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Morocco Week in Review 
August 6, 2016

Michelle Obama’s visit to Morocco

(videos)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbT7sy27wms
http://www.hespress.com/videos/312061.html

Michelle Obama’s Iftar with royal family

:http://www.hespress.com/videos/312176.html
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It was an honor for me to be among the twenty-four girls who attended the Let Girls Learn event in Marrakech, Morocco on Tuesday.

Thursday 30 June 2016 - Bochra Laghssais Marrakech
Meeting Michelle Obama Changed My Life

Actresses Meryl Streep and Freida Pinto, CNN news correspondent Isha Sesay, and First Lady Michelle Obama were all involved to promote the initiative’s debut in Morocco.

On June 27, the first part of our two day experience, all the girls were invited to discover to USAID’s new Career Center in Marrakesh’s Cadi Ayyad University. The Career Center provides many services to high school and college students to help us prepare for our academic and professional lives. We learned about the resources available at the Center, including assistance to help us develop our soft skills, write resumes and cover letters, perform well in interviews, and use LinkedIn to help us find jobs.

After our visit to the career center, we were invited to attend an iftar with the Ambassador of the United States of America, Mr. Dwight L. Bush, Sr. and his wife, Mrs. Toni Cook Bush. Many leading figures in education, Moroccan and American alike, were present, including actress Meryl Streep. During the meal, I had the honor of sitting next to the ambassador himself. We talked about girls’ education in Morocco and the struggles that we face. Mr. Bush was very supportive; he encouraged me and the other girls to continue our schooling as a way to empower ourselves and make our dreams come true.

Michelle Obama in Morocco
The next day, I had the honor of joining a round table discussion about girls’ education with Mrs. Obama, Ms. Streep, Ms. Pinto, and Ms. Sesay. During the round table, we discussed the obstacles that girls face worldwide and how to education can help overcome these struggles. The First Lady shared her personal story and the struggles she faced during her childhood. She emphasized that she never gave up, and has always worked as hard as she could to achieve her dreams. “There is no secret magic [to success],” Mrs. Obama told the girls, “except our hard work and hope to always look for the best in ourselves.”

I would like to thank the Peace Corps in Morocco for choosing me to represent them at this event. I know am only one girl among many in my country who faces obstacles when struggling to continue my education. Being among all these inspirational ladies at the round table gave me hope. Mrs. Obama is a role model for millions of girls all over the world by inspiring them to study and continue their education. Her visit to Marrakech changed my life by inspiring me to work hard and dream big.

I would like to thank the Peace Corps in Morocco for choosing me to represent them at this event. I know am only one girl among many in my country who faces obstacles when struggling to continue my education. Being among all these inspirational ladies at the round table gave me hope. Mrs. Obama is a role model for millions of girls all over the world by inspiring them to study and continue their education. Her visit to Marrakech changed my life by inspiring me to work hard and dream big.

Bochra Laghssais: Meeting Michelle Obama Changed My Life
Edited by Bryn Miller
http://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2016/06/190527/meeting-michelle-obama-changed-my-life/
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King Mohammed VI Hosts Iftar in Honor of US First Lady Michelle Obama

Tuesday 28 June 2016 - morocco world news Marrakech

King Mohammed VI hosted an iftar meal in honor of the First Lady of the United States, Michelle Obama, on Tuesday night in Marrakech. Mrs. Obama was joined by her daughters, Meryl Streep, Freida Pinto, and various female members of the royal family, including Lalla Salma, Lalla Meryem, Lalla Asmaa, Lalla Joumala Alaoui, and Lalla Hasna.

The Iftar (fast-breaking meal) was also attended by Lalla Joumala Alaoui, spouse of US Ambassador to Morocco, Toni Bush, as well as senior US officials accompanying the First Lady of the United States.

Mrs. Obama and her two daughters, Malia and Sasha, arrived in Marrakech on Monday night.

As part of Michelle Obama’s visit to Morocco, the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) announced, on Tuesday in Marrakech that it would invest approximately 100 million dollars to support girls education and launch a new model of secondary school, in partnership with the Moroccan government. This financial support is a part of the White House’s Let Girls Learn initiative. The MCC investment falls under the second compact inked with the Moroccan government in 2015 for an amount of 450 million dollars. The money for the new model of secondary school will benefit 100,000 pupils, including 50,000 girls through activities and programs that meet their learning needs.
(Video) http://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2016/06/190391/king-mohammed-vi-hosts-iftar-in-honor-of-us-first-lady-michelle-obama/
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American First Family in Kaftan Dresses: A Symbolic Gesture of Friendship

Wednesday 29 June 2016 - Bryn Miller Rabat

American First Family in Kaftan Dresses: A Symbolic Gesture of Friendship

Dressed in Moroccan-style outfits, First Lady Michelle Obama and her daughters attended an iftar meal in Marrakesh last night with members of the King Mohammed VI’s family.  Mrs. Obama and her two daughters dressed in kaftan dresses – traditional Moroccan robes for special occasions — appropriately modified for the three American visitors. The First Lady wore a simple, patterned kaftan dress with traditional Moroccan-style buttons down the middle, while her daughters dressed in long, patterned dresses reminiscent of the Moroccan robes. Members of the royal family wore more ornate, traditional kaftans. The First Family’s decision to wear Moroccan-inspired clothing and participation in this important Ramadan ritual symbolized the friendship and cultural exchange that has characterized the two nations’ diplomatic relations for centuries.

Since declaring independence in 1776, America has benefitted from largely positive relations with the Kingdom. Morocco was one of the first nations to seek diplomatic relations with the nascent United States; diplomacy between the two countries in the late 18th century began a long history of cooperation based on economic opportunities. The strong relationship between the two countries has been underpinned by friendly relations between leaders since its inception. George Washington, the first American president, wrote a letter to Sultan Sidi Mohamed praising him as a “Great and Magnanimous Friend.” Multiple American presidents and leaders traveled the Kingdom throughout the 20th century, and King Hassan II and King Mohammed VI each visited Washington several times.
Today, Morocco is an important strategic ally for the United States with respect to counterterrorism efforts, sustainable development, and spreading democracy and education in the MENA region. The United States has invested heavily in trade and foreign aid in Morocco and has established many government-funded cultural exchange programs for students from both countries.

However, debates over U.N. presence in the Western Sahara strained relations between the Kingdom and America this spring. After U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon referred to Moroccan presence in the Western Sahara as an “occupation” in March, Morocco expelled U.N. civilian staff from the region. In April, the United States proposed that U.N Security Council require Morocco to readmit the expelled workers. The United States has largely supported Morocco’s stances regarding the Western Sahara in the past. Some leaders, including Hillary Clinton, have even been criticized by pro-Polisario groups for their close alignment with Rabat’s policies. However, America’s support for the reinstatement of U.N. workers in the region this spring angered Morocco.

Mrs. Obama’s visit the Kingdom and commitment to cooperation with the Moroccan government to improve girls’ educational opportunities indicates the two nations’ desire to move beyond the tension of the spring. In a blog post detailing her trip, the First Lady noted that Morocco is one of the United States’ “oldest allies” and an “important partner” in America’s initiatives to increase access to girls’ education. While in the Kingdom, she announced that the American government’s Millennium Challenge Corporation will invest $100 million to reorient and improve secondary school in Morocco. According to Mrs. Obama, these funds will help 50,000 teenage girls access secondary education.

The First Lady’s investment in girls’ education in Morocco indicates the United States’s reaffirmed commitment to strong political relations with Morocco after the tensions of the spring. However, pictures of Mrs. Obama and her daughters dressed in Moroccan-style clothing and smiling broadly next to Lalla Salma at the iftar indicate that the relationship between the two countries is not only strategic. The First Family’s visit is the most recent manifestation of a long history of cross-cultural friendship between Moroccan and American leaders, a relationship that will be increasingly important as xenophobic anxiety rises across the world.
http://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2016/06/190467/american-first-family-in-kaftan-dresses-a-symbolic-gesture-of-friendship/
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Letter From Morocco  RPCV Anooj Bhandari in NPCA WorldView

www.PeaceCorpsConnect.org Summer 2016 ∙

I recently finished my service in Morocco working in youth development. I started out in Sidi Yahya Lgharb, a small community in northwest Morocco, and finished up in Boumalne Dades, a small town in between the High Atlas and Anti-Atlas mountain ranges in the Sahara Desert. Although they look different based on their surroundings, each town has about 15,000 people and both are best described as rural towns based on farming economies. Both sites are pretty much entirely Muslim, but Sidi Yahya Lgharb is racially Arab and Boumalne Dades is Amazigh, or Berber.

The question of literacy of Morocco is a challenging one. The primary language in one town is Darija and in the other it’s Tamazight. Neither language is written. That makes access to any education difficult and college—where instructors lecture in French or standard Arabic—impossible.My assignment was youth development but like many other Peace Corps Volunteers in Morocco I quickly learned that problems of gender equity were knitted into the fabric of pretty much all of my work. Traditional gender norms in these towns keep women in the household. This mindset was hard for me to hear during those two years. Even though learning in a government school can make the girls better mothers to raise strong families, many parents brush the importance of girls’ education under the rug; If girls are destined to fulfill their role in the home, the house is the best place for them to stay. Fathers, teachers, community leaders, and some of my own students told me that there was no value in giving girls an opportunity to learn. How could I change those attitudes? Did I have the right to argue with them?

Unsafe spaces
The public and private spaces of life in these two towns are dominated by men and boys who maintain traditional expectations of women and girls. For the girls, the community spaces—the distance between home and school—were uncomfortable and sometimes unsafe. Often, some parents did not trust their daughters to walk in those public spaces. To avoid possible harassment, the girls who came to our classes would often ask us to change the places and times when we would meet. Four girls in our youth development program emerged to serve as resolute allies in the fight to let girls learn in town.

They were students at a nearby university, aged 18 to 20. And they were eager to serve their community and address issues of opportunities for women. We met on Fridays and talked over potential lessons and joined discussions at a town center where the ministry of national development held literacy classes. These young women possessed natural leadership and it showed. They led discussions based on the needs of the women in the room, and often allowed the conversation to wander off-topic to let the girls of the town talk about their lives and what they wanted. One day one of the students in a class on how to get a job came to me with tears running down her face.

I want to learn how to read, she said, so that someday I can pass that knowledge on to my daughters.

A dream in Arabic
The director of the community’s cultural center proved to be one of my strongest allies. She is also a part-time journalist, reading teacher, and member of the town’s women’s associations. Together, we had directed two public programs called Girl Rising. Each time, she spoke about educational opportunities for girls. The second was her own Arabic translation of Dr. Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech. At the end of the second program two students stepped up to speak out. With heads bowed, the two girls carried their chairs onto the stage and sat down. Both looked quite unsure of what was about to come out of their mouths. We watched as they relaxed and, in turn, spoke. What fell from them were poetic stories about their fathers wanting them to stay home, insisting that an education was not meant for them, and how they pushed back and told their families that they deserved an education.

How it worked
I cannot write about community solutions and problem-solving without talking about the importance of theater and improvisation as a way to address issues facing girls and women. These tools of public drama placed audiences in real-life scenarios of positive decision-making in order to experience individual and current issues and to feel what the future could be. We sometimes used a theater device called Theatre of the Oppressed to present scenes of problems and conflict in the community to draw emotional support from the audience. Public instances of emotional support are rare but they occur. You can feel the changing, a softening of the air in the room as people consider their roles as supporters for those who feel oppressed. Students discovered themselves. They would begin by looking at their audience, not knowing what to do. Slowly and softly they began and by the end they were telling their community they had to be in school and to stay there.The notion grew that if there are all of these girls sharing their stories of triumph, there are also certainly girls within a yell’s reach whose stories have yet not been told. Along the way in my work, I met people who believe in equality and opportunity; young people who told me that when they have children, they will all be in a classroom; young girls telling boys they must respect them and feeling their own self-worth.There are Moroccans who carry hope for the girls who are not in school and the girls who struggle to stay there. They are the reason that I felt value within my Peace Corps service, and the reason why girls should continue to be inspired, challenged, and motivated to consider the options that exist for them.
Anooj Bhandari served as a youth development worker in two small communities in Morocco from 2014 to 2016.https://www.dropbox.com/s/1g4ck8uy56nm4kz/Worldview%20Summer%202016_LetterfromMorocco.pdf?dl=0=============================================================================

Amazigh: Berber Girls Most Affected by High Illiteracy Rate in Morocco

In the Moroccan countryside and highlands, illiteracy rates among women and girls are as high as 90%. Most of the girls attend only primary school, with only 26% enrolling for secondary school. Some of the reasons for this phenomenon are lack of financial resources, sociocultural barriers expecting girls to perform domestic duties, and the distance of schools from rural areas. The Amazigh are the most affected by this problem, as they are not always very comfortable with the Arabic language and are therefore disadvantaged compared to the rest of the population. The lack of education is a serious issue, which further exacerbates poverty. For this reason, Education For All (EFA) – a small Moroccan NGO – has been sponsoring education for some Amazigh girls by providing them with accommodation, food, school and homework support.

Below is an article published by The Guardian:

Deep in Morocco’s High Atlas mountains, in the hamlet of Tazalt, two girls are doing their laundry in stream water. Inside one of the small reddish-brown stone houses, Malika Boumessoud, 38, is serving sweet mint tea and looking at a photo of herself while shaking her head at how old she looks.

In the next room, where five of her six children all sleep on two single mattresses on the floor, Boumessoud’s daughter Zahra, 19, is preparing to leave this classic scene of rural Moroccan life. She is a participant in a bold new experiment that could transform the lives of the girls and young women in the region: unlike the vast majority of her peers, Zahra is being granted an education. For the past seven years, she has lived in a boarding house run by a small Moroccan NGO, Education For All (EFA), in the town of Asni, 56 kilometres away. The house is a five-minute walk from the school she has attended during the week since the age of 12. In September, she hopes to go to university in Marrakech. Her mother, who married at 16, is acutely aware of how different her daughter’s life could have been had Zahra finished school at 12, like most of the other girls in the valley.

“I still wish I had gone to school,” says Malika. “Even after all these years of marriage and having all my children, I still regret not finishing my education. I don’t go out of the village, I just stay in the house day after day. I feel like a bird without any wings.”.

In rural Morocco, her experience is far from rare. Illiteracy rates for rural women and girls remain as high as 90%. Girls, especially those in areas such as the High Atlas, are more likely to drop out after primary school. Only 26% of girls in rural areas enrol for secondary education, according to the World Bank.

These problems disproportionately affect the Amazigh, commonly known as Berbers, the indigenous people of Morocco. While most Berbers adopted Islam and began speaking Arabic after the conquests of the seventh century, Berber culture and dialects of the Tamazight language survived, especially in the High Atlas. At school, lessons are in Arabic, which for most Berber children is their second language, if they have it at all. Unsurprisingly, they do poorly compared with Arabic children.

But in rural areas, it’s the distance to secondary schools that presents the biggest barrier, especially for girls. Khalid Chenguiti, education specialist at Unicef Morocco says: “Girls’ education, especially at secondary level, remains a challenge. There are many reasons for this, including the fact that schools are often poorly equipped with washrooms and sanitary facilitation, transportation is often difficult and, in some areas, girls are still required to support domestic tasks and face sociocultural barriers for completion of higher secondary education. These factors often disproportionately affect girls in rural areas.” Chenguiti explains why it’s a crucial problem to solve: “Providing girls with an education helps break the cycle of poverty: educated women are less likely to marry early and against their will; less likely to die in childbirth; more likely to have healthy babies; and are more likely to send their children to school.”

EFA’s solution is to bring the girls to the schools, an approach which is beginning to change the lives of Berber girls in a way that could transform the region’s future. Their boarding houses, which are run solely by Berber women, provide accommodation, healthy food, support with homework and extra French and English lessons. On average, the pass rate for all academic years is 97%.

Zahra bubbles with enthusiasm for the chance that has been handed to her: “At primary school, I really enjoyed studying but I knew there was little chance I would get to go to secondary school. When I was selected [by EFA], I was so happy. I was really nervous when I first got to the boarding house but I feel like I have found myself since being there. “I believe I will now have a good future and will be able to improve things for my family. My parents have been so supportive. They wanted me to have a better life than the one they have had. My first year of university will be very hard,” she says. “I’m sure, as it’s a very different life there, but I think it will be good for me.”

In bustling Marrakech, which feels like a different planet in comparison to the mountain villages, Khadijah Ahedouami, 21, knows exactly how Zahra is feeling. Three years ago she was in the same position. She has no regrets, but it has been far from an easy road. “I actually failed my first year,” she says. “Coming to Marrakech and studying all these new subjects was a hard thing for me to do, especially because I had only just got used to learning in Arabic, but at university everything is in French. I also had to get used to living in the city which is so different.”

The culture shock wasn’t the only thing she struggled with. Her mother had died while she was in upper secondary school and soon afterwards she lost her brother-in-law. “I had some family problems and my father had just remarried following the death of my mother. “Even though it was a year and a half after she died, my first year was the hardest time because I was living away from home. With everything going on, I thought ‘if I push myself with my studies, I’m going to lose my mind’, so I decided it was OK to take things slowly and repeat my first year.”

Ahedouami was one of the 10 girls who went to live in Asni with EFA when the first house opened nine years ago. It was her mother who passionately wanted her to have an education because she had grown up in Casablanca, where it’s normal for girls to be in school. But they first had to persuade her father. She says: “My father agreed we could go to see the house and when we found it, he thought it seemed OK and liked Latifa, the house mother. He asked if I wanted to stay, and of course I said, yes. Studying is my purpose in life.”

Khadijah is now not only the most educated girl in her village but the most educated in the whole valley. So respected is she that when she is home villagers come to her house to ask for advice on problems with their businesses or families. A lot of responsibility rests on her young shoulders. She says: “In my final year of school, I started to prepare my parents for the idea that I might go to university. By then, my parents trusted me but they only did because I earned it. During my years with EFA, I learned how to talk to people, how to spend my money, and how to stay respectable. And because other families look to me as an example when trying to decide whether to send their girls to school, I feel like I have to act very responsibly so they know education doesn’t make you go off the rails.”

