Virtual Magazine of Morocco on the Web
Morocco Week in Review 
July 29, 2006

Rare ibis tagged in race to save bird of pharaohs.
AFD funds drinking water and electricity projects in Morocco
Ecotourism: a niche yet to be developed in Morocco . 
Morocco TV tuning in to moderate Islam.
Trade & Liberalisation.
Australian writer Sandy McCutcheon finds Morocco a great place to live and work.
Islam, Morocco style.
Moroccans in U.S. Seek Taste of Home, American Dream

Rare ibis tagged in race to save bird of pharaohs.
Mon Jul 24, 2006 LONDON (Reuters)

Scientists have tagged three northern bald ibis, among the last survivors of a species of Middle Eastern bird once so revered that it had its own ancient Egyptian hieroglyph, in an effort to save them from extinction. Only 13 of the birds remain in Syria, Britain's Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and the conservation agency BirdLife International said in a news release.

The birds, with their distinctive black Mohican-style plumage and long, downward-curved red bills, were once revered by pharaohs and were found throughout the Middle East, northern Africa and the European Alps. They are now classified as critically endangered, the highest level of threat, by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources.

Until four years ago the species was thought to be extinct in Syria. The only other wild population is in Morocco.
"Without this tracking project, the bird would have been consigned to history and hieroglyphics," Ibrahim Khader, head of BirdLife Middle East, said in the statement.

"We knew they were in Palmyra because of reports from Bedouin nomads and local hunters." Scientists from BirdLife and the RSPB tagged the three ibis, named Zenobia, Sultan and Salam, in southeast Syria's Palmyra region, hoping to track them when they begin their annual migration this month to discover where they breed. "Tracking the birds and finding their wintering sites may be the last chance to save them," RSPB scientist Ken Smith said. "We won't be able to help them until we know where they go and the threats and pressures they are facing." http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=scienceNews&storyID=2006-07-24T141448Z_01_L24669297_RTRIDST_0_SCIENCE-ENVIRONMENT-IBIS-DC.XML
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

AFD funds drinking water and electricity projects in Morocco
The French Development Agency (AFD) granted Morocco two loans amounting to Euro 75 million to the Moroccan Electricity Office (ONE) and Euro 45 million to the Drinking Water Office (ONEP). The Euro 30 million-loan granted to ONEP is earmarked to fund a programme aiming at broadening the access to drinking water and liquid waste treatment. It will benefit a total of 580,000 inhabitants.

As for the loan granted to ONE, it provides money for the second phase of the 4th part of a programme, known as PERG, to provide rural regions with electricity. The project is due to benefit 363,000 inhabitants living in 1,321 villages in different places in Morocco. It will provide 10,000 houses with electricity through photovoltaic kits, while the remaining 46,000 are to be connected through the national electric network. http://www.moroccotimes.com/News/article.asp?id=16254
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ecotourism: a niche yet to be developed in Morocco . 
25/07/2006

Morocco's geography gives it great potential for ecotourism, a capability still largely untapped. But as the market gradually grows, some people are concerned about the environmental impact of visiting natural destinations. With a diverse natural beauty, including the year-round snow-capped Atlas Mountains, hot springs, lakes, forests, the Sahara Desert, and the Atlantic and Mediterranean coastlines, Morocco should be a natural destination for ecotourists. Yet, Morocco's potential for ecotourism is still largely untapped. "There's tremendous potential for ecotourism in Morocco," Jane Bayley, director of Naturally Morocco, a Wales-based eco-tourism travel company, told Magharebia. "There is a lot of geographic diversity with a rich marine ecosystem and Morocco is a major route for migratory birds," she added.

Morocco receives over 6 million visitors per year, but Bayley says the number of eco-tourists is difficult to determine because the definition of the term is broad. However, she believes ecotourism is on the rise. About ten years ago, she would bring 50 visitors to Morocco per year and now Naturally Morocco sends over 1,500 people annually. But Bayley points out that ecotourism is still a very small market.

According to a 2003 study carried out by the UN Development Programme for the Moroccan government, ecotourism is still in the embryonic stage. The report notes a strong demand for ecotourism in Morocco from both locals and foreigners, with the country having a lot to offer in terms of natural resources. But the reports points to a lack of co-ordination.

