee and a bit of nutty stuff I found on the side of a plate that was part of last night’s dessert but got overlooked. I’m at the top of Talaa Kebira, so stop at a food stall where the six-person table inside is full and a crowd has gathered, watching the young man with the wallpaper scraper-cum-spatula, flipping the assorted meats and intestines as they reach their final succulence. Always a good sign, a crowd around a food stall.

To the left of the hot plate a camel’s head hangs suspended from a hook. I’m not sure if it’s part of the menu or a modern-day version of the horse-head signs I used to see outside carneceria de caballos, horse butchers, in Spain. On the hot plate is a selection of merguez, spicy sausage, and an assortment of entrails and meaty things that I’m not about to question, although I find out later that the thick black pudding-looking one is stuffed spleen (there’s also a red version). I’m glad I find out later and not at the time, but at ten dirhams a sandwich it seems pretty good value.





While I’m waiting I look around. Opposite the hot plate is a bread stall with only a few loaves left. With a raised-eyebrow look of expectancy, the salesman’s eyes are focussed over my left shoulder. I turn and see he’s looking at the boss of the food stall, a bear-sized chap wearing a soiled apron and white hat, who, watching how his crowd of punters is growing, makes a slight sideways motion with his right hand, resembling the secret hand signals of a tick-tack man offering the odds at a horse race in England.

Bread boy grabs a pile of round flat loaves, and with three strides he’s at my side. With barely a look of recognition, boss-in-white-hat indicates a point behind the hot plate where a piece of plastic lawn in easy reach of short order chef lies naked of any adornment.

Bread boy skips back to his stall as the sandwiches begin to be served and lifts another pile of loaves with the same enquiring look. I miss the hand signal, but white hat has obviously said yes because bread boy is back at my side faster than you can say ‘butter on both sides, please’ and the second pile joins the first, just as the skillet king reaches out for a loaf to make the next sandwich. Precision timing without a word being said. I muse about when the baker will be bringing bread boy his next freshly-made batch, as BB is down to three loaves and skillet king’s hands are going like greased lightening as he fills his sandwich orders.

Is this a case of JIT, the ‘just in time’ production pioneered in the motoring industry, where no-one holds stock of anything, and where everything is where it should be at the right moment?

As the sandwiches are shooting off the skillet, white-hat calls to the chef and asks for one, which he sprinkles with hot sauce and wraps in paper. I think he is having a late lunch, but he hands it to me, and I wander away down the hill.

To take the weight of my feet and enjoy my sandwich, I sit on a low wall at the side of a narrow lane leading away from Talaa Kebira. A few minutes later a skinny man with a magnificent moustache staggers up the hill carrying a big cardboard box, a couple of wooden trays and an old orange crate. Behind him a young boy is weighed down with three bulging plastic shopping bags. They stop at the entrance to my alley and put everything down. The moustache leans on a crate to get his breath back, gives the boy and few coins and starts to unpack the box.

Chomping away at my sandwich, I watch the scene unfold. Moustache hasn’t got his breath back yet, but I begin to realise that the low wall I’m sitting on is part of his display area. I raise my eyebrows in question, he nods. I stand. “Shukran,” he says, smiling. I move on and leave him to go about his business.

I pass a beautifully fitted out shop, with grey laminate lining the walls and concealed lighting and shelf supports. It looks as if it has been designed as an elegant jewellery shop, but if it was it has evidently gone bust, because the stock on the shelves are nothing more than packets of chewing gum, lollipops, jars and trays of sweets in gaudy wrappers. A tasteful shop in all senses of the word.

Wandering through a clothing section I find it populated with some of the most grotesque mannequins I’ve ever seen. A group of child dummies in straggly blonde wigs are as terrifying as the evil midget in the red cape in Donald Sutherland's film Don't Look Now.

Outside a small bespoke tailor shop, an elegantly suited gentleman with a glorious head of well-coiffured hair sits on a low stool, acting, I assume, as publicity for his product. He wears a crisp white shirt and pearl grey tie fastened in a Windsor knot. He lays a white napkin over his knee and carefully peals an orange with a small pocket knife, separating the segments and placing them on a plate that sits on a small table at his side, before wiping the knife carefully on the napkin and putting it in his pocket. The only thing out of place with this epitome of corporate imagery is that he is wearing a pair of maroon carpet slippers – although admittedly they do have a horizontal stripe that almost exactly matches the grey of his suit. I couldn’t quite see it as the rig of the day in the boardroom of Maroc Telecom.