Maryk Stroosnijder, one of the founders of EFA, says: “I think it is quite hard for the first girls because others look up to them, but the attitudes are slowly changing. The first parents took a risk and now we have parents begging us to take their girls.” Nor is Stroosnijder surprised to hear about Zahra’s mother feeling like a bird without wings because, she says, many mothers feel the same. “But,” she adds, “they are giving their daughters wings.”
http://unpo.org/article/19267
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In Morocco’s Atlas mountains, Berber girls find the way out of rural poverty: an education

The remoteness of many villages meant that secondary school was not an option
Supported by Rockefeller Foundation Nicola Slawson@nicola_slawson Sunday 19 June 2016

Deep in Morocco’s High Atlas mountains, in the hamlet of Tazalt, two girls are doing their laundry in stream water. Inside one of the small reddish-brown stone houses, Malika Boumessoud, 38, is serving sweet mint tea and looking at a photo of herself while shaking her head at how old she looks.

In the next room, where five of her six children all sleep on two single mattresses on the floor, Boumessoud’s daughter Zahra, 19, is preparing to leave this classic scene of rural Moroccan life. She is a participant in a bold new experiment that could transform the lives of the girls and young women in the region: unlike the vast majority of her peers, Zahra is being granted an education. For the past seven years, she has lived in a boarding house run by a small Moroccan NGO, Education For All (EFA), in the town of Asni, 56 kilometres away. The house is a five-minute walk from the school she has attended during the week since the age of 12. In September, she hopes to go to university in Marrakech. Her mother, who married at 16, is acutely aware of how different her daughter’s life could have been had Zahra finished school at 12, like most of the other girls in the valley. “I still wish I had gone to school,” says Malika. “Even after all these years of marriage and having all my children, I still regret not finishing my education. I don’t go out of the village, I just stay in the house day after day. I feel like a bird without any wings.”.

In rural Morocco, her experience is far from rare. Illiteracy rates for rural women and girls remain as high as 90%. Girls, especially those in areas such as the High Atlas, are more likely to drop out after primary school. Only 26% of girls in rural areas enrol for secondary education, according to the World Bank.

These problems disproportionately affect the Amazigh, commonly known as Berbers, the indigenous people of Morocco. While most Berbers adopted Islam and began speaking Arabic after the conquests of the seventh century, Berber culture and dialects of the Tamazight language survived, especially in the High Atlas. At school, lessons are in Arabic, which for most Berber children is their second language, if they have it at all. Unsurprisingly, they do poorly compared with Arabic children. Educated women are less likely to marry early, and against their will, and less likely to die in childbirth

But in rural areas, it’s the distance to secondary schools that presents the biggest barrier, especially for girls. Khalid Chenguiti, education specialist at Unicef Morocco says: “Girls’ education, especially at secondary level, remains a challenge. There are many reasons for this, including the fact that schools are often poorly equipped with washrooms and sanitary facilitation, transportation is often difficult and, in some areas, girls are still required to support domestic tasks and face sociocultural barriers for completion of higher secondary education. These factors often disproportionately affect girls in rural areas.” Chenguiti explains why it’s a crucial problem to solve: “Providing girls with an education helps break the cycle of poverty: educated women are less likely to marry early and against their will; less likely to die in childbirth; more likely to have healthy babies; and are more likely to send their children to school.”

EFA’s solution is to bring the girls to the schools, an approach which is beginning to change the lives of Berber girls in a way that could transform the region’s future. Their boarding houses, which are run solely by Berber women, provide accommodation, healthy food, support with homework and extra French and English lessons. On average, the pass rate for all academic years is 97%.

Zahra bubbles with enthusiasm for the chance that has been handed to her: “At primary school, I really enjoyed studying but I knew there was little chance I would get to go to secondary school. When I was selected [by EFA], I was so happy. I was really nervous when I first got to the boarding house but I feel like I have found myself since being there. “I believe I will now have a good future and will be able to improve things for my family. My parents have been so supportive. They wanted me to have a better life than the one they have had. My first year of university will be very hard,” she says. “I’m sure, as it’s a very different life there, but I think it will be good for me.”

In bustling Marrakech, which feels like a different planet in comparison to the mountain villages, Khadijah Ahedouami, 21, knows exactly how Zahra is feeling. Three years ago she was in the same position. She has no regrets, but it has been far from an easy road. “I actually failed my first year,” she says. “Coming to Marrakech and studying all these new subjects was a hard thing for me to do, especially because I had only just got used to learning in Arabic, but at university everything is in French. I also had to get used to living in the city which is so different.” The culture shock wasn’t the only thing she struggled with. Her mother had died while she was in upper secondary school and soon afterwards she lost her brother-in-law. “I had some family problems and my father had just remarried following the death of my mother.“Even though it was a year and a half after she died, my first year was the hardest time because I was living away from home. With everything going on, I thought ‘if I push myself with my studies, I’m going to lose my mind’, so I decided it was OK to take things slowly and repeat my first year.”

Ahedouami was one of the 10 girls who went to live in Asni with EFA when the first house opened nine years ago. It was her mother who passionately wanted her to have an education because she had grown up in Casablanca, where it’s normal for girls to be in school. But they first had to persuade her father. She says: “My father agreed we could go to see the house and when we found it, he thought it seemed OK and liked Latifa, the house mother. He asked if I wanted to stay, and of course I said, yes. Studying is my purpose in life.”

Khadijah is now not only the most educated girl in her village but the most educated in the whole valley. So respected is she that when she is home villagers come to her house to ask for advice on problems with their businesses or families. A lot of responsibility rests on her young shoulders. She says: “In my final year of school, I started to prepare my parents for the idea that I might go to university. By then, my parents trusted me but they only did because I earned it. During my years with EFA, I learned how to talk to people, how to spend my money, and how to stay respectable. And because other families look to me as an example when trying to decide whether to send their girls to school, I feel like I have to act very responsibly so they know education doesn’t make you go off the rails.”

Maryk Stroosnijder, one of the founders of EFA, says: “I think it is quite hard for the first girls because others look up to them, but the attitudes are slowly changing. The first parents took a risk and now we have parents begging us to take their girls.” Nor is Stroosnijder surprised to hear about Zahra’s mother feeling like a bird without wings because, she says, many mothers feel the same. “But,” she adds, “they are giving their daughters wings.”
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jun/18/girls-poverty-school-university-morocco-africa
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Arab or Berber by Identity; Jewish by Culture

by Ira Forman June 16, 2016

Morocco is distinct for a number of reasons. From the colorful zellij (mosaic tiles) that adorn its mosques, to its unique souks and spices, to its blend of Amazigh (Berber), Arab, French, and Spanish traditions, Morocco is distinctive. What most people do not realize, however, is that Morocco is also noteworthy because of its Jewish community and heritage. 

Morocco was home to the largest Jewish community in the Middle East prior to 1948; today about 4,000 Moroccan Jews remain, with most residing in Casablanca. His Majesty King Mohammed VI of Morocco has been a strong supporter of pluralism and diversity; in fact, the country’s constitution outlines a commitment to preserve the various cultural and religious influences interwoven into the tapestry of Moroccan history and heritage, including Jewish influences. Yet many younger Moroccans are unaware of the country’s rich Jewish heritage. 

One group, Mimouna Association, hopes to change this. Founded at Al-Akhawayn University in Ifrane in 2007, Mimouna’s members –- primarily Moroccan Muslims –- promote recognition and celebration of Morocco’s unique Jewish culture. The organization now has chapters at universities in Fes, Rabat and Marrakesh.  

The club is named after the unique Moroccan Jewish celebration held the day after Passover to welcome the return of leavened bread. Traditionally, Moroccan Jews invited their Muslim neighbors to their homes to participate in the feast. For Mimouna club members, this festival is a symbol of what the Vice-President of the Association, calls the “Convivencia,” the brotherhood of Muslims and Jews in Morocco. “We must preserve this beautiful aspect of our culture,” she said.

Many older Moroccans remember their former Jewish neighbors with nostalgia. However, younger generations are largely unaware of these relationships, and their views of Jews may be influenced by anti-Semitic sentiment that unfortunately exists everywhere. Additionally, many young Moroccans have never met someone who is Jewish. Mimouna aims to expose students to this aspect of the country’s history and culture. 

To do so, Mimouna has organized numerous cultural and academic events. They have arranged annual “Moroccan Jewish Days” on university campuses, featuring art, music, dancing, and food. In 2011, Mimouna organized a conference about the Holocaust. The New York Times wrote that this event “may well have been the first of its kind in an Arab or Muslim nation, and a sign of historical truth triumphing over conspiracy theories and anti-Semitic dogma.”

In 2014, the organization launched the Moroccan Jewish Caravan, a series of events and conferences in Fes, Casablanca, Tangiers, Rabat, Essaouira, and New York City. They hope that their work with also serve to strengthen Muslim-Jewish relations throughout the Moroccan diaspora.

The members of Mimouna believe that civil society organizations such as theirs provide the way to achieve real change in the region, by building bridges connecting communities and helping Moroccans stay connected to their multi-cultural roots. As the President of Mimouna told us at a recent roundtable event hosted by the U.S. Embassy in Rabat, “We are proud to be good Muslims. We are Arab or Amazigh (Berber) by identity, but we are also Jewish by culture.”
About the Author: Ira Forman serves as the Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism at the U.S. Department of State. 
https://blogs.state.gov/stories/2016/06/16/morocco-arab-or-berber-identity-jewish-culture
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American Channel PBS to Air Documentary About Morocco on July 10

Wednesday 29 June 2016 - Morocco World News By Kimberly J. Avalos Rabat

A multi-part documentary where three musical friends travel to 10 Moroccan cities in 15 days exploring the country’s historical musical influences will air on PBS’ KLRU on Sunday July 10. For the first part of the documentary, Noumaine Lahlou, a Moroccan superstar singer, songwriter and producer; Hassan Hakmoun, a master Gnawa musician; and Laurent Le Gall, a film director and producer, travel from Casablanca to Tangier and then to Chefchaouen exploring Morocco’s traditions with music. “The history of Morocco’s music continues to weave thread into the fabric of today’s melodies,” it says.

The team will meet several Moroccan artistic personalities including Noumane Lahlou himself, award-winning musician Abdelouhab Doukkali, singer kaouTar Berani, and rap artist Don Bigg.
Each reveals their personal influences for the music they produce, ranging from its emotional strength, Amazigh influences, themes in education and even historic musical scales.
The documentary is part of a travel and music television series, Music Voyager, that “explores the most musically exciting cities in the world,” according to the Tantra film company’s website who produced the series. (Video)
http://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2016/06/190489/american-channel-pbs-to-air-documentary-about-morocco-on-july-10-2/
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Washington Hails Morocco’s Experience in the Fight against Extremism

The US government has praised Morocco’s successful experience in the fight against religious extremism in Africa through its imams training program and hailed the North African country’s efforts to promote tolerance and inter-faith dialogue. Speaking lately at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington, D.C., think tank, Sarah Sewall, under-secretary for civilian security, democracy and human rights, said Morocco has taken “the lead in training imams from a host of nations in how to help clerics preach moderation and trust to refute the violent perversion of Islam.” Sewall made the remarks while tackling the State Department‘s pilot program to combat terrorism and religious extremism in Africa through prevention.

The U.S. is spending about $200 million a year on preventative programs in countering extremism, she said, noting that “preventive work is probably the hardest” challenge particularly in Africa.
In the African continent, the young people are particularly vulnerable of being set adrift in industrializing societies, added the US under-secretary. Extremists, such as al Shabaab in Somalia, make attractive promises of security and law and project themselves as “the defender of the faithful,” she added, affirming that there is no guarantee that preventative efforts will “give the perfect formula” for each community, district or country to meet the challenges they face.

But “religious institutions” can play an important role, said the US official, citing in this regard Morocco’s inspiring initiative to train African imams to counter Islamic radicalization. Morocco, a beacon of moderate Islam, has launched lately a new Foundation for African Ulemas (Islamic clerics/scholars,) a Fez-based academic institution seeking to enhance cooperation and dialogue between African preachers to counter Isis extremist ideas and deceptive propaganda.

King Mohammed VI of Morocco launched in March 2015 a leading Institute that provides training to hundreds of imams of various nationalities, including some from Africa and Europe.
The center teaches Imams the precepts of a tolerant and non-violent form of Islam based on Maliki rite and teach them how to fight extremism and religious radicalization through sound argumentation and dialogue. According to some experts, the Mohammed VI Institute for Imams Training combined with the new fez-based Foundation will certainly help thwart the perversion of Islam and prevent the use of religion as an excuse for violence and terrorist acts.
Written by: Jaber Ali on August 5, 2016.
http://me-confidential.com/13361-washington-hails-moroccos-experience-in-the-fight-against-extremism.html
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Corruption is crippling Morocco’s nascent democracy

August 5, 2016 at 2:35 pm Published in: Africa, Article, Morocco, Abderrahim Chalfaouat
@chalfaouat August 5, 2016

Several months ago, Moroccan foreign relations reached a political impasse. The Sahara affair, more particularly, led the kingdom’s relations with the UN secretary general, the US, the EU and some Arab and African states to falter. A sudden policy change has commingled foreign investment with political cards to create more favourable circumstances today, temporarily at least.

Reaching out to diverse international and regional powers seems to have enabled foreign policy to move on in leaps and bounds. Yet, due to uncertain commitment from new allies, in a region of transforming alliances and political blocs, Morocco’s King Mohammed VI reiterates frequently that the country fulfils its promises, contracts and strategic relations with traditional friends, at arm’s length from all.

However, the importance given to, and capacity invested in, foreign policy is crippled by internal administrative corruption. In his 17th Throne Day anniversary speech, the king admitted that corruption cannot be fought by one individual, party or association. Rather, it requires cooperation between the state and civil society, respect for the rule of law and rational expectations, since eradicating it totally may be just wishful thinking.

In fact, it primarily requires clear anti-corruption policies from all key stakeholders, the rejection of monopolies and the enforcement of accountability. Corruption resists and proves impossible to curb when judges cannot indict corrupt officials.

Even government officials are not on the same wavelength in the struggle against corruption. For Abdelilah Benkiran, Morocco deserves to be ranked among developed and rising states, but corruption, despotism and monopolies drag the kingdom down. In his inaugural speech of the annual national conference of the ruling Justice and Development Party (PJD) youth organisation, the head of the government insisted that the mixture of corruption and monopoly jeopardises the state, the citizens and the regime. He echoed the aspirations of the majority of Moroccans, including the youth who ignited the Arab Spring, those who voted for the PJD and the thousands at the rally that afternoon. He, in a sense, revivified the atmosphere of the 2011 elections, with the promises of ousting corruption and coercion.

However, a leaked list exposed numerous officials, or “state servants”, who bought large state-owned land parcels too cheaply. Instead of its real value of a minimum 4,000 Moroccan dirhams (MADs, around £320) – or up to 20,000 MADs for a square metre — they paid just 350 MADs (£30). For instance, Abdelouafi Leftit, the Governor of Rabat region, acquired 3,755 square metres for a meagre 1,389,000 MADs in one of the most expensive areas in the country.

What added insult to injury was a joint press release from the Ministries of the Interior and Finance, both of which defended the group land confiscation and accused “certain parties” — meaning the PJD — of leaking the list for electoral reasons. The reference to the PJD was more of an escape route from the public uproar on social media, especially as MPs couldn’t look into the scandal s ince the two ministers in question refused to attend a public hearing and the parliament mandate ended. Apparently the Ministry of Justice and Public Freedoms is not responsible for investigating the scandal. Thus, the prospects for the affair being investigated thoroughly are slim, and street advocacy may snowball again.

In another example, Abdeslam Lebbar, a member of the House of Councillors, shrewdly spotlighted the gargantuan scope of corruption that soaked up the “Education Emergency Plan” to reform the sector between 2009 and 2011. True, some of the plan’s projects were axed in the Arab Spring context, but, as Lebbar reveals – as did others before him — the main actors from within the Ministry of National Education, whom he took for a gang, have remained in their posts. Consequently, the Ministry of Justice and Public Freedom has launched another set of lawsuits against them. Yet, part of the fight is to bring out the officials who created a surreal situation when the education minister in 2009 represented an opposition party, the Party of Authenticity and Modernity (PAM).
In the Basel governance indicator — among other transparency reports and indicators — Morocco ranks 80th globally and 6th in the MENA region in terms of the risks that corruption and money laundering exert on financial regulations, public transparency and the rule of law. Thus, democratisation discourse has enough signs to sound inconsistent.

Furthermore, lack of transparency obliged Benkiran to describe Morocco as a two-state country; one led by the king while the other “we don’t know”; one that is official while the other is for decisions and appointments. The bold statement got him into trouble with the king, who mentioned this in his Throne Day speech.

The royal palace tries to promote an image of being an umbrella for all. When Ilyas Elomari, PAM secretary General, commits political mistakes, other state institutions keep their distance. He attacked the Mohammed 6 radio channel for the Qur’an, which has dominated audience share ever since media metrics started in Morocco in 2012. The Moroccan Press Agency (MAP), in response, shared a report that acknowledges the channel’s role in mitigating extremism in Morocco.

Second, when Elomari organised an international conference calling for the legalisation of cannabis, Morocco’s representative at a UN meeting for drug legalisation clearly expressed the country’s unwillingness to promote it, overthrowing the Tangier conference recommendations.