Abdelatif Abouricha, a spokesman for the Marrakech Regional Tourism Council, told Magharebia that despite Morocco's impressive natural potential, ecotourism is still underdeveloped. But because of returning visitors, he seemed to think there is potential for the industry. "Our figures for the Marrakech El Haouz region show that many tourists return several times a year to revisit locations which offer a sublime natural setting. For us, this represents a real success," he said Abouricha predicts tourists' interest in ecotourism in Morocco will dictate the future of tourism as a whole in the country.

Enhancing and co-ordinating the supply infrastructure to prepare it for the ecotourism market is essential, Abouricha said. He pointed out the necessity of building transportation links and tourist accommodation in rural areas, which he says is proving a serious obstacle to ecotourism development. Other challenges include constructing comfortable tourist accommodations that complement the natural landscape and increasing signposting for tourists in the countryside.

Abouricha says he thinks the Moroccan government should do more to promote ecotourism to foreign visitors.
The Moroccan government's "Vision 2010" plan, which aims to increase the number of visitors to 10 million in the next four years, includes the growth of discount airlines. The strategy includes the development of "Plan d'Azur", six resorts to be built along Morocco's coast by 2010.

Bayley believes in using traditional building materials that blend well with the environment, do not damage the environment in their production and provide a comfortable living environment. However, she indicates many buildings at new resorts are made of concrete, which makes them hotter in the summer and colder in the winter, requiring a lot of resources to keep them comfortable.

But in some parts of Morocco, the damage is already taking place. Abouricha stresses the importance of paying attention to projects that are already harming the environment. His examples include the large number of unauthorised campsites at Mount Toubkal and Sous Massa National Park, the extensive building development at the Palm Grove of Marrakech, a permanent spring being used to dispose of sewage at Ain Ben Adel, and unsightly buildings spoiling the landscape in the Dadès Valley.

"If nothing is done to protect the environment, ecotourism will implode on itself", Abouricha warns.
"Ecotourism has to be carefully planned by figuring out the number of visitors an area can reasonably handle," Eddie Bergman, director of the New York-based Africa Travel Association, told Magharebia. He added, "When developing a destination, planning should always involve the government, investors and particularly the local community."
Hassan Benmehdi in Casablanca contributed to this report.
http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2006/07/25/feature-02
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Morocco TV tuning in to moderate Islam.
Authorities hope 2,000 plasma screens in mosques can preach in a way that will counter more radical messages.
Bart Schut July 25, 2006

Moroccan authorities have introduced a new weapon in the fight against Islamic extremism: 2,000 brand-new widescreen plasma TVs. They are to be placed inside mosques across the country in order to preach a moderate version of the Muslim faith, a version more consistent with the ideas of King Mohammed VI. This admittedly original approach to televangelism is meant to counterbalance the influence of hard-line imams and preachers, satellite stations from the Persian Gulf region and Middle Eastern DVDs that spread radical Islam. With war raging in Gaza and Lebanon, can moderate televangelism blunt the appeal of the hard-line message that seems to be gaining ground among Morocco's 33 million people? ……………….
(more on http://www.startribune.com/562/story/571948.html
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Trade & Liberalisation.   
Volume 103     19.07.2006

With the recent launch of a US-sponsored assistance programme, Morocco is eager to take full advantage of its free trade agreement (FTA) with the US. The US Agency for International Development (USAID), in partnership with the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Economic Upgrading (MICMANE), launched the Morocco New Business Opportunities (NBO) project on June 27 in Rabat.

NBO is a four-year, $9m programme designed to help export-oriented Moroccan firms take advantage of new opportunities for entry or expansion in the US market emerging from the Morocco-US FTA. Expected to generate a turnover of $175m and create up to 10,000 jobs, the project is a key plank of the USAID-Moroccan government agreement signed in April 2004. It is intended to assist Moroccan firms in priority sectors build their capacity to develop and maintain long-term commercial partnerships with US companies, working mainly in the textile and leather industry.