As I wander on I am amused by the care and attention someone will take over even the smallest display. Everywhere shopkeepers are flicking feather dusters over their stock, but I’m amazed when I see a man carefully laying out his tray full of dates in tiered rows. He carefully wipes each of them before placing them one on top of another in serried ranks. I think I’d rather stare vacantly into space than relieve my boredom in this way.

As lunch time and I wander on I spend long moments watching the shopkeepers while away the hours before evening and the return of customers. They play board games, with bottle caps and odd coins used as checkers. Passers-by stop and watch games in progress, offering a bit of advice – usually ignored – before moving on. When a game finishes with a flourish and shout, the battered cans with tired old cushions that serve as stools change bums and another game begins.

The proprietor of a stationery, wrapping paper and games shop lifts a game off the wall, still in it’s cardboard protective corners, and begins playing a dice game on its glazed surface, using the layout of the game beneath. When he has successfully thrashed the young man from the spice store next door the glass is wiped off and hung on the wall again to await a buyer.

Working my way downhill I find myself behind a heard of goats being driven down the alley, the four-legged kids getting a stroke from the two-legged ones as they pass. A voice behind me calls out, “Atencion!” I turn and look into the eyes of a mule, two steps higher. I’m trapped in a petting zoo!


The herd of goats stop under the shade of the enormous tree in Place Saffarine, where buyers begin to give them a close inspection, although sales are slow. After fifteen minutes the goatherd and his flock move on, hopefully to greener pastures.

As the day drifts into early evening I take tea and watch the world go by. Tired-looking guides lead their groups, their faces suddenly brightening as they turn to deliver their story to their flock. It surprises me how many people in these groups, who have presumably paid for the service, ignore their guides. I watch a man who is so concerned with looking at the world through the lens of his camera that he doesn’t notice that his group and another have crossed paths. Eventually he lowers his camera, turns around and tags onto the tail of the wrong group. Moments later he scampers back into the square, just in time to see his group hightailing it down another alley.

I finish my tea and go home.


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Doves released on first anniversary of Marrakech bombing




With tears in their eyes friends and families of the victims of the Marrakech bombing said they "condemn hatred" and called for the "fight against this barbarity to continue", at a memorial ceremony held yesterday.

To mark the first anniversary yesterday of the terrorist bombing that killed seventeen people in Café Argana, in Marrakech’s Jmaa el Fna square, a dove was released for each of the deceased; eight French tourists, two Canadians, two Moroccans, one Briton, one Dutchman, a Portuguese, Russian and Swiss national.

The ceremony began with a distribution of roses and John Lennon's song ‘Imagine’ as background music. A monument with the names of those killed at the Argana and a freshly planted olive tree will remember the 17 victims. Moroccan Interior Minister Mustapha Ramid read a message from King Mohammed VI, who "firmly condemned appalling terrorism... which is opposed to the values of tolerance taught by Islam".

The April 28, 2011 bombing was the first such attack in Morocco in eight years and deeply affected the country's tourist industry.

On March 9 a Moroccan appeal court confirmed the death sentence against Adil Al-Atmani, the mastermind of the attack that killed 17 people, and handed a death sentence to his chief accomplice Hakim Dah, one of the others convicted.


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Friday, April 27, 2012

International Heritage Day in Fez


The ALIF-ALC Photography Club and the HEM school, in conjunction with The View from Fez, held a celebration of International Heritage Day on the April 22, at the Batha Museum.

Issawa

The event was a huge success, with more than 500 people attending.

Vincent, Karina and Vanessa
One of the highlights was the photography competition which attracted eighty participants from around Morocco and outside the country. From the entries forty were exhibited and the jury, Lamaie Skalli, Vanessa Bonnin, Salah Ghrissi, Tom Faklker and Omar Chennafi, selected the top five.

First place : Soraya Benchakroune
Second palce : Sally Lyall Grant
Third place : Ali El-Kassass
Fourth : Tiffany Harris
Fifth Place Matt Shumann

Soraya Benchakroune with Omar Chennafi
The event also included an Issawa Sufi concert, Andalouse music and a fashion show.