In the meantime, Elomari’s activities receive much public media coverage as PAM secretary General and president of the northern region of Tangier-Tetouan-Al Hoceima. A Chinese project was taken from another region to his, while politicians accuse him of sponsoring electoral campaigns from drug money. Nevertheless, he remains the deep state’s favourite candidate in the October elections.
Such examples of corruption pinpoint the effort needed to put Morocco on the track of genuine democratisation. Only a clear balance between foreign and internal policies can convince Moroccan youth of the possibility of a sincere democratic experience. Foreign powers too need to see a logical match between official discourse and international reports. Put differently, a fiercer struggle against corruption and despotism can lower both domestic and external pressure.
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20160805-corruption-is-crippling-moroccos-nascent-democracy/
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As I See It: Villanova student writes of challenges facing young in Morocco

Wednesday, August 03, 2016 By Lily Haddad
The following essay was written as an open essay to the First Lady, Michelle Obama:

When I read that you were going to visit Morocco this summer, as a part of your Let Girls Learn campaign, I was thrilled. Not only because I think Let Girls Learn is a wonderful and important cause, but also because I spent my summer in Morocco, interning and volunteering at a camp for kids with America’s Unofficial Ambassadors. I am proud to have worked towards the same goals as the First Lady of my country, and I thought you would be interested in hearing about my experience in Morocco, the community center where I worked, and my summer campers who work so hard for a chance at a brighter future.

The kids at our summer camp love art. Coloring, painting, or playing Pictionary with new English vocabulary words; you name it, the kids love it. They also love playing outside: jump rope, basketball, soccer, musical chairs, and more. In these ways, the kids who attend summer camp are like any other kid around the world. However, in other ways, our campers have to grow up more quickly than many of their counterparts in the United States.

Some of our campers have difficult home and family situations. Some are orphans, and a few of them are deaf. For these reasons and others, the children at our summer camp have not had the opportunity to attend school. To remedy this situation, our campers attend an ‘informal’ education program at the Azrou Center, an incredible community center serving the people of Azrou, Morocco. In this program, students have the chance to grow and learn in a non-traditional school setting. Year round, students are taught math, science, Arabic, and French, and they build professional trade skills such as woodworking and clothing making. If the students are successful, they can take exams to test back into the formal Moroccan schooling system. The Azrou Center’s informal education system affords countless opportunities to children who are put at a disadvantage due to uncontrollable circumstances.

According to the World Bank, Moroccan youth unemployment was over 20 percent in 2014, and is a growing problem throughout Morocco. Without schooling, the chances of children anywhere getting a job decreases dramatically, and future prospects may seem daunting or bleak. The Azrou Center provides a much-needed safe place for kids to be kids and pursue an education, helping to break the cycle of poverty and create brighter futures.

I was particularly touched, and impressed, by the girls who I met this summer at the Azrou Center. One of our campers, Salma, is deaf, but she is not let that stop her. She is learning English by reading our lips, and she taught us sign language. Another camper, Chaymae is having a hard time adjusting to living with her mother after growing up with her grandmother. She doesn’t have a birth certificate so she was never able to go to school. Despite that, she comes into the classroom each day with a smile and a hug for every teacher and student. The challenges that these and other girls face do not define them, and education gives them hope for the future.

I also came to realize that there are children and teenagers all over Morocco that do not have a place like the Azrou Center. Girls, in particular, are often discouraged or prevented from pursuing an education. In some villages, schools are few and far between, and children must work to help support their families.

I loved working and playing with the kids, and watching their ability and confidence grow every day. Advocating for every girl’s right to stay in school, and pursue her passion in the arts and/or the sciences, is an encouraging step in the right direction, though there is so much more that needs to be done. When I start my junior year at Villanova University this fall, I will keep in mind the children and students that I met in Morocco, as they inspire me to use my education to help others. Providing more access to education, both formal and informal, is crucial in helping kids follow their dreams and passions, regardless of their backgrounds or disadvantages. Only then will their futures be as bright as their hopes and ambitions.

Thank you for your leadership on these issues. As I learned firsthand, we are all better off when we let girls learn.
http://www.mainlinemedianews.com/articles/2016/08/03/main_line_suburban_life/opinion/doc57a288c709256980438275.txt
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Morocco: Two Millennia of Jewish History and Tradition

by Menachem Rephun

Like many countries, Morocco has a rich and fascinating history of Jewish culture and tradition, spanning more than 2,500 years. Prior to the State of Israel’s founding in 1948, the country’s Jewish population numbered between 250,000 and 350,000, according to The Encyclopedia of World History, Sixth Edition. Today, fewer than 2,500 remain,  a 2012 study by Sergia DellaPergola of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem found.

The Aladdin Project, a cultural and educational program dedicated to bridging the divide between Jews and Muslims, states that Morocco had hundreds of Jewish communities nationwide on the eve of its independence in 1956. The Moroccan Jewish population totaled at about 280,000 people at the time, making it the Muslim world’s largest Jewish community.

About 238,000 Jews lived in French Morocco, 15,000 in Spanish Morocco, and 12,000 in Tangier in 1948, according to Jewish Virtual Library. A 1951 census in French Morocco found a total of 199,156 Jews which, combined with the Jewish population of Spanish Morocco, brought the total number of Moroccan Jews to about 222,000.

According to writer Ralph G. Bennett on the website Sefarad.org, the Jewish presence in North Africa predates the ancient Romans, as historians have found Hebrew inscriptions on ancient tombstones near modern-day Fez.

“It seems it was the indigenous Berber population that first converted to Judaism,” the website reports. “Until the fifth century, these Jewish Berbers enjoyed equal rights with Muslims Berbers.”
In the twelfth century, the Moroccan Jewish population suffered persecution under the Almohads, a Berber mountain people who established an empire from Spain to Western Libya, based on a fundamentalist interpretation of Islam. The Almohads expelled the Moroccan Jews from Marrakesh, trying to eliminate their national presence entirely.

According to Projet Aladin, under the Almohad leader Abdel Moumen, “the Jews were persecuted to the point that their communities in the oasis communities of the Draa and Sijilmassa were destroyed. Jews in these communities who did not convert were killed.”

At the time of the Almohad reign, the legendary Jewish physician and scholar Rabbi Moses ben Maimon (better known as Maimonides, or his acronym Rambam) left Cordoba and settled in Morocco from 1159-1165, living in the old city of Fez.  Maimonides advised Jews to leave the country due to the rampant persecution taking place.  It is possible that by 1224, no synagogues were left in the country.

During the Holocaust, Moroccan King Mohammed V protected his Jewish subjects from the Nazis, rejecting anti-Semitic orders by France’s Vichy puppet-government prohibiting Moroccan Jews from fulfilling any public functions. Mohammed also rejected calls to force Moroccan Jews to wear yellow stars, a la the Jews in Nazi-occupied Europe. “There are no Jews in Morocco,” the king reportedly said. “There are only subjects.”

Jewish Virtual Library.org notes that, “Modern antisemitic tendencies, though prevalent among the European settlers, were practically nonexistent among Moroccan Muslims before the 1930s.”
One of the most well-known Moroccan-Jewish traditions is Mimouna, a ceremony marking the return to eating chametz (leavened bread) after Passover. The ceremony typically begins after nightfall on the last day of Passover. In many communities, non-Jews sell back chametz to their Jewish neighbors to mark the beginning of the celebration. In Israel, the yearly event is celebrated with outdoor parties, picnics, and barbecues.

According to blog-based web magazine 972mag.com, “There is no one way to celebrate Mimouna. There are communities who make mofletta (a traditional pancake served during the holiday) and there are those who do not. There are places where Mimouna was celebrated at home, there were Jewish cities where the streets were filled with celebrations and in other places Jews celebrated in the fields and gardens. The main idea behind the holiday is the celebration of spring and summer — to go out into nature and pray that the rest of the year brings good luck.”
Today, most of the Jews that remain are concentrated in the cities of Casablanca and Rabat. Norman Berdichevsky, an author, freelance writer, and lecturer on history, placed the number at less than 4,000 in a 2012 essay for NewEnglishReview.org.

Projet Aladin reports that cities such as Essaouira (Mogador), whose Jewish population recently exceeded 60%, as well as  the traditional Jewish communities of Fez and Marrakesh, “have lost their people and their dynamic culture. The various Jewish communities of Moroccan origin worldwide now have a combined population of over a million Jews.”
http://jpupdates.com/2016/08/03/morocco-two-millennia-of-jewish-history-and-tradition/
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Interview with Edward Gabriel, U.S. Ambassador to Morocco

August 1, 2016 Written by Ambassador James C. Rosapepe

Read it here: http://www.diplomaticourier.com/interview-edward-gabriel-u-s-ambassador-morocco/
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Morocco’s Intercultural Communication

By Morocco World News - August 1, 2016 By Abdessamad Sahli Salé

In recent times Morocco has become the destination for millions of foreigners partially due to the country’s unique environment to foster cross-cultural communication. This ability to communicate, which stems from Morocco’s rich cultural diversity, hospitality and receptivity of guests, leads to a comfortable, welcoming environment.

Jamie Kreindler, a Peace Corps Volunteer helping out in the town of El Menzel (near Sefrou), has noted this trend. She said: “As a Peace Corps Volunteer who has lived in Morocco for over a year and half, I’ve noticed that Morocco is a diverse country that represents and respects many cultures. Due to this diversity, Moroccans have a domestically-ingrained spirit of intercultural communication which abolishes the barriers of international exchange between countries. Foreign visitors choose to visit Morocco due to the welcoming, comfortable atmosphere promoted by this exchange, which allows them to have fun and travel freely.”

The hospitality of Moroccans facilitates this communication. They honour people who belong to other states. Foreigners are greeted with cheerful faces and affectionate hugs, making them more likely to open up and learn about Morocco. The way that Moroccan citizens approach visitors with great hospitality discloses that Morocco is a place where a multitude of cultures can co-exist due to the prevalence of solidarity, the spirit of collectivism and cohabitation.

This aspect is markedly noticed in numerous Moroccan cities viz. Agadir, Essaouira, Ouarzazate, Marakech, Rabat, Casablanca, Fez and Chefchaouen. Foreigners receive a cordial welcome in these cities. Since there is no hurdle that can derange their stability, they incline to make excursions all over Morocco with the Moroccan peers. This is because they interact peacefully, and they share their cultural characteristics which tacitly construct their cultural awareness so that no cultural shock can emerge. As a result this feature offers no room for ethnocentrism which is the tendency to differentiate between cultures in terms of superiority and inferiority.

There are several instances which show the intercultural exchange between the Moroccan citizens and foreigners. For example, a large number of tourists meet many Moroccan people in the Jamaa El Fna, the main square in Marrakesh. They both discover the Moroccan folklore whilst strolling around the region. This interaction opens the door for intercultural exchange.

The hospitality and diversity of Moroccans, coupled with the open-mindedness of foreigners visiting Morocco, facilitate this communication and welcoming atmosphere. This atmosphere, in addition to positively impacting the Moroccan economy by increasing the number of tourists, helps foster connections between Morocco and many other countries around the globe.
Edited by Bryn Miller
http://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2016/08/192848/moroccos-intercultural-communication/
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In Pictures: Remote Berber Villages Struggle with Infrastructure and Poverty

By Morocco World News - July 31, 2016 By Kimberly J. Avalos Rabat

Morocco is home to the majestic Atlas Mountains, the largest mountain range in Africa. And scattered across that landscape are Amazigh villages giving beautiful but harsh living environments to the ancient Berber people. AP reports that at least 15 million Moroccans are Amazigh, divided into different groups according to their dialects.

Despite Morocco’s huge tourist trade and proximity to Europe, much of rural Morocco remains below the poverty line, and the country ranked 130th in the latest human development index published by the United Nations.

The remote mountainous region around Anfgou suffers from a crippling lack of infrastructure, with many roads unpassable in the winter months and residents complaining of having to transport basic supplies by mule for long distances along icy roads, as reported by Middle East Online.

This fact is supported by the World Bank, which says access to water, sanitation, and electric power is limited to about 40 percent of the rural Moroccan population.
Anfgou has gained a reputation as an isolated area where their enemy is the cold, especially after Al Jazeera reported on it during the winter of 2007 when Anfgou saw many of its children die of the extreme cold.

“Do not summarize the problems of the cold region,” said Bassoy Obbouz from the village of Tamalout in an interview with Telquel. “This situation is the result of the management of the local municipal council who squandered timber revenues of the cedar forest. The region is drowning in debt and nobody is investing in infrastructure.” He also bitterly commented on the Amazigh children who approach cars asking for money or supplies. “It’s normal when you get used to people to beg instead of launching real human development projects.”

Only about 43 percent of all villages have year-round or relatively easy access to rural roads, according to the World Bank. The remainder have either difficult access and are to subject to seasonal isolation or are completely inaccessible to motorized vehicles at all times.

The Second Rural Roads Project by the World Bank, wich aims to increase rural road accessibility in Morocco, is progressing satisfactorily, according to the World Bank, and thus contributes to the advance of the Government’s Second National Program of Rural Roads.

As of April 2016, the improvement of 15,000 km of rural roads has been completed or tendered, rural road accessibility exceeds 79 percent and the disparity of accessibility between provinces has significantly decreased. The program should be very close to achieve 80 percent of accessibility at the end of 2016.

Many Amazigh own mountain donkeys, often the only mode of transport across the rocky, unpaved roads that connect Berber villages. They rely on cattle and agriculture as their main sources of income and maintain a nomadic lifestyle closely resembling that of their ancestors. Some, like in the village of Afgou, live in clay houses with no electricity or running water.
http://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2016/07/192433/in-pictures-remote-berber-villages-struggle-with-infrastructure-and-poverty/
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Baking Startup Brings Taste of Morocco to England

By Bryn Miller - July 31, 2016 Marrakech

When Rebecca Jones first tasted amlou, Morocco’s distinctive blend of almonds, argan oil, and honey, in the streets of Casablanca, she knew she had found the inspiration for her next cupcake. Ms. Jones founded Miss Munchin’s Cupcakes, a baking startup, in 2014 to combine her passion for travel, culture, and baking. She crafts made-to-order cupcakes that bring the tastes of the world to customers in England, seeking to connect people from around the world with her recipes.

After studying abroad in the United States and meeting students from around the world, Ms. Jones developed an interest in travel and exploring different cultures. When she returned to England in the summer of 2012, she noticed that cupcakes were everywhere. Cupcakes became even more popular throughout 2013, and Ms. Jones developed her own appreciation for the sweets. “I was buying them every week, taking detours on my way home from work,” she recounted, laughing. “I was addicted.” She soon began to try her own hand at baking. After some initial mishaps in the kitchen, she took a baking class and steadily improved with practice.

Ms. Jones wanted to start her own cupcake business, but the market in England was saturated. She knew she needed to make her brand unique, so she drew upon her travel experience. “I came up with the concept of culture-inspired cupcakes,” she explained. “I started making treats that drew upon the unique aspects and tastes of different countries.”

Ms. Jones’s first cupcake was called “Stateside,” a mix of peanut butter and raspberry jam inspired by American culture. Although she was able to draw upon her past travel experiences to craft the treats, she hit an inspirational wall staying in England. “I was making these global flavors,” she reflected, “and I just felt like I needed to go global.”

The next year, the world-wide Munchin’ Mission was born. Ms. Jones is now traveling the world, visiting one country each month for a year to discover each location’s unique cultural flavors. On her trips, she learns about each country’s culture and history, explores unique flavors, and focuses on local interactions to help her create authentic products. She always seeks out ingredients especially significant to the country’s culture to bring back to England, using them in her baking to pay appropriate homage to each culture’s authenticity. She has visited six countries so far: Canada, Belgium, Spain, The Netherlands, Morocco, and Romania.

Ms. Jones arrived in Morocco this spring and spent her time in Casablanca and Marrakesh. Fascinated by the rich mix of African, Arab, and European culture in Morocco, Ms. Jones set out to explore the markets of Casablanca. After sampling the food of the Kingdom, she identified two ingredients to use in her cupcake: amlou and almonds. “I was looking around, tasting different things, and I came across a gentleman that was telling me about amlou,” she explained. “I had never heard of amlou before, so I tasted it and asked him about it. He told me it was a popular spread made of almonds, argan oil, and honey used on bread that originates from the southern part of Morocco.”

Ms. Jones, like most people outside of Morocco, had always thought argan oil could only be used for cosmetic purposes. After learning more about the oil, she wanted to use amlou in her cupcakes to help inform other people about its culinary use. “I thought to myself, okay, I have to do something with this,” she said. “I have no idea how I’m going to use it in a cupcake, but I have to, because I’ve just learned something and I really want to share that.”

Inspired by the people she met in Morocco, Ms. Jones wanted to share her experience in Morocco with her fellow Brits. “This culture is just phenomenal,” she gushed. “If there’s something I can do to pay homage to Morocco, it’s hands-down to create the best cupcake I can make.” Named the Casablanca cupcake, Ms. Jones’s Morocco-inspired cupcake uses almond & dates in the sponge and has a honey-based buttercream. She created a sweet drizzle to garnish the cupcake using amlou.

She hopes that this cupcake will make Moroccan culture more accessible to her customers. “If I gave customers amlou in a bowl with a piece of bread, they wouldn’t recognize it,” Ms. Jones explains. “But if I put a cupcake on the table, there will be enough recognizable elements to start a conversation about Morocco that they can relate to.”

Ms. Jones hopes to bring flavors from Morocco and elsewhere around the world back to her home to connect people. “I’m trying to unite us and highlight the things that bring us together. I want to slowly introducing people to different cultures and make them curious to learn more.” As the political scene is increasingly dominated by voices highlighting our differences, Ms. Jones’s cupcakes are a small step towards promoting understanding and appreciation of cultural differences.
http://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2016/07/192741/baking-startup-brings-taste-of-morocco-to-england/
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Domestic Violence in Morocco

By Youssef Igrouane - July 30, 2016 Rabat

A recent study found that housewives and unemployed women in Morocco are more prone to violence and assault. The first annual report by the National Observatory on Violence Against Women, released on Friday, said a quarter of cases of violence against women are economy-related s, adding that women between the ages of 18-45 are vulnerable to face many kinds of violence.

“The phenomenon of violence against women threatens the domestic entity of [Moroccan society],” said Bassima Hakkaoui, the Moroccan Minister of Solidarity, Women, Family and Social Development.