In addition to working with firms, the project will provide support to business associations to help promote Moroccan industry to US counterparts. This will be done through their presence at US trade shows, promotion of Morocco in key US trade journals, and facilitation of trade and investment missions of US buyers and investors to Morocco.

"We have launched this programme to help Moroccan firms penetrate the American market and identify the best American partners," said the US Ambassador to Rabat, Thomas Riley. MICMANE and USAID agreed to work together to "improve productivity in farming and the food-processing industry, develop non-farming companies and industries and improve the business environment", according to the ministry.

The free trade pact came into force in January 2006, covering industrial and agricultural goods, intellectual property, services, customs, employment, the environment and telecommunications. It provides for the elimination of tariffs on 95% of all bilateral trade between Morocco and the US. The remaining tariffs on these goods, mainly agricultural products from both countries, are to be gradually abolished over a nine-year period. The agreement had been scheduled to take effect in July 2005 but was postponed due to disagreements over the protection of intellectual property.

The agreement signed on June 15, 2004, after seven rounds of bilateral negotiations that lasted 13 months, is the crowning of a succession of bilateral economic agreements between Rabat and Washington. These include the Non-Double Taxation Agreement (1977), the Bilateral Investment Treaty (1985), and the Trade and Investment Framework (1995). Entering these agreements allows Morocco to strengthen its position as a key ally of the US in the Middle East and North Africa, especially as Morocco becomes the first country in the region to conclude such a pact.

President Bush has stated a goal of knitting together the various bilateral agreements into a larger Middle East free trade zone by 2013.

Bilateral trade figures for the January-May 2006 period point to a significant impact of the incoming FTA on a number of Moroccan export segments. Electrical machinery - the biggest export segment with 25.6% of the total - recorded a 10.9% increase in the first five months of 2006 over the same period in 2005, to $49.5m. The textile sector also seems to have benefited, with exports of woven apparel up 80.5% to $24.3m and knitted apparel up 94.7% to $14.9m - the development has allowed Morocco to reverse the trend, which had these two segments lose 15.2% and 35% respectively in the first five months of 2004 and 2005.

Moroccan textile producers are keen to make strides on the lucrative US market, as evidenced by their presence at Men's Apparel Guild in California (MAGIC) show in February 2006 in Las Vegas. At the show, they exhibited sportswear, jeans, woven cloths and hosiery. The NBO programme should help them press on with their marketing effort.

Meanwhile, the food sector recorded mixed results, as preserved food jumped 98% to $16.4m, while prepared meat and fish dropped 17.2% to $8.7m and vegetables lost 52.2% to $1.5m. While the segment "edible fruit and nuts" was virtually nonexistent at $426,000 in the first five months of 2004, in the same period two years later it has become the ninth-biggest contributor to Morocco's exports to the US, at $4.8m. Morocco boasts significant production capacities in this segment, with high value-added products such as nutmeg.

These highlights have offset the areas where Morocco's exports to the US have suffered with the $194m worth of total exports decreasing by 1.2% in the first five months of 2006 over the same period in 2005, following a 2.2% drop the previous year. However, when compared to the previous five-year average, exports to the US increased by 7.5%.

Among the bad performers, salt, sulphur, earth and stone lost 25.4% to $34.4m, while base metals exports decreased 17.3% to $3.7m. However, Morocco's export strategy is not based on these products. Meanwhile, US exports to Morocco in January-May 2006 increased 8.8% over the same period in 2005, and were up 32.2% over the previous five-year average. As the US economy has long become hardened to competition, and is very advanced in terms of liberalisation, it has a decisive edge in a free trade environment.

Indeed, as evidenced in March 2006 by a World Bank policy paper on the effects of trade liberalisation on growth, the gains Morocco's economy stands to make through tariff liberalisation are constrained by its lack of factor flexibility. As Morocco has high labour regulation rigidity, with a rigidity of employment index of 60 - compared to 54 in Tunisia, 37 in Poland and 10 in Malaysia - and investors facing delays and high costs in creating or closing down companies, and in accessing capital, industrial land and construction permits, Morocco still scores disappointingly in factor market flexibility, despite ongoing efforts to improve the business environment.