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Thursday, April 26, 2012

Men at Work

When Derek Workman covered the Sufi Cultural Festival for The View From Fez, he took time off to wander the Medina to watch the artisans at work. Here are some of the photos he took.



Metal worker decorating a tray
Coiling dyed thread
Carving combs from cows horn
Rinsing clothes in the street of the dyers
Finishing leather in the Tanneries
Dying a jacket in the street of the dyers
Scraping a skin in the Tanneries
Knife sharpener
Herb seller
Knife and scissor maker
Scraping skins in the Tanneries

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Sunday, April 22, 2012

‘Picture an Arab Man’ – breaking down cultural stereotypes


Vanessa Bonnin reports on the work of Iraqi Canadian photojournalist Tamara Abdul Hadi who has photographed men from Syria, Palestine, Lebanon, Egypt, Iraq, Sudan, Emirates and Jordan as part of her ‘Picture an Arab Man’ portrait series. Her next stop is Morocco.

Started in 2009, Abdul Hadi’s project is meant to literally picture a new face for Arab males, as opposed to the one represented in mainstream media in a post 9/11 world. Since the Arab Spring, her project is more relevant than ever.

"K.K." - Jordanian

“I attempt to [break down stereotypes] by highlighting the sensual beauty of the Arab man, an unexplored aspect of their identity on the cusp of change in a society that reveres an out-dated form of hyper-masculinity,” Abdul Hadi said.

“Arabs have been misrepresented for a while through western media. In the 1920’s they were stereotyped as Sheikhs with Harems because that was what was brought back through Orientalist depictions.

“More recently, the misrepresentation turned to terrorist and after 9/11 the stereotype became even more common.”

Abdul Hadi captures her subject’s semi-nude without any distinguishing clothing or accessories to help keep the focus on the men’s faces. She invites people to take a second look and question what she believes are long standing misconceptions.

“I strive to do what I can to redefine the image of the Arab man for an audience so accustomed to one-dimensional stereotypes,” she said.

Basel - Palestinian

“Most importantly, I hope to properly represent my subjects as diverse and candid men whose only thing in common is their rich Middle Eastern heritage.

“My main idea when I’m shooting is to capture these men as gentle beings, and show them in light they might not be usually seen.”

Abdul Hadi was born to Iraqi parents in the UAE and raised in Montreal, Canada. After graduating with a Bachelor of Fine arts she moved to Dubai, UAE and began her photography career. She has been published in the New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Guardian and more.

With a background spanning both Middle Eastern and Western lifestyles, she is well positioned to try to reconcile these two different view-points and sees it as a personal mission to try and bridge the cultural divide.

“I never pretend to be just Iraqi or just Canadian because that is not who I am – I am an Arab woman with a Western background who is showing my work through MY own view,” she said.

“Some people may relate, and others wont, but I think that this project speaks of discrimination and stereotypes that people in the West and East will relate to. I want this project to be shown in the West as much as the East. There are socially-imposed ideals regarding Arab masculinity within Eastern societies too.”

To fund the completion of the project, Abdul Hadi is using ‘crowd funding’ through the website Emphas.is – where photojournalists pitch their projects directly to the public. The funding call has eight days to go and is 70 per cent complete. In order to collect the funding, she must reach her target of $8280 by April 30th.

“Receiving funding to complete the production of the project will also get me one step closer to my ultimate goal, which is to publish this project as a book,” Abdul Hadi said.

“The funds that I am requesting will go toward covering my transportation and accommodation, and for printing of prototypes of the book. I hope to publish the book once I feel I have represented all Arabs and all Arab countries through this project.

“The first stop I want to make next is Morocco. I have never been there and photographing Moroccan men for this project is imperative to its completion. I plan to visit Fez, Marrakech and Casablanca.”

To help her get to Fez and photograph Moroccan men for her project, go HERE

Visit Tamara's website : HERE

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Morocco's Transport Minister Steps up to the Challenges


At a time when several of the new government's ministers are causing concern  due to controversial statements, it is good to report that another minister is behaving in a responsible manner.  Unlike the Communications Minister, or the Justice Minister, who have both been criticised for overt Islamist stances rather than public interest, the new transportation minister, Abdelaziz Rebbah, is receiving praise for his level headed approach in the face of strong criticism over a proposed high-speed rail link between Tangier and Casablanca. 