The same report highlighted that the 27 percent of recorded cases of violence in 2014 are associated with “the economic violence,” which is ranked second after  physical violence.
Hakkaoui added that economic violence is preventing women from alimony and exploiting her in terms of household expenses.  The report said that the cases of women who experience violence in urban areas have increased, unlike those in rural areas where it is difficult to access centers for women’s rights or to record their cases.
http://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2016/07/192705/unemployed-women-exposed-domestic-violence-morocco/
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Number of Internet Users in Morocco Increases 34 Percent

By Morocco World News - July 28, 2016 By Alexandra Krauska Rabat

The National Agency of Telecommunication Regulations (ANRT) reported Monday that the number of internet users in Morocco increased by 34.4 percent in 2016. The total number of internet users is now 13.69 million users. The entire sector is experiencing growth. The number of mobile users increased by 3.65 percent, connecting more Moroccans to each other and the rest of the globe through text messages, phone calls, and the internet.

The average internet bill in Morocco increased by 4 percent this year, to 24 MAD per month. The average mobile user spends 13 percent more on mobile data this year, at 17 MAD per month.
The UN reported in September of 2015 that billions of people around the world are still living without internet access. The report stated that “57 per cent of the world’s people remain offline and unable to take advantage of the enormous economic and social benefits the Internet can offer.”

The UN 2030 Agenda includes strategies to reduce barriers to internet access. According to their survey of internet access around the world, the greatest barriers include lack of necessary infrastructure and affordability. Higher rates of internet access have been found to lead to higher literacy rates in developing countries, based on Stanford research in Africa. Schools with limited resources can greatly benefit from internet access, which can provide inexpensive and accessible educational resources. In addition, businesses may benefit from advertising and networking available online.
http://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2016/07/192565/number-internet-users-morocco-increase-34-percent/
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Morocco Bans Plastic Bags

Katie Pohlman

A plastic bag ban went into effect this month in Morocco, the second-largest plastic bag consumer after the U.S. But, officials say, its going to take some time for shops and retailers to get used to the new law. Morocco's ban on the production and use of plastic bags went into effect July 1 after the plastic ban bill was passed by parliament in October 2015. As the July 1 deadline approached, shop owners scrambled to find and collect reusable bags. Green campaigners, AlJazeera reported, say consumers may need years to fully comply with the ban.

"It's a big cultural shift with that type of broader law," Jennie Romer, a New York-based lawyer," told AlJazeera. "As long as the government has the motivation to really enforce that. There is a lot of potential. The government entity that is implementing it has to be completely on board in order to make that really happen in practice."

Morocco uses about 3 billion plastic bags a year, according to the Moroccan Industry Ministry. The U.S. uses about 100 billion a year, according to the Earth Policy Institute, and 1 trillion are used globally per year.

The North African country has been working on banning plastic bags for years. A ban of the production and use of black plastic bags was put in place in 2009, but the bags were still being produced.
This time around, officials hope to prevent that situation by providing alternate solutions. Moulay Hafid Elalamy, industry minister and initiator of the bill, tweeted that bags made of paper and fabric will be made widely available.

Yassine Zegzouti, president of Mawarid, said changing consumer habits will be the toughest part. "The formal sector will need four to five years to comply with the new law," Zegzouti said. "But the use of plastic bags is anchored in [consumer] habit. All actors need to change these habits to not have any damage in the future."

Morocco is ranked one of the world's greenest countries, along with Costa Rica, Bhutan and Ethiopia. The country's biggest achievements come in cracking down on carbon emissions and production of solar power. It is considered a green leader among developing nations.
http://www.ecowatch.com/morocco-bans-plastic-bags-1946455924.html
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Carrots go from boring to zesty after a visit to Morocco

By: Melissa D'Arabian, The Associated Press Wednesday, Jul. 27, 2016

Serving a couple of vegetables every night at dinner is a great strategy for families with picky-eaters. Offering young kids a choice ("Would you like green beans or parsnips or both tonight?") gives them a small but important sense of efficacy, while also helping to demystify ingredients that are served (non-threateningly) at the table. And for the rest of us, eating a couple of vegetables with each meal is a great opportunity to get in the variety of nutrients that keeps us healthy.

But two vegetables a night adds up quickly, and we can find ourselves a little lost for creative preparations, especially when time is short. One of my favourite ways to cook veggies quickly (even thicker root veggies) is the pan-saute/steam method. It's quick and melds the best of sautéing (a little fat and flavour) and steaming (speedy cooking without bland boiling).

Start by adding a little fat to a saute pan. I love coconut oil for the healthy benefits and slightly nutty and exotic notes it adds the veggies, but any neutral oil will do.
Saute the veggies for a couple of minutes, adding in whatever spices or aromatics you have around the house that your family loves. You can go simple with shallots or garlic or more complex with curry paste or Chinese five-spice powder.

Next, add liquid — water, broth, citrus juice — and cover to steam for a few minutes. Once the veggies are crisp-tender from the steam, uncover the pan and allow the liquid to evaporate, leaving the veggies in a tasty and simple glaze. Top with some kind of acid — lime juice, or tangy plain yogurt both work well with a variety of flavours.
And the final touch? Something crunchy (like pumpkin seeds or chopped nuts) and something fresh like chopped basil, cilantro or mint. The perfect veggie plan for weeknights.

MOROCCAN SPICED CARROTS WITH YOGURT SAUCE
Start to finish: 15 minutes
Servings: 4
1 pound baby carrots, peeled and greens removed
1 teaspoon coconut oil
1/2 teaspoon mustard seed
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon granulated garlic
3/4 teaspoon ras el hanout (Moroccan seasoning)
1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/4 cup chicken or vegetable stock
1 tablespoon lime juice
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

Sauce:
1/4 cup plain Greek lowfat yogurt
1 tablespoon lime juice
1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons toasted chopped walnuts
torn mint leaves for garnish

Heat a large saute pan over medium heat. Cook the mustard seed in coconut oil until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the cumin, ras el hanout, paprika, granulated garlic and stir. Add the carrots and salt and stir to coat carrots with spices, and cook until the spices are deep in colour, stirring, about 3 minutes.
Then deglaze the pan with stock and lime juice. Cover the pan and let steam for 3 minutes, then uncover and cook until liquid evaporates, another 2 minutes.
Meanwhile make the sauce by mixing yogurt, lime juice, smoked paprika and salt in a small bowl. Lay the carrots on a platter and spoon some yogurt over the carrots. Top with walnuts and mint leaves to serve.
Nutrition information per serving: 97 calories; 35 calories from fat; 4 g fat (1 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 1 mg cholesterol; 294 mg sodium; 13 g carbohydrate; 3 g fiber; 8 g sugar; 3 g protein.
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Food Network star Melissa d'Arabian is an expert on healthy eating on a budget. She is the author of the cookbook "Supermarket Healthy."
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Online: http://www.melissadarabian.net
http://www.brandonsun.com/lifestyles/breaking-news/carrots-go-from-boring-to-zesty-after-a-visit-to-morocco-388380151.html
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An American Student’s Encounters with Islam in Morocco

19 Jul 2016  author icon Posted by Jayla Lundstrom, Student, University of Utah
Featured Contributor Jayla Lundstrom, a volunteer at the Zaouia Sidi Abdessalam Youth Center in Morocco, details her experience learning about Islam.

The tightly checkered black and white tiled walls stole my attention as I sat in a riad, deep in the old medina of Fes. A cool breeze blew through the courtyard where I sat with two other volunteers, our bellies full of chebakia, harira, and other various and mostly honey coated delights that I can’t pronounce. The man sitting across from us hugged his knees, his leathered skin hung from his bony features as he gently smiled, insisting that we eat more.

We had met this man only two hours prior. After exchanging a few mumbled words, we wove through the crowded souks and markets that smelled of raw meat, mint, and turmeric. Struggling to follow his nimble pace in the maze of tight, cool streets, we finally reached a modest looking brass gate that housed his extravagant eight bedroom riad. For the last two hours, we lounged on embroidered couches, attempting to follow his fast French as he told us about travels, Fes, and his family.

Like a lot of conversations that I have had in Morocco, from the village where I run a summer camp to the family break-fasts that I was invited to for Ramadan, the conversation shifted towards religion, and the old man suddenly became more serious. I’m always hesitant to openly discuss religion, and I grew uncomfortable as he began to share his beliefs. Little did I know that these casual conversations would expose me to a new perspective of Islam.

“Islam is a simple religion,” she added, “We pray five times a day to reconnect ourselves with God, and to remind ourselves to make the right decisions.”
The man explained to us how we are all Allah’s creation, making every being on Earth family. To him, extremism and violence aren’t possible because harming your own brothers and sisters isn’t fathomable. “Allah created Earth for all,” he stated as his small, black, and kind eyes gazed into mine. He continued, “If you create something beautiful, and someone deliberately tried to destroy your creation–how would you feel?”

His question seemed obvious, yet we all looked at each other as if we didn’t know the answer. “We would feel bad,” I answered with a sense of unease about my limited French vocabulary.
Judging from his content and eager face, we seemed to produce the precise answer he was looking for. He smiled gently, and responded: “Extremists and those who are violent towards others in any way are destroying Allah’s creation. He created Earth for all of us, we are all family, so why would you destroy Allah’s creation and harm your family?”
Not having a response, we sat in silence as he leaned towards us. With his hands on his knees and crevassed face gleaming, he asked us if we knew the meaning of Ramadan. We responded in mumbles. From having a similar conversation with some friends at the university, I had an idea, but was curious to see if the meaning transcended generations.
“Ramadan is for the poor,” he stated, echoing the explanation of my friends at the university. He explained how fasting for the full month allows one to feel hunger and feel thirst. It provides a sense of humility and forms empathy towards those who don’t have access to water or food. In a way, Ramadan equalizes humanity.
“God made us all different. However, Islam is about recognizing those differences and sharing what you were given to make society more equal,” he continued.
A week later, I was sitting in the classroom where I volunteer, reviewing household vocabulary in Darija, the local dialect, with one of the women from the community. Our conversation shifted from vocab towards the differences between family values in Morocco versus America. The soft-spoken woman, with kind winking eyes and a vibrant pink head scarf, was bewildered to hear that I lived away from my family. Once again, we began to discuss Islam: her beliefs, explanation for fasting, and view on terrorism were parallel to the man’s at the riad.
“Islam is a simple religion,” she added, “We pray five times a day to reconnect ourselves with God, and to remind ourselves to make the right decisions.”
Before I had the chance to engage in these random yet earnest conversations, my views of Islam were shaped by the biases of western media. I didn’t understand what it meant to live in a country that is characterized by its religious observances. I had never met a Muslim; I had never discussed the Quran with someone who practiced Islam; I had no idea what Islam meant to the diverse range of individuals who practiced it.
By listening to the beliefs of the people I have met in Morocco, I have uncovered for myself a simpler component of Islam and the communal life that surrounds it. Before I arrived in Morocco, my views of Islam were tied to political conflict and a foreign culture, not the morality and sense of community that I’ve witnessed here.
http://www.worldreligionnews.com/religion-news/islam/an-american-students-encounters-with-islam-in-morocco
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One rule for them

Translated into English for the first time, Zafzaf′s novel plunges the reader into the free-living, free-loving culture of the Moroccan fringe during the hippie era – and examines the relative nature of freedom. Marcia Lynx Qualey read the book

The ′60s generation of US writers was shaped by a Morocco that emerged in the writings of William S. Burroughs, Jack Kerouac, Paul Bowles and many others. This Morocco was frightening, welcoming, exotic, hallucinatory and completely ″new″. It was a space not just to be read, but written.

These works inspired young travellers and coastal Morocco swelled as a popular destination for American and European counter-cultural drifters, hedonists, artists and others.
This, of course, did not go unmarked by Morocco′s artists and writers. Muhammad Zafzaf (1945-2001), the twentieth century′s ″godfather of Moroccan literature″, was, in the 1960s, a young writer, a student and later a Casablanca high-school teacher.

His 1989 novel ″The Elusive Foxmay have been based on some of his own experiences and observations, as translator Mbarek Sryfi notes in his afterword. The book is set during one 1960s summer in coastal Essaouira. It′s populated by the hippies who floated around Morocco, but written from the point of view of Ali, a long-haired gym teacher from Casablanca who travels out to the country′s west coast because he too wants to smoke hash, drink wine, enjoy free love and swim nude in the ocean.

Rife with contradiction
The book highlights many of the divisions and contradictions of the ″global″ counter-cultural movement, as staged in small-town coastal Morocco. In the opening pages, Ali meets a tough, ″tomboyish″ Moroccan woman. He′s looking for a sleep and she tells a hotel clerk that Ali can share her room. ″I′ve an extra bed.″

"This slim, clever novel, ably translated by Sryfi and Roger Allen, offers a dense and layered portrait of not just 1960s Morocco as experienced by a Moroccan, but also of how wealth and power slice up the privilege to be 'free'," writes Qualey

Contradictions are immediate. The clerk forbids her to share her room with an unrelated man, threatening her with expulsion if she does. When she argues that the European hippies do it, he tells her All the boss cares about is money.″ As to why she cant: ″Youre a Muslim woman.″ This female lead, Fatima Hajjouj, first appears strong and brave and willing to transgress almost any rule of sexual and body politics. This is how she remains around European hippies and village peasants.

Yet when shes around a wealthy Moroccan man with status, Azeddine, she turns suddenly weak and submissive, allowing him to mock her. Ali is at first shocked. But then he surmises that Fatima is just ″hiding the viper inside her, just as I was hiding my own fox, surveying everything going on with a quiet prudence.″

Poverty is also appears to be a different experience, depending on whether you′re European or Moroccan. Ali′s poverty as a high-school teacher makes it almost impossible for him to move around the country. Meanwhile, the ″penniless″ European hippies might be broke, but still have enough money to buy alcohol and hash and always enough to keep moving.
″They′re all that way,″ one character says. ″They don′t have a penny, but they still travel. I don′t know how they do it. A month or two later, they′re sending you postcards from somewhere else in the world.″

Friction is inevitable
Violence springs out of these contradictions, just as it does in Bowles′ novels. In Bowles′″The Sheltering Sky″, violence seems to spring from the essential nature of the natives, from the wild instability of Morocco. In ″The Elusive Fox, the violence has very particular causes. At one point, when Ali is sunbathing with a group of European hippies, he hears five Bedouins in the bushes talking with disgust about the nude sunbathers. To himself, Ali mocks the villagers′ views, but he also understands their conservative upbringing, escaping the fight just before they run in and begin to beat up the hippie men.

It doesn′t end well for the Bedouin villagers, who are easily defeated. The last of the attacking Bedouins ″managed to escape toward the sea, bleeding from his neck and dragging his leg like a wounded wolf in a trap.″

It is a European woman who holds the knife aloft, looking around dazedly and Ali tells himself that she might not see a distinction between him and the Bedouin. ″Once I could tell for certain that the knife she was holding did not belong to the ′stranger′ but was European, I started running crazily across the grass and through the trees until I got back to town.″

The nature of truth
Shortly after this, Ali hears from one of the local hash dealers that three hippie women have been killed. It′s unclear if the two events are related, but the hash dealer, Brahim, tells Ali that they must flee, since the local police will sweep up anyone they can blame for the murders. ″Arrests have already started in Dyabat and they′ll soon get to Essaouira. If we stay here, we′re doomed and I′ll leave the rest to your imagination.″

As he travels with the hash dealer, Ali begins to feel unsettled by Brahim′s story. Even before they leave, Ali′s not sure if Brahim made the story up, or perhaps was even responsible for the murders. In this moment, the Casablanca gym teacher realises he has much to fear: from Brahim, from state authorities, from his own poverty. He expresses a view antithetical to those of the hippies on the beach: ″Anyone who claims that the internal world controls the external one – shaping, framing and changing it and such things, is a liar.″
This slim, clever novel, ably translated by Sryfi and Roger Allen, offers a dense and layered portrait of not just 1960s Morocco as experienced by a Moroccan, but also of how wealth and power slice up the privilege to be ″free″.
Marcia Lynx Qualey
https://en.qantara.de/content/book-review-muhammad-zafzafs-elusive-fox-one-rule-for-them
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The Hassan II Mosque: a Jewel of Moroccan Sacred Art.

By Morocco World News - July 20, 2016 By Mounir Haissour Tetouan

Art lovers over the world enthusiastically agree that the creative aesthetic of the Hassan II Mosque embodies the peak of Islamic sacred art.   Because of its perfect combination of modern and ancient Islamic artistic traditions, the Hassan II Mosque is an elegant expression of Islam’s spirituality and a magnificent example of Moroccan architecture.

The Moroccan Islamic art tradition exhibited in this mosque reflects various architectural styles in vogue at various points of Morocco’s history.  The style is a synthesis of Berber, Mediterranean, Eastern, African and Andalusian contributions. The combination, however, does not mean that the level of influence that these different styles had on the work was extreme and unrestrained; the Moroccan architects, artists and craftsmen were always guided by Islamic spirituality that bans images and icons of human figures.

The mosque,  which was completed in 1993, is a large complex of nine hectares.  Its fine and detailed artistry is the result of 35,000 workers and craftsmen working over 50 million hours. Nineteen cranes were installed in order to erect the building, which houses a prayer hall, minaret and madrassa. This holy site can house nearly 100,000 worshipers. Its esplanade alone can accommodate 80,000 devotees. The far-reaching echo of its mouzzin’s call for prayer is heard across Casablanca. The minaret also flashes a laser visible 30 km distance at sea. Also, since the roots of its pillars are ceaselessly beaten by the waves of the Atlantic Ocean, it required the construction of an 800 m long pier.

The mosque draws inspiration from other mosques of the Islamic tradition. The mosque prayer hall is a replica of the Merenid Madrassa, and its tall spire is a copy of both the majestic Hassan Tower and the Koutoubiya Minaret. The green roof is a reproduction of the Qarawiyyine University of Fez. On the inside, the Hassan II Mosque features embellishments that employ arabesques and polygonal constructions of stucco and mosaic. The interior spaces feature ornaments of foiled arches and floral patterns of painted and engraved wood.