However, tariff liberalisation, as it is taking place in Morocco, will significantly increase the impact of future reforms of labour, land and on overall growth and welfare. As Morocco integrates into the world economy, the benefits it stands to yield from liberalisation at home are poised to increase. http://www.oxfordbusinessgroup.com/weekly01.asp?id=2127
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Australian writer Sandy McCutcheon finds Morocco a great place to live and work.
30/07/2006 By Farah Kinani

The mix of Arab, Amazigh, French, and African culture in Morocco gives Australian novelist Sandy McCutcheon a great setting in which to work and live. He talks to Magharebia about his observations on the conditions of women and attitudes towards them in the country. Veteran Australian writer Sandy McCutcheon uses Morocco as the setting for The Cobbler's Apprentice, which is due in bookstores in September. He says he likes to weave everyday life into fiction. His more than 22 plays and novels are inspired by his experiences of living and travelling in Europe, Asia and Africa.

McCutcheon, who lives part-time in Fez, says, "Morocco is a fascinating country where not writing is harder than writing. Characters, both Moroccan and non-Moroccan, are in every cafe and on every corner." Having spent time in various African countries -- including Mozambique, South Africa and Sudan -- he says he finds Morocco the most attractive because of qualities other countries do not possess. It has a mix of Arab, Amazigh and African cultures. McCutcheon adds that the French colonial period has left a mark in everyday life, with the cultural mix making Morocco a wonderful place to be.

McCutcheon says he tries to understand Morocco based on his daily experiences rather than external reports. "Islamic society is so different in reality from the way much of the media in the West depicts it, and for me this is valuable. I have many opportunities to speak publicly in Australia and New Zealand, so I value the ability to now speak from experience on the streets and in the cafes, rather than from an academic point of view," he notes.

As for the situation of women in Morocco, McCutcheon says it is not simply black-and-white and is more a question of poverty and education than gender. He notices that educated women in the workforce tend to be more moderate in their approach to religion, particularly in dress and culture.

"Those from the lower end of the socio-economic spectrum tend to be more religious and certainly more inclined to conservative behaviour and dress codes. At times the contrast between the two is extraordinary," he added.

Although McCutcheon notices that both conservative women dressed in traditional fashion and western-dressed teenagers appear to be accepted by a majority of people in Morocco, he finds that women with little education seems to have almost no understanding of the new Family Code, a bill passed in 2004 that gives the husband and wife joint responsibility over the family. The code gives men and women equal rights to inherit, divorce, and share custody of children. McCutcheon says he has found that educated women tend to support the code. While some tension between the modern and traditional exists, he states Moroccans appear to have a very open attitude to diversity.

McCutcheon remarked, "Our observations are not accurate, but our experience has been that so-called 'modern' women are less tolerant of their more religious sisters than the other way around." While promoting The Cobbler's Apprentice, McCutcheon is also busy with other projects, including a new book, according to his website.
http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2006/07/30/feature-02
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Islam, Morocco style.
By THE JOURNAL NEWS July 25, 2006

Yonkers filmmaker Gini Reticker takes on the battle for control of Islam tonight when her documentary about the first women trained as Muslim religious advisors in Morocco gets its first airing at 9 p.m. on WNET/13. Reticker serves as producer for "Class of 2006," which follows two woman selected for training and assigned to mosques to judge grievances and guide mosque members — everything except lead daily prayers.

The dramatic tension is obvious. Though Western-educated King Mohammed VI is determined to bring women into the social and political structure of Morocco and to reform family laws that permitted polygamy, denied women the right to choose their own husbands or to file for divorce and even now keep 60 percent of Moroccan women illiterate.

As "commander of the faithful," he controls religion in the country — the Ministry of Islamic Affairs trains religious leaders and must pass on the religious content of textbooks — but he faces opposition from proponents of Saudi-style fundamentalism. Morocco faced its own wave of suicide bombings in 2003. Training women to serve in mosques is part of the king's response.

Three voices animate "Class of 2006".
Samira Marzouk, a devout, married woman, joins the first class. She adamantly denies a political motive for her service — her father and brother are members of the security police — but, introduced as a "religious guide" on Abu Dhabi television, she speaks of an Islam of tolerance and acceptance.