Unveiled by King Mohammed VI and French President Nicolas Sarkozy in September, the line between the port of Tangiers and the commercial capital of Casablanca, a distance of about 300 kilometers (185 miles). Critics had called it wasteful and it was feared the new government would drop the project.

“The high speed train is one of the best ways to improve Morocco’s competitiveness.” - Transport Minister Abdelaziz Rebbah

After walking out of a debate over the merits of $3 billion planned high speed rail network, Morocco’s transportation minister defended the project Saturday as vital to the country’s development.Transport Minister Abdelaziz Rebbah and the head of the railroad Rabie Khlii had originally agreed to debate the merits of the project on Thursday with an organization of critics known as Stop TGV, for the French acronym for high speed train. He stormed out of the meeting after he said the critics were distributing insulting literature.

“The debate has to be civilized,” he told reporters.

“We are no longer speaking just about the competitiveness of companies, but also the competitivity of states,” he said. “The high speed train is one of the best ways to improve Morocco’s competitiveness.”

The no-bid project was awarded to France, which will be funding 38 percent of the project with the rest covered by loans from oil-rich Arab countries of the Gulf.

The 200-mph (320-kph) train will cut travel time between the North African kingdom’s two commercial hubs from nearly five hours to just over two hours and is expected to be completed by 2015.

Criticism over the project is centred on claims that Morocco can not afford a new rail network when much of Morocco still isn’t served by the railways. The website of the Stop TGV campaign lists dozens of other ways the money could have been spent, particularly on Morocco’s ailing health and education sectors, such as 25 new university teaching hospitals or 100 new engineering schools. They certainly have a case.

Critics also charge that the motivation behind the project is more about good relations with France rather than Morocco’s economic need. Others point out that the two stances are not incompatible and that the economic value of the Franco-Moroccan relationship is massive.

Omar el-Hyani, a member of the anti-high speed train collective, pointed out that the national train company’s finances are also in bad shape, especially with the expected withdrawal of business from its most important customer.

“With the withdrawal of the Office of Phosphates as its main client, the situation will get worse,” he said, explaining that phosphates will soon be carried via pipeline instead of by train. “The state will have to inject even more money in the company after work on the line is finished.”

Half of the railways’ revenues, some $180 million, currently comes from hauling phosphates, Morocco’s chief export.


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Saturday, April 21, 2012

Women’s Tennis – ‘La Force au Feminin’ in Fes



Starting today, a top quality, international sporting event offers Fes residents the opportunity to enjoy the spring sunshine and get up close to some of the big names on the women’s tennis circuit – the WTA Grand Prix de SAR, Princess Lalla Meryem Tennis Tournament. Vanessa Bonnin reports for The View from Fez.


At the Royal Tennis Club de Fes, players such as Yanina Wickmayer, Anabel Medina Garrigues (winner in 2009), Svetlana Kuznetsova and Simona Halep will be battling it out for this year’s title.

Halep will be the one everyone is watching this year, after her fantastic previous performances. In 2010 she entered the tournament with a wild card and battled her way through the qualifying rounds all the way to the finals, only to lose to Iveta Benesova. She repeated her dream run in 2011, again making the finals, but again losing at the last moment to Alberta Brianti (also playing this year).

Halep v Benesova 2010 - Photoo Vanessa Bonnin
 The question on everyone’s lips is – ‘will Halep make it third time lucky and finally win the tournament’?

Moroccan fans will be kept happy with some local favourites competing as well – the very popular Nadia Lalami, who was given an encouragement award last year after she upset the first seed and world number 24 Aravane Rezai in the second round, becoming the first Moroccan player to reach the quarter-finals of a WTA tournament. Rezai is also back this year – perhaps there will be a rematch?


Other Moroccan players are Fatima Erraji, Ghita Benhadi and Intissar Rassif.

Entry for spectators is free and the grounds of the tennis club, plus the Majestic Restaurant, make this the place to be this week. The schedule is as follows:

Qualifying Rounds – April 21, 22 and 23.
Main Draw Rounds – April 24, 25.
Quarter Finals (Singles and Doubles) - April 26.
Semi Finals (Singles and Doubles) – April 27.
Finals (Singles and Doubles) – April 28.


Story and stadium photographs: Vanessa Bonnin

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Media Freedom in Morocco Takes a Backward Step.