MINARET: Soaring nearly 200 m, the minaret is topped by a sky-light and a metallic cover made of shining copper called jamour. Because of its exceptional height, sophisticated technology and modern construction techniques were used to erect the minaret. This is marked in the reinforced concrete (béton armé), which is able to resist against the combined effects of the wind and earthquakes.

PRAYER HALL:  The prayer hall can hold over 25,000 people.  Its rectangular plan is supported by 78 pillars and is 200 meters long, 100 meters wide and 60 meters high. It has three naves perpendicular to the qibla wall. The central nave is larger and higher than the rest. The roof of the prayer hall undulates with a succession of varied domes, where suspended glass and chandeliers-imported from Italy- light the hall.

ROOF: The 3,400 square meter roof is movable and is capped with emerald green tiles. In Islam, green denotes goodness and spiritual plenitude. Once this mobile roof is opened, it changes the central part of the prayer hall in a magnificent, sun-bathed courtyard.

MADRASSA: The madrassa, a building that houses theological and other modern classes for pupils, covers 4,840 square meter and includes a basement and two stories. It is built back onto the qibla wall.  The madrassa includes a library, a museum and multi-purpose rooms for seminars, colloquia and conferences. These rooms are all equipped with sophisticated audiovisual equipment.
After 7 years of sustained work, the Hassan II Mosque was inaugurated by His Majesty King Hassan II and other African leaders on August 30, 1993, the 11th Rabi II, 1414 in the Islamic calendar. That day coincided with the eve of the Prophet Mohammad’s birthday.  On that memorable day, all Muslims are in a festive mood and frequent holy shrines to read out psalms and praise the Almighty God.

The location of the mosque is strategic. Erected at the western tip of the Islamic World, opposite the setting sun, the fog and the swell of the open sea, the building is at the uttermost end of Islamic lands – a religion that was born in the Orient and whose extreme west is Morocco. It was near that gigantic memorial that Oqba Ibn Nafi, the propagator of the Islamic faith, gave a historical discourse to his fellows, after realising that the Atlantic Ocean had been a natural barrier against the continuation of his preaching campaign 14 centuries ago.
The Hassan II Mosque is an emblem of an entire nation. It symbolizes solidarity, commitment, creativity and spiritual devotion of the Moroccan people. It constitutes, without doubt, a fundamental element of Morocco’s national heritage. As a result, it is world-renown as a stunning example of Islamic sacred art.
http://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2016/07/191933/the-hassan-ii-mosque-a-jewel-of-moroccan-sacred-art/
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Bakchic: Morocco’s fashion ambassador

"The main goal of Bakchic is to make all kinds of traditional clothing that are true treasures of Morocco and the Arab world a daily casual choice of wardrobe," says designer Nayera Yasser July 21, 2016

It is safe to claim that a large share of the world’s population dreams of spending a vacation in enchanting Morocco. The North-African country has some of the world’s most attractive monuments and natural destinations. However, the true beauty of the country is captured in the subconscious of the masses through a rainbow of patterns displayed in architecture and fashion.

Morocco’s local fashion scene has taken great leaps recently, starting from welcoming international franchises up to launching authentic local brands. Bakchic is one of the country’s lead brands that has showcased traditional garments and styles through adding a much-needed modern twist. The label’s captivating kaftans and embroidered dresses highlight the beauty of Moroccan traditional garments while staying true to the decade’s fashion aesthetic.

Sofia El-Arabi is the creative mind behind the world-acknowledged brand that has been praised by various respectable fashion publications including Vogue US.

Daily News Egypt talked with the Moroccan designer to discuss similarities between Egyptian and Moroccan fashion, highlighting the importance of capitalising on ethnic and traditional garments in order to build truly international labels.

What is the main concept behind Bakchic?
Bakchic is all about mixing Arab and Western cultures. It is the story of a whole nation. We speak French, English, and Arabic in the same sentence, salivate over both French cheeses and Moroccan couscous at the same table, and wear blue jeans under traditional Jellabas to Friday prayers at the mosque. It is not something I can put into words. It is a whole world that should be experienced rather than merely discussed.

What are the main elements of Moroccan heritage that could inspire a modern garment?
Embroidery is my second mother. She follows me everywhere, harassing each piece of my collection, but she is never too dominant.
In the same family, there are her siblings: aakad–traditional Moroccan buttons made of a special fabric—and sfifa—golden fibres that adorn dresses along their entire length.

Kimonos have managed to become a global trend, what do kaftans require to follow the same lead?
The main goal of Bakchic is to make all kinds of traditional clothing that are treasures of Morocco and the Arab world a daily casual wardrobe choice rather than something reserved for special events and occasions.
The true challenge is, of course, to conserve their delicacy. I think a part of the secret is to discharge kaftans from their over-the-top ornaments and only concentrate this ancestral know-how on the important details.

How can fashion be used to reshape mistaken stereotypes regarding the Middle East?
First, fashion enables a foreign audience to understand that Arab, African, and Middle Eastern countries and the rest of the world are related by very rich and diverse cultural bonds.
These bonds’ finesse and beauty effortlessly reflect a real history—past and present—of emotional, intellectual, and aesthetic intelligence, way above media stereotypes.
It is also a peaceful and effective way to transmit messages with which political news cannot compete because they are out of the communication itinerary, powered by the natural importance of clothes.

How does the local market’s tendency to support western fashion affect starting a brand, such as yours, on both financial and creative levels?
It is all new in Morocco. It is up to you to struggle in order to create a real community that shares and supports the main values behind Bakchic. Simultaneously, it is the designer’s task to convince the market on the sustainability of this type of initiative. However, it feels extremely fulfilling to be a pioneer in your own way.

Based on your online orders, which countries support your brand the most?
Kuwait, the UAE, the US, France, Spain, and Morocco are the countries with which I have the most interactions.

How did the international rise of ethnic fashion and statement accessory reflect on your brand locally and internationally?
It truly gives a common voice to unique ethnic cultures as opposed to mass culture, which does not separate voices. The real trap for these cultures is that they tend to melt into another common ethnic category, which does not draw any concrete lines between various cultures. Unfortunately, this hybrid culture seems to be the current trend.
I really pay attention and invest tremendous energy in order to not let my Moroccan inspirations disappear in the vortex of a general idea of ethnic brands that is usually captured through colourful Eastern fabrics that only shine and glitter.

What is next for Bakchic?
I am currently working on both a home and a beauty line as Bakchic is a real lifestyle to me. I want to create and share a Bakchic element for each step and place of a person’s daily journey
http://www.dailynewsegypt.com/2016/07/21/bakchic-moroccos-fashion-ambassador/
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Morocco’s Head of Government: Students Cost MAD 6,000 Per Year

By Morocco World News - July 22, 2016 By Alexandra Krauska, Rabat

Morocco’s head of government, Abdelilah Benkirane, stated in an oral session with the chamber of advisers (upper house of parliament) on Tuesday that each student costs the government MAD 6,000 per year. The purpose of the meeting was for Benkirane to give his perspective on general governmental policies, one section devoted to education and professional development reform.
Benkirane acknowledged that there are many problems with Moroccan education, but remains hopeful about education reforms, according to Telquel. He was a part of the 1999 education reform that produced the National Charter for Education and Training.

According to Benkirane, the commission was unsuccessful because it “was not placed in suitable circumstances for its conclusions to be implemented and it has only been in practice partially.”
“Today, our children and our country are invited to compete at a national level,” continued Benkirane, discussing the challenges that face Moroccan education now. “We will crumble face a crazy competition that no longer cares about the people, nor identities, or anything.”

The total education budget is MAD 31 million. MAd 45.4 million was spent between 2008 and 2016. “Each student costs us more than MAD 6,000 per year; sometimes more expensive in certain private schools,” stated Benkirane. “The problem is not a lack of resources. The problem is a lack of governance.”
http://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2016/07/192058/moroccos-head-government-students-cost-mad-6000-per-year/
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Moroccan Food for Good Health

By Morocco World News - July 23, 2016 New York

Many of the ingredients found in Moroccan food promote good health, as Moroccan food tends to rely on whole food ingredients freshly prepared, sing herbs and spices for flavor rather than deep frying.

Bread tends to be baked from whole grains, and many entrees include both vegetables and dried fruit to achieve that balance between sweet and savory that is characteristic of Moroccan food. Here a few of the healthiest ingredients and dishes found in Moroccan cuisine.

Chickpeas
Also known as garbanzo beans or bengal gram, chickpeas are a legume high in nutrients and are also highly digestible, a concern for some people who are sensitive to beans. Chickpeas are rich in protein, fiber, and folate, as well as many important dietary minerals like iron, phosphorous, and zinc. Chickpeas are found in many Moroccan dishes including tagines, spreads to be served on bread, and a huge variety of soups and stews.

Turmeric
The turmeric commonly used in cooking is a dried yellow-orange powder prepared from the rhizomes (root-like parts) of the turmeric plant, a member of the ginger family. Turmeric is used in many Asian dishes and is also commonly used in herbal medicine. Turmeric extracts have been shown to possess anti-fungal and anti-microbial properties and are under study for their potential effects on cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and other common diseases.

Ginger
Ginger root is another medicinal rhizome used frequently in Moroccan cuisine. Medicinally, ginger is frequently used to treat mild nausea, though as it is an irritant it is not recommended for use by pregnant women looking to treat morning sickness. In the amounts typically used in cooking, ginger supplies a large amount of dietary manganese along with a bright warmth of flavor. Ginger is one of the most frequently used spices in Moroccan cuisine and is found in many dishes. It is often used of tagines and teas.

Whole Grains
One of the most popular Moroccan foods across the globe is couscous. In Morocco, it is often served as a dish consisting of a bed of couscous served with a rich seven-vegetable sauce, sometimes topped with stewed meat and caramelized onions. This is a deeply traditional dish. Every family has their own favorite blend of vegetables and spices. Traditional spices found in the recipe are turmeric, ginger, and pepper.

Whole Grain Bread
Every culture has a starch component to their diet, and for Moroccans, the starches are primarily couscous and rolls baked from whole grains. These leavened whole grain rolls accompany all of the vegetable dishes and meat stews. The traditional rolls are often spiced with fennel and anise seed for added flavor. Morocco also has a traditional sweet roll called the krachel, sweet bread flavored with anise, orange flower water, and sesame. These rolls are similar to brioche: the dough is rich and includes eggs and butter.

Vegetables
Vegetables are a large component of the Moroccan diet. A vegetable medley salad precedes almost every meal. Commonly used vegetables include potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, artichokes, and carrots, among many others. Vegetables also round out most meat dishes, providing depth and flavor as well as nutrients and fiber. Of course, almost everywhere there are vegetables, there are also chickpeas present to add even more fiber and lots of protein. To mimic a common vegetable dip, add some cumin, coriander, and lime juice to Hampton Creek’s Just Mayo. Dip your veggies and enjoy the flavor of Morocco.

Dried Fruit
Dried fruit is often responsible for sweetening desserts. However, you will find dates, raisins, apricots, and prunes not only in sweets but also in savory dishes. One of the characteristics of Moroccan cuisine is the careful balance of sweet and savory in many recipes. Tagines are an excellent example. They are traditionally meat entrees where spiced meat is slow-cooked with vegetables and spices in a shallow baking dish with a tall, conical lid (the baking vessel is called a ‘tagine’).

Moroccan food is a very healthy national cuisine. With a heavy emphasis on vegetables, whole grains, and sweetening with fruit rather than refined sugar, this North African food tradition has served its followers well for centuries. The intriguing balance between sweet and savory in many dishes is not found in many other food traditions. Try a few Moroccan recipes in your own kitchen, and enjoy the taste and reap the health benefits.
http://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2016/07/192151/moroccan-food-good-health-2/
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Driss Chberreq: Tales of a Tazmamart Inmate

By Morocco World News - August 6, 2016 By Salma Belhajj'Ali Kenitra

This author's prison literature fascinates the Moroccan readers of today, thirsty to know of their past.

Driss Tayyib Chberreq is an author who survived the darkness of Tazmamart prison, aboard a mad train to an unknown destiny. He wrote two books about his time in jail "Le train fou" (The Mad Train) published in 2013 and "Le Suicide de Mimoun" (The Suicide of Mimoun) published in 2015.

Chberreq was born in 1948 in Dwagher, a small town located in the Kenitra region. He was an officer at the Royal Military Academy of Meknès in the 1970s during the Lead Years; a period between 1960 and 1980 marked by state violence against political opponents. Fifty-eight officers, non-commissioned officers, infantries and aviators were imprisoned because they were involved in the two coup attempts – one in 1971 in Skhirat and the other in the 1972 attack against the late King's airplane.

Chberreq, who was in Cell Number 11, survived after 18 years and a few months of detention in Tazmamart; a prison in the South East of Morocco in the Atlas Mountains. There were twenty-eight inmates in total.

Once free, Chberreq was interested in prison literature. He studied French literature at the Faculty of Letters in Kenitra, and then started to pile up his poems, which were memoirs of his time in Tazmamart. He wrote his first book Le train fou (The Mad Train) in 1996. After many years, Le train fou was eventually published in 2013.

Chberreq chose the allegorical title because the train is a convoy of military vehicles, which has a starting point. For him, the starting point was the school of Ahermoumou of non-commissioned officers' training. That train took a different direction, following the orders of the chief and it derailed. Le train fou is a testimony of many events that began at the military school of non-commissioned officers and ended in Tazmamart jail.

In March 2015, Driss Tayyib Chberreq published his second book Le Suicide de Mimoun (The suicide of Mimoun). Mimoun was an aviator who was imprisoned after the putsch of 1972 and committed suicide in Tazmamart. Six months later, all the prisoners were released.

According to the author, Tazmamart jail shouldn't have existed. But for him and for all Tazmamart prisoners, Morocco was a pride, a homeland that they are so attached to even when they were in darkness. They kept their patriotism alive even through the worst moments of their lives. Chberreq said, "my friends and I, we love our country, we love our motto: 'God, the Homeland, and the King. 'Unfortunately, many of our fellow Moroccans behave hypocritically and refuse to hear us."

Driss Bouloufa, 56, a high school physics teacher said, "Driss Chberreq was my cousin, and my dad helped him to enrol in school. He was such a good student, but he spent a large part of his life in jail. Before he was detained, he got engaged to a girl he was going to marry in the summer of 1971, the summer of the putsch. But his life totally changed and he told her in the tribunal, "My fate is unknown now; you have to live your life and don't wait for me."

"During his time in Tazmamart, he learnt the Holy Quran by heart. His mom was so disappointed, and she died before he was released. Once free, he found a job in "Domaine chaude soleil" an industrial wine factory in Sidi Slimane, he couldn't stay there, and he wanted to go to college. He chose French because he loved this language a lot and he used to speak it fluently. Then he started his writing career. He got married, had a child named Abderrahim. He was his dad, his brother, and his friend at the same time. I learned from him how to love people and how to be such a sociable person." continued Bouloufa.

Abdelatif Fawzi, 61, who is an author and a French poet is also interested in prison literature, he wrote the preface of Le suicide de Mimoun. He was a close friend of Driss Chberreq. "He was one of the closest people to me." Fawzi said of Chberreq."We are from the same region, his time in the University of Kenitra after the jail period was not in vain. He first wanted to study philosophy because he liked Jean Paul Sartre and Albert Camus, but he chose French literature and then he wrote two wonderful books. His relation with students and professors was amazing; he was a respectable person. Rest in Peace, Driss."

Jillali Belhajali, 56, a French teacher said, "Driss Chberreq was a friend, a cousin and he was my neighbour. Driss was a sociable person; he kept in touch with all his family members after surviving Tazmamart. On May, 6th, 2001 he autographed the book Tazmamart Cellule 10 (Tazmamart Cell10) published by his friend Ahmed Marzouki and he wrote a quote for me that I will never forget."
The quote reads:"Martyred as much as the author of this book, being his immediate neighbour at Cell 11, I first confirm his story and I dedicate this book to all those who directly or indirectly helped us to regain our eyesight and life in order to see that our country is one among the greatest."

On November 21st 2015, the one whom people called "The green-eyed officer" passed away 3 days after Independence Day. Morocco lost one of its Tazmamart survivals: Driss Chberreq passed away at the age of 67.
http://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2016/08/193247/driss-chberreq-tales-of-a-tazmamart-inmate/
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SINGLE REVIEW: Natives – 'Stop The Rain'

By Libby Mayfield July 15, 2016

Indie pop Natives are the perfect example of a band carving their own way in the world. Two years ago they released their debut album Indoor War, and they're back, bigger and better. They don't do things by halves, and their video for 'Stop The Rain' is just the tip of the iceberg.

Take four and a half minutes out your day to live vicariously through the New Forest quartet adventuring around Morocco. The video documents their recent trip to the country which has been a huge influence on their forthcoming new album.

Guitarist Jack Fairbrother said: "There's a lot of negativity and xenophobia in the world at the moment so it feels like the perfect time to share a positive story about mixing with other cultures.
"We met Berbers in Agadir, where drumming circles are a part of everyday social life and were captivated by the way rhythm was used to bring people together and tell stories. This idea, coupled with the welcoming warmth of the culture formed the heart and soul of 'Stop The Rain'."

Natives were led to Morocco following their love of percussion, which prevails in their new single. Their pop sensibilities remain as strong as ever, but there's a more raw, cultured texture to 'Stop The Rain'. Morocco's culture meets the band's enthusiasm for it and creates a spectacular burst of joy. The new single will be released on July 29th, and is the second installment of the band's forthcoming 20-track concept album. It'll be accompanied by a novel.
Video here: http://culturedvultures.com/single-review-natives-stop-rain/
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A Few Key Things to Keep in Mind when Living in Morocco: If you're North Africa-bound look at both the pros and the cons of this traditional kingdom

By Kamilia Lahrichi Jul 15, 2016 CASABLANCA, Morocco

A stable country in a wobbly region, Morocco has long attracted foreigners thanks to its growing and stable economy.

