THE VIEW FROM FEZ

German Wings Over Morocco

2012-01-30T21:07:00.000Z

Germanwings, a wholly owned Lufthansa subsidiary, is set to fly into Morocco on a regular basis. The Germanwings routes announced for the coming 2012 Summer Flight Schedule feature the Moroccan destination of Nador.

Demand for flights is such that the airline is starting flights to Nador six weeks earlier than the actual planned launch date for the new route.

Germanwings originally announced that Nador in the north-east of the country, would be included in the route network from 25 May. Now the first flight has been brought forward to 30 March.

This summer, Germanwings will initially fly to Nador every Friday, then from 25 May, every Tuesday and Friday. Using connecting flights, the routes Berlin – Nador (from 30 March 2012), Munich – Nador (from 30 May) London-Heathrow – Nador (from 30 March), Dresden-Nador (from 30 March) and Leipzig – Nador (from 30 May) can also be booked at germanwings.com.

However, be aware that all of these flights are operated via Cologne/Bonn with optimised transfer times.

The city of Nador is very popular with Moroccans as a holiday destination. The Mar Chica Lagoon (pictured above) with Nador on its western bank and both the Djebel Sebt and Djebel Tazoud volcanoes are particularly breathtaking beauty spots.

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Getting Up Close with Fez Artisans

2012-01-30T15:07:00.000Z

Sefrou-based artist Jess Stephens has created a new, up close and personal tour of the medina, which bridges the divide between tourists and local craftspeople, writes Vanessa Bonin.

Called Artisanal Affairs and offered by Culture Vultures, the new tour gives you the chance to meet and talk to the artisans of Fes, pick up their tools, have a try at the potter's wheel or feel the weight of a wood carver's hammer.

We set off from R’Cif and plunged in, starting at the street of the dyers. I was accompanied by a friend, Kirsty McBeath, who was a first-time visitor to Fez - so our experiences were quite different but equally astounding. For me, having lived in the Fez Medina for two years and seen the sights with many visiting friends and relatives, the opportunity to take it slowly and chat at length with the true artisans of the medina was a revelation.

Kirsty said she was amazed to meet people who have had their skills passed down through generations of workers, using methods that remain unchanged for centuries. “It was incredible to interact with the local artisans and to gain a more in-depth insight into their craft,” she said.“The experience allowed me to be a participator rather than a spectator.”

With a local guide, Hakima, as our translator and go-between, we met and interacted with these proud and talented craftspeople, who, once given the chance to be more than just a passing photo opportunity, were only too pleased to tell us their stories. Old photos came out, problems and worries were shared along with achievements, traditional working songs were sung and histories related.

An old metal worker in Place Seffarine showed us a picture of himself as an apprentice aged fourteen (above). He related the time he was invited to a conference of artisans in Germany and his amazement at meeting a female metalworker from Austria who used the same tools as he did. He left us with some sage advice: “Handicrafts – if it doesn’t make you rich, it makes you good,” he said.

Another metalworker proudly showed us a photograph of a giant hammam water heater he had made after three weeks of labour. He also confided that some of the workers suffered from hearing difficulties after a lifetime of working amongst the repetitive banging sounds of hammers on metal.

Another highlight was visiting the tanneries – and this was no ‘elevated viewing platform clutching a sprig of mint’ experience! We entered from the river side, behind the giant wooden wheels that churn the water for washing the skins. The smell, initially overwhelming, was quickly forgotten while we concentrated on negotiating our way between the gullies of lime and sludge and workers carrying piles of dripping skins.

Men in work-worn shorts with wiry legs nimbly scurried along the edges of the dye pits, while we cautiously edged our way in, having visions of ourselves ending up half submerged in a pool of red, yellow or brown liquid.

The extent of the backbreaking labour involved is only apparent when you get this close. The sight of a man using his full body-weight to flay skins with a giant blade will stay with me for some time.

Shortly after getting our feet dirty, it was time for our hands to follow suit. This was during an out-of-the ordinary visit to the potteries where we got to handle the clay and try our pot throwing skills. Alas, despite being tutored by a ‘mallam’ (master craftsman) my efforts were unlikely to see the inside of a kiln.

The tour finished at the modern Artisanal Centre in Batha, which gives an opportunity to see how these ancient techniques are being carried into the future in an environment that is better for the wellbeing of the craftspeople.Master wood-workers, embroiderers, saddle makers, painters, rug-weavers and cobblers fashioning babouches are all here passing their expert knowledge on to the next generation of artisans.

Part of that knowledge is the songs that are traditionally sung to pass the time while working, and we finished our visit with an impromptu rendition of some of these folk songs by a roomful of babouche makers. We learned about poetry called Ghalnassi and heard a recitation from the poet Gnoun.

Jess Stephens (or another Culture Vultures representative) accompanies the tours as a facilitator, to bridge relations between artisan and visitor.“The Fes-based experience is the first of two Artisanal Affairs tours – I will also be starting one in Sefrou,” Jess said.“In shaking hands with the craftspeople I hope that the visitor will also discover the experiences, lives and traditions such as the songs, poetry and tales of their trade.”

Jess Stephens, right, with a master carver

So, for those who prefer wellies to stilettos, and are keen to get down and dirty with the real people of the medina, this experience is for you. It did leave me wondering however, how many more generations will continue these traditions? Will the time capsule that the medina artisans inhabit last? Here’s hoping the amazing skills, songs and histories of the master craftspeople of Fes is not lost.

For more information on the Artisanal Affairs tours click HERE.

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Morocco Loses Two Legendary Musicians

2012-01-30T14:43:00.001Z

On January the 17th this year two of Morocco’s musical legends, Mohamed Sousdi and Mohamed Rouicha passed away. Imad Estito, writing for the Arabic daily Al-Akhbar, today published a celebration of their contributions to the North African music of the marginalised.

Mohamed Sousdi (1952-2012)

The newspaper describes Mohamed Sousdi (1952-2012) as "the pulse of the oppressed". Back in the 1970s Sousdi, along with the late Mohamed Batma and Cherif Lamrani from the famous Lemchaheb (The Torches) band, inspired the a generation, which rebelled against injustice under dictatorial rule. With his companions, the late Sousdi provided a unique musical experiment that left an indelible mark on the memory of Moroccans. “We used to engage in issues that political parties could not broach,” said Sousdi in one of his last interviews as he watched the Arab Spring unfold. “We were one of the first to demand the advent of spring with the song M’jmaa L’arab in 1977, which called for revolution,” he said.

Sousdi grew up in Quartier Al Mohammadi, in Casablanca, the birthplace of the band Nass el Ghiwane. He began working in the theatre as a child and joined a group affiliated with known Moroccan playwright Tayeb Saddiki. In the early 70s, he became a professional singer and musician. With Mbarek Chadli, he started two groups – Ahl al-Jouda and al-Diqa – before joining Lemchaheb in 1974.

The band achieved resounding success. Sousdi used to write colloquial poetry, compose music, and sing. Lemchaheb’s work brought the wrath of the authorities down on them and they were persecuted by the security services, who feared that their songs, combined with Sousdi’s melodious voice, would feed the rising revolutionary tide. “We knew we would be arrested after every concert,” Sousdi said once. Lemchaheb’s songs were infused with politics. Nobody who heard the song Palestine, which incidentally was once sung by Sousdi in Moscow, during the conference of the Socialist International in 1978 will ever forget it.

Some of his most famous songs are Lghadi Baid, Ellil, Ya Latif, and his masterpiece Bghit Bladi, (I loved my country).

His words reached a wide range of working class people for four decades before he passed away at the age of 60 due to respiratory problems.

Sousdi lived as a hermit, disdaining fame, with his finger always on the pulse of the oppressed. As Al Akkhbar put it, so eloquently paraphrasing the Palestinian novelist Ghassan Kanafani - The legendary leave silently, disdaining life, believing that it is nothing but a truce with death.

In a tragic coincidence the man nicknamed the Moroccan Bob Marley, Mohamed Rouicha (1950 - 2012), died on the same day. Another politically engaged musician, the "Amazigh Farid al-Atrash,” Mohamed Rouicha died at his home in the Middle Atlas town of Khenifra in the Meknes-Tafilalet region following a sudden deterioration in his health.

A king of the ouatar – a rare Moroccan instrument similar to the violin – Rouicha (his real name is Mohamed Lhwari), managed to create a popular base from the south to the north of the country, despite the fact that many did not understand the words of his songs in the Amazigh language of the Atlas mountains.

Politics was always close to his heart, not surprisingly as his mother was one of the fighters in the battle of Ait Atta – a Berber tribal confederation in northeastern Morocco – against French colonialism,.was apparent early on.

He recorded his first song Abibi Osghouy in 1964 at the tender age of 14.Rouicha was also known for his interest in percussion and poetry. He employed his knowledge in infusing various music genres to create his own, which led to the revival of Amazigh songs. Thus the singer earned his nickname “Rouicha,” which means mixing and blending in Amazigh.

His genius led him to add a fourth string to the ouatar, making him the king of the instrument. His golden fingers also added a new and special Sufi character to the instrument.He left behind a number of timeless masterpieces like Inas Inas (“Tell Her” in Amazigh), Chehal Men Lila (How Many Nights), Goulou lmimti (Tell My Mother), Allah Jmaa Lmoumnin, and other songs adopted from the Tuareg heritage dealing with many themes, including the homeland, peace, love, nature, and the suffering of the oppressed.

Disdaining tributes and honors, Rouicha died only days before the ceremony was going to be held for him at Mohammed V Theatre in Rabat. That is how he desired death, in the embrace of his Atlas mountain, his major source of inspiration.Until his final hour, he remained true to the shy man behind the artist – to his introversion and solitude. The touch of sadness that appeared on his face and enveloped his songs never left him.

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The Alchemy of Poetic Space- Majoubi Aherdan Exhibits in Rabat

2012-01-30T12:43:00.000Z

The master of "the alchemy of poetic space"

Painter, poet, writer and politician, Mahjoubi Aherdan is a man who has dedicated half his life to promoting and protecting Amazigh culture in Morocco.The veteran artist's works are presently on display at the National Theatre in Rabat.

The works reflect the 100 year-old artist's devotion and love for Amazigh (Berber) culture. Over the years Aherdan's works have been displayed all over the world and his paintings have done a lot to introduce people to the Amazigh culture of Morocco.

"I am a free man. I came to this state of freedom through the painting. We must dare in painting as in everything," - Mahjoubi Aherdan

Mahjoubi Aherdan's work is also commemorated on Moroccan postage stamps

Perhaps what helps his art stand out from others is his diverse experience over the years.He served his country in Morocco's battle for independence from France and went on to hold a string of ministerial posts.He is a creative artist, poet and writer, according to many who admire his work, Aherdan and his art is helping to revive Amazigh culture across the region.

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Fez Film-makers Share Vision

2012-01-29T14:32:00.002Z

Documentary maker Youness Abeddour Photo: Suzanna Clarke

Youness Abeddour is a young film-maker from Fez whose work is taking him places. As one of the first students to graduate from an innovative documentary making course in Fez, he has directed two films and is set to show his first one at a conference in Prague.

Youness, 23, showed his new documentary to an audience for the first time last Thursday. Made with fellow Cultural Studies students from Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah University, My Neighbor...the Jew was a thought provoking piece which follows on from his first film Moroccan Judaism: A Culture in Danger.

"I completed my BA in English studies in 2009 on "The Presence of the Mellah in Morocco"The current one I am working on is on "The Representation of Moroccan Jews in Moroccan Cinema" said Youness. "My thesis was 100 pages long and is only accessible to a small group of people. But now I have learned documentary film techniques, I can transmit the same message in 30 minutes and I hope it will be seen much more widely."

The impact of cultural collisions was one of the major themes of the five documentary films shown at the media center of Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah University on Thursday. Professor Khalid Bekkaoui, Professor and Chair of the Department of English, said that he was delighted by the results of the documentary course, which is co-sponsored by the American Language Center Fes and the Fulbright Commission.

Documentary students and staff from the university

"The students have been creative and innovative, although they have only recently learned how to make documentaries," Professor Bekkaoui said. "This is the first course in Morocco to offer a combination of the technical skills and the academic side, which teaches students how to research ideas and turn them into stories...We hope to make Fes a center for documentary film-making in Morocco."

The works shown at the premiere showcase were primarily about cultural differences and change. They also included Do We Have Political Freedom in Morocco?, McDonaldization and Moroccan Culture, Youth & Sufism and America in the Eyes of Moroccan Hairdressing Salons.

Course supervisor, Jamal Morelli, said he was also proud of what the students had achieved, particularly given the limited resources they had had access to. "We hope in future to get good software and more powerful computers, so that we can take production to the next level," he said.

Another showing of the works is planned for a few months time, so there will be the opportunity for those interested to see them then.

You can see the trailer for Moroccan Judaism: A Culture in Danger HERE.

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The Belgians Are Coming !

2012-01-29T12:49:00.000Z

The tech team at The View from Fez report that we have had a big increase in the number of people from Belgium visiting our pages. We were at a loss to explain this until we discovered (courtesy of Quid in Fès) that Jetairfly, a Belgian airline which is a subsidiary of the largest Belgian tourism group, TUI Belgium, has taken over Jet4You.

The Moroccan low-cost airline Jet4you, was started in 2005, but "since its inception, the Moroccan airline ran at an annual loss," says Hans Vanhaelemeesch, a spokesman for Jetairfly. Due to its small size Jet4you was hit hard by the economic crisis. This strategic merger will involve staff, flights, and planes as well as costing 39 Moroccan jobs with another 259 at risk.Jetairfly carried 2.2 million travellers in 2011. In 2012, its fleet will comprise 20 aircraft, mostly new generation Boeing 737s.The close collaboration between the two companies will enhance their position as well as create an opportunity to strive for further growth.

The airline also flies between Fez and Charleroi for (at times) as low as 29 Euro, between Liege and Tetouan from 39 Euro

Jet4You management confirms that flights to Morocco are assured at three airports: Marrakech, Casablanca and soon, Agadir.The name Jet4You will also be retained for the moment. In addition, Jetairfly has already proposed flights to Nador, Oujda, Tangier and Tetouan.

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Feats of Memory

2012-01-29T09:29:00.001Z

Contestants as young as seven years old often demonstrate the extraordinary ability to memorise the entire 600-page Koran - without actually speaking Arabic.

This can be seen every year in Quranic contests, which are popular throughout the Islamic world. Young people see it as an honour to represent their country and compete fiercely to do so.

One of the most prestigious competitions is held each year in Egypt, where during Ramadan more than a hundred of the best young students from more than 70 countries across the Islamic world converge on Cairo for the International Holy Koran Competition. Morocco has always sent entrants and many have done particularly well.

Back in their home country, Moroccan children take part in their own competitions and this last weekend saw the conclusion of the 7th edition of Morocco’s International Quran Competition. It wrapped up on Saturday (January 28th) in Casablanca.

Winners of different categories were awarded at the closing ceremony held in the city’s Al-Hassan Thani Mosque.Forty-one young Quran reciters and memorizers from Islamic and Arab countries took part in the competition, which was organized by Morocco’s Awqaf and Charity Affairs Organization.

Ten internationally acclaimed Quran reciters and experts in Quranic sciences made up the contest’s jury panel, which was headed by Muhammad Jamil Mubarak from Morocco. Other members of the jury panel included As-Salem bin Muhammad Al-Shanqiti from Saudi Arabia, Samih Ahmed Khalid Al-Asaminah from Jordan, Farajullah Shazli from Egypt and Al-Hadi bin Muhammad Rushu from Tunisia.

Winner of the top title in the category of memorization of the entire Holy Quran, reading and interpretation was Amina Salamah from Algeria while Zakaria Muhammad Ali Al-Tirablusi from Lebanon came first in the category of memorization of 5 Hizbs (sections) of the Quran, reading and interpretation.

For those interested in finding out more about these competitions, there is an inspiring HBO documentary Koran by Heart that captures the drama of the 2010 edition of the annual event in Cairo, following three extraordinary ten-year-olds who have dedicated their lives to honouring their families, countries and culture through memorization of the religious text.

Nabiollah, from Tajikistan

Koran by Heart follows two boys and one girl as they go head-to-head with other children, some nearly twice their age, and spotlights the second and third-place winners, who inhabit an environment caught between fundamentalist and moderate visions of Islam.

Rifdha, for example, is from the Maldives and is one of only 10 girls in the competition. Although both parents want her to be educated, Rifdha's father insists that she grow up to be a housewife; her mother encourages her to work toward a career.Nabiollah, from Tajikistan, receives widespread acclaim at home and abroad for his masterful recitation skills, but is virtually illiterate in his native language.Djamil, from Senegal, is asked to represent all of Africa at the competition, but must travel to Egypt alone without any family or friends to guide him.

Director Greg Barker says the greatest challenge in making Koran by Heart was “finding a way to make the ancient art of Islamic recitation accessible to a non-Muslim, Western audience. As ordinary people make decisions over how to educate their children, the future of the next generation of Muslims hangs in the balance.”

Koran by Heart premiered at the 2011 Tribeca Film Festival and was an official selection of 2011 Mountain Film in Telluride and 2011 HotDocs. The trailer is below.

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Morocco - 5th Most Active Twitter User in Africa

2012-01-28T22:03:00.001Z

In a follow-up to our look at mobile phone use in Morocco, we are in debt to the "Notebook", the blog run by Portland for a look at Twitter. Portland is an independent consultancy involved in strategic communications, public affairs, international affairs and digital research.

In their latest research Portland embarked on an attempt to comprehensively map the use of Twitter in Africa. Portland and Tweetminster analysed over 11.5 million geo-located Tweets originating on the continent during the last three months of 2011. This pan-African analysis of Twitter traffic was complemented by a survey of 500 of Africa’s most active Tweeters.
And the result? It is young people, not leaders or business people Tweeting from mobile devices that are driving the growth of Twitter in Africa.

The top twitter uses in order are South Africa (5,030,226), Kenya (2,476,800), Nigeria (1,646,212), Egypt (1,214,062) and Morocco (745,620).

To view a larger image - open image in a new tab and click to increase size

Interestingly, 68% percent of those surveyed say they use Twitter to monitor news. 2% use it to search for employment opportunities.

Mark Flanagan, Portland’s Partner for Digital Communications, says: “One of the more surprising findings of this research is that more public figures have not joined Africa’s burgeoning Twittersphere. With some notable exceptions, we found that business and political leaders were largely absent from the debates playing out on Twitter across the continent. As Twitter lifts off in Africa, governments, businesses and development agencies can really no longer afford to stay out of a new space where dialogue will increasingly be taking place.”

How Africa Tweets found that Twitter is helping to form new links within Africa. The majority of those surveyed said that at least half of the Twitter accounts they follow are based on the continent.

Beatrice Karanja, Associate Director and head of Portland Nairobi, says: “We saw the pivotal role of Twitter in the events in North Africa last year, but it is clear that Africa’s Twitter revolution is really just beginning. Twitter is helping Africa and Africans to connect in new ways and swap information and views. And for Africa – as for the rest of the world – that can only be good.”

You can find out more about the Portland research here (PDF): Portland - How Africa Tweets

The View from Fez is an active Twitter user. We send out links to our stories and also use Twitter to gather news. To date we have tweeted 1656 stories. You can follow us here: The View from Fez Twitter

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Mariah Carey at Morocco's Mawazine Festival 2012

2012-01-28T17:53:00.000Z

Since Mariah Carey attempted to opt out of the spotlight around eighteen months ago in order to have her twins, she has been under intense scrutiny. The main reason for all the attention was that Mariah and her husband, Nick Cannon named their children Moroccan and Monroe. At the same time Ms Carey showed the world the Moroccan-themed room in her New York apartment.

The choice of names was a great generator of media focus, but not always with the result an aspiring pop-diva might have hoped. The couple’s son Moroccan tied with Alicia Silverstone’s son’s name Bear Blu for the worst boy’s name of the year, according to Ministry of Gossip. More than 10,000 visitors to BabyNames.com voted on the worst and best names of the year.