“Islamist ministers are having trouble casting off their religious clothes and dealing with their ministerial jobs” 

That statement from a Moroccan news website was in response to the rather foolish comments by a newly elected Moroccan Justice Minister, Mustafa Ramid, who upset almost everybody by claiming tourists went to Marrakech in order to sin. Now another minister has created an unholy row by attempting to make public TV and Radio stations more religious. It is unfortunate to have come at a time when the media in Morocco are seeking greater press freedom. Ibn Warraq reports.

Communications Minister Mustapha Khalfi
"Khalfi is the minister of communications and a government official, not an imam or a mufti to say what is licit or illicit," Mohammed Ouzzine, Minister of Sport

Somehow it has escaped the Communications Minister Mustapha Khalfi from the newly elected moderate Islamist party that he is a servant of the people and not an imam.  His new guidelines for public broadcasters include petty measures such as banning lottery advertisements and mandating the broadcast of the call to prayer five times a day.

In another controversial section the detailed guidelines also call for reducing the amount of French on public television and including programs about youth and social issues that must include a mufti, or Muslim cleric.

"These channels are performing a public service and so they must submit to certain minimum requirements," Khalifi told L'Economiste daily last Thursday.

The state channels previously had little overtly religious programming.

The furor over the guidelines' religious aspects has grown over the last few weeks as the heads of the normally docile public TV stations have publicly criticized the measures as a threat to their independence.

Observers say the controversy is also about a newly elected government attempting to assert itself against the all-powerful palace and king that have traditionally controlled the media.

In an interview on Friday, the news director for Channel 2M said the guidelines represent "a will to kill the programming on Channel Two. This is not a license agreement. It is a programing list, and logic and our profession says that politics should not dictate TV programing," Samira Sitail told the daily Al-Ahdath Al-Maghrebiya.

The head of public broadcasting, Faisal Laraachi, said: "Our editorial independence is sacred."

Members of Khalfi's own Justice and Development Party have fired back, with one parliamentarian threatening street demonstrations against the heads of state media, if the measures aren't adopted.
"These figures fighting against our party are the same ones resisting reform," Abdallah Bouanou told the daily Akhbar al-Maghrebiya.

The influential Morocco World News is reporting that Abdelilalh Benkirane, head of the government, is believed to be heading towards dismissing both Samira Sitail, head of the news department of 2M channel, as well as Salim Sheikh, director of the channel.

PM Abdelilah Benkirane and Samira Sitail head of news at 2M-TV

Backed by constitutional amendments that give the government greater powers, the Islamist-led government has been flexing its muscles. Yet, if PM Benkirane does not bring a little more common sense to his ministers' proclamations, he may find he is leading a one-term government. Or, in the short term may even forfeit its majority, because, while the Islamists are the dominant party in the coalition, it shares power with three other parties.

Many of these coalition partners are uneasy with the Islamist party's reform efforts and a number of ministers have been vocally critical of the media guidelines.  Nabil Benabdellah, the minister of housing and former communications minister from the left-wing Party of Progress and Socialism, even threatened to quit the government over the guidelines before backing down in a later radio interview.

There is also opposition to the guidelines from the public who who fear the Islamization of the media. At a time when the Arab Spring could have headed to a glorious Arab Summer, these developments could be an indication of an early and unpleasant Autumn. 

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Friday, April 20, 2012

Belly Dance Festival Goes Belly-up

The latest silly news from Morocco is of a belly dance festival ( see our earlier story here) which was to have been held in Marrakech on May 10, but was cancelled today. The reason for the cancellation was not a sudden burst of common sense (belly dancing is not Moroccan) or a rush of prurient blood to the head; but rather fears over the safety of its Israeli dancers.
Belly dancing in the Fez Medina

“I cancelled it because I didn’t receive any authorization and I was afraid for the safety of my participants,” festival producer Simona Guzman told the media.

No authorisation? Was it the case that the excuse of safety was used to shut down a festival the Islamist government was disapproving of? Maybe so, because Islamist members of parliament and pro-Palestinian associations had criticized the invitation to the Israelis.

Criticism over the Israeli presence was first heard last year when the festival was also held in Marrakesh, but the event went off without mishap.