As a native Moroccan, I have seen numerous foreigners, namely French, Spanish and Americans, settling in the North African country to learn Arabic or get a first experience in the Arab world.
That's a great idea, although expats moving to the North African kingdom should bear in mind a few tips.

1. It is not cheap.
Morocco is more expensive than you think. Many foreigners think of the Morocco of the souks, the traditional markets, where things are cheap. But the rent in big cities, such as the economic capital Casablanca, is higher than in Boston, according to Mercer's 2014 Cost of Living Survey. Real estate prices in cities like Marrakesh can be as high as in Western Europe. Morocco is an emerging market that expanded by 4.5% in the fourth quarter of 2015. However, there is a significant difference in real estate prices between big cities, like Rabat and Agadir, and the towns. Jean Pierre Cogitore, a Frenchman who retired in Morocco, pays 4,000 dirhams (about $370) a month for a two-person house at the outskirts of Essaouira city.

While vegetables, fruits, meat and fish, especially in traditional markets, are cheaper than in the U.S. or Western Europe, wines and spirits are more expensive in this Muslim nation. A good bottle of wine—which might cost $20 in the U.S.—costs up to $30. You can only find them in large supermarkets.

2. It is multicultural.
Former Moroccan King Hassan II used to say: "Morocco is a tree whose roots are in Africa, but whose branches extend into Europe." Unlike other Arab countries, Morocco has a unique mix of Arab, African, Berber and European influences because of its location—just 14 kilometers (nearly 9 miles) separate the port of Tangiers and the Spanish city of Algeciras. Expats can thus use their Spanish and French to get around.

3. It is a monarchy.
Expats should also keep in mind that Moroccans take the monarchy very seriously. Unlike in the U.K. or in Spain, the king in Morocco has the highest rank. He is also a religious leader. Article 46 of the Constitution stipulates that "The King's person is inviolable and respect is due to Him." No matter how much time expats spend in the country, they should never get comfortable enough to criticize the king or religion. At the same time, this stable political system makes Morocco one of the safest countries. A study by the U.S.-based Council on Foreign Relations found out that Morocco is unlikely to become a conflict zone.

4. It is a traditional society.
Despite being open to tourism, Morocco is a traditional Muslim society. It is illegal for unmarried couples to live together. Homosexuality is not tolerated. In fact, there has been recurrent violence against gay couples. Women cannot sunbathe topless on public beaches. Claudia Charry, a 40-year-old housewife from Florida, says she sees some expats who dress the way they want, "with very short skirts." The Rabat resident reminds expats that Morocco is a traditional Muslim society where women should cover their legs and arms so they won't be bothered by men in the street, especially in rural areas. Women should cover themselves from wrist to ankle in a mosque, which is the custom.

Since the 2011 legislative election, when an Islamic party won the polls for the first time in Morocco, women are more likely to wear the headscarf. During the holy month of Ramadan—in which Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset—expats should not eat or drink in public because it offends people. Moroccans tend to be edgy at this time of the year. The selling and consumption of alcohol is prohibited during Ramadan.

5. It requires patience.
Expats need to have the patience of a saint to do administrative work in bureaucratic Morocco. "I recommend to be very patient and stay calm: Morocco's management is slow, so you should not worry and instead be well prepared" to save time, says Gaston Hakim Lastes, a French-Moroccan who published a guide on Morocco. Mr. Cogitore says that his move to Morocco introduced him to the country's bureaucracy. He had to pay large sums of money to send containers to Morocco. "It is better to sell everything and come with your suitcases," he advises.

Should they keep all of these tips in mind, expats could have an eye-opening experience in a rather tolerant Arab country.
Kamilia Lahrichi is a freelance video journalist and producer based in Buenos Aires, Argentina for the Associated Press, The Guardian, Huffington Post, USA Today and other international news outlets. A native of Morocco, she covers current and international affairs in English, French, Spanish and Arabic.
http://blogs.wsj.com/expat/2016/07/15/a-few-key-things-to-keep-in-mind-when-living-in-morocco/
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Minted Morocco

Sunday, July 17, 2016,

Kevin Galea meanders around the souk in Fez, taking in the contrasting – and sometimes, bewildering - flavours.

Why is Moroccan tea so shudderingly sweet? To take the edge off the gunpowder? To bring out the flavour? According to a lady from Bridlingto, yes. But there is much more to a glass of north African tea than that. In Morocco, the tea drinking ritual has great cultural importance.

If you go on one of Gail Leonard's tasting tours around Fez, you learn that, in Morocco, giving others a huge sugar rush has cachet; it confirms social status. Each spoonful and every cube says something about you. The more sugar you put in your cup the richer you are. The higher your guests' blood sugar levels soar, the more minted you are.

Gail moved to Morocco eight years ago and runs Plan–it-Fez tours. She sweet talks her clients. "The importance of sugar as a currency in Morocco goes back to the 15th century when Madrassas (Islamic schools and educational institutions) were built with Italian marble exchanged kilo for kilo with sugar," she said.

"So many of the oldest buildings in Morocco were paid for in sugar."

Moroccans consume over 1.2m tons of sugar a year, and sugar is still a status symbol in North Africa. In fact, a popular wedding gift in Morocco are outsized sugar cones. Giving your guests – in your home, café or hotel – incredibly sweet tea, is a sign of respect. It also shows off the giver's wealth, as the sugar content of a cuppa reflects back on the provider. As does their badan, or silver tea pot, and the craftsmanship of the tray on which it is served.

Only in Morocco is hospitality shown by making visitors hyper, rather than relaxed. You learn such things on Gail's gourmet tour of Morocco's oldest imperial city, its intellectual and sacred centre and now its gastronomic capital.

The city, four hours east of Casablanca, is really three cities in one. There's the 13th century Jewish quarter, the new French quarter and its ninth century medina. With eight miles of sandstone ramparts, the Fez-a Bedli walled city also boasts the oldest university in the world, El Qaraouyin (857) and the largest mosque in Africa.

Fez now proclaims itself as Morocco's foodie capital. If you are prepared to roll out the dough (the courses are not cheap) you can learn everything from lemon preserving to making your own traditional, seasonal Moroccan salad, complete with self-foraged mallow leaves.

Local chefs will teach you how to smoke an aubergine. And how to fluff up your couscous.

Gail prepared me. "The medina is the mother of all medinas, craziest of kasbahs and most bizarre of bazaars." She then told me that Persil is an essential ingredient in many Moroccan dishes. It is another word for coriander.

Her tour is a vital orientation for the most disorientating of places which writer Paul Bowles thought "a city which was not easy for everyone to like". The 560-acre souk is the largest car-free urban area in the world. 160,000 people work in 10000 alleys dedicated to all the crafts and grafts, traditional and modern. The Henna Souk is the cosmetic products district. Attarine specialises in spices and the Seffarine quarter copper products.

No one much cares that it is a Unesco heritage site. They have shopping to do, dirhams to be made, families to be fed and deals to be struck. As well as Maghrebi (north-west African) tea trays and badan teapots.

Everywhere silver is hammered, copper chased, wool carded and spun. You are pulled around by a tide of kafkans, djellabas and gold-tinselled sandals. And pursued by shouts of "belek, belek!" (watch out). Donkeys carrying cured hides, horses carpets and scooters loaded down with eggs have right of way.

The souk of all souks is a maze of dead ends, windowless high walls and narrow passageways. You walk the cobbled streets past wall-eyed beggars, shisha pipes, taqiyah prayer caps, burnous and shaal cloth, through the bewildering wedding wear, pashmina shawls, dessert nomad bling, embroidered pouffes and babouche slippers. Only tourists wear fezes in Fez. Recognizing your dry scalp, smiling men jump out at you with hair-nourishing and highly nutritious Argan oil.

You take in the dung, fish and pigeon ammonia from the world's oldest leather tannery, Chouara. And thread your way among the sacks of olives, flour, powdered and flaked almonds, figs, dates, okra, giant cucumbers and aubergines in the vegetable district of Rciff.

You may get your shin barked by a passing crumpet cart, and a dead-eyed donkey might step on your toe. You don't let your epicurean escort out of your sight.

We walked behind football shirts, surrounded by women staring through hijabs at shopping lists on their mobiles. In front of us, a butcher cut the throat of a cockerel, saying a prayer for its soul.
And then we went through a giant, studded door into a courtyard with a fountain. Fez's old town is full of hidden gardens and mosques. Suddenly, we were in a mausoleum and next to a pavilion and, finally, a weaving shop.

Through an arch appeared more bags of chickpeas, flour, piles of nougat, cheese, jars of seffna, dried meats, aniseed and pre-bagged coconut macaroons, called moroccains. We broke for refreshments in the salon du the on top of the medina's Museum of Wood Carving. There, I learned that Moroccans use rose water in fruit salads and that gunpowder was brought to Morocco by a British merchant after the Crimean War, after he failed to convert Baltic people to Chinese tea. Verbena and wormwood are sometimes used. And you must always have three cups; it is impolite to refuse the third.

Berbers were probably eating seminola as early as 238 BC. They loved their millet broth. Kitchen utensils dating back to the 10th century suggest couscous is ancient dish. Moroccan cuisine has been influenced by its trade routes and by all its colonisers. The Romans brought vines and took back olives to light Rome. Arabs, who introduced sweet and sour cooking, brought new breads, saffron and cumin, which appears on every table as a condiment.

Saffron is grown in Tiliouine; the best mint comes from Meknes; the best oranges and lemons from Fez; and the best figs, dates, almonds from the south

Pastilla (or bisteeya) is a popular sugar-topped pigeon or chicken pie that comes from the Moorish or Andalusian period (1462-1615). It is made from thin, unbleached warka bread.

We returned to the mayhem, passing a camel's head with blue-bottles nesting in its eyelashes. Michelle told me that camel is notoriously difficult to cook, probably because there is no oven big enough. Gail held some Ras el Hanout (meaning the best pick from the shop) Moroccan mixed spices under my nose, and while I inhaled, told me that Fez was probably the largest city in the world in 1170.

The next thing I knew a man was rubbing amber soap up my forearm and offering me kohl sticks. We crossed a scummy river passing mountains of salt. The word for salt in Arabic is melha, much like its Maltese counterpart, and the Jewish quarters of Moroccan cities are all known as the Mellah. These were the keepers of the salt – the gold dealers and money lenders.

Seeing how hot I was, a stallholder kind-heartedly sprayed my face with rosewater, while a man repaired a pear-shaped 12-string oud, a lute-like instrument. Over his head hung fretless ginbri and mizwid bagpipes. Behind him were CDs offering Chaabi folk, Berber ritual, Gnawa kickback, classical Malhun and Sufi brotherhood.

We moved on past hole-in-the-wall enterprises selling sfenj (doughnuts) and honey and sesame pretzels, as well as flip-flop emporiums. We got a last waft of grilling almonds, before a snaggle-toothed man offered me a turtle for a pound. He also had five snails for sale. How do you haggle for snails?

Another held out an upside down turkey. But chicken tagine was on the menu. Cooked and served in the traditional blue and white fassi pot. With plenty of Persil.
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20160717/arts-entertainment/Minted-Morocco.619160
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Plan-it Fez grows into Plan-it Morocco

Tatiana Rokou 28 Jul 2016 FEZ, MOROCCO

Plan-it Fez, a female-owned boutique travel destination management company (DMC) based in Morocco, announces an official name change to Plan-it Morocco and a newly developed website. In preparation for the Autumn high season, Plan-it Morocco has re-launched their website and will be offering new itineraries and experiences throughout Morocco."We felt the name better describes who we are and what we have to offer," said director and co-founder Michele Reeves. "We have always offered full-Morocco travel experiences, but now our name reflects it. As Plan-it Morocco we have seen a 75% increase in bookings for tours outside of the Fez region."Since 2012, the team based in Fez, Morocco have operated under the name Plan-it Fez and have offered the ultimate foodie tour in their "Tasting Trails" experiences.

Under the new name, Plan-it Morocco, they offer multi-destination tours and experiences including the major destinations of the Sahara desert region, Marrakech and the High Atlas mountains, and the famous coastal areas. "We started Plan-it Fez in response to significant demand from travel agencies to offer customised authentic experiences," said Gail Leonard, Director & co-Founder. "We found that the demand for our tours expanded beyond Fez. We felt it was the right time to change our name to Plan-it Morocco and offer these experiences and fully fledged DMC services throughout Morocco." - See more at: http://www.traveldailynews.com/post/plan-it-fez-grows-into-plan-it-morocco
http://www.traveldailynews.com/post/plan-it-fez-grows-into-plan-it-morocco
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What's That Smell? Morocco's Communal Ovens

By Johanna Read | July 14, 2016
Photos by Johanna Read

Tourists who spend more than a day or two exploring any Moroccan medina soon notice baking being carried through the streets. It might be the flat, circular loaves of bread they've surely eaten at breakfast. It might be the coconut cookies, resembling macaroons, that many riads use to welcome guests to Morocco, accompanied by glasses of hot, sugary mint tea. Even if they haven't seen the trays, visitors notice the sweet scent of fresh baking.

Most tourists assume that a bakery is doing a booming business supplying nearby restaurants and hotels. Until the observant among them notices that trays of raw dough are also carried through the twisting medina streets.

Medinas are the oldest sections of North African cities. Surrounded by high walls, many medinas are purposely labyrinthine, designed to slow down ancient invaders who breached the walls. The twisting streets and alleys are narrow, seldom wide enough for cars. The 1200-year¬-old Fez medina is supposedly the world's largest car-free urban area.

Medinas have been lived in for centuries, and many practices have changed little. Donkeys carry goods (and tourists' suitcases) through the passageways. Men and women wear hooded djellabas (though most certainly with a cellphone in their pocket). Many houses don't have running water, so residents draw cooking water from fountains and visit the hammam to bathe.

Few homes ¬¬or even buildings that have been renovated into riad or dar hotels have ovens. Even if they do, they're rarely used. Instead, home cooks and restaurant pastry chefs send their baking to the communal oven, the faraan.

With sticks of olive wood piled outside, family-owned faraans have deep brick-lined ovens within. The expert baker puts his neighbors' dough onto a long wooden paddle and then slides it into the oven. He knows which part of the oven is best for sesame cookies and which is best for round khubz bread. He keeps track of which baking belongs to which household, even without the identifying marks some cooks put on their dough.

People prefer to use the faraan, even if their house has an oven. Bringing baking to the communal oven means not heating up their kitchens in the hot Moroccan summer. It means saving fuel, whether it be propane or wood. And it saves time. Finding time to walk baking down the street and remembering to pick it up might seem more difficult than baking at home. Not in community-minded Morocco.

"If you're busy, you just leave your baking outside your house," Mustapha, a young man from Fez, tells me. "When one of your neighbours goes by, they'll see it, bring it to the communal oven and pay the baker for you."

Using the faraan is good for the community. The wood that fuels many faraans serves two purposes: residual heat from the baking oven is absorbed into the hammam, often located along a shared wall. Whether the cook brings her baking herself or sends one of her kids with it, the faraan ensures the family stays in the loop on neighborhood news. Just by what is being baked, neighbors can see and smell ¬¬ who is having house guests and who will be making a special announcement by serving a celebratory b'stilla pigeon pie.

The faraan is an equalizer, everyone in the medina uses it to bake their bread and fish tagine, though the quality of ingredients may differ. As Mustapha explains, while neighbors may gossip about a man skipping prayer or a woman wearing skirts deemed too short, without question their household's baking will be delivered to the faraan just like any other. He's incredulous that I would think otherwise.

Visitors to Morocco can get a taste of the communal oven experience by taking a baking class. Dar Zerhoune, an upscale guesthouse in the holy city of Moulay Idriss, an hour from Fez, offers a personalized one.

Passing down techniques learned from her mother and grandmother, guesthouse manager and baking teacher Hajiba Dahik models rolling sesame cookies into precise balls and teaches me the desired stickiness for each stage of bread dough.

When our six trays are full of sweets and savories, Dar Zerhoune owner Rose Button walks me down to the communal oven. Neighbours peer at us with interest. At the faraan, the baker chats with Rose in Arabic and points at the sesame cookies. Rose replies, gesturing at me. I'm convinced it's because he can tell the cookies' shape is obviously not Hajiba's perfect work, but perhaps she's just explaining the reason we have so many trays at once.

Later that afternoon, we feast on our creations atop Dar Zerhoune's roof terrace. Dribbling local honey onto the warm bread, I gaze across Moulay Idriss' rooftops over to Volubilis, the UNESCO Roman ruins next door. The communal ovens used 2,000 years ago there are almost identical to those in every medina of modern Morocco.
https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2016/07/whats-that-smell-moroccos-communal-ovens.html?a=1
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Morocco's Human Development Assessment Tools Showcased in New York

By Morocco World News - July 14, 2016 Minister of Education and Vocational Training Rachid Belmokhtar New York

President of the National Observatory for Human Development (ONDH), Rachid Benmokhtar, presented, on Wednesday at the headquarters of the UNICEF in New York, the tools Morocco has developed to ensure better assessment of government action in terms of human development. Speaking at a political forum on the assessment of sustainable development, Benmokhtar said the ONDH gathers information from the High Commission for Planning (HCP), which overlaps with the results of studies on a range of issues concerning employment, households and demographics, among others.
In order to ensure a suitable and effective evaluation of the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the Observatory has developed a system that brings together all of the HCP statistics and studies, he added.

The ONDH also formed a sample group of 8,000 households that are surveyed each year on a different set of issues, said Benmokhtar, adding that the group will be extended soon to include 16,000 households. "This is the best evaluation tool that we have developed", the Moroccan official stressed. This tool, which includes 500 questions, gives information on many subjects related to social development, sustainable development, and environmental impact, he noted. This meeting is part of a series of forums on sustainable development that will run until July 20 at the UN headquarters in New York.
http://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2016/07/191237/moroccos-human-development-assessment-tools-showcased-in-new-york/ =======================================================

A walk through the world's oldest library in Fez, Morocco

The oldest library in the world was reopened for visitors recently. Founded by a muslim woman more than 12 centuries ago, it underwent extensive renovations also headed up by another woman.
Check it here http://www.trtworld.com/art-culture/a-walk-through-the-worlds-oldest-library-in-fez-morocco-142811
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A Trip to the Breathtaking Landscapes of Southeastern Morocco

By Morocco World News - July 13, 2016 , By Sekar Krisnauli Rabat

A three-day trip to the Sahara in Merzouga offered us the stunning view of Southeastern Morocco.