But despite the adverse publicity in the gossip rags, it has paid off in one way. Mariah Carey has the closing night gig at the Moroccan Mawazine Festival. It will be her first performance since the birth of her twins last year.

The 11th Mawazine Festival runs in Rabat from May 18th to May 26th. According to the organisers, Mariah Carey will close the festival with a set that includes at least two new songs.

As The View from Fez has reported in the past, previous performers have included Shakira, Kanye West, Alicia Keys, Elton John and Whitney Houston.

Elton John at Mawazine

See our previous Mawazine Festival stories here.

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Morocco's Mobile Phone Mania

2012-01-26T17:05:00.000Z

What is it with mobile phones in Morocco? If you believed the statistics, then Morocco, with a population of around 32 million has 36.55 million mobile phone users at the end of 2011. That is more phones than people in the Kingdom. Compared to 2010, this is a growth rate of 14.29 percent giving the country a penetration rate of 113.57 percent.

Of course the raw figures do not paint an accurate figure. A 100% penetration rate is an impossibility, given that there are large sections of the community who do not possess a mobile phone. Some people are either too old, too young or too poor. Rural areas fall a long way below the national penetration rate.

This is more than 100% penetration rate is not unique to Morocco. In fact it can be observed in a large number of countries. The explanation is that many pre-paid customers have multiple sim cards for use on different networks and telcos have difficulty establishing when a card becomes inactive. In Morocco at present around 26 percent of all phone customers have a contract and are "post-billed" compared to almost 14 percent for pre-paid. The number of multiple sim card owners is unknown.

According to a recent report from the national telecom regulator ANRT, Maroc Telecom saw its mobile market share fall to 48.85 percent at the end of 2011, compared to 52.81 percent a year earlier, Medi Telecom’s dipped to 32.92 percent from 33.74 percent and Wana Corporate (Inwi) was the big winner, growing from 13.45 percent to 20.23 percent.

Moroccan favour smart-phones for going online

In a booming mobile phone market, it is not surprising that fixed phone subscribers fell by 4.89 percent to 3.57 million, for an 11.08 percent penetration rate. Fixed call traffic came down by 9.42 percent year-on-year. Wana Corporate had a 64.59 percent share of the fixed phone market at the end of 2011, followed by Maroc Telecom with 34.79 percent and Medi Telecom with 0.62 percent.

As we reported a few days ago, Morocco's love affair with the Internet continues (see story here). The number of Internet users increased by 70.44 percent to 3.18 million, and the fact that there are 4.1 million FaceBook users indicates just how many Internet users are using a mobile device to go online. Mobile internet accounted for 81.41 percent of all internet users at the end of last year, followed by ADSL at 18.53 percent, up 18.49 percent on a year earlier.

The mobile phone market in Africa is massive

On a broader front, mobile phone ownership in Africa continues to increase. By early 2010 mobile subscribers in Africa had smashed through the half billion mark and according to Blycroft Mobile Operator database there were some 508.6 million subscribers. Today that is reckoned to be over 600 million

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Moroccan Students For American Exchange Programme

2012-01-25T17:56:00.001Z

If you are a young Moroccan student at high school or university and have ever wanted to study in the United States, tomorrow night there is an opportunity to find out more about the wide variety of exchange programmes available.

An information night is to be held tomorrow (Thursday January 26th) at the American Language Centre in Fez.

At 5pm the Deputy Cultural Affairs Officer, Sam Werberg, from the U.S. Embassy in Rabat will give a presentation and discuss the various U.S. government-sponsored exchange programmes available to Moroccans, including exchange programmes for high school students, university students, post-graduate students, and professionals.

There will be a discussion about will discussion about who is eligible for these programmes, how to apply, and how to find out more information about each programme. Also to be discussed will be the benefits of these programmes and what some of our exchange program alumni have done once they returned to Morocco.

DETAILS
Who: ALC students, high school and university students and professionals
When: Thursday January 26 at 5pm
Where: ALC Fez Room 1

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Winter in the Sahara

2012-01-23T18:41:00.000Z

Venturing into the Sahara during winter can be challenging. But as today's guest post from intrepid travellers, Mary Finnigan and partner Chris Gilchrist, shows - there is poetry to be found everywhere and at any time of year.

Light glazes the dunes like honey - Photo Chris Gilchrist

"Four days in the Sahara fulfilled our R&R dreams like no previous holiday."

We are middle aged and so were appreciative of the creature comforts offered by an impeccably managed and elegantly presented Moroccan guest house, Dar Daif. Situated three kilometres from the outskirts of Ouarzazate, Dar Daif is a short stroll from the shores of Lake Ouarzazate.

The RAMSAR wetlands - Photo Sandy McCutcheon

The lake is a RAMSAR designated wetland, teeming with bird life. We sat for hours in pleasant winter sunshine gazing at hundreds of cormorants and storks, alongside osprey, spoonbills, black wing stilts, ruddy shelduck, great crested grebes, ringed plover, many varieties of wheatear and wagtail.

Mary and Chris

We had two days of luxury either side of the bit in the middle that satisfied our craving for novelty and adventure. We camped, walked and rode with three camels and three Berber gentlemen - Echou the guide and Omar and Idir the camel men. Zaid the driver completed the ensemble.

Chris, dressed for comfort, stays warm

The trek was glitch-free and enormously good fun. The stars at night, the silence of the days and the awesome beauty of the dunes are best captured in poetry and in pictures.

Light glazes the dunes like honey,
melts them like wax,
fixes them harsh at noon,
draws lines with them at sunset,doubts them at night.

Wind and sand and powdered rock -
a life reduced to mere clinging at the surface,
thin as a camel's cough,
the sussurant shower of a small cascade of grains.

No body lives here;
all burn out, dry to wisps and curls of hair,
talismans of bone.

Fold upon fold, the voluptuous dunes
threaten a serpentine erotic embrace.
Sandriffs build a symphony
always fading away.
A set of fading footsteps
is my only hope of return
to browsing camels, water,
the small fierce dry-wood fire
under the starless heft
of the ancient tamarisk.

Poem by Chris Gilchrist

the ancient tamarisk

DETAILS

Find out more about Dar Daif and the Ouazazate area here; Ouazazarte

Dar Daif is an old kasbah house. Owners Jean-Pierre Datcharry and his wife Zineb have recreated the feel of a desert caravanserai with richly coloured carpets, plants and artifacts. The guesthouse has been awarded La Cle Verte - one of a handful in Morocco - due to its ecologically sustainable practises.

Visit Dar Daif

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The Not-Very-Moroccan Mall

2012-01-23T14:08:00.001Z

The construction of the Morocco Mall was a massive undertaking. The site manager, Salwa Idrissi Akhannouch, says that 100,000 people were involved in the construction and that, to date, the shopping centre has created 5,000 direct jobs and 21,000 indirect jobs. "It is something the nation can be really proud of," Akhannouch said. At the time of the opening, the outgoing Trade Minister, Ahmend Reda Chani, was also upbeat, "The mega-complex could turn Casablanca into a major shopping destination like Dubai," he said.

After the mall was officially opened and the razzmatazz had subsided, Linda Harris, a contributor to Morocco World News, decided to take a look. Her report about the new Morocco Mall was first published by Morocco World News and is reposted with permission.

It lit up the night in florescent colours covering the entire spectrum of the rainbow. Coming out of Casablanca in the evening, after a 15 minute drive past dark stretches of beach front on one side and walled-off slum quarters on the other, the sudden appearance of the massive Morocco Mall was truly overwhelming. I turned to my Moroccan friend, who had been kind enough to offer me a drive out, poked him in sheer exaltation and said something to the extent of “My Goodness, it is HUGE!! Look at all these lights. I can’t believe my eyes. This place looks like Shanghai!!”

My absolute surprise in the grandeur of the mall was not entirely unfounded. While Morocco is one of the more progressive counties in Africa, it is still plagued by vast poverty, run down buildings and streets in need of repair. Although new construction is happening across the country, nothing compares in scale to the mall.

As I sat in the car in front of the grand new building, I could not believe my eyes. The grounds were green with immaculate landscaping. The sidewalks were accented by decorative street lights, all of it leading towards the entrance of the giant structure. Never have I seen a place in Morocco that even remotely resembles the glow and glitter of the Morocco Mall. “They have a movie theater”, I exclaimed joyously, “and it is so clean here, so full of light. Can we go in?”

It opened the day I left Casablanca. I was told that the evening air was filled with excitement, as locals travelled to the mall to see it open. They stood, amazed, at a distance, outside barricades and looked into a Mecca of splendour and richness. The Morocco Mall is an astonishing project that has been four years and $270 million in the making. The mall features 350 stores and stretches across 24,700 acres. It has more than forty restaurants, a 1,000 square meter state-of-the-art 3D IMAX theatre, a large musical fountain and a massive fish tank with more than one million litres of water. The fish basin is a magical journey and is on display in the heart of the mall, from a glass elevator that ascends though the water.

Princess Lalla Meryem inaugurates Morocco Mall

Morocco Mall is said to be the fifth largest mall in the world, and is expected to receive more than fifteen million visitors a year with sales approaching five billion Dirham (600 million US dollars). The project is expected to create 21,000 indirect jobs and 5,000 direct jobs (Source: AP).

I couldn’t wait to go. So when I returned to Casablanca a little more than a month later, I made a point of reserving an entire day and night to explore this amazing mall. I took a taxi from the city and arrived into an oasis of order and peace. Each entry is armed with guards and alarms, as is every flight of stairs and escalators. Almost everyone speaks French and English and is delighted to do so. The main entrance is a screening point, fully equipped with armed guards and handheld metal detectors, where some are allowed to enter, and others are not. Those who are not, are the poorly dressed, the pan-handlers, and thieves.

Leave it not to me to attempt to understand how the guards know who is who with nothing more than a glance; but they do. Some are summarily shown the door, long before they can get to it. Subsequently, the mall has a distinct feel of safety and tranquillity. Morocco’s wrestling match with a massive social and economic imbalance stays outside.

I went directly to the Starbucks coffee and ordered my usual drink. With a little explaining back and forth in English and French, I managed to get it just the way I like it; and at that, I even got service with a smile. Sure I had to pay 35 Dirham, but it tasted good, and since I make a western sized monthly income, I could afford to pay this higher than western price. Cup in hand, I walked the sizable mall. The layout is quite simple to figure out. The mall is cruise ship-shaped with an oval figure-8 walk area in three levels, with Galleries La Fayette in the middle of the ovals, and the surrounding areas filled with stores.

At the ends are the Marjane, the Adventureland Theme Park, including ice rink, and the food courts, placed beautifully with a view of the ocean. In the front is the IMAX theatre. Flowers, high-end decor and seating areas are all pleasing to the eye. As we neared midday, a melodic voice came over the speakers and started reciting Adhan. A few employees scurried off through back exit doors to attend to prayers. In the closed off sections of the mall there are prayer rooms, along with meeting rooms, six classrooms for language, cooking, beauty school, and two exhibition halls.

Critics have argued that there is little about the mall that is Moroccan. They are wrong. There is nothing about the mall that is Moroccan. Shy of the Souk, the location, and the call to prayer, there isn’t anything here that you wouldn’t find in any American or European mall. And the souk bears little to no resemblance of the souks one can find around Morocco.

(Photo: Samia Errazzouki courtesy of Al Akbar

The stores are a broad selection of western mall staples. At the bookstore play-zone, a young mother can be seen reading to her 4 year old child from a book. At the coffee shops, westerners and well dressed Moroccans are plugged into their computers and surfing the net over a cup of coffee served in paper cups. The food-court displays the familiar brands and tastes of fast food from the palates of American, French, Italian, Chinese, Lebanese, and Thai. The crowded discount chains are featuring goods made in China, the same goods as one finds at discount stores throughout the west.

In a separate section, the upscale western luxury stores are bedazzled with crystals, handsome security guards and high-end lighting, along with prices so impossibly high that even I, as a westerner, felt intimidated, and decided to remain on the outside looking in; joined at the windows by the brave few local Moroccans who had dared to enter the ‘luxury-zone’. In front of the lingerie stores, teenage boys can be seen pace back and forth, trying to look inconspicuously at the tiny silk and lace garments that are near impossible to find anywhere else in Morocco, and on benches exhausted husbands take small breaks while the wives finish shopping. All of these sights are familiar throughout malls in the west.

On the outside of the mall, along the magical musical fountain, stand rows of guards, preventing the public from coming close to the water’s edge. In the evening, faint globe lights encircling the fountain cast a romantic light over the night. The fountain is designed to play for 5 minutes every 30 minutes. Sitting outside, in the green zone, gave me pause to look at the people and reflect. Will this mall really succeed?

Although I spent more than 10 hours at the mall, I spent less than 400 Dirham, settling for two books, coffee, and a food court meal. Why? Ultimately, I couldn’t get past how western it was, so I didn’t feel like shopping. There was nothing at the mall that I would not be able to find at the mall close to my home in Europe. Nothing tempted me. And since I had packed everything I needed to wear for my trip, I found no reason to buy anything else. What is more, despite a sales event, the prices were close to double of the price I would pay at home. It struck me as foolish to spend extra and go through the hassle of packing it through the airport, just to bring home clothes and shoes that I can just as easily find on a 5 minute walk from my home.

The mall investors calculate their future success on tourists and the mall revenues are closely tied into European tourism. Thus for the mall to succeed, European tourists must not only visit the mall, they must also spend a significant chunk of their vacation money there. I don’t foresee that happening. Tourists come to Morocco for the Moroccan Experience, and much as we hate it, the haggling and dirt, stress and craziness of the souks and medina, are part of that experience. These are the stories we remember, the events that we share with people at home.

We want to drink coffee out of small glasses, say ‘Shukran’, and lay down to rest on Moroccan couches. We want to eat tagine with our fingers, and argue with vendors about a knocking a few Dirham off the price. We want to come home from our trip with exotic things that we can show our friends and family. The cheap oil-lamps, the spices, the ceramics, the traditional clothes; all of it is part of what makes a Moroccan vacation complete. And the mall can provide none of those things.

I have no doubt that I will be back at the mall on my next trip to Casablanca. Not so much for shopping but because I know that after a week of the hustle and bustle of the Moroccan streets, the mall will offer me the ability to walk around the world for a bit without getting approached which is appealing to a woman who is working in Morocco and travels alone. What is more, I am meeting friends there for coffee; Moroccan friends, who like me cannot justify shopping at the mall, but who enjoys going there to look at the stores and people and enjoy a little of the western order.

Certainly, for the vast majority of Moroccans, the mall may not be a place to preserve values and dreams of what a healthy and blossoming Morocco could be. Instead, it appears as a centre for displaying what some desires that the kingdom should be – a nation where there is a sizable divide between rich and poor, a small and envious middle class looking in without the funds to participate, and where the illiterate and poverty stricken masses are sharply stratified from the wealthy few by something as tangible as gates and armed guards. What looks like progress towards a more modern Morocco, therefore, may instead become an objective example to the world as a symbol of everything that is socially wrong in the kingdom.

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Morocco's Foreign Minister to Visit Algeria

2012-01-22T11:51:00.000Z

News reports from Rabat, say that Morocco's new foreign minister Saad-Eddine Othmani (pictured left) will visit the Algerian capital Algiers next week. It is an early indication that the new government will continue the efforts of the previous government to normalise ties strained for decades over the disputed Sahara region.

The visit is scheduled to be a short one, lasting only two days, but starting on Monday Saad-Eddine Othmani will hold talks with his Algerian counterpart Foreign Minister, Mourad Medelci and a meeting with the longterm president, Abdelaziz Bouteflika.

As The View from Fez reported recently, there was a small sign of relations improving, when a judge in the Algerian town of Maghnia agreed to a temporary opening of the Zouj Bghal crossing in order to allow Moroccan cyclists to take part in a cycle race (see our story here).The border between the two countries was closed in 1994 following an Islamist militant attack in Marrakesh in which the involvement of Algerian secret services is widely suspected.Tensions in the border region occasionally flare and a July clash between Moroccan border guards and armed men crossing from Algeria left one soldier dead.

Al Qaeda in El Islamic Maghreb
photo Morocco World News

However, the most serious diplomatic issue between the two countries is the decades-long problem of the Algerian-backed Polisario guerrillas in the Sahara. Morocco's reclaiming of the former Spanish colony in 1975 sparked a war between its forces and Algerian-backed Polisario guerrillas until a ceasefire in 1991. UN-sponsored talks on Western Sahara's future have since made no headway.

One positive sign that may open the door to progress is the discontent within the Algerian military with the Polisario over infiltration by AQIM (Al Qaeda in El Islamic Maghreb) in the Tindouf refugee camps.

For Foreign Minister Saad-Eddine Othmani, there will be no quick fix. He does, however have the backing of his predecessor, Taeib Fassi Fihri who, back in November said, "Whatever the differences, it's abnormal not to have a normal relationship with a neighbouring country".

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Meetings in Marrakech: the paintings of Hassan El Glaoui and Winston Churchill

2012-01-21T16:59:00.000Z

One of Churchill's Moroccan landscapes

A small exhibition of paintings in London is getting big reviews, not only for the art, but also the unlikely but charming story of an unlikely friendship behind the works. On show at London's Leighton House Museum, are nine paintings by Winston Churchill and fifteen by the revered Moroccan painter Hassan El Glaoui.

The meeting of the British war leader with the young Berber tribesman back in 1943 changed the direction of the young man's life. As he tells it,"Winston Churchill saw my paintings in my father’s office and advised him to let me continue painting. My father had wanted me to work in agriculture on his estates but on the advice of Churchill, he allowed me to continue painting."

Hassan El Glaoui's Hassan El Glaoui's Les feux du Quadrige (1980)

Hassan El Glaoui, son of the famous El Haj Thami el Glaoui, moved to Paris in 1952 in order to study les Beaux-Arts. El Glaoui had no formal artistic training, but managed to work as an apprentice with French artists Jean Souverbie, and Emilie Charmy with whom he worked for 15 years.

Churchill's artistic career is better known. When, during the irst World War, his friend and later painting partner Paul Maze suggested he should take up painting in order to relax, Churchill did so with enthusiasm, and continued to paint for the rest of his life.

Over the years, Churchill became very fond of Morocco, especially the city of Marrakech and the surrounding mountain valleys where he would spend his holidays. It is from those times that we now have so many fine oils by Churchill.

In regard to the exhibition, the Huffington Post quotes Daniel Robbins, Director of Leighton House Museum as saying: “We are extremely fortunate to have these unique collections here, not only because they are outstanding paintings but because they tell such a remarkable story. They reveal both a hitherto unseen glimpse into the private and artistic life of one of Britain’s most significant figures, Winston Churchill, and the beautifully expressive work of one of Morocco’s most significant painters, Hassan El Glaoui”.

Winston Churchill's The Valley of the Ourika' (1935)

Reviewers have been similarly impressed. Jennie Gillions, writing for the on-line Culture 24, says, "Meetings in Marrakech is lovely – small but perfectly formed. There are only 24 works, 15 of Hassan El Glaoui's and nine of Winston Churchill's, but all are bursting with movement, colour and an obvious love for their subject. Churchill once called Marrakech “the loveliest spot in the whole world”; El Glaoui's depictions make it a difficult statement to contest.The colours are beautiful, the scenes are vibrant and the sunny skies feel hot. Churchill's work is more delicate, more serene, but no less evocative. Two different views of the same place by two very different men. Yet there are striking similarities in composition, subject matter and palate, if not in execution."