Fouzia Assouli, president of the Democratic League for the Rights of Women, takes the king's initiative as a step toward women's liberation, the Moroccan way.

Nadia Yassine, daughter of the leader of an outlawed opposition movement, would like to see the monarchy replaced with an Islamist state and the king replaced with a caliph. Hereditary monarchy, she says, goes against the Koran. Though she jokes that her words will probably send her to jail, she dismisses the training program as another Western-influenced step away from the path of true religion.

And, of course, there is a political context to everything in this moderate Arab country where modern life is layered over strong tradition, applied in the documentary by Ahmed Taoufiq, minister of Islamic Affairs. His job is to maintain "a civic society where religion is strongly preserved b y the symbolism of the king."

Reticker has made of a career if directing and producing films that look at the involvement of women in world affairs. Her last documentary, "Ladies First," abut the role of women in rebuilding Rwanda, won an Emmy Award in 2004. She has also produced the Oscar-nominated short documentary "Asylum," about a Ghanian woman who takes on U.S. immigration law.
http://www.thejournalnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060725/LIFESTYLE01/607250303/1031
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Moroccans in U.S. Seek Taste of Home, American Dream
By Khadija Smiri –  Saturday, July 22, 2006 :More than 100,000 Moroccan are installed at the United States. Far from their country, their families and their traditions, they crossed the Atlantic to look for a better life. They left everything behind them to live the American dream.

Washington, D.C. - Scripps Howard Foundation Wire - infoZine

My first contact with the U.S. Moroccan community was at a lunch sponsored by the Moroccan Americans of the Greater Washington Area in Alexandria, Va., just across the Potomac River. For a moment, I really thought that I was in Morocco. The host welcomed the people with "salam alikoum." It means "peace on you," and is the way to say hello for Muslims, but it was also a way for the host to detect the Moroccans from the Americans.

Moroccan faces, American citizens

Some 250 people came from the four corners of the U.S. to meet each other, exchange experiences and share their nostalgia for Morocco. They came from different states and different perspectives. Their only common point was that they are Moroccan American.

Some knew each others from previous events; others met for the first time. But all tried to meet more people. As their name badges were not enough to present who they are, they introduced themselves to each person around the table: name, state, occupation, city of origin and especially the time they have spent in the U.S.

"I am proud and impressed by this amazing, big gathering," said Aziz Mekouar, the ambassador of the Kingdom of Morocco in the U.S.

Tens of gathering like this are organized annually."Seminars, sportive tournaments, signatures of books, picnics ... are the different activities that keep the whole Moroccan community joined together" said Hassan Khantach, who is in charge of consular businesses at the Moroccan embassy.

The meetings also help keep the Moroccan community informed about what is happening back home. At the luncheon, the ambassador gave a long speech on the latest developments and challenges in Morocco.

Far from the official speech and the national preoccupations, people tried to benefit from these moments to share their longing for the Sherifian Kingdom. It is the second name of Morocco because the royal dynasty descended from the prophet Muhammad.

They waited impatiently to visit with each other. But once the meal was served, the disappointment was clear on all the faces. Neither Moroccan food nor famous Moroccan mint tea was provided. This detail did not prevent them from enjoying the crusty chicken and the delicious ice cream cake.

Between two countries, two civilizations

There were students and those who work, men and women, singles and families - Moroccan people but from somewhere else.

Most of the adults were born in Morocco but their children were born here. It is a new generation born between two opposite societies, civilizations and ideologies. Young people are torn between a country of origin of which they know only the name and some stories told by their parents and a country of residence, which they see and feel as theirs. Lost in this double culture, the young Moroccan Americans are constantly researching their true identities. This existential trouble concerns all the emigrants' children wherever they are. But the reasons that pushed the parents to move abroad are stronger.

The first one is economic - people left to escape unemployment and poverty. They left to seek a better life. By coming to the U.S.A., the emigrants aim to become richer. People also came to the U.S. to rejoin families already here. Those who won a green card, which makes them legal U.S. residents, through the U.S.-sponsored lottery then try to bring the rest of their families. Recently, professional reasons became important, too. Moroccan experts prefer to work in industrialized countries such as the U.S., causing a brain drain in Morocco.