Ten of my friends from the United States and I spent three days travelling across the Kingdom of Morocco and savored some of the most breathtaking sights in the dry, hot, and mountainous region before arriving at the Sahara desert. The 24-hour drive from Rabat to Merzouga and back introduced us to a grand kasbah in Ouarzazate, the freshness of the Todgha Gorge, the music of Gnawa, and the glorious Sahara desert.

The Kasbah Taourirt
A large courtyard welcomed us to the grand architecture of the Kasbah that rose up high into the sky. From a far, it looked like a large sand castle due to its earthy color built into levels of spacious rectangles. In the Kasbah were multi-level towers filled with hundreds of uniquely shaped and sized rooms completed with small windows the overlook the city of Ouarzazate. The windings staircases continued to lead us to empty rooms that had low ceilings and lower doorways. A hollowed area parallel to rooms in the lower floors allowed us to peek through the abandoned Kasbah. A few of the rooms that overlook the city in the highest level of the Kasbah were decorated with colorful tiles, mosaic, stucco similar to those in the Bahia Palace in Marrakech.Majestic in its grandeur, the Kasbah was once home to Thami el Glawi, the Pasha of Marrakech (1912-1956) and the Berber chief of the time. It is also a historical site preserved by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. Visitors are allowed to visit for MAD 20 with an additional fee for an English-speaking tour guide.

Todgha Gorge
Often called as "the Grand Canyon of Morocco," the Todgha Gorge canyon located in the eastern part of the High Atlas Mountains provided us a much-needed fresh break from our hours of travelling. At the mouth of the gorge is a 300 m-deep fault that splits the orange limestone into a divided that fits a river and a road wide enough for cars. We arrived at approximately 4:30 p.m. and enjoyed the coldness of the water along with hundreds of other local families and tourists.

Locals of all ages released the heat and showered themselves with the refreshing river flow. Though the water was shallow, the inclined plain leveled the river and created a small fall where people can sit and shower amid the gushing water. Some enjoyed sitting on the river bank and nearby rocks and look at visitors in the river. Others took plastic chairs and put their feet in the water, while there were also children and mothers sitting in the water. The road on the side of the river was crowded with cars trying to make a turn on the one-way street and vendors that sold souvenirs.

Sahara in Merzouga
The dry and windy night became the background to our camel ride in the dunes as we traveled to our tents in the middle of the Sahara. Greeted with tagine "under the stars" in our tents, we moved on to Saharan music under the stars, and eventually climbed atop a meters-high sand dune to enjoy the starry sky. The clear sky magnified the beauty of the scattering stars. Though the wind was strong, some of us managed to lie on the dune and cover their nose and mouth with a scarf while others rolled down the sand dune. We buried our hands and feet in the hot sands and enjoyed the heat of the sand.

In the morning, we saw a little bit of the sunrise though the sky was cloudy. Up on the dunes we could see the vast and mystifying desert it its slightly mythical existence. Enjoying the morning in the central area between our tents, we moved to breakfast in a tent – the usual bread, jam, cheese, and Moroccan mint tea – before we had to travel through the dunes on a camel again to meet our driver. On the ride back to the car, the Sahara had a significantly different effect as we saw its beauty under the sun. The sand dunes seemed to glimmer in the sun as the shine complimented the smooth sand. The entirety of the view was breathtaking.

Gnawa of Khamlia
Five men wearing traditional white outfits serenaded our group in a musical showcase of the Gnawa music in the Khamlia village in Erg Chebbi. We were taken into a room, sat down and enjoyed listening to men creating rhythm with their hands on drums, percussion, and cymbals called krakeb. The five men moved their bodies to the music, particularly their hands and their feet making small steps backwards, forward, and sideways. Like most places in Morocco, we were greeted with mint tea and were later asked to join them in a dance.
Gnawa music mixes classical Islamic Sufism and pre-Islamic African traditions that create hypnotic trance yet upbeat music with lyrics such as "La Ilaha IllAllah" believed as a medium to connect with God.
http://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2016/07/191151/a-trip-to-the-breathtaking-landscapes-of-southeastern-morocco/
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County woman raising money for young Moroccan to travel to US for treatment

By Jen Lynds, BDN Staff July 10, 2016, MARS HILL, Maine

When Betsy Allen arrived in Morocco in 2013 as part of a one week volunteer teaching experience, she believed she would spend her week in the capital city of Rabat educating underprivileged children. Instead, she was relocated to work at an after school cultural center in Casablanca, where she spent her week with some of the nation's poorest children and where she met a teenager with such severely deformed feet that it "just made me want to cry."

"Instantly, I knew I wanted to help him," Allen said of Abdelkhalek El Malyani, the teen she met at the Sidi Moumen Cultural Center. She said Abdelkhalek's feet and heels face inward and are so deformed that he has trouble walking and is in pain. "I couldn't believe the way he was walking," she said. "The deformity he had could have easily been fixed in childhood if he was born in the United States."

But he grew up in Sidi Momen, Casablanca, the largest shanty-town, slum in the country, "a place of abject poverty and despair," where "in many places, garbage is knee deep, metal and cardboard lean-tos that serve as homes line the roads and span for miles," Allen said.

Without proper medical care, Abdelkhalek just had to adapt, she said. "So he had learned to walk on the sides of his feet," Allen said, "but he will never be able to run, hold certain jobs, and complete many other tasks that many of us take for granted."

After she returned home, she always had in the back of her mind that she wished she could do something to help Abdelkhalek. But it wasn't until more than two years later that she realized how she might do that when a school nurse at the Fort Street Elementary School in Mars Hill, where Allen taught English, sent an email to teachers alerting them about a Shriners orthopedic clinic being offered to help needy students. "This ignited that spark inside me that had been smoldering for nearly three years," Allen said. That's when she started researching Shriners International and building a case for the organization to help Abdelkhalek.

After some effort, Allen learned June 1 that the Shriners had accepted Abdelkhalek's case and that a team of orthopedic surgeons would meet with him Aug. 15 in Springfield, Massachusetts. The Shriners will fund all of his medical costs, she said, though until the doctors meet with him in August, they won't know for sure whether they will be fitting him with foot braces or performing surgery on both his feet.

Other expenses such as airfare and food will not be covered, however, so Allen is busy trying to raise money for the now 20-year-old Moroccan and likely one translator to get to the U.S. Allen said she is not sure how long he'll be in the U.S. but she has set up a GoFundMe page to raise $5,000 for the cause. As of Sunday, the site had raised $435.

To donate, visit gofundme.com/28nncrg.
Working on the case also inspired Allen, who has taught middle school English for nine years, to resign her position last spring and "to follow my heart and fulfill a life-long dream of becoming a nurse practitioner, hopefully with a specialty in orthopedics."
She starts a nursing program in the fall.
https://bangordailynews.com/2016/07/10/news/aroostook/county-woman-raising-money-for-young-moroccan-to-travel-to-us-for-surgery/?ref=comments
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Why Girls' Education in Morocco Needs More than Money

By: Juliet S. Sorensen | July 12, 2016 (WOMENSENEWS)

The White House announcement, to great fanfare, of nearly $100 million in U.S. aid via the Millennium Challenge Corporation to support school attendance by Moroccan girls is a necessary but insufficient step.

In southeastern Morocco, where I served from 1995 until 1997 as a Peace Corps volunteer, it was estimated at the time that 85 percent of school-age girls were not in school. That figure was echoed by the first lady's aides. Only 36 percent of girls in rural Morocco enroll in secondary school. The female adult literacy rate in Morocco is a mere 58 percent, according to the World Bank.
Why does a country that is just nine miles from Europe suffer from such dismal education indicators? The reasons are myriad. In isolated areas, parents keep girls at home to mind younger siblings; do housework; and marry as early as 12, notwithstanding a minimum legal age of 18. Some parents keep girls at home because they cannot see the utility of education in an agrarian economy.
In Berber areas, parents keep girls at home because they do not speak Arabic, the language of instruction, and all too often the teacher supplied by the Moroccan Ministry of Education does not speak Berber.

America's $100 million must not go towards constructing schools. There are elementary schools throughout the country, even in remote villages. Instead, the money should be invested in a thoughtful, deliberate campaign to boost the status of girls in Moroccan communities. Girls' education is often regarded as useless or even harmful. Ideally, this U.S. investment will help local leaders see how girls' education is not only fuel for economic growth, it is an essential human right. The Let Girls Learn Program, in which Peace Corps volunteers and local leaders work to advance girls' education and empowerment, uses this approach. But the first lady's program will not be the only one administering this money.

To the extent that U.S. money is spent on construction projects, I hope it will be applied to the kinds of construction projects that improve access to secondary education. USAID's commitment of $400,000 to construct girls' dormitories at secondary schools, for instance, is well spent, since many secondary schools are in towns that are too far to access when transport from the village is uncertain and roads are poor. The promised aid should also support the Ministry of Education in improving a curriculum that is notoriously poor, producing high school graduates that are ill-equipped to excel in university or a profession.

Cautionary Tale
I learned much about sustainable development as a Peace Corps volunteer, but one particular experience serves as a cautionary tale to reformers who wish to effect change. In 1996, a generous dentist from Minnesota sent 700 toothbrushes to a fellow volunteer. He and I split the haul and, with the help of the Near East Foundation, I devised a dental hygiene campaign. I took it on the road, riding my Peace Corps-supplied mountain bike to every schoolhouse I could reach. With colorful illustrations, I taught each class about the dangers of tooth decay, showed them how to brush and passed out toothbrushes. I was optimistic that my lessons were a success.

Not so fast.
One night, I heard a knock on the door of my mud house. I opened it to find two small children. I recognized them as attending the school I had visited with my toothbrushes and lesson plan just two days earlier. They asked me for more toothbrushes. "But why?" I asked them. They explained their parents, unaware of the dental hygiene campaign, had seen a different use for the brushes: cleaning out the hooves of their goats.

I realized in that moment that I, from my cultural distance, had omitted an obvious point: toothbrushes are for the exclusive use of one person, not family members and not farm animals. I should have brought my lesson not only to classrooms, but also to homes. And I should have found a local partner with whom to present this material and fill in any possible cultural gaps.

As the toothbrush goes, so goes the education of a nation's girls: it must be of high quality, accompanied by targeted, culturally appropriate outreach to parents and communities and improved access. Money alone will not get us there.
http://womensenews.org/2016/07/why-girls-education-in-morocco-needs-more-than-money/
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Only forty cinemas and just over 600 libraries in Morocco: Report highlights need for arts education, funds and more public

06 July, RABAT

Morocco's forty cinemas and just over 600 libraries are not enough, according to a report released by the Economic, Social and Environmental Council (ESEC).Structural problems limit development in the sector, but the lack of interest within the public seems to be the main reason for a lack of funding. There are only 624 libraries in Morocco: one every 100,000 inhabitants. UNESCO recommends 4,000 more. Only 2,000 books are published every year, with fewer than 1,500 copies each. The most popular music hits are still ones that were composed in the 1960s, with the exception of rap songs from this century that have gained a following online but that have led to the jailing of many of the musicians singing them.

ESEC stressed that due to a lack of arts education in the country's schools, talent is not fostered and theaters have become gathering places where few plays are ever put on.

Morocco is a living contradiction in terms of the world of cinema: while ever more feature films are being produced and the country is attracting foreign producers, cinemas are being shuttered.

Only 31 cinemas were left in the country in 2013, from some 65 in 2011.In 2015, fewer than a million film viewers entered a cinema, equaling 40 million dirham (about 3.5 million euros) in tickets.

The film that racked in the highest box office earnings in 2015 was the film El Ferrouj with 96,777 viewers. The film is a comedy that focuses on a rooster that sparks the rage of an area of Marrakech populated by Moroccans and French. There are currently only 40 cinemas in the entire country but some 214 productions have been hosted, including 45 foreign ones.
http://www.ansamed.info/ansamed/en/news/sections/culture/2016/07/06/morocco-lacks-sufficient-libraries-and-cinemas_1d21ac96-fc6f-4586-ae7b-04bd581021a4.html
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A travel diary from Maghrib to the Atlas Mountains

EKREM BUĞRA EKINCI @EkremBEkinci PublishedJuly 7, 2016

A diverse country in North Africa, Morocco has everything to satisfy a traveler's needs from its mystical atmosphere and colorful, narrow streets to Andalusian-style mosques. The Kingdom of Morocco is a very ancient state. King Mohammed VI, who descended from Prophet Mohammed's grandson Hassan's family, was a widely beloved figure among the public. In English the country is called Morocco, coming from the city of Marrakech. Moroccans call their country Maghrib, and in Turkish it is Fez, because the Ottoman incursion reached the borders of its ancient capital city of Fez. Maghreb literally means "the place where the sun sets" in Arabic.

Moroccans include native Berbers, Arabs that conquered the region in the eighth century and Muris, who arrived in Morocco following the loss of Andalusia. Muris are known to be fair and blond with blue eyes. In Morocco, Arabic, Berber and French are the official languages. Berbers have their own alphabet and Morocco was a French protectorate for many years.

A courtyard with a fountain in the middle is typical of Andalusian-style pillared mosques. Small stones catch the eye and people with disabilities perform "tayammum" (dry ablution) with them. Mosques are open only during prayer hours to avoid people from sleeping or having political meetings inside. Most people are religious. Arab invaders brought Islam to Morocco in the seventh century. The country also has Christian and Jewish minorities.

Almost all women and men wear hooded traditional clothes called "djallaba." This interesting outfit, also known to Europeans through Andalusia, is similar to those worn by monks. Some people still wear fezzes, but not as much as in the past. When they come across Turks, they ask them about the Turkish TV series, which are popular in Morocco.

Two dishes are quite famous in Morocco - "tajine," a type of stew cooked with meat and vegetables, and "couscous," which is a small pasta or rice like dish made of small steamed balls of semolina. Boiled snails are a popular street food. Moroccans drink green tea with sugar and mint. Argan oil extracted from Argan tree kernels is also quite famous.

The bazaars are hectic and cheaper compared to those in Turkey. Just like other Middle Eastern countries, there is quite a bit of room for bargaining. Many people are poor and there are a lot of beggars. Someone will ask for money if one catches their eye for a moment. However, it is safe, clean and worth visiting.

Tangier is a coastal town on the Mediterranean with banana and orange trees, mild weather and cafes. It is cleaner and has a more European atmosphere compared to other Moroccan cities. Tangier has been a commercial city for a very long time and has long been a favorite spot for European bohemians, writers and artists. Morocco is the first country that recognized the U.S.'s independence and the U.S. opened its first diplomatic embassy, the American Legation, in this city. Now the embassy is run as a cultural center.

Mendoubia Gardens in the middle of the city is a nice place. Just like every other Moroccan city, the castle neighborhood is called Kasbah. The grave of famous traveler Ibn Battuta, who travelled through Asia and wrote his experiences in his travel book in the 14th century, is in Tangier.

A high number of security checkpoints are set on intercity highways. On the way there are lush villages, villagers and grazing animals. The villagers wear Andalusian-style hats reminiscent of a funny straw hat with flowers.

Situated between Tangier and Fez, Chefchaouen is a mountainous town with narrow streets and blue houses and has a mystical atmosphere. Several Islamic scholars were educated here in the past.

Centuries ago, while Fez, one of Morocco and the world's oldest cities, was being established, a golden pickaxe was discovered. That is why it was named Fez, which comes from the word "fa's," meaning pickaxe in Arabic. There are plenty of donkeys here carrying loads and garbage because the streets are pretty narrow. The city looks like Jerusalem, surrounded by walls. As one of the world's oldest universities, operating for 1,250 years, the University of al-Qarawiyyin still continues education in the mosque. The graves of famous religious figures such as Ahmad al-Tidjani, Abu Bakr Ibn al-Arabi and Abd al-Aziz Ad-Dabbagh are in this city. There are several madrasas decorated with Alhambra-style stone dressings.

There is not much in the Jewish quarter called Mallah where a synagogue and houses in the region are in ruins. A fez market has different sections named in accordance with professions and there are examples from almost all old craftsmen. The leather trade is advanced and its products are cheap. Leather products are a favorite souvenir for tourists to bring back from Morocco. The tanneries market is hard to approach because of its odor, but it is an interesting place to see. It is a striking experience to see how leather is processed. Morocco swarms with Spanish, French and British tourists, as it is a cheap and interesting holiday spot.

Surrounded by city walls, the city of Meknes was once Morocco's capital. The tomb of Moulay Ismail ibn Sharif, known as the country's founder, stands with delicate adornments and a fountain pool in the middle, looking both magnificent and mystical. The grandiose gates in the city walls still attract visitors as well as the ruins of an old slave bazaar.

The capital city of Rabat is relatively new and modern. The Medina of Rabat is a small town with old houses and narrow streets. A small and humble palace is guarded by security in traditional clothes. Like European countries, visitors can walk around the palace, but are not allowed to go inside.

Similarly, Casablanca or "ad-Dar al-Bayda" (White House), as it is known in Arabic, is also a new and modern city. Built right over the sea, the Hassan II Mosque is Africa's biggest. Tourists can visit with guides at scheduled times for a fee. The mosque does not have a mystical atmosphere, and is reminiscent of a shopping mall or a cold cathedral.

Marrakech is Morocco's most popular city, and the giant square, Jemaa el-Fnaa, is the city's most famous place. Tourists can see street sellers, mobile restaurants and buffoons along with monkey and snake charmers. There are also bazaars, cafes and restaurants surrounding the square. It is worth seeing the nearby Koutoubia Mosque, the Ben Youssef Madrasa, an Islamic complex with delicate stone decorations, the Sa'di necropolis housing the graves of former kings and the Bahia Palace, which was built by a former grand vizier and was named after one of his wives.