The exhibition: Meetings in Marrakech; the Paintings of Winston Churchill and Hassan El Glaoui, continues at the Leighton House Museum in London until March 31 2012

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"Hidden Waters" documentary: Director's Update

2012-01-20T21:59:00.000Z

In September 2011, The View from Fez asked filmmaker Joe Lukawski about his new project in Fez and he told us - "Les eaux cachées, or Hidden Waters will take the shape of a 52 minute documentary film, produced over the next nine months in and around Fez to address the issues of water conservation and the urban restoration taking place around Fez’s waters. In this, one of our principal aims is to bring Fassi tradition and folklore alive as we explore some of the dying trades linked to the old water system and to a way of life played out increasingly in the shadow of modernity." Four months later, we caught up with Joe for an update. Here is his report

Fez, 20 January 2012 - After having been inspired by the city and its people over the course of a few short visits, I came back to Fez in September under the Fulbright program to do research and produce a documentary film about water in Fez. The working title “Hidden Waters” was inspired by the vast underground medieval water system that has fed Fez’s fountains and gardens, turned its waterwheels and nourished its people for hundreds of years.

However, over the years, damage to the old water system has threatened the old city as knowledge of the traditional system slowly vanished alongside the trades that maintained it. Restoring the areas surrounding the river, then, is not only a matter of resource management, but of urban preservation. In this sense, my original aims were to take a historical look at Fez’s waters and to explore the types of restoration initiatives currently underway around the rivers of Fez. However, since September the story has been widening as I meet more people and learn more about Fez’s traditions and cultural practices surrounding water.

All this time in re-production, fielding questions about what I’m doing in Fez and trying to promote the project, has forced me to see the film in a different light. I’m beginning to envision the film as it should turn out - a series of interesting and aesthetically beautiful episodes rather than something monolithic, dry and over academic. At this point, the film will be more focused on cultural practice and tradition, folklore, etc… than the structural elements of Fez’s history with water.

Though the old system is interesting and Fez is an architectural gem, in the end it is the human element that will valorize water as something to be protected and taken care of. Its too easy to take water’s importance for granted, or on the opposite end to feel helpless in front of technical information about its current state. I hope that talking about water in a way that places it at the center of urban culture and local tradition will enrich the vocabulary of people communicating about sustainable development and water by bringing daily life and culture into the discussion. Jinn stories, Gnawa dance, and the importance of water in everyday Moroccan symbolism are but a few of the topics I am exploring and filming at the moment.

Initial fundraising initiatives for the project on Kickstarter did not bear fruit, however, I really think this is what drove me to re-examine my project and what it means to be in Morocco as a Fulbrighter. In the end, I have a camera and a microphone, so there will be a film. I guess I am beginning to see Fulbright Morocco as a chance to learn more about myself as a filmmaker, about Moroccan language and culture and to make something more artisanal, with my own hands and the help of the motivated people around me.

The expat community in Fez – the likes of The View from Fez, Cecile from Fès et Geste, The Biehns, Marie Roland-Gosselin – and my colleagues in Fulbright Morocco have supported the project with their experience in the city, their connections and their ecouragement. Karima el Baz from MACECE has been a great help in bridging the gap between myself and the Moroccan authorities, helping me get my paperwork in order. Also, I’ve been able to collaborate with Peace Corps Morocco volunteers Joe Hollowell and Steven Kurvers on film shoots in the Middle Atlas, a great opportunity to bridge the gap between two long-lasting U.S. programs and a breathe of fresh air when the dense medina becomes hard to work in.

My Fassi colleagues have been fantastic. Without Omar Chennafi I could never have gotten anything off the ground. I’ve also had the great fortune to be able to have two Moroccan students from the College Moulay Idriss, Sarah Touiger and Yassine Houari, as production assistants in their time outside class. I’ll be teaching them a bit about documentary filmmaking from camerawork to sound to conducting interviews as they assist me in shooting.

As the first full videocassettes start lining up on my editing desk, it’s exciting to know that I have all the necessary paperwork in order, a production schedule, and a good head start on filming. However, it’s even more exciting to finally hit the streets camera-in-hand. I’ll be shooting on location in and around Fez through mid-April before starting post-production. A trailer should be ready by mid-March.

For updates, photos and production stories
from “Hidden Waters,” check out the blog at http://fezfilm.wordpress.com

You can also visit Joe Lukawski's blog at
http://joelukawski.wordpress.com.

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Morocco's New Government Falls Short on Gender Equity

2012-01-20T14:06:00.000Z

The new government of Abdelilah Benkirane has received a reasonable reception in most areas. However, in what looks like a rather bad lapse of judgment, Benkirane has left himself vulnerable on the issue of gender equity.Among the new faces there is only a single woman minister, Bassima Hakkaoui, in charge of Solidarity, Women, Family and Social Development.

Bassima Hakkaoui

What is striking is that this step backwards comes six months after the new constitution intended to encourage parity in Moroccan society. Morocco has one of the most progressive women’s legislations in the Arab World. The electoral code was reformed in 2002 to increase women’s representation in the parliament through the introduction of a positive discrimination act, in the form of a proportional list system that initially reserved 30 seats for women in the lower house of parliament. The 2011 constitutional reform raised this number to 60 out 395 seats.

"The men and women enjoy equal human rights and freedoms of a civil, political, economic, social, cultural and environmental [...] The Moroccan government is working to achieve parity between men and women. It is created for this purpose, an Authority for Equality and the fight against all forms of discrimination" - Article 19 of the Constitution.

It is also a step back from the previous Istiqlal government, where Prime Minister Abbas El Fassi, who, though far from setting a reasonable benchmark on equity issues, appointed a total of seven women ministers between 2007 to 2011. The number of women in parliament was thirty-four. In this parliament there are now sixty-seven women which makes Benkirane's decision to appoint only one woman minister, even harder to understand. This failure to honour gender equity principles prompted anger amongst women’s associations who had hoped that an increase in the female representation in parliament would translate into powerful representation for women in the cabinet.

Bassima Hakkaoui

The extent of the feelings on this issue must have come clear to Benkirane on Thursday when Moroccan female lawmakers protested with placards against his decision. The message was unambiguous. The placards asked, “Women 1 - Men 30. Is this equitable sharing?”

Several female MPs, including former social and family affairs minister, Nouzha Skalli, have demanded an urgent amendment to the cabinet to include more women. She says she still can not believe it. "You can not imagine my disappointment! When this government does not respect the constitution it is a strong negative that goes against equality between men and women!"

Women protest in parliament

Female parliamentarians from both opposition and majority parties took part in the protest, but members of the ruling Justice and Development Party (PJD) refrained. While outside the parliament, dozens of women protested the lack of female representation in the cabinet.

Following his first cabinet meeting early this month, Benkirane told reporters, “There is no reason to be outraged. I can assure you that there was no intention to exclude women from this government. What we need more than anything are competent people. Parties have tried (to find qualified women lawmakers) but it’s not easy,” he said.“As far as our party is concerned there were 14 women candidates to become minister to start with. One has been considered. You see, it’s not easy,” he said.

Who is Bassima Hakkaoui?

Bassima Hakkaoui was born October 5, 1960.

She holds a Master of Social Psychology (1996). Bassima Hakkaoui worked at the Center for Teacher Education, in Casablanca. She has been a Justice and Development Party MP since 2002.

She was Chair of the Committee on social sectors from 2006 to 2009 and member of the first chamber between 2009 and 2010. Bassima Hakkaoui is a member of the Joint Parliamentary Committee EU-Morocco.

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Saad-Eddine El Othmani: Morocco's Minister Of Foreign Affairs

2012-01-20T12:43:00.000Z

The new face of Moroccan diplomacy is Saad-Eddine Othmani. Born in 1956 in Inezgane near Agadir he earned a Doctorate in Medicine from the Hassan II University of Casablanca in 1986, and in psychiatry in 1994. He also holds Master and DEA degrees in Islamic studies. In 2004, and after the withdrawal from politics of Abdelkrim Alkhatib, Saad- Eddine Othmani became the head of the Justice and Development Party.

Out with the old and in with the new. Saad-Eddine El Othmani (left) with previous foreign minister Taieb Fassi Fihri

Back on January the 9th the new foreign minister made his first media appearance and used the occasion to outline Morocco's foreign policy priorities. He appeared relaxed with the media attention and allowed plenty of time for photographers to get the shots they needed. It was a confident start, prompting Le Soir to headline: El Othmani, l’homme de la situation - El Othami, the man for the job.

"We have responsibilities to establish and strengthen our ties with the Arab Maghreb Union and the Mediterranean"

The first priority for the minister is the Maghreb Union "We must bring about the rebirth of the structures of the Arab Maghreb Union. All the conditions are now right to breathe new life into this organisation, which was founded in Marrakech in 1989 and whose activities have been frozen." The Maghrebia website reports that according to El Othmani, the Tunisian and Libyan revolutions have paved the way for "Maghreb integration at every level".

"The four main orientations of Morocco's foreign policy: the Maghreb, the Arab world, Africa and other partners" - Saad-Eddine El Othmani

While there had been concerns that an Islamist government would take a conservative stance, these fears were allayed by the foreign minister who made it clear that the new government would follow the kingdom's general foreign policy trends. "We shall remain faithful to all the promises we have made internationally, as well as the conventions and protocols which Morocco has signed," El Othmani announced.

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Fez restaurant destroyed

2012-01-19T18:58:00.000Z

A devastating fire has swept through a well known restaurant in Fez, resulting in total destruction. The fire began last Saturday night at 10.40pm and by 2am on Sunday Restaurant Al Firdaous, at Bab Guissa, was a smouldering ruin.

Said Lebbar surveys the damage

The owner, former senator Said Lebbar said, "How I feel is beyond words. My wife Nadia and I have had this place since 1979. It was our baby. I love it and I have suffered for it."

The restaurant was located in a prominent position close to the prestigious Palais Jamais hotel.
The cause of the fire is not known. No one was in the restaurant at the time, except two guardians.
The interior of Restaurant Al Firdaous was fitted out with carved cedar wood, antiques, numerous carpets and silverware, which were consumed in the blaze. Initially one fire engine attended, and was joined by two more when the scope of the fire was realised. Mr Lebbar says that insurance is unlikely to cover the extent of the losses.

A scene of absolute chaos

Restaurant Al Firdous measures 300 square metres and had shared its kitchen and toilets with an adjoining restaurant wing of 600 square metres, also owned by Mr Lebbar. While the eating section of this area is still intact, it is now also out of commission.

Mr Lebbar was a senator in the Moroccan government from 1997 to 2006 and Vice President of the Finance Commission.

"We have had many dignitaries and heads of state eating in our restaurant over the years, as well as tour groups," said Mr Lebbar.

The undamaged section of the restaurant

On the wall of the surviving restaurant wing is a photograph of King Mohammed VI eating dinner at the establishment, and in a guest book are the signatures of importants guests ranging from the daughter of the King of Saudi Arabia, to the Prime Minister of Japan, to a princess from Holland and numerous European and Middle Eastern politicians. In the 1990s, the restaurant received an international award for gastronomy from a tourist and hotel industry association.

With the restaurant gone, Mr Lebbar said he and his wife will have to rely on income from their guesthouse, Palais Al Firdaous.

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International Spotlight on Fez Real Estate

2012-01-19T11:05:00.003Z

After a very quiet time in the Moroccan real estate market, things look set to change. One early indicator is that major media players are giving space to stories about buying property in Morocco. From airline inflight magazines to the lofty heights of the New York Times, journalists are pointing to Morocco as a good place to invest.

What is particularly interesting is the attention is not on Marrakech, but Fez. Although Fez is the spiritual and cultural heart of the country, Marrakech has always been the 'party town' with a louche reputation akin to that of Tangier, and been the choice particularly of French investors. While Casablanca is the commercial heart, it has not attracted attention from British, American and French home buyers. So, what is happening in Fez, and why the attention?

The first unusual thing about the Fez market is that it is actually two different markets - the World Heritage listed Medina and the Ville Nouvelle or New City. The Ville Nouvelle is often the choice of Moroccans and those with businesses there, but for foreigners the charm of the Medina, being car-free, with its medieval houses and labyrinthine alley ways, is the key point.

A riad for sale in Fez - in perfect condition

Then, having chosen the Medina, there is another choice to be made; a riad or a dar. A riad is normally larger and has an open central courtyard with trees, a fountain or garden. A dar is smaller, with a central courtyard that can often be closed over against inclement weather. Dars do not have a central garden or fountain although they may often have a wall fountain.

Another consideration is the age of the house. David Amster, in his fine website A House in Fez.com has this to say: In terms of age, you need to decide whether you want a older house, generally 17th to 19th century, or a "neotraditional" house from the early 20th century. Older houses are more interesting, but generally need more restoration and are deeper in the medina. Note too that the age of a medina house is often hard to determine. There is often a date on the plaster above one of the main salon doors, but this is the date in the Islamic calendar of when that plaster was completed and generally has nothing to do with when the house was built. It's also normal for doors, beams, carved plaster, and zellij to be replaced every one to two hundred years, which means that a seven-hundred-year-old house sometimes looks like it's 19th century.

For sale a potential maison d'hôte

Quoted in a recent New York Times article, Cédric Elsener, the owner of Maroc Immobilier Capital, says, “The Medina is really bewitching. It has a weird effect on you. Either you love it or you hate it — nothing in between.” According to Frédéric Sola, owner of Fez Real Estate, a company that sells and renovates riads in the Medina, “Time stopped about five centuries ago. What you see in the Medina, you don’t see anywhere else in the world.”

Also quoted in the New York times is Tim McTighe, a partner of Fes Properties, which sells, restores and manages properties in the Medina. Like others he reflects that the property market has been slow since 2008. “I’d say the glory days were between 2004 and 2007,” said Mr. McTighe. He and other brokers attribute that primarily to the global economic downturn, though they acknowledge that the regional political turmoil of the Arab Spring hasn’t helped. “Unfortunately some people put Morocco in the same basket” as Libya, Egypt, Tunisia, and other strife-torn countries in the area, said Mr. McTighe, suggesting that possible investors might be watching and waiting. “But Morocco is a very peaceful country, night and day with a country like Libya.”

Fred Sola points out that despite the sluggish market prices have not fallen sharply, because there are fewer properties on the market. “There have been some good bargains from foreigners who had to resell riads quickly,” said Mr. Sola. Mr. Elsener said it was a good time to buy, especially given improvements in Fez’s accessibility. “There are more direct flights to Europe,” he said, “and they are working to double the size of capacity at the airport. We also have a new highway that opened last June — from Fez you can drive to the Mediterranean in two and a half hours.”

One changing demographic is the nationality of those purchasing properties. For a long time the major buyers were French, but with the increase in budget airline flights to Morocco, other nationalities are catching up. Also present in the market are Belgians, Italians, Americans, Britons and several Australian or New Zealanders. While a majority of investors are buying in order to set up a guesthouse, a small number are buying private residences.

Traditional restoration takes time and money

The initial purchase of a house can be a relatively simple procedure, however, the cost of restoration needs to be factored in. In general terms, restoration is likely to cost two to three times the purchase price, depending on the structural condition of the building. Those who have been through the renovation process will be quick to advise that it is best to be on site for any major work as communicating day to day decisions by email or telephone is far from efficient. For this reason, a growing number of buyers are looking at properties where a majority of the restoration work is already completed.

Further reading:

David Amster's site
Suzanna Clarke's A House in Fez
Tahir Shah's The Caliph's House

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Football Fever in Fez

2012-01-18T23:08:00.003Z

On a night when the French Institute screened the brilliant black and white, silent movie, The Artist, returning home was a surreal experience. It was as though the outside world had become an extension of the movie. The streets surrounding the glorious old Rex Cinema in Avenue Slaoui, were eerily deserted.

Not so the cafes. It was apparent that the rest of Fez (and probably Morocco) were glued to their television screens. They were not watching some breaking news story, or a world shattering event - they were watching football. Every cafe with a television set was packed to the rafters and when a goal was scored - you could hear the watchers response throughout the city and Medina. It probably registered on the Richter Scale. Barcelona was playing Real Madrid.

For the uninitiated it should be explained that Moroccans (and particularly the denizens of Fez) are one-eyed, rusted-on Barca supporters. It also happens that those who do not support Barca are Real fans. Why the strongest football allegiance in Morocco should be to teams in Spain is lost on many, but remains a fact of life. Wearing a Barca T-shirt into a shop almost qualifies you for a 10% discount. Go figure!

The game that unfolded was operatic in its highs and lows. And, as if the gods of football were writing the script the first goal came from the legendary Ronaldo - in the 11th minute. "Benzema the orchestrator as Real catch Barca on the break! Lovely through ball into empty space where Alves should be, Ronaldo is onto it in a flash and takes it away from Pique and slots into the bottom corner past Pinto. GOAL!!! Real Madrid 1 Barcelona 0!!! "

The silence descends as the fans take in the fact that they are a goal down. But hope is not lost and even after halftime, when it looks like Real Madrid will hang on to their lead... "Barca win their seventh corner of the evening. It's an inswinger and.. Puyol! Unmarked! A diving header! Straight past Casillas! What a finish. the 49th min GOAL!!! Real Madrid 1 Barcelona 1"

So close. But is it going to be a a lame 1 -1 finish? Not on this night . It takes until the 77th minute and the silence in Fez is punctured by an eruption of sound - GOAL Abidal scores - GOAL!!! Real Madrid 1 Barcelona 2!

Eric Abidal - the decider

Could Real Madrid come back? The tension was palpable during the three minutes of stoppage time. You could feel a collective holding of breath. The Fez Medina went silent.

Then there was no need to check the score. The sound of victory rang through the Medina. For a moment everything else was forgotten - the near zero temperature, the Arab Spring... nothing mattered except that Barca had won.

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Western Media Coverage of Islam and Muslims

2012-01-18T16:53:00.000Z

The portrayal of Muslim peoples and culture in the non-Muslim media has long been problematic. Whereas exclusion from mainstream media is common, where coverage does exist it often perpetuates negative stereotypes and presents Muslim culture in a critical manner. Yacine Houhoud Tamsamani, writing for Morocco World News, examines the problem.

The important role that the mass media are playing not only in keeping people informed, but also in shaping public attitudes about political and social issues is well recognised. Broadcasting has a crucial role in shaping how majorities, by and large, think about minorities. The latter have been often portrayed by the media in negative stereotypes. The image of Islam and Muslim minorities has been among those depicted in a negative way especially since past 9/11. This has crucial and significant implications because it addresses a controversial issue, which is the view of non-Muslims in relation to Muslim communities.

Many studies have addressed the fact that representation of Islam and Muslim views are almost absent from the media. A case in point is that of British Muslims, whose representativeness is very low. According to Byrne (2008), only 11% of the British Muslim population are represented in the media. He adds that the media’s usage of few individuals and organisations does not do justice to the complete spectrum of views held by British Muslims and the ethnic diversity of Muslims in Britain. In other words, all British Muslims from different ethnic backgrounds should be given opportunities to express their opinions, otherwise this exclusion, according to Byrne, might not be helpful for British society.

Likewise, Richardson (2001)[1] commented “Muslim communities are almost excluded. However, when they do appear, they are included only as participants in news events, not as providers of informed commentary in news events; and therefore, that the issue and concerns of the communities are not being served by the agenda of the broadsheet press.” These findings of his analysis of representations of Islam and Muslims focused on British broadsheet newspapers. This includes Financial Times, The Independent, The Guardian, Daily Telegraph, The Times, and two British broadsheet Sunday newspapers; Sunday Independent, Sunday Times.

Hollywood films in other areas have also been made. Shaheen, a professor of mass communication at southern Illinois University and the author of Reel Bad Arabs [2] devoted much of his work to the subject of Arab representations in the media. In the post 9/11 era, he gives a better understanding about Arab stereotypes perpetrated in the media. He surveyed over 900 films and found that very few depicted Arabs and Muslims leading normal and healthy lives (Shaheen, 2003).

However, not all representations of Arabs and Muslims named in the media are negative. There are many prominent Arabs who could be recognised as positive role models. In an article entitled Demonising Arabs in the Movies? Exploring Islamophobia, Landes (2007) makes the point that Alexander in the film “Syriana” and Omar Sharif in “Lawrence of Arabia” are some examples of these positive Arab characters. There are also many organisations and institutions that work towards ensuring more accurate and positive representation of Arabs and Muslims. Hookers in some areas have represented positive stereotypes about Muslims. The ninety-nine, a new common book series in which the heroes are Muslims as can be seen in the negative representations of Islam and Muslims in the media (2008).