Some 18 countries, including Britain, Japan, Russia and The Netherlands, were due to have taken part in the festival which was first held in Istanbul in 2010.

Belly dancing in Marrakech

After the Greek and Roman period, there seems to be no documentation of veil dancing in the Middle East or North Africa in literature or in art. At the end of the 1800's and the beginning of the 1900's, there were numerous photographs taken of women dancing with what looked like shawls and kerchiefs. Many of these photographs were posed pictures which were more reflective of the photographers' prurient taste than the culture which they presumed to document. There was a salacious appetite to be quenched for the English and European buyers of these provocative and sometimes seminude photographs. There was money to be made. The photographs depicted the Orientalists' racist, sexist fantasy of how the forbidden women of the harems were supposed to appear. - Artemis Mourat, The Illusive Veil.

While not at all interested in censorship or a fundamentalist response to the festival, it is of concern that some seem to think Morocco needs belly dancing. There is enough indigenous music, dance and culture without pandering to Orientalist fantasies that are not part of Moroccan culture.

Also see our story: What is it with belly dancing?


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Thursday, April 19, 2012

A Rough Ride for Royal Air Maroc

Last year rumours started to circulate that Morocco's Royal Air Maroc (RAM), the state-controlled airline was seeking a larger strategic partner. Shortly after, the Moroccan government intervened to assist the struggling carrier to the tune of $193 million. It followed this with an additional $900 million to upgrade itself by 2016. The View from Fez takes a look at the state of play.

The problems faced by the airline caused many commentators to believe the threat from low cost carriers and its struggle for profitability meant that the government’s injection of funds was intended to boost the airline ahead of a possible sale of a substantial stake to a foreign operator.

The possibility of a sale being the way forward was confirmed at a recent conference on the Tunisian island of Djerba when a Royal Air Maroc spokesperson, Mehdi El Yaalaoui, told the Reuters news agency that RAM was seeking a tie-up with a larger company.

"At the moment, Royal Air Maroc is a state company but we want to go to the market. We need to partner with a bigger company, especially through finance," he said. When pushed for more details, El Yaalaoui responded. "We have an idea who but I am not going to say."

Morocco relies on Europe for much of its tourism traffic and the financial crisis across the Mediterranean has squeezed the number of tourist arrivals and hit airlines and the economy in recent years. Higher fuel prices have also knocked the bottom line.

Yaalaoui said it had been a real struggle to adjust to the increased competition but the state airline had managed it. "We are confronting any competition. We did our duty and we confronted the low cost airlines," he said. "It has been a difficult strategy. Royal Air Maroc had to drop lines, for instance its Milan-Marrakesh and Brussels-Marrakesh lines, and had to sell 10 planes and lose 1,500 employees, but we have overcome this."

Asked if Royal Air Maroc was likely to need another state handout this year, he said: "No."

There is plenty of speculation as to who a potential buyer of a stake in the airline might be, but if such a buyer exists it is most likely to be an airline from the cash-rich Gulf airlines such as Emirates or Air France-KLM, which already holds a tiny stake in the Moroccan airline.

Royal Air Maroc has faced growing competition from low cost airlines since signing an "open sky" agreement with the European Union in 2006. It was also hit by a decline in tourist numbers last year, with the Arab Spring revolts spreading nearby and a suicide attack in the main tourist city of Marrakesh

With a relatively modest fleet of medium and long-haul aircraft, Royal Air Maroc has sought in recent years to develop Casablanca as a regional hub connecting poorly-served West African capitals to Europe and North America.

Yaalaoui declined to give 2012 financial forecasts for the airline but said it was doing better than last year.


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Spotlight on Fez Heritage Architecture


A reminder that coming up this Sunday is a conference on heritage architecture of the Fez Medina.


The ALIF-ALC Photography Club and the HEM school, in conjunction with The View from Fez,  invites Fez residents to attend the celebration of International Heritage Day on the April 22,  at the Batha Museum.

Details


4 p.m. : Conference under the theme " To protect and
enhance the architectural heritage of the city of Fez."
6 p.m. : The photography exhibition + coffee break
6:30 p.m: The Award Ceremony
7 p.m. : Traditional Moroccan celebrations



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Monday, April 16, 2012

Morocco / marathon des sables - a winner after seven attempts


The Jordanian, Salameh Al Aqra won the « marathon des sables for the first time after seven years of participation while in the women’s category, the French, Laurence Klein, grabbed her third title of the marathon which started April 6th and ended April 14.