According to the Moroccan embassy, 89 percent of Moroccans who work in the U.S. are in service sectors such as hotels and restaurants, construction and transportation. Just 5 percent work as managers in banks, property agencies or tourism companies. About 1.5 percent are contractors, and 0.5 percent are lawyers or doctors. Four percent are students.

Profile of a Moroccan American

Each one has his own story, his own past, his own life, but they all share the same bond.

Khalid Khartami, 38, has lived in the U.S. for 13 years. A native of Casablanca, he got his degree in linguistics but left Morocco after signing a contract to work at Disneyworld in Orlando, Fla. Except for some problems with American slang, Khalid said he had no difficulty integrating into American society.

"I spent one year in Disney, then I came to D.C. to make my own business," Khalid said.

Starting as an employee in a café, he is now the co-owner of Odéon, an Italian restaurant in the capital's trendy Dupont Circle neighborhood, and plans to open a Moroccan restaurant and nightclub in September. Khalid abandoned his studies to earn money for seven family members back home. "I studied information systems, but I stopped. I decided with another Moroccan friend to work hard to make more money. Then, we bought a restaurant, and everything is perfect now," said Khalid."I came here knowing that my family in Morocco is waiting for me to support them financially," Khalid said sadly.

Most Moroccan emigrants send money to their families. Khalid did more. He helped two of his brothers and two of his neighbors in Morocco immigrate to the U.S. and get jobs.

In his American car, he drove me to his home, a big house in a nice neighborhood in Virginia. The house is typically American, but some of its furniture and decoration is Moroccan. At the entrance, two names are written in Arabic with chalk - Yasmine, 5, and Waleed, 3, Khalid's children. Khalid got married 11 years ago. His wife Tina, 33, is American. With her Moroccan traditional dress, she served the Moroccan mint tea and told about her marriage in both English and the Moroccan dialect, a combination of Arabic and French.

"We met in a nightclub, then we dated for 10 months and got married, a beautiful story of love," Tina said. Khalid, who tried to tease his wife, said that it was only for the green card. In fact, a lot of emigrants marry American women to obtain green cards or look for Moroccan women who are winners in the immigration lottery, then try to marry them.

This union between a Moroccan Muslim man and American Catholic woman has been accepted easily by both of the families, but Tina was a little anxious at the beginning. "I was worried that my parents, who are Catholic, would refuse my marriage, so I got married without telling them. But after, they knew, and there was no problem," said Tina, who works for Fannie Mae, a company that backs mortgages. And Khalid added, "They organized a big marriage party for us, but without any alcohol in respect of my religion. I really appreciate it."

The difference of the cultures seems not to influence the couple.

"We are still from different religions, but we have no problems, Tina fasts during Ramadan to show solidarity with me," he said. Moreover, Tina insists that the children learn Arabic and the rules of Islam.

"I think that it is very important to educate the children to understand the Moroccan culture," Tina said. "I try to speak with them in Arabic, but I don't speak it fluently and their father is always at work. But I registered them in a school that offers courses in Arabic, French and Koran. It is a good thing."

Khalid added, "We go to Morocco once a year. It helps the children to keep the contact with the family and to know better the Moroccan traditions." The religious feasts of Ramadan and Eid are also an occasion for all the Moroccan Americans to instill in their children the values of their traditions and customs. "All the Moroccan community got together to share these moments in big celebrations. We also help and support each other," Khalid said.

The mutual aid, the tolerance, the generosity are among many Moroccan values that the Moroccan Americans try to make known through each gathering. They also promote fellowship and harmony, not only among the Moroccan community but also among the American society. Khalid says he thinks about moving back to Morocco. "I am thinking of it, but I have not decided yet," he said. For many Moroccans, the return to their country of origin is an idea
http://www.infozine.com/news/stories/op/storiesView/sid/16566/
###########################################

These postings are provided without permission of the copyright owner for purposes of criticism, comment, scholarship, and research under the "Fair Use" provisions of U.S. Government copyright laws and it may not be distributed further without permission of the identified copyright owner.  The poster does not vouch for the accuracy of the content of the message, which is the sole responsibility of the copyright holder.