It is now abundantly clear that there is a number of increasing powers in covering, both in the print and the electronic media. It was Cottle (2006) [3] who argues that a powerful position for the media helps to represent group minorities either in positive or negative ways.

At present times, these positive representations are few and far between. It is very clear that much will remain to be done to promote fair representations of Arabs and Muslims. Representing Arabs and Muslims realistically in the media will benefit western societies on how to battle discrimination and racism. It will also increase self esteem and pride of Arabs and Muslims, and will encourage them to have more positive and healthy views of themselves.

NOTES

[1] Richardson, J. E. (2001) ‘British Muslims in the Broadsheet Press: A Challenge to Cultural Hegemony?’ Journalism Studies, Vol 2, No 2, 2001.

[2] Shaheen, J. (2003) Reel Bad Arabs: How Hollywood Vilifies a People, Arris Books.

[3] Cottle, S. (2006). Ethnic minorities and the media: changing cultural boundaries. [Media: ethnic minority’s Ethnic minorities]. Buckingham: Open University Press. [edited by Simon Cottle.].

This article first appeared in Morocco World News and is reposted with permission

Yacine Houhoud Tamsamani is an MA student in philosophy, Arts and Media at Staffordshire University, in the United Kingdom. He holds a BA from Al-Qarawiyyin University, in Fez, Morocco. He is interested in traditional Arabic and Islamic Studies, as well as contemporary Islamic issues (Islam, Muslims, Multiculturalism, Justice, terrorism).

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Tonight in Fez - @ Cinema Rex

2012-01-18T13:32:00.000Z

If you are needing a break from being cooped up crouched over a heater, trying to escape the cold weather, then tonight is one night you should get out - and let's face it, you friends have all been saying you need to get out more!

Tonight the French Institute in collaboration with Cinema Rex is screening an extraordinary film by Michel Hazanavicus - The Artist.

That's tonight Wednesday the 18th of January at 7 p.m. at Cinema Rex. 45 Avenue Mohammed Slaoui Tel. : 0535622496.

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Morocco's National Eggs Day

2012-01-18T10:07:00.004Z

The oddest story this week comes from Maghreb Arabe Presse and concerns a rather large cooking demonstration - the biggest omelette dish in Africa.

No yoking! The gigantic dish was prepared in Marrakech on Saturday using around 22,100 beaten eggs in celebration of National Eggs Day. Until this moment The View from Fez team were unaware that eggs had their own special "national" day, but feel duty bound to report it without totally cracking up.

A total of fifteen cooks took part in cooking the omelette which needed 85 litres of frying oil in a giant pan that measures 5 metres in diameter and 17 centimetres in height. There was no information on how many other people were involved in egg-cracking, egg-beating or, indeed, eating the enormous offering.

Speaking on this occasion, chairman of the National Eggs Association, Abdellatif Azaim, said that the event is organised to raise awareness about the nutritional value of eggs.The culinary event was organised by the National Eggs Association in partnership with the Federation of Poultry Sector professionals.

In keeping with the importance of National Eggs Day, The View from Fez team can happily report we cracked one into a pan for breakfast. Happy Eggs Day to our readers!

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Mars Rocks Morocco

2012-01-17T17:52:00.000Z

Even if you were in Morocco last July, you could be excused for not noticing an extraordinary event - Martian rocks falling to earth. Yet, that did indeed happen and scientists have now confirmed that the extraterrestrial visitors did originate on Mars.

The chances of being hit by a meteorite are astronomically small, but even if you were hit by one of the recent chunks of Mars, the chances are you wouldn't know a thing about it. The size of the rock fragments were big enough to kill someone instantly. The largest of the 6.5 kilogrammes (15 pounds) of fragments weighed in at a kilo. At the very least you would have a nasty headache.

The scientists say this is only the fifth time experts have chemically confirmed fresh Martian rocks fell to Earth. The last time was in 1962.Scientists believe the most recent meteorite fell last July outside of the town of Foumzgit, saying there were sightings of an unidentified object falling from the sky at that time.A special committee of meteorite experts, which includes some NASA scientists, confirmed the test results today.

Astronomers think the fragments were discarded by the Red Planet millions of years ago, after a large object crashed into the planet and sent fragments hurtling through the solar system.Occasionally, they believe, some of those rocks fall to Earth.

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Bicycle Diplomacy Opens Algerian Border - Briefly

2012-01-17T08:55:00.001Z

Over the last few years there have been diplomatic moves to ease the tensions between Algeria and Morocco, especially in regard to the closed borders. Now a judge in the Algerian town of Maghnia has agreed to a temporary opening of the Zouj Bghal crossing in order to allow Moroccan cyclists to take part in a cycle race.

The border crossing, Zouj Bghal, between Morocco and Algeria has been shut since 1994

The opening of the border, which has been closed since 1994 was confirmed by the judge who said the brief opening came at the request of the Moroccan government. He also said that the decision was cleared with the Algerian government. "Political orders from the Algerian government were given in order to open the border," he said.

The border closures came after Morocco accused the Algerian authorities of planning a hotel bombing in Marrakech that killed two Spanish tourists. They placed visa requirements on Algerians who then did the same and closed the borders.

The border between Algeria and Morocco was also opened briefly back in February 2009 to allow convoys of aid for Gaza to pass through (see our story here).

Although this is only a temporary opening of the borders, it is hoped it may lead to the situation improving between the two countries. Mourad Medelci, the Algerian Foreign Minister is quoted as saying that there are some "positive developments" in relations with Morocco.

One can only hope there are more cycle tours planned for the future.

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Fez Weather Update

2012-01-17T07:55:00.000Z

Sitting in an outdoor cafe in Fez at this time of year can be a chilly experience and, for some, an unexpected one. "I thought because it was Africa, Morocco would be warm," said a Canadian tourist. "Fortunately I brought warm clothes for when I go to France."

The misapprehension about the Moroccan winter climate is a common one, with an upside for the shopkeepers who sell warm clothes, gloves, long-johns and scarves.

If you are heading to Fez in the next week or so, you can expect the temperatures to remain very cool. Today there is expected to be a wind between 10 and 22 kph from the WSW which will produce a chill factor. The wind should decrease during the day as it swings NNW and then to the East around midnight at less than 3 kph.

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A Fishy Story

2012-01-16T21:02:00.000Z

Mula Nasruddin wanted to go ice fishing. He had read several books on the subject, and finally, after getting all the necessary equipment together, he made his way out onto the ice.

After positioning his comfy stool, he started to make a circular cut in the ice. Frighteningly, from up above, a voice boomed, "There are no fish under the ice."

Startled, Mula Nasruddin moved farther down the ice, poured himself a large coffee, and began to cut yet another hole. Again, from the heavens, the voice bellowed, "There are no fish under the ice."

Mula Nasruddin, now became very concerned so he moved way down to the opposite end of the ice, set up his stool, and began again to cut his ice-hole. The voice rang out once more, "There are no fish under the ice."

Mula Nasruddin, stopped, looked upwards and said, "Is that you, Lord?"

"No!" the voice replied, "No, this is the Ice-Rink Manager."

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Morocco's Love Affair with Facebook Continues

2012-01-16T17:42:00.001Z

The growth of social media such as Facebook and Twitter shows no sign of slowing down. The latest statistics show that Facebook, for example, has 799 million subscribers. World Internet Stats has just released in its report for 2011 which has some interesting figures for the African continent.

Number one for Facebook user numbers is Egypt with a staggering 9.4 million users. Second is South Africa with 4.8 million. In third place is Nigeria which is also one of the fastest growing countries. Four years ago Nigeria had only 400,000 Facebook users. It now has 4.3 million.

Morocco comes fourth with 4.1 million Facebook users; Algeria with 2.8 million users maintaining fifth position while Tunisia recorded 2.7 million Facebook users at the end of December, 2011 making it the sixth in the continent.Ghana also beat other African countries with a 1.1 million Facebook subscriber mark recorded in the country as at end of 2011.

This latest report says social media continue to grow. The use of social media during the protests of the Arab Spring played an important part in galvanising protesters and getting breaking news to a global audience.

Twitter played a major role in the Arab Spring (photo The Guardian)

One of the newer contenders, Google + is making inroads, but has so far not turned out to be the "Facebook killer" many hoped it would be.

In a comparison of Internet usage in Africa, Morocco is in third place with 13.2 million users. Nigeria heads the list with 44.0 million followed by Egypt with 20.1 million. Lagging well behind Morocco is South Africa with 6.8 million Internet users.

The amount of time individual users are spending on social networking sites is also increasing. According to recent data consumers spend more than six hours a month on social networking sites.Globally, social networks and blogs are the most popular on line category when ranked by average time spent, followed by on line games and instant messaging. There are no recent figures for Internet usage time in Morocco, but, just for interest, the country that spends the most time on Facebook and Twitter, is Australia with just over 7 hours per month.

Internet essential for Moroccan economic growth

Desmond Shepherd, reporting for IT News Africa, says that the Moroccan government is very aware of the importance of on line business and is prioritising initiatives to increase Internet use in the country with a view to at least doubling the current usage.

Late last year a government spokesperson said "Morocco sees Internet penetration as an important step towards moving the country forward into the global economy. It largely depends on where we can get investors to put their money. The Internet is key to attracting foreign companies and as we continue to build our infrastructure, Morocco will be able to enter the global economy on a more equal footing."

The Internet has been a major draw card for other North African nations, especially Egypt, where the increase in DSL infrastructure has made it more attractive to foreign corporations. Ahmed Abdallah, an employee at Microsoft’s call centre in Cairo, said that Morocco has the unique ability of attracting European companies if Internet usage increases.

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Abortion Reform - Good News for Moroccan Women

2012-01-14T15:10:00.000Z

Under current Moroccan law, abortions are only allowed with a husband's consent in order to save a woman's life or maintain her physical or mental health, meaning that unmarried women could not legally have an abortion. Now this is set to change.

A top aide to Morocco's prime minister confirmed that the leader would support allowing abortions in the case of rape or incest. The aide explained in an interview that such a law would address the high number of illegal abortions in the country, as well as single mothers living in poverty. The new government's position is a sharp change from the party's previous stances on abortion-related issues.

The new direction will also enhance the Prime Minister Abdelilah Benkirane's claim to be a moderate and allay the fears of those who thought an Islamist party would be much more socially conservative. It follows on from his declaration that he had no intention of enforcing a conservative dress code. It is early days, but the signs are good. Benkirane's moderate Islamist Justice and Development Party (PJD) took the most seats in the November 25th parliamentary elections

The New Coalition

The prime minister, will lead a broad coalition. Benkirane’s movement allied with three other parties close to the palace, and the king still retains veto powers over some decisions. Four other posts were directly appointed by the palace, including religious affairs. Both the Foreign Ministry and the Interior Ministry have also been assigned “minister delegates,” with ties to the palace that may challenge the power of the ministers. For instance, Saadeddin al-Othmani, the number 2 of the PJD and the new foreign minister, will have to contend with minister-delegate Youssef Amrani, who was a top assistant to the previous minister.

Abdullah Baha, a top advisor to the new prime minister, dismissed concerns about these new posts. “It is us who wanted him there,”.

Benkirane's alliance is a politically sound move as it includes with two conservative parties close to the monarchy—Istiqlal (Independence), which came second, and the Popular Movement — as well as the smaller left-wing Progress and Socialism Party.

Istiqlal member Nizar Baraka was named Finance and Economy Minister, replacing Salaheddine Mezouar whose party, the National Rally of Independents, opted to go into opposition.

PJD member Mohamed Najib Boulif, who has initially been strongly touted for Baraka’s role, was named minister in charge of general affairs and governance, putting him in charge of thorny issues such as reforming the burdensome subsidies system.

Mustafa Ramid

Mustafa Ramid, a prominent lawyer and human right activist from PJD who has often been critical of the security services’ record, was named Minister of Justice and Public Freedoms. This was a win for Benkirane, as part of the six week delay in forming the government was because the palace objected to the appointment. Mustapha Ramid is known for his anti-U.S. rhetoric and defense of terror suspects in court cases.

Bassima Hakkaoui of the PJD took over the social and women’s affairs ministry as the only woman in the 31-member cabinet.

Saad-Eddine El-Othmani, another PJD member, was appointed foreign minister while Popular Movement leader Mohand Laenser was appointed interior minister.

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Morocco's King Launches New Social Housing Project

2012-01-14T12:32:00.000Z

This week, in his ongoing endevour to eliminate unhealthy housing conditions, HM King Mohammed VI launched a new project - "Bab Fès"- in the rural Ain Chkef commune in the province of Moulay Yacoub. The project aims to build 330 social housing units for a total cost of 76 million dirhams.

As part of the national programme to promote social housing, the “Bab Fès” operation is an integrated project stretching over an area of 12,697 square meters. It will implemented within the framework of a public/private partnership to create a new urban center to be named “Saiss”. Total cost is expected to be near 683 million dirhams.

The plans are to construct ten buildings housing the 330 apartments as well as a schooling complex, a football pitch, and a parking area in addition to green spaces. With 80% of 2,505 land plots already developed and 104 low-cost villas built, the new project spans over an area of 140 hectares and is designed to benefit 35,000 people.

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"Louche" author in Tangier

2012-01-14T05:50:00.003Z

François Beaune

In 2013, France's Marseille-Provence will become the European Capital of Culture - a major festive and popular event on an international scale and specifically throughout the Mediterranean region which is at the heart of the artistic programming to be presented to the public.

Among the projects is a literary initiative of the writer François Beaune French writer.

François Beaune, is an interesting character. Born in 1978 in Clermont-Ferrand he currently resides between Lyon and Marseille He is the author " Un homme louche ", published in September 2009 by Verticales. In December 2011, he set off in search of "True stories of the Mediterranean", in partnership with Marseille-Provence. Beaune will travel over a one year period to twelve Mediterranean ports. Radio Arte will also broadcast reports .

"True Tales of the Mediterranean" is an ambitious project which hinges on a collection of true stories told by the voices of writers and the public throughout the Mediterranean region, bringing together different languages and histories. François Beaune says that he does not like "to safeguard", or "to pickle" the Mediterranean memory, but on the contrary to present new raw material, to see and think differently above current society.

François has decided to take on a collection in 13 port cities of the Mediterranean in 13 countries, supported by teams based in Marseille and correspondents in each of the cities.A multilingual website, in the form of a shared digital library was set up in December 2011 to collect people’s stories. Participants will be able to post tales in written, visual or sound form, depending on what is most common in their language and country of residence.

A logbook, published on the website, will keep participants up to date on the project in 2012. This logbook will take the form of a travel journal, written by François Beaune.After a first stopover in Barcelona, during December 2011, François has just arrived in Tangier, and will stay in Morocco throughout January 2012, before continuing his trip. It sounds like a dream job for an author between novels.

IN TANGIER TODAY

If you happen to be in Tangier today (January 14), then take the opportunity to meet François at the Librairie des Colonnes Bookshop at 6 pm to present the project "True Tales of the Mediterranean". From January the bookshop will set up a mailbox for the public to submit true tales in the language of their choice, and the best will be read out loud in to the bookshop with François Beaune.

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Moroccan Oranges - a good news story

2012-01-12T06:05:00.000Z

One of the most common experiences a visitor has on arriving in Morocco is their first taste of Moroccan orange juice. As many people say - it is like tasting a real orange for the first time. Yet, juicing Moroccan oranges in Europe often turns out to be a disappointment. The View from Fez put our orange juice expert, Ibn Warraq, on a fact-finding mission. Here is his report.

It is an almost impossible task to describe the taste of orange juice. Tangy yet sweet? A vitamin C mouth explosion? The best description I have come across was from an Australian tourist who said that Moroccan orange juice tasted like a mouthful of liquid sunshine.

However the secret ingredient in Moroccan oranges is even more ephemeral - it is history.

The Amazigh (Berber) peoples of Morocco first bought OJ off the Romans who planted citrus groves in the area around Volubilis. The citrus growing tradition has continued over the centuries and changed little until the French arrived and decided that oranges were a great product to export. They planted large orchards and introduced modern farming methods. Meanwhile, the small family owned citrus groves have continued in much the same way they have done over the years.

The result is that Morocco really has two citrus industries; the modern export oriented sector and the traditional industry that supplies the local fresh fruit and processing market. The moderns sector has large farms, while the traditional farms are usually less than five hectares.

According to Ahmed Ait-Oubaho from the Institut Agronomique et Vétérinaire Hassan II, Complexe Horticole d’ Agadir, the annual production of the country oscillates from 1.2 to 1.5 million tons obtained from approximately 76500 ha.

Citrus cultivation represents an important source of employment for thousands of families. As over 40% of the production volume is exported, it is considered the first crop oriented to foreign markets. It is a very important source of hard currency. Morocco is classified the 4th largest fresh citrus exporting country in
the world and the 2nd largest of clementine type exporter. European Union markets are by far the main destination of Moroccan export. However, in the last years, there was a significant diversification towards Russia and Canada.

So, to return to the original question. It appears that the exported citrus, while of very high quality, does not make orange juice that tastes like that from traditional farms. But, don't take my word for it. Taste test the theory in any Moroccan town or village, and right now it the time to do it as this has been a bumper year for citrus with the size of fruit is larger than the average and a crop increase thanks to ideal weather conditions with rains in October and November.

The crop growth is also due to the start of production of 1,200 hectares of new plantations. In total, the harvest should reach 1.86 million tons, recording an upsurge by 6%.

According to estimates by Fellah Trade, Credit Agricole's publication in Morocco, orange crop is expected to total 975,000 tons (52% of the total) while mandarins and clementines will reach 764,000 tons.

The clementines season ended at the end of December, leaving space to the variety Nour, with first shipments to North America and the European Union. Moroccan producers hope not to get rain until the end of the harvest of Nour and Afourer.

Very few tonnes of Navels will be exported due to a strong demand from the internal market. Clementines’ growers had big expectations at the beginning of the season, while consumers are negotiating very hard for the price, which is lower than the previous season. Domestic consumption for the moment is stagnated and the processing trends are negative as well. Also during the Christmas period the demand was low.

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THE CUT THROAT PRINCES OF MARRAKECH

2012-01-08T03:14:00.001Z

Our guest contributor, Barnaby Rogerson, returns for the first time in 2012 with a tale of a book that inspired his Moroccan adventures.

People fall for Marrakech for a myriad of reasons. The hidden palaces, the street musicians, shopping in the great covered souk, the dry heat that extends well into the winter months and the palpable sense of bustling glamour. The great circuit of red walls watched over by medieval towers and set against the shear backdrop of the High Atlas mountains is of itself a photographic definition of Oriental glamour. But for me, it was a book that was to blame for my long love affair with Morocco and its red walled city: Gavin Maxwell's gripping history, Lords of the Atlas.

I must have read the book at least six times. Yesterday I glanced once again at the handsome new edition published by Cassell, and turned to the opening lines: "The castle, or kasbah, of Telouet is a tower of tragedy that leaves no room for laughter. The double doors to the forecourt are twenty feet high. A giant Negro slave opens the lock with a key a foot long. He carries sixty-seven keys. He has been in charge of Telouet for three years, but even now he does not know his way through the labryinth.." It only took the first page and I was hooked again.

In the book, Maxwell chronicles the story of the Glaoua clan, a petty dynasty of Berber chieftains whose domain was perched up in the cleft of the High Atlas. They rose to power and wealth as government ministers in the intrigue-ridden years of the 1900's when the Moroccan Sultans were struggling to preserve their independence from the predatory powers of Europe. They backed France, which proved to be the right horse, and rose to become virtual Viceroys of Southern Morocco during the subsequent French Protectorate. In the process they built a series of magnificent kasbahs to control the mountains and oasis valleys of the pre-Sahara. However the moment the French left and Morocco recovered its Independence in 1956, the Glaoua fell from their high estate. Their fortune, their estates, their armies disappeared overnight - like a mirage of princely power.