Salameh Al Aqra crossed the finished line of the 27th edition of the « marathon des sables » with a time of 19:59:21 while Laurence Klein finished in 26:36:25.

Salameh after 2009 was absent in the race for two years due to an injury. In 2007 and 2008 he had occupied the third position while in 2008 he was second.

Laurence Klein had already won the race twice in 2007 and 2011.

STAGE 6 DETAILS:

MERDANI / MERZOUGA : 15,5 Km

Number of runners on the start line: 797. Withdrawals during the 3rd stage : 3 (total withdrawals: 54)
A grand finale
Jordanian runner Salameh Al Aqra and French athlete Laurence Klein are the official winners of the 2012 edition of the Sultan MARATHON DES SABLES. But each and every competitor, at their own level, have won a personal victory by crossing the finish line.
What a show! Competitors on the start line of the 6th and last leg of the 27th Sultan MARATHON DES SABLES, between Merdani and Merzouga, will never forget the last few hours of the last episode of their South Saharian adventure. For the final chapter of their saga, a grand setting: the Merzouga dunes, the highest in Morocco. On the finish line, where Patrick Bauer, the race director, puts the much longed for finishers’medal around the runners’ necks, there are of course many tears and cries. You can see the tiredness on the runners’ faces after 6 days of effort, but it’s their relief and joy that’s most striking. They’ll go away with many mental images of that week long adventure, in sometimes difficult conditions (sand storms, hail…), and in varied but always stunning landscapes.

MEN
6th leg
1. Aziz El Akad (D9-MAR), 15km in 1h13’30’’
2. Mohamad Ahansal (D8-MAR), 36’’ behind
3. Salameh Al Aqra (D148-JOR), 3’35’’ behind
Final general ranking
1. Salameh Al Aqra (D148-JOR), 19h59’21’’
2. Mohamad Ahansal (D8-MAR), 21’02’’ behind
3. Aziz El Akad (D9-MAR), 1h38’56’’ behind

WOMEN
6th étape
1. Meryem Khali (D5-MAR), 1h31’37’’
2. Laurence Klein (D322-FRA), 4’48’’ behind
3. Meghan Hicks (D973-USA), 12’58’’ behind
Final general ranking
1. Laurence Klein (D322-FRA), 26h15’40’’
2. Meryem Khali (D5-MAR), 1’19’’38 behind
3. Karine Baillet (D-FRA), 1h31’07’’ behind


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Sunday, April 15, 2012

The Sixth Fez Festival of Sufi Culture - the end of Festival review.


The Festival of Sufi Culture opened with a shower of rain and closed with a deluge, but the days in between were full of music. The undulating a capella harmonies of Tariqa Charqawiyya of Jazuliyya-Shadhiliyya and Tariqa Boutichichiyya from Qadiri; the boisterous, verging on Bollywood, of New Delhi’s Nidhamouddine Brotherhood, and the orchestrated Dervish dancing of Tariqa Khalwatiyya from Turkey, with a stunning performance in the final concert by a collective of singers and musicians from Moroccan-Andalouse groups from around Morocco. Philip Murphy has been covering the Festival for The View From Fez, and offers his review of the sixth year.



‘The music has been really varied and it shows the differences in some of the practises of the tariqat, for example, the Tariqa Khalwatiyya had a small orchestra, two percussion players on the frame drum, an oud (lute), kemenche (Turkish-style bowed fiddle that is rests on the knee), a reed flute, called a nay, and a kanun (lap zither). They also had singer, called a munshid in Morocco. The group from India also had instrumentation (harmonioum, tabla). One the other hand, the Moroccaan groups just had vocals, although in the Charqawiyya the drummer was beating on a small ottoman for percussion, which was interesting, but other than that it’s just been vocals.


It’s not strange that in a celebration of Sufi culture the music should be so different, because the beliefs and practises of Sufisim itself are so different. They are really varied around different parts of the world, so it’s not unusual to see these very different practises, some of which use instruments, some of which don’t.