Much of the Glaoui stronghold Telouet is now a ruin

For all their free-wheeling glamour and style, the Glaoua would be a lost footnote to the Anglo-Saxon world (though not the French) were it not for Maxwell‚s exposition of their history. The book has a cult status as one of the bibles of 20th-century Orientalism, and it has helped define the romance of Morocco to two generations of English speaking travellers since its first publication in 1966. Stuffed inside my wife's wallet, there is a faded photograph of a shirtless, mop haired, hashish-stoned youth reading a copy of "Lords of the Atlas" with feverish concentration on a mountain top. Since those lost years I have - with comparative sobriety - seen four separate editions of my Cadogan Morocco and two editions of my History of North Africa to press. I now know Morocco rather better than Gavin Maxwell ever did, but the magic of his writing is still strong.

To a foreign traveller, the Glaoua might still appear the very definition of glamour. It is a very different story for a Moroccan, for to the home audience the Glaoua have all the appeal of a Quisling to a Norwegian or a Vichy collaborator to a hero of the Resistance. They were the paid henchmen of the French Colonial regime, entrusted with all the nasty work and most of the treachery. They also deliberately exploited the ethnic differences between Arab and Berber for the sole benefit of a foreign power. Love of the Glaoua is only possible from a very Western perspective.

Thami El Glaoui

In many ways, their most heady years were in the 1920s and 1930s, when the clan combined all the lethal elegance of gangland mobsters with the opulent charm of hereditary Indian Princes. They were sustained by a military alliance with the Foreign Legion, and a virtual monopoly on the Moroccan prostitution and drug rackets. In the 19th century they had been no more than one among hundreds of clan chiefs that presided over the patchwork of Berber tribes that dwelt in the mountains. At the turn of the century a chance encounter with the reigning Sultan allowed them to enter the heady world of court politics, then based on the great imperial cities of Fez and Marrakech. The collapse of royal power, due to the machinations of the predatory European colonial Empires, gave them the oppurtunity for treachery and advancement on a Renaissance type scale.

Thami, the ruling Pasha of the Glaoua from 1918-56 was full of improbable contradictions: personally made a knight by King Edward VII, he also had Edward G. Robinson as a son-in law but was proud to wear only the traditional clothes woven by the women of his family. His palaces were equipped with cinemas, courtyards filled with concubines and well-stocked dungeons underground. He built the first golf course in Morocco - just outside Marrakech (near the Amanjena) and kept the greens watered throughout a four- year-long drought. He gave emeralds to his guests, could raise a dust storm with his convoys of Hispano-Suiza‚s or raise an army of tribesman overnight. His guest list started at the top, he lavished hospitality on Churchill and Roosevelt, in his palace at Marrakech and in the mountains.

The Glaoua could also build. They built with an external severity and an internal delicacy that no-one else has quite matched. In Western terms, think London‚s brutalist National Theatre for an outside equipped with a Frick Museum or Café Royale interior. In Eastern terms, we are talking the traditional mud brick architecture of the Berber south encasing courtyards from Granada‚s Alhambra.

If you gave yourself a week in the Amanjena, itself set in the Palmeraie, on the edge of one of the clan's golf courses, you would have just about enough time to check out the major Glaoua sites. First off is the great town-palace of the Thami el Glaoua, the Pasha of Marrakech, in the heart of the old city. A place where 'nothing was impossible', guests could experiment with hashish, opium, Chateau Lafitte or a Berber girl or boy from the High Atlas. Sacked by a mob after the Pasha's death, its zellij walls, garden courtyards and cedar roofed dining room are still a vision of opulence.

View from Telouet in the Atlas

Next you have to see the vast brooding fortress-palace of Telouet perched in half ruin on the summit of one of the ancient crossing places of the High Atlas mountains. Then I would suggest the recently restored kasbah of Taourirt whose labrynth of courtyards, stairways and passages still dominates the pre-Saharan town of Ouazazarte. After that it should be a meal on the roof of the hospitable Tiffiltoute kasbah followed by mint tea amongst the falling ceilings of melancholic Tamdaght. Then there are those forbidding palace-castles at Tazzerte, Tioute, Talioune and Tinerhir to be seen before rounding things off with a meal in their little pavilion in the Ourika valley - now a restaurant. Go soon: four of these great monuments have a secure future, the rest are poised freeze-frame in romantic ruin that could soon turn merely gaunt and craggy.

Barnaby Rogerson is co-publisher at Eland Books and has written guidebooks to Morocco, Tunisia, Cyprus and Istanbul, which were followed by A Traveller's History of North Africa ,The Prophet Muhammad, Heirs of the Prophet Muhammad, and most recently, The Last Crusaders: East, West, and the Battle for the Center of the World. His collected travel journalism and book reviews can be found at www.barnabyrogerson.com

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Moroccan Henna Design for Life

2012-01-07T03:02:00.003Z

A brief trip to Morocco more than a decade ago led to a life changing discovery for an Australian woman, writes Suzanna Clarke.

When Oriel Paterson made her first - and as yet only - visit to Morocco in 1996, she had no idea that it would shape the course of her life. She is now runs a business called Henna Harem in Australia, which does temporary henna "tattoos" for thousands of people each year.

Between clients at the Woodford Folk Festival on the Queensland Sunshine Coast last week, Oriel recalled her brief trip to the Maghreb. "My partner (Drew Minton) and I didn't have much money, so we hitch-hiked around Morocco. We went to Chefchaouan, stayed a week in Fez near the Bab Boujeloud, and spent a few days in Marrakesh and then the Atlas."

During her travels, Oriel was struck by the henna designs worn by Moroccan women. "I thought they were beautiful, and wanted to bring them back." Born in Kenya, she had lived in the United Arab Emirates as a child, before the family went to live in Australia. "I have memories of the souks, and the geometric designs," she says.

Oriel had completed a degree in art history and anthropology, and while she was pregnant with the first of her two daughters, decided to begin her own business offering henna tattoos as a way of combining her interests.

She felt it was important to give people a taste of what she had experienced in Moroccan culture.
"It's important to create an atmosphere, like the nurturing environment and sense of family people have there," Oriel says.

During the course of the week-long festival, the curtained and cushioned Henna Harem tent was always abuzz with women, men and children either waiting, having designs created or sitting until they dried. Firstly, they selected a symbol from a book and then it was neatly painted on their hands, feet or shoulders by one of a dozen young female employees.

"It's a healing thing to do, and that inspires me to keep doing it," says Oriel. "It's very intimate, dealing with people's skin. Sometimes they confide their problems to you. And the symbol that they chose says a great deal about their personal symbolic language.

"The plant itself has power. It's considered a protection from malevolent spirits. It's also medicinal and works as an anti-fungal. You can use it to treat things like tinea."

Like a pasha's court, Henna Harem is nomadic, constantly traveling Australia and setting up at major festivals, market days, weddings and private events.

"One day, I would love to come back to Morocco," Oriel says.

Henna Harem can be hired for public or private events. You can contact them HERE.

Henna photos copyright Henna Harem 2012.

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Speed Dating in Morocco

2012-01-05T06:39:00.012Z

The Problem

Moroccan women are either waiting much longer to get married, or are not marrying at all. According to official statistics the marrying age in Morocco has exceeded 27.2 for women and 31.8 for men. Statistical reports issued by the Le Haut Commissariat au Plan (The High Commission for Planning) also reveal that seven million adult women are unmarried, among them only 26,000 that have not exceeded 30 years old.

The Solution

A Moroccan sexologist suggests speed dating as a means of solving the problem. Sexologist Mustafa Rasi, who works in the city of Oujda in eastern Morocco, argues that so much time is wasted in the pre-marriage stage and which involves several meetings between the man and the woman as well as between members of both families and long discussions of details. “At the end of all this, it is very likely that the marriage might not happen,” Rasi wrote in an article published in the Moroccan newspaper al-Massae.

To avoid the negative outcome of this process whose length contribute to the surfacing of more disagreements, Rasi proposed speed dating as the most viable solution. “In speed dating, meetings are to be arranged between men and women who have several things in common like age group, social status, educational level, and financial condition. They would sit together and talk over a cup of tea for no longer than seven minutes.”

After the seven minutes are over, Rasi explained, organizers of the group date would ring a bell and a swap is to take place between tables. “The women are to remain in their places and men would move to other tables so that each man and woman is able to meet several potential partners.” Rasi added that all participants are to write their feedback about each of the persons he/she met in one short sentence: “I want to meet him/her again” or “I do not want to meet him/her again.” The organizers would receive the feedback and sort all the papers to decide who wants to meet who again then contact the relevant participants for another date.

To make this practice acceptable in a conservative society, Rasi pointed out, it is permissible for participants to bring along a friend or a relative provided that this third party does interfere in the conversation between the man and the woman. Rasi called upon social organizations to start adopting this proposal and to encourage youths to engage in it. “This is a fast and safe option that would be very successful in Morocco and in the Arab world in general because it revives old customs in a more sophisticated form.” For Rasi, this option is also much better and more effective than other methods like internet marriages.

The Islamic Viewpoint

From the religious point of view, there is nothing in Islam that prohibits speed dating, says Sheikh Abdul Bari al-Zamzami, preacher and head of the Moroccan Association for Jurisprudence Research. “However, it is important that such a practice take place under proper supervision so that it does not end up violating Islamic principles,” he told AlArabiya.net.

Zamzami explained that public meetings of potential marriage partners are sanctioned in Islam as long as the girl is decently dressed. “It is preferable that the meeting takes place in the presence of the parents of the man and the woman in order to discuss important details.” According to the Moroccan preacher, speed dating might face some obstacles when it comes to application. “For example, what will be the criteria according to which each participant can determine if the other party possess the traits he/she needs in a wife/husband?”

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A Possible Cure for Fungus That Kills Date Palms

2012-01-02T23:56:00.000Z

Bayoudh disease is the date palm equivalent of plague. In Morocco, which has suffered major epidemics of the disease, it has had a devastating effect. In the last one hundred years it has destroyed more than two-thirds of the Moroccan palm groves (12 million trees), and it continues to cause the death of 4.5% to 12% of date palms per year. The result has turned Morocco - once an exporter - into an importer of dates. Now scientists may have found a way of tackling Bayoudh disease.

The Culprit.

The cause of Bayoudh disease is a fungus, Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. albedini, which produces chlamydospores in the dead roots of diseased palms. As the tree wilts and dies the rotting plant matter releases the chlamydospores into the soil where they can remain dormant for as long as eight years or be carried by irrigation water. These chlamydospores do not need to be present in high concentrations and even small amounts are enough to infect a tree and cause its subsequent death. The transplanting of diseased trees has also assisted in spreading the problem. It is believed that very few palm groves in Morocco are free from the problem.

an infected palm

The Symptoms

The first external symptom of the disease, noticeable to experienced observers, appears on one or more leaves of the middle crown. The affected leaf takes on a leaden or ash-grey colour and then withers in a characteristic way: some pinnae or spines situated on one side of the leaf become white; then, the disease progresses from the base to the apex. After one side has been affected, the withering begins on the other side, progressing this time from the top of the leaf to the base, until the whole leaf dies.

The Possible Cure

An Algerian research team have turned to traditional medicine in their search for a cure to what the UN Food and Agriculture Organization describes as "plague to Saharan agriculture". The team, from Béchar University, tested extracts from four poisonous plants, which grow in the Algerian Sahara desert. People of south-west Algeria use the extracts as an antifungal traditional medicine. The team, led by Abdelkrim Cheriti, director of the university's Phytochemistry and Organic Synthesis Laboratory (POSL), announced its results at a press conference in November last year.

Cheriti pointed out that most desert plants produce substances that help them adapt to their environments and fend off diseases."We had the idea of using such metabolites, found in plants that grow in the same environment as the date palms and are able to resist Bayoud, to create an effective treatment for date palms," he said.A field trial of the treatment began in October in south-west Algeria and results are expected within three years.

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A Market in Marrakesh

2011-12-29T08:30:00.001Z

The hunt for treasure among the trash leads writer Derek Workman to the Thursday market at Bab el Khermis.

When painter and writer Danny Moynihan, friend of avant-garde artist Damien Hirst, and author of Boogie Woogie, a novel that dished the dirt on the New York art world, decided to restore a riad in Marrakech’s medina, he and his wife, actress, film-maker and former showgirl Katrine Boorman - daughter of film director John Boorman – trawled the markets and souks of Marrakesh for fabrics and furniture. For "almost everything else" they went to the Bab el Khemis flea market.

"Bab" is the Arabic word for gate and, of the 12 gates in the 12 kilometre long, rose-pink 12th-century wall that wraps around the ancient city, Bab el Kermis is one of the oldest. It takes its name from the Thursday market where once camels, horses, mules and asses were sold. According to Arthur Leared, who travelled the country in 1872, “On the sale of each animal a guarantee that it has not been stolen, verified by a notary, is required”. How anyone could guarantee the provenance of a rag-tag assembly of worn out critters, (and you could probably use the same term for the dealers), many of which had walked hundreds of kilometres across sand and mountain to end up as camel meat on the tables in the open-air restaurants of the Jmaa el Fnaa, remains a mystery.

As it is Thursday, and the Bab el Kermis market has been on my ‘must-do’ list for ages, I saunter off to see what has been described as ‘one of world’s greatest mixes of junk and treasures’ has to offer. I’m secretly hoping that I might find a decent second-hand Brooks bike saddle at a bargain price, as I do at every flea-market I go to. I haven’t as yet, but it doesn’t stop me secretly hoping.

When I get to the gate I’m disappointed not to see the hordes of hustlers and cascading bric-à-tat that I’d imagined. What I mainly see is lots of young men selling mobile phones and accessories. Some are as carefully displayed in small glass cases as the sparklers Audrey Hepburn saw in the window of Tiffany’s when she was on her way to breakfast; others are simply tumbled in a ‘pile it high and sell it cheap', but there’s plenty of action going on. I’m impressed by the chap who has brought a full home gym to sell, and wonder if he brings it every week or simply anchors it to a post until the next Thursday. I hope for the sake of the poor donkeys that he brought it by van, because I’ve got one of them at home, (left by a previous tenant and carefully avoided by me), so I know how much they weigh.

I am equally intrigued by a dentist’s chair, circa 1950. Excellent piece of kit it is, and in fine condition. In fact there were two of them, so the erstwhile punter would be stuck for choice if he only wanted one. Perhaps he was considering opening his own clinic and was looking to bulk buy, and even a pair of chairs nearing pensionable age were a damned site preferable to most of those you see used by peripatetic ‘dentists’ in the souks, something rescued from the kitchen, where they simply plonk the agonised patient down before delving into the dentures with a pair of ancient pliers.

However, it turns out I’ve got the wrong gate. I’m not at the Bab Khermis - that’s a much grander entrance around the corner. I’m at a side entrance, but I’ve been sufficiently entertained by what I’ve seen so far that I decide to dive into the souk and come out by the main gate later, to see if I’m missing anything. I stroll in through an archway that draws me into a clattering, banging, screeching, grinding, shower-of-sparks-flying pandemonium. To everyone else it’s just the daily noise of the metal-workers souk.

Whether it’s something that involves metal in its construction – mopeds, bicycles, ancient sewing machines – or is something that will be made entirely from metal – window grills, decorative arches, tables and chairs – there’s someone here who can fix it or make it. Scattered everywhere are large sheets of metal, long strips of steel two fingers wide, pencil-thin rolled rods that are bent and twisted to create intricate designs. Sparks shoot from angle grinders like spinning Catherine wheels as young men, with no protection other than a pair of sunglasses and a cloth wrapped around their face (and sometimes neither of those) cut, burnish and smooth. Everything is covered by a fine black powder, but this is Morocco, and the dusty monotone is alleviated by the brightly coloured djellabas of passers-by.

I watch a group of four men working on different parts of an ornate arch, just over two metres high and slightly less wide. The main structure is finished, and a young man draws the curlicue design in chalk on the concrete floor of the workshop that will be created by the thin metal rods at his side. When he is satisfied with the design he measures the first section, a shallow curve, and cuts a piece of the required length from the five-metre rod. With a lump hammer and his cold chisel, he slowly curves the metal until it reproduces perfectly the design he has drawn on the concrete. Everything cut, bent, curved and twisted by hand, and each piece slotting perfectly in place. I’m fascinated and could watch him for hours, but I’m dying for a coffee.

Turning away from the street of the metal workers I wander down a cluttered alleyway of wonderful ancient doors, rolls of antique rugs, Lloyd-loom chairs, exquisitely painted tables, worn and patinated with age, a '50s pram, plastic garden recliners – and yes, I even see the kitchen sink, as well as one for the bathroom, along with its bath, toilet and bidet, all in the chunky cut-corner style of Art Deco.

I also pass men and women squatting on the ground behind a pile of odds and ends that can have no conceivable value other than to someone who has nothing of value at all; a Kodak cartridge camera, a pair of stiletto-heeled shoes with one stiletto, an alarm clock with no hands, odd socks, seven-year old magazines in Spanish – similar detritus you can see on every flea-market in the world.

I hear the Koran being sung, the beautiful a cappella coming from a tinny-sounding loudspeaker hung outside a café at an alley junction bustling with second-hand clothes vendors. Anticipating a hot coffee, the sound draws me towards a table like the muezzin calling the faithful to prayer. Parking myself in one of those plastic garden chairs that succumb to too much time in the sun and bend when you lean backwards, I wave at a passing waiter and ask for a café au lait. It could well be my accent, or he may not speak French, but he casts a bemused look around the other clients, obviously not having understood any of the three words I’ve just spoken. “Mint tea,” a voice says in English, but I’ve no idea which table it came from. Obviously coffee’s off the menu.“Bien,” I say, and the waiter goes off to get it.

He comes back a couple of minutes later with a glass of something that looks as if it has been sitting around for a while, probably at the bottom of a u-bend of a kitchen sink. I reach into my pocket for some money.“One dirham,” a different voice says. “One dirham!” I think, ten centimos, cheap in any currency, about one-tenth what you would pay elsewhere. I hand the coin over – never look a gift glass in the mouth.

“A mange,” says the chap with the grey stubble and wool bobble hat at the next table. They may not be big conversationalists, but they all helpfully want to get in on the act.I suddenly realise that I’m sat at a workers caff, and everyone else is getting stuck-in to bowls of bean soup or something made from bits of innards whose origin I’d really rather not know. But it’s cheap and fortifying and obviously pretty popular. No-one objects that I’m taking up a table with only a cup of mint sludge, so I sit for a while and watch the second-hand clothes salesman hawking their wares.

Afterwards, I wander into an enclosed part of the furniture makers souk, piled to the ceiling with beds, tables, fat mattresses and, it has to be said, some painfully ugly "mogernised" pieces, (that’s not a typo, it’s a derogatory word a friend invented to cover all the ugliest aspects of modern design).

One of the things that always amazes me is that in Europe, and most probably in the US and elsewhere, so much of the furniture is made from composites; plywood, block-board, chip-board, MDF – sawdust, wood shavings and a lot of glue – but in Morocco furniture is usually made out of proper wood, the stuff that actually comes direct from the trees. Okay, some of it might look as if it has been rescued from pallets, but it’s still wood.

I pass a young lad in his teens carving intricate scroll work in the top of a small table. His curved chisels are almost worn to nothing, from generations of grinding and sharpening. He uses a squared-off length of wood with one end roughly round as a handle as he carefully taps the chisel, turning his hand slowly to create a curve in the scroll, all the while chatting to his friend whose busy planing the sixty degree angle of one of the joints that will form the traditional hexagonal table.

I’m back at my workshop in the Lake District thirty years ago, choosing a length of wood from my scrap box to use as a mallet to carve the finer points of a design, my usual rounded mallet being too weighty for fine work. I’m suddenly brought back to reality when I look further into the workshop and see a large band saw where, beneath as sign that tells you without any subtlety, ATTENZIONE ALLE MANI! – watch your hands in any language – a worker is cutting a fine curve in a piece of wood without any guard on the blade. I shiver at the thought that there’s someone could easily lose one of his mani if he doesn’t pay enough attenzione.

In the wider alleyways you can hear the rattling sounds of mopeds and small vans long enough ahead in time to get out of the way and let them pass. It’s not the same with the donkeys and carts, though. The carts usually have rubber tyres, although nine times out of ten, worn down to the webbing, and the donkeys don’t exactly make the coconut clacking sound of horses galloping, given their docility and sedate pace. The first thing you know that you are stopping someone in pursuance of their livelihood is when you hear someone shouting, “Balek, balek,” which means, “Make way, make way,” but is usually said in a tone that more realistically says, “Oi, you, shift your arse!”

More by chance than design, I find myself back at the door through which I entered the souk. No, I didn’t find my Brooks saddle, but there again, I have refrained from being tempted by any of its multitude of offerings. Still, there is always next Thursday at Bab el Khermis.

Our regular contributor, Derek Workman, is an English journalist living in Valencia City, Spain – although he admits to a love of Morocco and would love to up sticks and move here. To read more about life in Spain visit Spain Uncovered. Articles and books can also be found at Digital Paparazzi.

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More Pop-Up Happenings in Fez

2011-12-24T23:55:00.000Z

The Fez Pop-Up is up and running. If you haven't done so yet, do check out the "SILENT DISCO"! sponsored by the folks from Plan-it Fez. A handful of wireless headphones tuned into the dance/funk set, boom out only to those wearing them, whilst to all those around not a beat is heard - it is a sight to behold. The silent disco takes place at the Pop-Up from 18th to the 31st of December, from 5 – 6 p.m. every day. Don’t miss out on being part of Fez medinas pioneering arts projects.

On Monday the 26th, the Pop-up will showcase DJ Collie Flower playing a slot in the Silent Disco, at 5 p.m.

On Tuesday 27th at 3 p.m. Mohammed Charkaoui, calligraphy and teacher, talks about his work and the relationship between calligraphy and Islam.

Henna artist Leiya will be available on Thursday 29th at 3 - a good way to prepare for 2012!

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Seasons Greetings

2011-12-24T23:12:00.001Z

The Team at The View from Fez wishes all our readers a safe and happy festive season

أعياد ميلاد سعيدة - Merry Christmas - Joyeux Noel

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Courtyards of Fez: Research Participants Needed

2011-12-22T21:29:00.004Z

The riads and dars of the Fez Medina are significant architectural landmarks which contribute greatly to the character and identity of the historic city. Anyone who has restored one will be familiar with the immense amount of work and dedication needed. A new research project will delve into the restoration of traditional houses and how their owners live now.

The restored courtyard of Dar Bensouda

When Nick Ormesher first visited Fez in October, as part of a group of architectural students from the University of Manchester, he was so intrigued that he decided to base his research project in the Medina. (See our story on that visit HERE.)

Nick will be returning from January 8 to 12 to do interviews with the owners of riads and dars. His research will look into "the restoration process, the lifestyle enabled by the courtyard house and the identity contained in these cultural landmarks".

"My background is in architectural theory, and in previous research projects I have explored the effects of preservation and restoration on representations of history," he says. "I find Fez a really interesting case study because, although it is a Unesco World Heritage site, a lot of effective work in preserving the heritage of the city is being done privately by people who may not have the same motivation as Unesco.

"I felt this research was, firstly, a good opportunity to explore the idea of heritage at a very personal level, through the home, which is something that really interests me. Secondly, I wanted to explore how the various backgrounds of those involved in the restoration of these houses might contribute to an overriding identity for the Medina."

If you are an owner of a courtyard house in the Medina, and are interested in participating in the research into the restoration of these historic buildings from January 8 to 12 or by phone, please contact Nick Ormesher at the University of Manchester (UK) at ndormesher@gmail.co.uk or 07843 388879.

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Weight Watchers - Moroccan Diet

2011-12-19T23:40:00.000Z

Mula Nasruddin was terribly overweight, so his doctor placed him on a strict diet."I want you to eat regularly for two days, then skip a day, eat for two days, then skip a day and repeat this procedure for two weeks. The next time I see you, you'll have lost at least five kilos," his doctor assured him.

When Mula Nasruddin returned, he shocked his doctor by having lost almost twenty kilos.

"Why, that's amazing," the doctor said, greatly impressed, "You certainly must have followed my instructions."

Mula Nasruddin nodded, "I'll tell you what though, I thought I was going to drop dead on the third day."

"Why, from hunger?" asked his doctor.

"No, from all that skipping."

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Pop In To Pop Up In Fez Medina

2011-12-18T22:28:00.000Z

Jess Stephens and Culture Vultures once again venture into the Fez Medina - providing an explosion of visual arts and activities in a pop-up art shop. What, for the rest of the year is an discrete hanout on Talla K’bira, selling random items such a football posters, plastic shoes and processed meat, turns into a contemporary pop-up art shop, for two weeks only.

Five artists are on display; three from Fez, ( Omar Chennafi, Mohammed Charcaoui and Hisham Tazi), one from Catalunya (Omar Lula) and Jess who is originally from Wales UK. Mediums cover photography, calligraphy, graffiti and jewellery; all fired and inspired by their immediate surroundings. All art works are for sale.

THE SILENT DISCO

This pop-up venture is being spiced up by the provision of a silent disco. A handful of wireless headphones tuned into the dance/funk set, boom out only to those wearing them, whilst to all those around not a beat is heard. The silent disco takes place at the pop up from 18th to the 31st of December, from 5 – 6 p.m. every day.

From Boujloud pass the Bouanania Medrassa on you left, go through the tunnel and walk a few minutes along the street of artisanal products. The last hanout of that strip of shops on the right hand side is where you will come across this pop-up venture that opens from 10 – 6 p.m. until the last day of 2011.

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No Islamic Dress Code for Moroccan Women

2011-12-13T13:37:00.002Z

The announcement by Abdelilah Benkirane, the head of the Justice and Development Party (PJD), that he and his party are not interested in imposing a strict Islamic dress code, has been warmly welcomed in Morocco.

"I will never ask if a woman is wearing a short skirt or a long skirt." - Abdelilah Benkirane

"It is a relief that the PJD are not wanting to tell women how to dress,' says Souad (22) a seamstress in Fez. "I wear a headscarf if I want to and sometimes I don't want to."

Headscarves are not mandatory

The appointment of Abdelilah Benkirane as Morocco's first Islamist prime minister was greeted with general approval in the population. "I hope he will do something about corruption," Samir (40), a taxi driver grins, 'But we will keep an eye on him to see that he delivers what he promised".

Reuters is reporting that the PJD is anxious to reassure powerful secularists in the Moroccan establishment, foreign investors, and the tourists who provide much of the country's revenue, that it will not try to impose a strict Muslim moral code, Reuters reports.

"We are proud that our point of reference is Islamist," Benkirane, the PJD's secretary general and prime minister designate, told a small group of reporters invited to a briefing.

"I will never be interested in the private life of people, Allah created mankind free. I will never ask if a woman is wearing a short skirt or a long skirt."

"But there are things forbidden by the law. I think even in some European countries, people cannot be naked in public places," he said.

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Moroccan Cooking - part of any Fez tour

2011-12-12T21:27:00.000Z

One of the most requested additions to a visit to Fez is to learn how to cook Moroccan cuisine. Gail Leonard is the "go-to" person when it comes to organising food adventure. The View from Fez asked Gail why Moroccan cooking experiences were so popular.

Gail with her favourite spice merchants

"Part of the answer is that once people taste good cooking in Morocco they notice just how different the taste is from anything you might find in a Moroccan restaurant in other countries," Gail says. "But there are many other factors. The method of cooking is important. For example, some of the most delicious dishes are cooked slowly. This is particularly true of tanjia cooking. This is even slower than a tagine."

Tanjia cooking is a method in which the ingredients are placed in an earthenware pot and then taken to a bakery where it is cooked for almost six hours. (see description and recipe here)

Tanjia preparation - Photo Tara Stevens

Gail says that another reason for the difference in taste is the ingredients. "Morocco has an abundance of fresh and artisan made produce that is superior in taste,' she explains. "Fresh vegetables, spices and herbs. The souks are full of wonderful seasonal fruit as well."

There is another side to Moroccan cooking that is very different from many countries. "In Morocco cooking is not a solitary affair. Its is a social affair that is lost elsewhere," Gail says, "Cooking with Moroccans is about storytelling; about passing on very old traditions and techniques."

ALL ABOUT GAIL

Gail, who has a first class honours degree in professional training and development, will be leading the food adventures for The View from Fez World Sacred Music Tour in 2012. Gail is a self-confessed food obsessive hailing from Yorkshire, but currently living in the Fez Medina where she started her company Fez Food. Her skills for seeking out small artisan producers and amazing ingredients translate into culinary adventures all over Morocco and range from wine tasting in the hidden wineries of Meknes, to tours of ancient olive presses, artisan couscous co-operatives and contemporary cheese farms.

Along with Gail's food adventures, other offerings on The View From Fez World Sacred Music Tour include workshops on travel photography, visual art, yoga and talks on architecture and Moroccan culture.

You can find out more about Gail here: Fez Food
You can find the details of The View from Fez Tour here:
You can find authentic Moroccan recipes in The View From Fez cookbook

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Tonight: Classical Pianist in the Fez Medina

2011-12-12T21:03:00.006Z

Spanish concert pianist David Gomez

If you feel in the mood to listen to some exquisite piano playing, then head for Palais Jamais tonight at 7pm.

This evening, renowned Spanish concert pianist David Gomez will be giving a recital as part of his world tour. He has recently come from Mexico and, after visiting Tetouan and Rabat in Morocco, he will be heading for Cuba, Spain and Honduras.

Born in Spain in 1974, Gomez began playing the piano at the age of eight and gave his first concert at fourteen. He studied in Geneva and Rotterdam and went on to play at grand concert halls, such as the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam and London's St Martin in the Fields. Gomez has received critical acclaim for both his talent in Latin and classical European music. But his first love is still Piazzolla's tangos, such as those he plays on his first album which came out in 1998.

Tonight Gomez's repetoire is also likely to include Bach, Chopin and Mozart. His performance in Fez is sponsored by the Cervantes Institute.

When: Tuesday December 13 at 7pm
Where: Palais Jamais

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Australia Wins Jury Prize at Marrakech International Film Festival

2011-12-12T15:12:00.000Z

Snowtown, directed by Justin Kurzel has made its mark at the Marrakech International Film Festival.

The film picked up the coveted Jury Prize and Best Actor for Daniel Henshall (pictured left) who stars with an ensemble of previously unknown actors. The win is a big plus for Henshall after he was not even nominated at the recent Inside Film Awards in Sydney.

Henshall plays serial killer, John Bunting in a take on the infamous "bodies in the barrel" case in South Australia "The film seems to have resonated with the public and there is a genuine curiosity and interest in the reasons behind the events and how they happened," Kurzel told the Sydney newspaper The Daily Telegraph.

"I have been finding people are astonished that many of the actors are first timers and blown away by their performances.

"There seems to be a real respect for the way the events have been interpreted cinematically."

British newspaper The Times, which gave Snowtown four stars, said: "This clever, disturbing portrait of a serial killer who infiltrates a deprived, druggy family in Adelaide is tough, gut-twisting viewing - and worth every moment."

THE WINNERS

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS
JOSLYN JENSEN for the film WITHOUT by Mark Jackson (USA)

BEST MALE PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR
DANIEL HENSHALL for the film SNOWTOWN (Les Crimes de Snowtown) by Justin Kurzel (Australia)

JURY PRIZE FOR BEST DIRECTOR
SEVEN ACTS OF MERCY (Sette Opere di misericordia) by Gianluca & Massimiliano De Serio (Italy)

JURY PRIZE
SNOWTOWN (Les Crimes de Snowtown) by Justin Kurzel (Australia)

THE GOLDEN STAR - THE FESTIVAL GRAND PRIZE
OUT OF BOUNDS (Labrador) by Frederikke Aspöck (Denmark)

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The Fez Book Club ~ a Readers' Feast

2011-12-10T18:13:00.001Z

Book clubs are a big thing in a lot of cultures. Sadly this is not so true in Morocco. Nidal Chebbak is Morocco World News’ correspondent in Fez, Morocco and she reports on a very positive development in Fez.

Nidal Chebbak

“We are a society that doesn’t read!” this is a statement that I’ve always heard from almost all the people I know. It’s true; we don’t think or even consider reading as part of our culture. Reading is one of the richest activities that we can try to turn as one of our habits. It’s the only way we can feed our mind as well as our soul. Reading broadens our horizons and our perceptions of the world around us. It makes us aware of who we are, either as individuals or groups and it teaches us to accept the difference of other people and other cultures that we have to deal with in our life.

I met Souad Belhorma last year when we were collaborating in associative activities. Souad is currently a PhD student, at Center of Women and Gender Studies, in Sidi Mohammed Ben Abdellah University in Fez. She has always had a project in mind to develop the habit of reading books among young people in her city, Fez. The idea was a book club where a group of people can read and discuss a book each month.

First of all, she created a Facebook group page in June 2011 entitled The Fez’ Book Club, Reading Club and Book Discussion. According to Souad, the club is “a Facebook-based group where members can interact with each other. The selection of the book to-be-discussed goes under a system of suggestion and vote by the members themselves. The book that gets the highest rate, regardless of its language, whether Arabic, French or English is the one to be read and discussed. At the beginning, our meetings took place at Café clock, a cultural café in Medina of Fez. Two months later, the American language Center of Fez offered us its space to organize our reading and discussion activities.”

The Fez’ Book Club creates a space for book lovers to read, share ideas and discuss books. It’s a great opportunity and an initiative that was lacking in the intellectual sphere of Fez as the Spiritual and Educational capital of Morocco. Souad describes the group as being “a public reading club which includes a number of readers who actively engage and participate in reading and discussing different genres of books, from different disciplines, different cultures and in different languages.”

The book club has organized four book discussions about the following books

1- The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho ( July 2011)

2- The Awakening by Kate Chopin (August2011)

3- The History of Love by Nicole Krauss ( September 2011)

4- Seven Wives and Seven Prisoners or Experiences in the Life of a Matrimonial Maniac. By Abbott, L. A ( November 2011)

5- The Sand Child by Taher Benjelloun (will be discussed December 24, 2011)

Contact info:

Email: Fezbookclub@ gmail.com

Check out Morocco World News here

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Moroccan Reforms and Gender Equality

2011-12-10T16:59:00.004Z

A recent article by Souad Belhorna takes a good hard look at the constitutional changes in Morocco and asks some pertinent questions.

Will reform be complete without gender equality?

The new Moroccan constitution strengthens the role of the prime minister, allows for greater independence of the legislature and the judiciary, and offers protection of individuals’ rights with special recognition of women’s rights and Berber rights. The King retains crucial executive powers: he has the ability to fire ministers and dissolve the parliament, he will chair the new body that oversees the judiciary as he remains commander in chief of the military and the country’s religious authority. The Arab Spring has proven that change can come from citizens. But the question I’d like to focus on is what specific change does it bring for women in Morocco?

A discussion about how the constitutional reform influences gender equality must include mention of past measures. Since 2000, growing activism in civil society, in particular Moroccan women’s associations, human rights organizations, and feminist groups, plus the liberal character of the King have improved the situation of women. A new family code, known as the Mudawana based on the Malikite School of Islamic law, governs the statutes of women under civil law. It emphasizes equality between men and women and confirms joint responsibility of the husband and the wife.

The code gives women the right to repudiation and simplifies divorce, raises the legal age of marriage for girls from 15 to 18 and allows for free choice of spouses and abolishes polygamy. After divorce women are given custody of children and are entitled to money. Family court judges and the patriarchal mentality have impeded the full implementation of the new family code as women continue to suffer from discriminatory practices, inequality, violence and abusive actions.

In the past decade efforts were made by the state as well as civil society activists to fight gender based violence. For instance, information centers for women have been created, special training in women’s rights is available for lawyers and judicial assistance is offered to women who are victims of violence.
As a member of a human rights association, I believe what is needed is more collaboration between the government and women’s associations to create a strong network of services for women. The network should offer support to women in reporting violence to the police, obtaining medical service and achieve justice–helping so women gain self-esteem, autonomy and feel empowered to be active in society. The state should bolster the work of NGOs, especially in providing access to these services for women living in smaller towns.

The reform of the nationality code in 2007 also strengthened the status of women in Morocco. Article 7 of the nationality code gives women who are married to foreign Muslim men in accordance with the Moudawana the right to pass on their nationality to their children. Previously under the code in 1958, transfer of nationality was restricted in cases where the father is unknown or stateless.

The gains for women in the past decade have resulted in greater representation in decision-making positions, as noted by Moroccan feminist and scholar Fatima Sadiqi: “women are increasingly taking up national and local political posts and becoming more involved with the judiciary.’’ A change in the quota system for elections helped in the development of the presence of women in political arena. The 2009 local elections showed a 12% quota for women.

There is hope for further increase in the political participation of women with the recent constitutional reforms. Article 19 of the 2011 constitution makes men and women equal citizens in law–this article is a tribute to the effectiveness of the work of women’s associations and human rights associations leading up to the Arab Spring. Article 19 guarantees men and women equal social, economic, political and environmental rights as well as equal enjoyment of civil rights. Further, the constitutional reform creates an “Authority for Equality and Fight against all Forms of Discrimination” which will put into practice the constitutional recognition of equal rights. Even the existence of this on paper is an essential step to reinforce the presence of women everywhere in the state. The challenge now is in the implementation of the provisions provided by the new constitution–that is, to make the dream become reality.

Souad Belhorna is from Fez, Morocco. She holds a Bachelor degree of Arts in English and a Master degree in English with a specialization in women’s and gender studies from the University of Sidi Mohammed Ben Abdullah, Fez. She is currently preparing a dissertation in fulfillment of the requirement of the PhD degree on women and development under the title “Women of the Shadows in Focus: Analyzing the Participation of Women in the Informal Sector and Poverty Reduction, Fez as a Case Study”. Belhorma holds certificates from various courses on women’s rights, human rights, gender based violence, youth awareness, both at the national and the international level.

The original article was from Morocco World News ans reposted with permission.

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How to Apply for a Fulbright - Seminar in Fez

2011-12-09T20:03:00.003Z

On Saturday December 17, a free seminar will be held in Fez to give information to those who would like to participate in the Fulbright program and receive a grant for their research in the US or in Morocco.

Moroccan American novelist and essayist Laila Lalami
The Fulbright Program aims to bring a little more knowledge, a little more reason, and a little more compassion into world affairs and thereby increase the chance that nations will learn at last to live in peace and friendship. - Senator J. William Fulbright

What do Moroccan American writer Laila Lalami, American opera singer Renee Fleming; and S.M Krishna, India's foreign minister, share in common?

All are members of one of the world's most prestigious awards programs, The Fulbright Program, which operates in over 155 countries. Forty-three Fulbright alumni have won Nobel Prizes and seventy-eight have won Pulitzer Prizes.

On Saturday December 17, the seminar Fulbright in Fez: Study in Morocco; Study in the USA, runs from 8.30 AM to 2.30 PM at La Médiathèque Municipale de Fès. Information will be given about the nature of the program, opportunities and how to apply for one of the grants.

The Fulbright program was established to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and other countries through the exchange of people, knowledge and skills.

In 1945, Senator J.William Fulbright proposed a bill to use the proceeds from selling surplus U.S. government war property to fund international exchange between the U.S. and other countries. The bill was a plan to forgo the debts foreign countries had amassed during the war, in return for funding an international educational program.

Nowadays, the Fulbright Program provides 8,000 annual grants to undertake graduate study, advanced research, university lecturing, and classroom teaching. Since the program began, 300,000 people - 114,000 from the United States and 188,000 from other countries - have participated.

Fulbright grantees' fields of study span the fine arts, humanities, social sciences, mathematics, natural and physical sciences, and professional and applied sciences.