Both of the Moroccan groups, the Charqawiyya and the Boutichichiyya were vocal groups, and I particularly like the Boutichichiyya because the singers, the various munshid in the group, there were a number of them who were really virtuosic singers. I could hear a lot of the eastern-Arabic macam modal system which is not common in Morocco. At different times different people would take solo parts, called mawwal, a form of improvised singing where they use poetry and improvise melodic passages using words that have already been written down. Those were really good. These singers were really, really good, with a great command of the macam. It was really great to hear them improvising on the poetry. For me the singers of the Boutichichiyya was one of the best parts, simply because of the mawal.


The first night was really energetic, possibly because of the kawali music played by the Indian group from New Delhi, the Nidhamouddine Brotherhood. The music just tends to be energetic, driving, rhythmic, so it’s always a crowd pleaser, and it’s become really big in the world music market. Those guys are also completely virtuosic, but it was fantastic to hear such incredible Moroccan-Andalouse music performed the way it was at the Jnan Palace on the last night.









Photos by Derek Workman


The View From Few would like to thank Philip Murphy for his insight into the intricacies of Sufi music. It is one thing to enjoy music simply because it sounds delightful, but it is something entirely different comprehend how it interacts with the Sufi and Moroccan Culture.  Thanks Philip.


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Fez Sufi Festival of Culture 2012 - Final Night

To anyone with a romantic frame of mind, the music of Andalus would probably bring to mind the strident rhythms of Flamenco, but the foot-stamping, hand-clapping and wailing of that music is merely a Johnny-come-lately to the music of Andalus that spread to Africa at the time of the Christian re-conquest of Spain. Phil Murphy, who enlightened us on the story of the Samaâ yesterday, explains.


‘You wouldn’t recognise any form of Andalusian sound if you think of Spain or Andalucia. Moroccan-Andalouse is quite different, distinct. It has to do with fact that the Iberian peninsula was called El Andalus, when the muslim empire, the Mohayeds were ruling large portions of it until they gradually got pushed out by the re-conquest of the Christian armies. Christians, Muslims and Jews all collaborated and created the music.

The moors were expulsed from Spain in different waves during 12-15th centuries, and a lot came to North Africa; Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, Libya. All those countries have Andalouse music but are very different because of the ways they have been nurtured in own context. The music came from that time and period and blended with changes going on in North Africa. It is called Moroccan-Andalusian music because of its history, but it’s very Moroccan, and distinct from Tunisian or Algerian-Andlus, but it also has similarities. One of the reasons is that the Ottoman Empire never got to Morocco, but it got to Tunisia and Algeria. Turkish influence in the music is extensive, so Tunsian and Algerian music has an Ottoman influence, which is different from Moroccan. Moroccans say their influences are closer to older European music.


You find different kinds of Andalusian music in Morocco, from different cities with different names. In Fez it’s called ‘el ala’, which means ‘the instrument’ and refers to a, repertoire, a body of work, to which nothing has been added. It also refers to the kind of instrumentation – there can be 10-20 or more musicians, playing strings, violins, violas, lute, canoon (lap zither), and piano. There are eleven suites that they play, never more. There used to be twenty-four but only eleven survived when the music came from places like Granada and Seville, but nonetheless, it’s an enormous body of work.

Each suite has five rhythmic movements, which have a different rhythmic structure for the five sections, and within each one of the five movements there are songs they perform. The music tends to go from slower and heavier to faster and lighter as they progress, and each suite can last up to seven hours. Nothing new is ever added, a musician can’t simply write a piece and add it. It is a formal structure that always stays the same, although Andalouse music is not necessarily focussed on Mohamed. The sacred and secular overlap. Most people’s initial impression is that they are all the same, even Moroccans say it is very difficult to grasp the difference, and while the words in are in classical Arabic, the poetry and the melodies can be very similar. It’s difficult to differentiate for the uninitiated.’


The final samaâ was held at the Hotel Jnan Palace, and featured Arabe-Andalouse music with the Sufi brotherhoods of Morocco. Each of the concerts over the previous evenings had shown totally different styles, each elevating and enthralling the audience in turn, but there can be no doubt that the highlight of the Festival was this evening’s performance by a combination of groups from throughout Morocco. The music was exceptional, but in many ways was a support to the pleasure shown by the soloists – and at one time or another almost everyone seemed to take a solo turn. And the sheer joy of the performance radiated itself to audience – it’s impossible to imagine a Christian audience ululating for the happiness of being there.







Photos by Derek Workman

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