Who: University students and staff
When: Saturday December 17 from 8.30 AM to 2.30 PM
Where: La Médiathèque Municipale de Fès

FULL PROGRAMME AND INFORMATION IS - CLICK HERE!

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Modern Moroccan Berber Music

2011-12-06T15:21:00.004Z

Berber Music From Southern Morocco does not usually make it far from its homegrown roots. So it was with pleasure that our music correspondent came across an interesting review by David Maine on Popmatters.com about an outfit from the village of Issafn, going under the name of Imanaren

Looking for “authentic” world music? You won’t get much more down-to-earth than Imanaren, a group of Berber musicians from the south of Morocco whose debut record was self-released on a limited scale within the country before being re-released by the Dutty Artz label. According to the label’s Web site, band leader Hassan Wargui “isn’t allowed to play music in the house, so we recorded [some music videos] with his local friends and fellow musicians in a natural amphitheatre carved out by a waterfall in a dry gorge.” Traditional musicians relegated to outdoors practise by unimpressed family patriarchs? Now that’s authentic.

Pick of the tracks on the Imanaren is “The Flowering of the Wise”, sung in Tashelhit ("Taldrar N Lawlia"), with spacey, haunting banjo. The track is getting some great exposure on YouTube and being listened to far beyond the shores of Morocco. The use of banjo is interesting, as it is certainly not a Berber instrument. However,back in the 1970s Morocco’s super-group, Nass El Ghiwane,made it widely popular. Group leader, Hassan Wargui, was obviously impressed and as a young boy built his own banjo and taught himself to play.

You can read the full David Maine review on Popmatters.com

Another interesting Beyond Digital interview

Purchase the album: - click on image

or download mp3 of The Flowering of the Wise

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Casablanca's Morocco Mall ~ now open

2011-12-06T09:07:00.000Z

Back in September The View from Fez reported on Casablanca's Morocco Mall development. At the time it was expected to open on October 20th, but the last minute finishing touches moved the date back and it was not until December 1st that the ribbon was cut.

Spread over twenty hectares, the Morocco Mall in Casablanca is the largest shopping centre in Africa and the Middle East. The Aksal Group which is 100% Moroccan owned, has invested over 2 billion dirhams in the complex which will open October 20, 2011. Designed as an extension of the main Casablanca waterfront promenade, the shell-shaped shopping centre also houses the first Galeriés Lafayette store in Africa, set like a gem in the shopping centre. The exterior is adorned with a number of skylights, open gardens, trees and water areas. In addition to the hundreds of stores and restaurants, there is an enormous aquarium and an ice skating rink.

The development was not without critics and sceptics. Built right on the Atlantic coast, it was felt by some that the location would be damaged by Atlantic waves. Architect David Padoa, who designed the project, remained confident and says that all the challenges were met successfully.

Others were concerned that, while the building and running of the enterprise would provide numerous employment opportunities, it would have a negative affect on the surrounding retail environment. In other countries, the opening of major shopping malls - designed so that the customer spends as long as possible in the complex - has led to the closure of nearby small businesses, which cannot compete with the advertising power of the major brands.

Early signs are positive, with many people living in nearby shanty towns being employed in cleaning and maintenance jobs while others have gained positions working in retail outlets. The site manager, Salwa Idrissi Akhannouch, says that 100,000 people were involved in the construction and that, to date, the shopping centre created 5,000 direct jobs and 21,000 indirect jobs.

"It is something the nation can be really proud of," Akhannouch said. The outgoing Trade Minister, Ahmend Reda Chani, is also upbeat, "The mega-complex could turn Casablanca into a major shopping destination like Dubai," he said.

Mall developers anticipate 14 million visitors per year, generating a turnover of five billion dirhams.

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Fez Magic Down Under

2011-12-04T09:55:00.000Z

A large brick wall in a garden in Melbourne, Australia, that adjoins public parkland has been decorated with what looks like an advertisement for our favourite city - Fez. It is not an act of random magic or a cosmic coincidence, but a tribute to Colleen Cassar who runs Roam Like Queens - women's tours of Morocco. The View from Fez asked Colleen to tell us what was behind the wonderful graffiti...

Colleen and her wall

Over the last three years I have made the wall available to young graffiti artists as a legal space for their spray can expression. I love their artwork and am very proud to support them. This piece of work was done one sunny afternoon this October just gone. The crew of artists were new to me. We had never met before and they knew nothing of my ongoing love affair with Morocco. This is what they unknowingly created....."FEZ MADE"!!

So here, on home soil, I have another reminder of the serendipity, magic and portent that so often magically follows me when I visit magnificent and mystical Morocco.

This year I will celebrate Xmas with my dear friends from the Fes Medina before heading south to do some voluntary work teaching "Fashion ReCyclage" at a women's refuge in Essaouira. And of course, I will also lead my "Roam Like Queens" Womens' Tours in May and June 2012, although Morocco's mystery may take me to places yet unknown and waiting my discovery.

I wonder what may be "FES MADE" for me? Ever reliable, Fes avails me beautiful friendships, creative inspiration, breathtaking beauty, community, dance and excited anticipation.

For more on Roam Like Queens, click HERE

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Songs for Fez - Free Concert

2011-11-29T17:46:00.001Z

Musicians Jesse Mandell, Hosna el Hadi and Noureddine Ismag

Three musicians combine their talents to create original and enchanting sounds this Saturday December 3 at 7pm in a free concert at a new venue in the old Medina.

At first glance, a keyboard player, an African drummer and an oud player from Fez may not appear to have much in common - until you hear them play together. The result is magical.

In the concert Songs for Fez, Jesse Mandell from Minnesota, Nourredine Ismag from Cornwall in Canada and Hosna el Hadi from Fez will playing together and solo, while photographer Omar Chennafi and members of the ALC-ALIF Photography Club provide a series of images as visual metaphors for what is happening on stage.

"We play together at the beginning and end of the hour long concert, and in the middle we will play solo pieces," says Nourredine. "We start with a piece Jesse wrote."

Jesse's opening piece is influenced by Brasilian Bossa Nova, and later they play one of his Andalusian style pieces. The twenty-two year old is currently a student at the Arabic Language Institute in Fez. "I've played the piano since I was five," Jesse says. "I grew up learning classical and jazz and then really got into ragtime when I was fourteen...All the styles reflect different emotions and have a really different feel." Nowadays Jesse meshes ragtime, rock and hip hop to create his own unique style of playing.

Nourredine, 30, is also in Fez temporarily, accompanying his wife, who is studying at ALIF. "I originally come from Marrakesh and I've been living in Canada for four years," he says. Nourredine started playing djembe and conga drums at school and later joined a band called General Electryc, which has become well known around Ottawa and Toronto for their upbeat mix of blues, jazz and funk. "The first time I played with Jesse and Hosna it sounded really good, so we decided to do something together," he says.

Hosna, 27, is a music teacher based in Fez. She has been a soloist on the oud and guitar since she was thirteen. "I love it...I've done a lot of concerts," she said. While Hosna often performs classical oud, she is enjoying the musical collaboration with Jesse and Nourredine. "I like playing jazz and lots of other types of music," she says. "It feels more free."

Photos will be projected behind the musicians as they play. "Everyone has selected photos they want to play with (when they do their solo pieces), says photographer and concert organiser Omar Chennafi. "They help to create an atmosphere; a feeling. The elements come together to create harmony."

Songs for Fez is sponsored by the American Language Center and Arabic Language Institute in Fez & Cafe Clock.The concert will be held in the newly renovated riad which is the Sidi Muhammad ben Yousef cultural complex, in Layounne in the Fes Medina.

To get there, go down the hill beyond Riad Alkantara and keep turning left. Go via Oued Souafine and left onto Akbat El Firane. The complex is on the left, just down the hill from the College Sidi Muhammad El Fassi. However, you can accompany a guide - see below.

The free concert, Songs for Fez, is on Saturday December 3 at 7pm at Sidi Muhammad ben Yousef cultural complex (open air). To get there, meet in front Hotel Batha at 6:30 and a guide will show you the way.

Story: Suzanna Clarke Photos: Omar Chennafi

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Moroccan Inspired Music Wins ARIA Award

2011-11-28T21:25:00.001Z

Back on August 17 2010, The View from Fez ran a story about the music of the late, great, Australian musician, Billy Thorpe. Now Thorpe's album Tangier, recorded with L'Orchestre Symphonique Royal du Maroc in Casablanca in 2006 has become a major hit and an award winner in 2011.

Our Music critic, Ibn Warraq, was as friend and long-time fan of Thorpe and reports now on a posthumous award for the musician's greatest album - Tangier.

Lynne and Billy Thorpe were married for 34 years, so it was fitting that Lynn and her two daughters Lauren and Rusty were able to stand in for Billy when his final album won the ARIA Award for Best Adult Contemporary Album.

The ARIA Awards are the top Australian music awards and collecting the first ever ARIA to be awarded posthumously, Thorpe's wife urged her husband to "keep rocking in heaven".

Tangier was a life's labour for Thorpe and was finished after his death in February 2007 thanks to the co-operation of musicians, including Mick Fleetwood, record labels and friends.

The late Billy Thorpe

The album was recorded with L'Orchestre Symphonique Royal du Maroc in Casablanca in 2006 following several trips by Thorpe.He was often accompanied by wife Lynne, who on Sunday said she never fully understood the allure of Morocco.

"I don't really know what it was but something got under his skin," Lynne told journalists after accepting the award."In Tangiers he saw himself as a young boy sailing through the Straits of Gibraltar on his way to Australia."It was all very poetic and magical for him and the first thing he did when we got there was pick up a guitar and start writing."

Australian music promoter Michael Chugg, who was heavily involved in the project to finish Tangier, said his old friend Thorpe completed the main riff to the song Tangier within hours of arriving in Morocco.

See our original story: Tangier inspires - from beyond the grave

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Story of Women and Water in Morocco

2011-11-28T20:31:00.001Z

La Source des Femmes is a visually appealing and heartwarming film. Set in Morocco, at its centre is a story about the way change is affecting even the smallest village, and the forces of tradition that are marshaling to resist it.

Leila, (French actress Leila Bekhti), is a twenty-something woman who has married the local school teacher. Later, it becomes clear that she had other life choices, in the form of a city based journalist, who seeks her out.

The opening scene shows the women as they carry water from a well high above the village, burdened with wooden yokes and trying to avoid spilling every precious drop as they clamber over rocks.In the meantime, the men of the village are content with their lot, hanging out in the local coffee shop and going home to cooked meals and obliging wives.

Leila is the force for change, as she points out the inequalities the village women are forced to endure, as they congregate in the local hammam. Many of the other women are reluctant to challenge the existing order, believing suffering is part of their lot. But slowly Leila, with the help of a strong matriarchal character played by renowned Algerian actress, Biyouna, wins them around.The scene where the women sing about what they want, such as “a fridge, medicines and a Mercedes”, as they dance for a group of foreign tourists who have no idea of the words of their song, is one of the funniest of the movie.

The story is based on Aristophanes comedy Lysistrata, about a woman calling for sex strike to end the war between Athens and Sparta, and that is exactly what happens. The women resist the advances of their men folk in order to lobby for a well in the village, rather than far above it, while the men try in vain to get them to conform.

The local Imam points out the error of their ways, but is argued around by Leila, who knows the Koran better than he does. However, salvation when it comes, is in the form of a man: the journalist.

I won’t give any more away, other than to say that this is a delightful film with a strong sense of humanity. It portrays the village people without patronising them.

La Source des Femmes is in French, Moroccan Arabic and Berber dialect, and the lead actors are mainly French and born in the Maghreb.

Romanian-born French director Radu Mihaileanu (Train of Life;Va, Vis et Deviens; The Concert) has succeeded in creating a metaphor for changing attitudes towards and by Islamic women. But more than that, it is an entertaining piece of cinema which does not indulge in polemic.

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Free Concert in Fez

2011-11-28T08:12:00.001Z

To find the Sidi Muhammad bin Yousef Cultural Complex - go down the hill beyond Riad Alkantara and keep turning left! Go via Oued Souafine and left onto Akbat El Firane. The complex is on the left, just down the hill from the College Sidi Muhammad El Fassi.

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The Moroccan Elections - Provisional Results

2011-11-26T13:49:00.001Z

A month after Islamists won Tunisia's post-revolution election and days before their predicted surge in Egyptian polls, their Moroccan counterparts claimed to have achieved a similar breakthrough without bloodshed. The surge in support for the Islamist PJD raises interesting questions.

The head of Morocco's moderate Islamist Justice and Development Party (PJD), Abdellah Benkirane, claimed victory on Saturday and, aware of international attention, said he wanted a coalition government to promote democracy and good governance. "The nub of our programme and of those who will govern with us will have a double axis, democracy and good governance," he said. "Today what I can promise Moroccans is that I am going to try, I and the team which will work with me, to be more serious and more rational."

Abdellah Benkirane

Even with more than 100 seats, the PJD will have to form an alliance with other parties to govern.Analysts said that even if it heads a governing coalition, the party would not be able to impose any programme on the assembly. It would have to appease its coalition partners and the international community on whose investment and tourism the country relies heavily.

The Islamist party's main rivals in the polls were Prime Minister Abbas El Fassi's centre-right Independence party and in third place, the Coalition for Democracy, an eight-party pro-monarchy bloc that includes two of the five governing parties. Though the Coalition for Democracy, led by Finance Minister Salaheddine Mezouar, have amassed roughly the same amount of seats as the Islamists in the preliminary results announced, because they are a coalition, they cannot form government as it is the largest single party that is able to do so.

"The public powers did everything to ensure that this vote was a healthy and transparent democratic moment," Communications Minister Khalid Naciri said after polling stations closed on Friday, adding that "electoral competition was tough".

Latest Figures:

PJD 80 seats
Istiqlal 45 seats
Coalition for Democracy 38 seats

Provisional interior ministry figures put the turnout at only 45 per cent. Although this is up from 37 per cent from the last parliamentary election in 2007, it is lower than the 51.6 per cent turnout recorded in 2002.Analysts said that a higher voter turnout would have given credibility to the constitutional reform. The low turnout is a blow for the Moroccan establishment and resulted even though the state had saturation television commercials on Friday urging Moroccans to "carry out their national duty" by voting.

Morocco's pro-democracy February 20 protest movement, responsible for the protests staged just before the King announced his plans to reform the constitution, had called on voters to boycott the elections. It will be interesting to see if future analysis shows if the boycott played into the Islamist PJD's gains.

With official results expected on Sunday, PJD parliamentary bloc leader Lahcen Daoudi described the result as an "historic turning point", saying, "The figures which we have say that we will have over 100 seats."

Under the new constitution, if the predicted results are confirmed, King Mohammed VI will have to name a prime minister from the PJD. The PJD's Benkirane acknowledged that his party would have to tailor its programme to appease its coalition partners and the international community."As far as alliances are concerned, we are open to everyone, I have always said that," he said."From now on, Moroccans will feel that the state is at their service and not the other way about. That is very important for us."

At that polling station, at least 16 percent of the ballots were either blank or invalid, often because voters had crossed out every party in protest at the choice.In 2007, 19 percent of ballots were invalid. Analysts are suggesting that if people voted for the bloc of traditional loyalist parties, that would suggest they want to maintain the status quo, while more votes for the PJD would indicate a desire for greater change.

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Tribute to a Friend of the Fez Sacred Music Festival

2011-11-25T12:00:00.000Z

The sad news from Barcelona yesterday was that the superb Catalan soprano, Monserrat Figueras, passed away at the age of 69. For the last year she had been struggling with an unnamed illness.

Monserrat Figueras: photo Suzanna Clarke

Monserrat Figueras was born and grew up in a musical family in Barcelona. For the last forty years she and her husband, the viola da gamba master and conductor Jordi Savall, introduced generations of listeners to music that spanned many centuries and lands, from the Middle East to Latin America. In pursuit of their shared artistic vision, the duo founded three ensembles: Hesprion XX (now called Hesprion XXI), La Capella Reial de Catalunya and Le Concert des Nations.

Figueras and Savall at the Batha Museum: Photo Suzanna Clarke

Audiences at the Fes Festival of World Sacred Music will remember Figueras and Savall delivering some of the most outstanding concerts the festival has witnessed. Back in 2006, Monserrat’s authoritative interpretations of medieval, Renaissance and Baroque music demonstrated why she had become world famous. At the concert at the Batha Museum she delivered a powerful and flawless performance. Her ability to switch between languages, (Berber, Arabic and ancient Spanish dialects, to name just a few), with seeming ease, and her mastery of ancient singing techniques never became technical, but rather a springboard for her own personal style.

Figueras and Savall returned to the festival in 2010 to present Jerusalem - la ville des deux paix, in which their music retraced 3,200 years of the history of the sacred city. It was a major work with around 25 people on stage, including soloists from the Capella Reial de Catalunya and invited musicians from Europe, the Near East and the Maghreb. Montserrat Figueras, Jordi Savall and their Ensemble Hesperion XXI delivered what Jordi described as, "a magical journey outside of time, of Sufi music and Hebrew lamentations". The concert was one of that year's highlights.

Figueras recorded more than 70 albums, and the couple established their own record label, Alia Vox. She was named an officer of France's Order of Arts and Letters in 2003; in 2008 she and her husband were named "Artists for Peace" by UNESCO. In recent years, their artistic family has come to include their children. Their son Ferran, is a talented theorbo player and singer, and their daughter Arianna is an excellent harpist and singer with a striking resemblance to her mother.

The View from Fez extends its condolences to Jordi Savall and his family.

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Faith in the Future - the outlook for tourism in Fez

2011-11-23T15:21:00.001Z

A new view of Seffarine

There is no getting away from the fact that Morocco has suffered a tourist downturn due to a variety of factors - from the Arab Spring to the global financial crisis. However, some Moroccans are resiliant and even optimistic in the face of the downturn. While some simply complained about the lack of tourists, others used the quiet months of August and September to embark on upgrades, renovations and even new projects.

Tourist numbers are on the increase again and optimism about the future is being voiced around the Fez Medina.

A large new luxury hotel is under construction adjacent to the Palais Jamais. The hotel is yet to be named, and is a project of the Lebbar family. It is slated to be a five star establishment.

Dar Imam has been beautifully renovated

The guest houses of Fez have also been using the slow season to good effect. Dar Imam has a make-over and is now looking in great shape. Dar El Hana has gone a step further and added a gorgeous new room.

A valuable addition to Dar El Hana

Asked why this was the time to expand, Dar El Hana owner, Josephine Kwan said, "I decided while it was slow it was time to invest, so my guests wouldn't be bothered by the building noise. Recently I've noticed an increase of interest in people coming to my website and the fact that they are looking means that they are thinking about travelling again."

Things are also moving on the cafe and restaurant scene. We recently reviewed the Cafe Barcelona with its interesting fusion of cafe and antique gallery. Faisal Lebbar, who runs the cafe, is planning to open a restaurant on the top terrace within six months.

The nearly completed restaurant Seffarine

Place Seffarine has always been a favourite square for locals and tourists because of the small cafe and tea house, La Cremerie La Place - the perfect spot for watching the passing throng to the accompaniment of the clanging of the coppersmiths. Now Place Seffarine is to get a Restaurant Seffarine.

Mustapha is optimistic about the future of tourism in Fez

Restaurant Seffarine is the brainchild of the owners of Cremerie La Place. Mustapha, who runs the Cremerie, told The View from Fez that Seffarine needed a proper restaurant. "Not expensive. Main courses around fifty dirhams and they get the spectacular view for free!".

The roof of the ancient Seffarine hammam

Mustapha is right about the view, From the terrace the panorama takes in Place Seffarine, and the beautiful old Seffarine hammam.

Restaurant Seffarine will be open in about fifteen days.

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Understanding the Moroccan Elections

2011-11-22T18:17:00.001Z

To try and comprehend the complexities of the Moroccan elections is a difficult job for a non-Moroccan lay person. Thankfully there is a superb blog that unpacks the elections and makes understanding a little easier.

The blog by "The Moorish Wanderer" has been running a series of well written articles under the title of "Moroccan Elections for the Clueless".

While we would be first to admit to the "clueless" tag, we are, after reading the articles, at least aware of the depth of our ignorance.

Taking time to read the posts is a valuable exercise and The Moorish Wanderer is to be congratulated on the effort and expertise that have gone into the blog.

7102 Candidates, 32 political parties and 92 districts

The blog delivers some wonderful insights such as the statistics about the educational levels of the candidates -

The good news is, we shall have at least 80% of the next batch of Representatives (on local ballot) with a decent education degree: only 200 of these have no education, and realistically, only 23 to 50 can get into parliament. So on education requirement, the next parliament might well be more prepared to deal with the difficult task of representing the public. 90% of head ballot candidates have at least a High School degree – all 1,422 of them.

Though there is a national ballot list, women are campaigning for local ballots as well, though it is worth pointing out only 5% of those are Women-led. Diversity with ‘young’ candidates (it is a bit of stretch to consider all those 35-yo when the median age among adult population is closer to 30, and overall median age is 20-24) and Women -who are way under-represented with respect to their relative share in total population, i.e. 50.8% of total population, 48.7% of adult population. Perhaps local lists are diverse enough to try to attract gender and demographic votes, but the ballot system is such only n°1 and n°2 are guaranteed a seat if their win is large enough, the others have a much lower chance to make it to Parliament house.

Read more and become informed here : The Moorish Wanderer

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The Eleventh Marrakesh International Film Festival

2011-11-22T17:29:00.000Z

The 11th annual Marrakesh International Film Festival runs from December 2nd to the 10th.

The festival jury will vote for the Golden Star for best film, a jury prize and kudos for best actress and actor.

This year's Competition selection includes 15 films from 15 different countries, including 10 titles from first-time directors. Signourney Weaver will also be in town presiding over the Cinecoles Short Film Jury. Several high-profile titles will screen out of competition including David Cronenberg’s A Dangerous Method, Sam Levinson’s Another Happy Day, Jean-Jacques Annaud’s Black Gold, Ami Canaan Mann’s Texas Killing Fields, Cristina Comencini’s When the Night, Gerardo Naranjo’s Miss Bala, Faouzi Bensaidi’s Death for Sale and Philippe Lefebvre’s Paris By Night.

The festival will pay tribute to Mexican cinema with several special screenings and will also screen several Moroccan films.

PUBLIC SCREENINGS IN DJEMAA EL FNA

A handful of films will screen for the public at the city’s central squate the Place Djemaa El Fna including earlier works like Jean-Jacques Annaud’s The Bear from 1988 and Jim Jarmusch’s Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai from 1999 and more recent titles such as Karan Johar’s My Name is Khan from 2010 and Roschdy Zem’s Omar Killed Me from 2011.

Miss Bala

TITLES IN THE COMPETITION

180° by Cihan Inan - Switzerland - 1st film
BABY FACTORY (Bahay bata) by Eduardo Roy Jr. & Almon L. Derla - Philippines - 1st film
BELVEDERE by Ahmed Imamovic - Bosnia Herzegovina - 2nd film
DEATH IS MY PROFESSION by Amir Hossein Saghafi - Iran - 1st film
DON'T BE AFRAID (No tengas miedo) by Montxos Armendariz - Spain - 8th film
I CARRIED YOU HOME by Tongpong Chantarangkul - Thailand - 1st film
LAND OF OBLIVION (La Terre outragée) by Michale Boganim - France, Germany, Poland - 1st film
LOUISE WIMMER by Cyril Mennegun - France - 1st film
OUT OF BOUNDS (Labrador) by Frederikke Aspöck - Denmark - 1st film
RIVER OF GOLD (Rio de oro) by Pablo Aldrete - Mexico - 1st film
SEVEN ACTS OF MERCY (Sette opere di misericordia) by Gianluca & Massimiliano De Serio - Italy - 1st film
SNEAKERS (Ketcove) by Valeri Yordanov & Ivan Vladimirov - Bulgaria - 1st film
SNOWTOWN by Justin Kurtzel - Australia - 1st film
THE RIF LOVER (L'Amante du Rif) by Narjiss Nejjar - Morocco - 4th film - Opening film
WITHOUT by Mark Jackson - USA - 1st film

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Moroccan Photo of the Day - Omar Chennafi

2011-11-22T16:38:00.000Z

For those who think that Morocco is all kasbahs, camels and carpet souks...

Photograph by Omar Chennafi

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Travel Writing About Morocco ~ #33

2011-11-21T22:08:00.000Z

What do you do if you are a travel writer at a major newspaper and your travel editor decides that you should go and do a story about Marrakech? It's a tough call. Almost everything that can be said about the 'kech has been said.

Of course you have the option of descending into Orientalist cliches - mysterious, exotic, an Aladdin's cave; One Thousand and One Nights - or you go for the glamour and glitz of the beautiful people sunning themselves in luxurious surrounds beside the pool, before heading out for another night of clubbing. Ho hum. Or, you can dig deep and come up with a new angle.

Sadly, the British Daily Mail, published a "City Break" travel feature, which uses the Rolling Stones as the main thrust of their story. What is surprising is that the writer is actually a man with great credentials and a list of books and plays to his name that any writer would be proud of. He was, however, a bit off the mark (or out of touch) with Marrakech.

Philip Norman will be known to many as the author of Shout!: The True Story of the Beatles (1981)and, more importantly for our story, The Stones: The Acclaimed Biography (2002).

He starts the article with the amazing claim that, "the spirit of The Rolling Stones haunts Marrakech". It may do for Philip Norman, but as someone who lives in Morocco and frequently visits Marrakech, I can say, the Stones' ghosts have long gone. The claim is as fatuous as the urban myths that have grown up around Jimi Hendrix and Essaouira (see our story on Essaouira and the Jimi Hendrix myths, here).

Norman's insights into the Stones are fascinating but he lets himself down in this article when he talks about Morocco. "Its three most renowned cities ... are like insalata tricolore: blanca the white, Fez the green and Marrakech the red." Does anyone call Casablanca "blanca"? The local diminutive is "Casa". And "Fez the green"? The symbolic colour of Fez is blue.

Then he says, "It was not only rock stars who fell under the spell of traditional Moroccan art and design. It was also inspirational to the French fashion designer Yves St Laurent, especially the luscious Berber blue." - Philip, that would be "Majorelle Blue", after the painter you rightly mention.

Philip Norman missed out on the joy of staying on one of the beautiful riads that Marrakech is so famous for, instead bunking down at the La Mamounia at £460 (and up) per night. One wonders if it was a junket, although there was no disclosure saying that was the case.

Given Philip Norman's talent as a writer, it seems a pity that he didn't dig deeper.

To read the full story, go here: Gimme shelter: Rolling into Marrakech, the city that completely enchanted the Stones

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Marrakech Palm Groves Under Threat

2011-11-20T12:21:00.001Z

"This legendary and emblematic site that gives the city of Marrakech its identity and specific mark is nowadays exposed to incessant degradation, due to the combined factors of drought, human activity pressures, the lack of maintenance and the aging of palm trees, and the absence of replanting," ~ HRH King Mohammed VI

Those words by King Mohammed VI were spoken back in March 2007. At the time the King was drawing attention to the dangers faced by the famous Marrakech palm groves. Their degradation, due to human and natural factors, was an obvious problem, and the King was calling for action to preserve them as they are part of the Moroccan cultural heritage.

In the speech, read by his sister, Princess Lala Hasna, chairwoman of Mohammed VI Foundation for the Protection of the Environment, the Monarch called for an-all out mobilization to protect the palm groves.

The vast groves provide employment for large numbers of people and have, for centuries, been a source of dates, food and thanks to the oasis, water. Now, sadly, that is all changing.

Despite the 2007 plea from the King, the vast palm groves of Marrakesh are still in danger from urbanisation, massive tourist projects and even golf courses.

The latest figures suggest that the oasis, which stretched over 16,000 hectares, has decreased by30% of its surface area in the past 20 years, according to experts.

A recent article from Agence France-Presse quoted experts pointing to the tourist attractions constructed at the heart of the palm groves at the expense of the environment. These sites swallow up lots of water, upset the ecological balance and lead to the degradation of the palms.

"The tourist projects, for all the good sides of what they generate, take enormous resources. This has a negative effect on the ecological balance," Nour-Eddine Laftouhi, a hydro-geologist at the Marrakesh faculty of sciences, told AFP.

"Personally, I consider the irrational spread of golf courses to be a crime," ~ Nour-Eddine Laftouhi

Today Marrakesh has 10 golf courses, two of them in the palm groves, and construction companies are waiting for authorisation to create about 10 more, which would use a great deal of water. While nobody questions the existence of the old Royal Marrakech course, considered a gem, the newer ones are causing much concern with their need for irrigation and water features.

The tourist appeal of Marrakesh has led Club Med to push into the palm grove with its golf course and a centre hosting three swimming pools.


The Royal Marrakech Golf Club was opened in 1923

La Palmeraie - with many water features

The degradation of the palm groves arouses feelings of bitterness and nostalgia among original inhabitants of the palm groves, who are becoming fewer and fewer.

"The spring welled up right here, where I am standing. Before, there was a stream," said Boujemaa, a resident of a grove. "There used to be a spring over there and another beside it. Everywhere, this place was full of springs. But once they began to build the villas and hotels, the water disappeared. It's over."

THE 2007 PALM GROVES PROTECTION PROJECT

As The View from Fez reported in 2007, the local authorities in Marrakesh, prompted by the King, launched a large-scale program, with the goal of planting 430,000 palm trees within a six year period. The King called on all the agencies concerned to work together in order to protect the city's palm groves.

According to the monarch, protection of the palm grove environment was only possible through the joint efforts of replanting, improving techniques for management and maintenance, and awareness raising of the environment and sustainable development, in addition to the creation of an eco-museum to give the saving action an international scope as part of an international exchange network.

The King also stressed the importance of continuous monitoring and evaluation of the project in order to better assess results and shift priorities if necessary, highlighting the critical role played by the civil society and citizens, along with governmental organizations, in carrying out work necessary to safeguard and increase the number of palm trees.

With a sum estimated at 96 million Moroccan Dirhams (USD 11,5 million), the Palm Groves Protection Project, launched by the Mohammed VI Foundation for the Environment, extended over six years and provided for the building of a natural ecosystem covering an area of 12,000 hectares, planting 43,0000 additional palm trees and building a waste water purification station. The project also aimed at strengthening laws relating to the protection of the palm groves.

THE PRESENT

"Thanks to the water treatment plant, opened in 2010, and to the wells that are already operational, large quantities of water will become available," said Abdelilah Mdidech, the director of the programme to safeguard the oasis, steered by the Mohammed VI Foundation for the Environment.

Hundreds of workers plant new trees each day and take care of those that are getting old.

"We have already planted 415,292 young palms (...) and these young plants are doing well, with green leaves and fine crowns," Mdidech said, and added that he wanted to be "realistic but optimistic".

"I know that we lack the means, particularly in water supply, to recreate a verdant oasis. That's realistic. But thanks to this project, it can be saved. I am an optimist."

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Transparency and Monitoring of the Moroccan Elections

2011-11-20T11:18:00.001Z

Morocco's special accreditation commission has approved the final list of national and international organizations that will supervise the 25th of November legislative elections in Morocco.

The National Human Right Council in Morocco (CNDH) has indicated that the list includes 16 organizations and a total of around 400 observers.

On a national level, twelve organizations have been accredited: the Election Supervisory Association, CNDH, the Individual Rights Centre, the Moroccan Democratic Civil Forum, the Alkarama Forum for Human Rights, the Moroccan Human Rights Institute, the Youth Alliance for Reforms, the Urban Initiative Association, the Chourouk Centre for Democracy, Information and Human Rights, the Federation of the Democratic League of Women's Rights, the Women's Creativity Association and the Touiza Association.

Four international NGOs have been accredited: the National Democratic Institute, Gender Concerns International and The International Research Group for Trans-regional and Emerging Area Studies.

The commission has announced that it has “rejected a number of applications by organizations that did not comply with the conditions set by law 30.11 about independent and neutral observation of elections”.

In addition to teams of national observers that are expected to be present in the field, the elections will undergo international scrutiny, notably from the Europeans. The Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) say that the legislative elections of the 25th of November are set to be perfectly transparent.

The PACE delegation, headed by Tomas Jirsa, a Czech Senator, has already visited Morocco in order to prepare for the elections. The visit, which started on November 9th, came within an agreed framework for the observation of Morocco's legislative elections. Following the delegation’s pre-electoral visit, the PACE, which has already participated in the observation of 140 electoral events, will deploy up to twenty observers to oversee Moroccan polls.

The PACE, comprising 318 members of parliament from the 47 Council of Europe member states, has granted, earlier this year, the status of 'Partner for Democracy' to the Moroccan parliament as part of a move aiming at establishing institutional co-operation with parliaments of non-member states in neighbouring regions.

CITIZEN WATCH

In addition, the Moroccan Human Rights Association (OMDH) recently created a website to serve as an online monitoring centre for the elections.

Launched on September 26th in a trial version, Marsad.ma is a platform that enables people to find information on the elections. More importantly, it allows citizens and observers to monitor the vote by reporting and learning about incidents, failures or irregularities associated with the election process. Reporting can be done via a number of methods including Twitter, email and sms.

The full site is now up and ready for the poll.

"This year, given the changes occurring across the region and the importance of the internet as a citizenship tool, we decided to explore digital technology and new media," said Mounir Bensalah, an observer and member of the Marsad team.

More specifically, the website will enable local OMDH observers to gather, process and check information. "It's also a special tool that offers better and wide coverage of the country by encouraging citizens to get involved in the observation process," Bensalah added.

The initiative draws on the experience of similar projects in several countries around the world, such as the Kenyan site Ushahidi.com. The Kenyan civic monitoring website was launched in the aftermath of the bloodshed that followed the 2008 presidential elections.

The Marsad project arose out of feedback from the OMDH and civil-society groups, which have monitored elections in Morocco since 2002.

The Masad website in French, English and Arabic, is here: MARSAD.MA

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The Hotel Barceló - Azahar Restaurant Review

2011-11-19T18:29:00.003Z

Less than a decade ago, there were only a couple of restaurants in Fez offering more than the Moroccan standards. After all, most Fassis eat at home. But with an increasingly mobile population and with an increase in visitors wanting more than chicken and preserved lemon or lamb with prunes, has come the welcome addition of stylish restaurants like Maison Blanche and L’Italien. Now another joins their ranks...

The Azahar is part of the new Barceló Fes Medina Hotel. It is not, as the name would imply, actually in the Medina, but situated in a prime spot in the Ville Nouvelle at 53, Avenue Hassan II.

The hotel is one of a chain operated by the privately owned Spanish group Barceló Hotels & Resorts, controlling 185 hotels in 17 countries in four continents.

The Azahar is at the rear of the hotel, on Hassan II. I assume their signage is still to arrive, as the only thing that denotes it is a set of swinging glass doors.

Inside, the décor is designer chic, in red, black and pale green – international style with a nod to traditional Moroccan culture in the form of geometric divider screens. (A traditional form which lends itself perfectly to contemporary style.)

While the seating is comfortable and stylish, the music veers towards muzak – it aims to blend into the background rather than provide the soundtrack for a memorable evening. It ranges from jazz covers to inoffensive instrumentals to emotive Spanish pop songs.

However, the menu – in French and Spanish - is comprehensive, offering a selection of cold entrees (60-80 dhs), such as aubergine tart with smoked swordfish and basil oil, and hot entrees (50-75 dhs) including Moroccan dishes like chicken pastilla with almonds.

During pre-dinner drinks a couple of snacks appeared to whet the appetite; kebabs with a delicious savoury sauce and tortilla with tomato coulis and a balsamic reduction.

Artichokes with goats cheese and a creamy saffron sauce

For starters, I shared artichokes with goats cheese and a creamy saffron sauce with The View From Fez editor, and we were not disappointed. It was beautifully presented - a work of art in yellow and black. The fresh artichoke hearts, oven roasted with marinated tomatoes and black olives, was topped by mature goats cheese and proved an imaginative and unexpected combination.

Pasta dishes on offer (70-90 dh) include chicken pate with marinated vegetables, olive oil, wasabi and soy sauce, and tagliatelle with mixed seafood, olive oil and garlic.

However, we bypassed these for one of the fish courses (120–140 dh). While my partner chose a fillet of St Pierre, I selected the tranche of tuna, with orange sauce.

Fillet of St Pierre

Both pieces of fresh fish were pan fried perfectly and the servings were generous. However, I was disappointed with the vegetables that accompanied them, which were overcooked and bland. It seemed as though they had been sitting in a pot and re-heated.

Given the overall quality of the food, and the abundance of fresh produce in the local markets, it is a pity the meal was let down in such a way. Perhaps it was to fit in with local Moroccan cuisine, which tends to cook vegetables far more than we would in the West. But to prepare them in such a way destroys the flavours and does not suit the delicacy and care which went into the otherwise excellent meal.

Also on the menu were meat dishes (110-160 dh), which ranged from a fillet of beef with mushrooms, to traditional cous-cous with lamb, to a hamburger with egg and cheese.

Tarte Tatin

From the dessert selection (65-75 dh), we shared a Tarte Tatin, which was fresh and authentically French. The pastry had the right mix of flakiness and crunch and the apples were beautifully caramelised, accompanied by vanilla icecream.

The wine list was mainly Moroccan, (200-290 dh per bottle) with the usual suspects such as Sahari Reserve, both red and white, and Medillon. It also listed a couple of Spanish wines, such as the Antioni Barbadillo.

We had a S. Sirour Chardonnay, which was dry and full bodied without being overly oaked.

The verdict? Well presented, international style cuisine with a good menu range. However, those who value their vegetables will be disappointed. Despite this, it is reasonable value for money.

Review and photographs: Suzanna Clarke

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Fancy a Weekend Break in Libya?

2011-11-19T18:07:00.000Z

Royal Air Maroc Resumes Flights to Libya

Those of you who have been hanging out for a weekend get away in Libya will be pleased to hear that Tripoli is now back on the tourist map. Royal Air Maroc will its resume flights to Libya on November 21st.

On Thursday, Royal Air Maroc (RAM),announced it would resume its flights from Casablanca to Libya. This comes after the reopening of the Tripoli International Airport.

Tripoli International Airport

RAM says it would resume flights to Libya from the Mohamed V airport in Casablanca with three flights per week -- Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Return flights to Tripoli from Casablanca were suspended for more than seven months because of the Libyan crisis.

A WEEKEND IN TRIPOLI

Tripoli is worth a visit, with several major attractions. High up the list is Tripoli's Jamahiriya Museum. Set in a castle in the centre of the city, the museum houses artifacts from as far back as 6000BC including cave paintings and rock carvings. The collection also has Punic, Greek and Roman statues and articles collected from sits around Libya but mostly from Leptis and Sabratha. The museum is well laid out and can take a whole morning to explore. The top floor, which is visited less frequently, deals with the Berber and Arab heritage and a few Ghaddafi trophies but is still worth a visit. Note: the museum is closed on Fridays.

Green square or Assaha al Khadra as the local taxi drivers know it, is always a busy place to visit , except on Friday mornings when it is perfect for photography. On other days the constant traffic can be a real problem.

Just off the Green Square you will find Tripoli's Medina. While it is not at all as well preserved as the other North African Medinas, it is worth a vist to check out the jewelry and gold souqs. Red Jasper is particularly fine here,

There are 38 mosques inside the Medina, and at last report they do not mind tourists entering them and even taking photos. There are also three working hammam and several good restaurants. Try the one in the old Clock Tower and the Tripolis Restaurant near the harbor on the second floor of a restored courtyard.

The Red Castle at night

Also off the Green Square, you will find the very well preserved and virtually intact, Assai al-Hamra - the Red Castle.

Further afield explore the Pottery Stalls of Gharyan. Gharyan is approximately one hour south of Tripoli. You will find a huge selection of local as well as Tunisian and Moroccan pottery for sale

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