Among the tombs of Marrakesh's "seven awliyahs" (patron saints), there is Qadi Ayyad, a prominent scholar of Maliki law, and Sheikh Jazuli, a Moroccan Sufi leader who compiled "Dala'il al-Khayrat," a collection of prayers for Prophet Muhammad.

Although in ruins, El-Badi Palace still preserves its elegance. The mihrab of the Cordoba Mosque that was brought by Muslims escaping Andalusia is on display there. A Jewish quarter still exists in Marrakech. One hour from Marrakech in the foothills of the Atlas Mountains there is a snowy view reminiscent of Switzerland.
http://www.dailysabah.com/feature/2016/07/08/a-travel-diary-from-maghrib-to-the-atlas-mountains
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New Law to Increase Public Employment Opportunities for Disabled People

By Bryn Miller - July 5, 2016 , Rabat

On Tuesday, the Moroccan government ratified legislation that will make it easier for people with disabilities to seek employment in the public sector. Decree 2.16.146 modifies a previous law that defines the conditions regulating the hiring processes for people with disabilities that wish to work in the public field. This law creates a separate hiring process for those with disabilities so that they do not have to compete against non-disabled people for jobs in the public sector. There will be a national committee to direct these competitions.

According to a CDC report, almost 1.4 million Moroccans reported that they were disabled in 2014. Only 13% of disabled citizens were employed. Although Morocco was one of the first countries to sign the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the Kingdom has not passed extensive legislation to expand opportunities for disabled people since.

Eric Goldstein, deputy director for Human Rights Watch in the MENA region, told the Guardian in 2015, "People with disabilities in Morocco have been treated as objects of charity rather than as equal citizens, leading to stigma and discrimination." This law is part of the government's efforts to increase professional opportunities for citizens with disabilities.
http://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2016/07/190847/new-law-to-increase-public-employment-opportunities-for-disabled-people/
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El Mac in Agdz & Merzouga, Morocco

July 6, 2016

El Mac recently spent a few weeks in Morocco where along with David Choe he brought to life several new pieces. Painting on the streets of Agdz & Merzouga, the American artist created some of his stunning photo-realistic imagery which was painted using spray-paint.

One of the pieces is located outside the Casbah des Arts, and is a portrait of Mohamed Ait El Caid ( محمد ايت القيد ). He is a 92 year old man who lives next door to the mural. The other mural located in Agdz, is based on images of his cat, and is painted on a centuries-old mudbrick kasbah.

The third piece is in Merzouga, at the edge of the Sahara, near the border with Algeria. Andrew Hem painted the background designs for this one. It is based on one of El Mac's photos of Hssain Ahnana ( حساين اهنانا ) who comes from a lineage of Sahrawi nomads and now owns the camping ground (Secret du Sahara) where the mural was painted.
Take a look at more images below and check back with us shortly for the latest street art updates.
Check the drawing here https://streetartnews.net/2016/07/el-mac-in-agdz-merzouga-morocco.html
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Argumentative Essay Topics and Ideas for Students

By Morocco World News - July 31, 2016 , By Amber McKinney

Choosing the very best topic

Most professional essay writers would advise students who want to attain the very best in their essay writing to choose an excellent yet argumentative topic to discuss about. There are a lot of information available online to help students choose the perfect topic therefore a great deal of attention should be given to finding articles on selecting a topic and what to remember when searching for that elusive topic. Special attention should also be paid to instructions which provide clear structure that can be used in essay writing. During the research students can also find it helpful to categorise various topics into relevant subcategories such as recycling, dieting, health, food technology, science and the environment. So it is important for students to spend the time researching various topics in order to increase their chances of finding a unique topic and getting their desired grades.

How students can find a good topic?
As previously mentioned, the first objective in writing any argumentative essay is finding the best possible topic. Students could choose topics they are passionate about to ensure success in their essay writing. It is also a good idea to choose topics that stimulates a wide range of view as it provides students with different opinions and examples which could be used to substantiate your argument. Alternatively picture a reader who does not agree with you and try to write your essay in such a way that you will provide that reader with excellent reasons why you believe your argument to be accurate and true. Nevertheless stay away from safe topics which involves safe conclusions because you will not be able to provide any new information of your own. WritePro is a custom writing service that can really provide students with excellent advice as far as essay topics are concerned.

Those topics which should rather be avoided
There are certain topics every professional essay writer will advise students to avoid at all costs. General topics that have been overly debated and does not provide new insight into the issue. The most important reason for this is the fact that teachers have more than likely read hundreds of essays on those topics and therefore they may be bored with such an essay even if it's well-written and this could result in a poor grade. Moreover reading hundreds of essays on the same topic can result in a situation where there is no new information for the teacher to pick up on. Topics such as death penalty, abortion or gun control laws are difficult themes to debate upon as most people may have formed very rigid opinion on such issues, therefore students may find it difficult to construct an argument that will allow them to draw a new conclusion.

Research some examples
Students should look at as many examples as possible before making a decision on their chosen topic. Themes such as: environmental issues is always a winning topic like the ongoing debate on the destruction of natural resources for purely financial gain. Relationships is another popular favourite, especially how to establish a long-term relationship. Other topics which are certainly of interest to readers is the cultural shift in our society where an increasing number of men are struggling to find employment resulting in stay-at-home fathers. Another hot topic that could be considered is the different form of inequality that exists in the world today i.e. social, and whether people should take more responsibility for their fellow human beings.

Some dieting topics
Your essay could potentially discuss why we see a rapidly increasing trend where more and more people are struggling with obesity. This is not only true for adults but this phenomenon is also increasingly seen amongst young children and it is becoming increasingly difficult to stamp out this pattern. What exactly is the main causes of obesity and could the reasons for obesity be environmental, genetic or is some other factor or combination of factors to blame? Another solid topic of discussion which attracts people's attention is healthy lifestyle. How to effectually lose weight and then how to retain that new look over the long term. There is no doubt that there are a large number of people with healthy lifestyle, but how exactly do they manage to maintain such lifestyle and look good year after year. Is there an effective relationship between body weight, healthy food and exercise and how should these things be managed? There are so many diets promoted by large companies on a daily basis, but how does one know what an effective diet look like, what does it entail and what exactly has to be done to succeed with such diet. Could the rumours surrounding pre-planned meals be the key diet in keeping obesity at bay? What about the hundreds of other dietary products on the market which are incessantly forced down the throats of television viewers and those who listen to the radio and how can one determine which one is totally effective and reliable especially over the long term?'
http://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2016/07/192734/argumentative-essay-topics-ideas-students/
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Characteristics That Make You Moroccan

By Morocco World News - July 29, 2016 Yas Asraguis London

What is it like to be a Moroccan expatriate? Is it just about having a green passport which opens from the left side or is it about having those brown eyes which force the police border to check you twice more than your white red passport friends? Is it about being Muslim and therefore sharing a certain vision of Islam and its practices or essentially being good to yourself and others? Is it about speaking the Moroccan dialect or is it about reading Khalil Gabran in classical Arabic? Is it about being Arab, North-African, Berber, Muslim, Jewish or secular? But what if it was a bit of it all? Why should I have to choose between my love for Aznavour, David Bowie, Claude François and my love for derbukka, mint tea and orange blossom? As a twenty year old French-speaking Moroccan living in Britain, here is the time for me to examine how Morocco can be fully part of my identity without falling into an intimate cultural crackdown.

If lost in the disregardfor this immense city of London, as a Moroccan citizen, you can always go to your consulate – if not to renew your ID or passport, at least to feel remnants of home for a couple of minutes. A few meters away from the far-famed Paddington station, one finds the Moroccan flag, infamous Praed Street with its imposing red and green star. I am not one of those jingoists who suffer the manic symptom of lecturing people about the unconditional greatness of Morocco, yet, seeing my flag waving to the rhythm of the British rain seriously tickled my eyes. Here I am entering the Moroccan Consulate in London for what was to be my best experience with the Moroccan administration. Believe it or not, one has to leave the homeland to actually see the highest level of Moroccan effectiveness. Not only are our London civil-servants professional and caring, but smiley, welcoming, understanding and funny: first class with honours Moroccans.

Welcomed by the portrait of King Mohammed VI and some traditional music on in the background, here I was, in the waiting room, ready to move my hips to the music of Moroccan bureaucracy. I have felt in the Moroccan consulate a similarity to when boarding with Royal Air Morocco – excited but full of doubts and uncertainties until the very end. Yet, I let myself go toward the offices of this consulate for better or for worse, in wealth or in poverty, in sickness or in health, to love and to cherish until death do us part. Yes, I was that proud Moroccan who was perversely enjoying seeing many non-European, non-Moroccan citizens asking us for visas. Also, since we have become one of the most secure countries worldwide- it is surely time for us to oblige more Western countries to apply for Moroccan visas. This would be the most legitimate way of reimbursing 45% of the Moroccan pride which has been over-consumed in Western Embassies and Police Borders for the past 50 years or so. Please Sir Mezouar, let's start visa stamping Western passports with the image of our Kingdom and its capacity of keeping us both safe and tanned.

I came to believe that my land is special. There is a Moroccan exceptionalism that we need to cherish and be proud of. Our exceptionalism is our diversity; this very thing sets us apart both in the continent and in the Middle East. Only in a Moroccan setting can you see a Fessi laughing at a Northern person, both criticising Casaouites for their rogue accent whilst they all share some Berber blood. For some reason, we transformed regional diversity into a unifying force. Being Moroccan is our common grounding and at no point do cultural differences, regional attachments and specific accents overlap with our national identity. So much that we are Moroccan and then Muslim, we are Moroccan and then Jewish, we are Moroccan and then Tangaoui. To be Moroccan, inherently involves a specific chromosome which makes you open-minded, adaptable to foreign lands and makes you acquainted with the outside world. As his Majesty Hassan II put it"Morocco islike a tree whose roots lie in Africa but whose leaves breathe in Europe". To say true, only Parisians self-define themselves as Parisians before French.

Through respect, humour and consideration, Moroccans enjoy their specificities but never in opposition to what keeps us together. We are diverse; we recognize our own diversity and make it rich. The greatness of our country resides in its unwillingness to surrender its values and inter-religious living-together, even in times of darkness. We have faced a collaborationist protectorate, the rise of Islamic-conservatives, economic recessions, identity crisis, constitutional reforms and Sahara tensions, but here we are more solid and secure than ever before, still fighting for the best possible future for our children.
http://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2016/07/192584/characteristics-that-make-you-moroccan/
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VoilaVe Introduces Organic Hydration with Organic Pure Argan Oil from Morocco

VoilaVe introduces Organic Hydration, unsurpassed natural hydration, with VoilaVe's Certified USDA Organic Pure Argan Oil from Morocco.
Las Vegas, USA - July 29, 2016 /PressCable/

Organic Hydration is here and is poised to change how women hydrate their skin, hair and nails. VoilaVe is offering unsurpassed natural hydration with its Certified USDA Organic Pure Argan Oil from Morocco. Hydration is universally recognized as the foundation for skin, hair and nail beauty. VoilaVe takes it up a notch with its Organic Argan Oil which is produced using the highest standards in the industry, not only at VoilaVe's advanced FDA and USDA certified bottling facility here in the U.S., but also in Morocco, the only agricultural source of Argan oil in the world.

Organic Hydration means utilizing naturally rich beneficial fatty acids, Vitamin E, and carotenes found in VoilaVe's Organic Argan Oil to relieve severely dry skin, hair and nails while providing protection against cold winds, pollution, and cigarette smoke. Just as consumers have come to realize that organic food tastes better and provides more nutrition without introducing harmful substances into the human body, so too with organic oils and beauty products that are applied and absorbed into the body daily. VoilaVe believes that beauty products should enhance beauty without also introducing potentially harmful substances into the body. VoilaVe does not use fillers that can inhibit the healing effects of Argan Oil or potentially be detrimental: VoilaVe's Argan Oil is 100% Pure Cold-Pressed USDA Certified Organic Moroccan Argan Oil.

Argan Oil has many uses including but not limited to being applied to the face for deep moisturizing to facilitate a radiant and glamorous glow, being applied to dry, damaged, or brittle hair for a shiny, lustrous, celebrity look, used on the entire body to condition, nourish and maintain healthy skin and applied to brittle, yellow nails to soften, strengthen, and restore their youthful appearance.
Argan is so nutritious that goats in Morocco go to great lengths to climb high up into Argan Trees just to eat the Argan Nuts from which Argan Oil is derived from. The wild goats in the trees is a strange and humorous sight, but underscores vividly why Argan Oil is often referred to as nature's beauty secret.

VoilaVe recommends its Pure Organic Argan Oil be paired with VoilaVe's 100% Pure Low and High Hyaluronic Acid as these are the two most powerful natural hydrating substances on the planet.
VoilaVe's Hyaluronic Acid delivers increased water content and facilitates essential nutrients into skin cells and activates the removal of cell impurities. This intense hydration softens and smooths dry skin, shrinks pores and balances skin tone for a healthier, more youthful complexion.

VoilaVe warranties that its Organic Argan Oil and its entire line of products will provide great results by backing all of its products with an unconditional 365-day hassle-free money back guarantee.
If a customer is not completely satisfied, the consumer can simply contact VoilaVe and a full refund will be issued, no questions asked. Complete satisfaction is VoilaVe's #1 priority.
VoilaVe's Argan Oil, https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00IT1HKV4 and Hyaluronic Acid, https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00I2495QG on Amazon and are priced very fairly.
For more information, please visit http://www.voilave.com
http://www.free-press-release-center.info/pr00000000000000353917_voilave-introduces-organic-hydration-with-organic-pure-argan-oil-from-morocco.html
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Why are beaches disappearing in Morocco?

Desirable coastal areas are being stripped of their beachfronts by the construction need for sand
Read it here: http://www.middleeasteye.net/in-depth/features/sand-exploitation-morocco-beaches-environment-construction-erosion-475164766
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Summertime in Morocco: A Childhood Remembrance

By Morocco World News - July 23, 2016 By Erkia Jarif Rotterdam

It is summer, and most people are preparing a trip for several weeks abroad. Most Dutch go to France, Spain, Greece and Turkey. And most Dutch of Moroccan descent leave for Morocco. Most are stressed by the preparations and can't wait to lay down and sleep or read a book, but before they can do that a long list of things to do need to be ticked off.

I distinctly remember the time when my parents would prepare for holidays in Morocco; the whole house was always filled with a certain sense of excitement for the summer season. Many weeks before we left, my parents would call family members that lived in Casablanca and Ouarzazate, and asked them what they needed, and the long list of items varied from clothes to coffee to a pack of cigarettes or something else. My parents always bought these items, and as you can imagine, the car was always fully packed.

Also, my father collected as much music as he could and taped it on cassettes. He liked almost everything, but he especially favored The Temptations, and every time I hear music from them, I am reminded of the long journeys in the car to Morocco.

Like most Moroccan families living in Europe, we also traveled by car to Morocco. Back then I remember we had a green Volvo, and to create space for us in the back during the long trip from the Netherlands to Morocco, my father installed a self-made luggage rack on the roof of the car. Nowadays, it is normal to have such a thing on a car, but believe me; then it was odd. My older siblings often got embarrassed by my father's contraption and often tried to convince him to remove it without any success.

I'll take you back to 1985; it was the day of our departure to Morocco. As a young child with my twin brother and older sister, who is just two years older, we didn't have a choice between wanting to join our parents in Morocco or not. We had to. My other older siblings stayed home because most of them were old enough to make decisions for themselves.

As always before we left for Morocco, my parents got up very early around 3 am in the night and made breakfast. My dear mum would wake us up gently and make sure we were clean and dressed, and once we were at the breakfast table, I sat with my older brother and neighbor as they drank coffee. Our neighbour always took care of our house while we were away.

Before we left, my father, older brother and the neighbour would check the car and take care of last-minute tasks. After saying goodbye to my brother and neighbour, we would get in the car and begin the journey.

We lived up north in the Netherlands, so it took us about 3 to 4 hours to arrive in Belgium. In 1985 the highways were not as busy as they are now, and there were fewer cars as well. Once we arrived in Belgium, my father would pull over for a stop to eat and refuel the car. According to my father, the easy part was leaving the Netherlands, and that was over. The long and difficult part of our trip was getting to France and Spain. So as the younger bunch of the family, we made sure we had enough to do in the car. We occupied ourselves with enough comic books, such as Donald Duck, we took papers and pens with us to play games and had piles of snacks to eat during the journey. I remember so well; we always ate till we got sick and my father would always have to stop the car in the middle of nowhere. He was usually very aggravated with us.

As the journey progressed into France and Spain, the car would get so hot that if felt like we were in a real pressure cooker. Back then the cars were not air-conditioned and believe me when I tell you that even if you opened the window for fresh air, the enormous heat in the south of France and Spain felt like a hot hairdryer.

The journey to Morocco always started with lots of fun and excitement, but after a day of driving and entering France and heading to Spain, my twin brother and I became more and more irritated by the heat. To keep cool, my brother would sit on the floor of the car, this way my sister and I had more space in the backseat. After a while, he would begin to complain about the heat and repeatedly ask why people like Spain so much.

"It's too hot, and I hate it," he would say.

After three long days of driving, we would arrive in Algeciras; we longed for fresh air, and we were always so happy to arrive. We could see Morocco on the other side of the sea, which always made my parents very emotional.

Whenever we arrived in Morocco, Tanger, my parents would get out of the car, touch the ground as a gesture and thank God for a safe trip back home. After that, we would head to Casablanca and the four weeks of holiday would begin. Merhaba.
http://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2016/07/192153/summertime-morocco-childhood-remembrance/
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Education and Dialogue against Religious Radicalism

By Mohamed Chtatou - August 5, 2016

Islam, a religion of dialogue and tolerance. It is an established fact that Islam is a religion of tolerance, dialogue, coexistence, peace, non-discrimination and respect of the rights of the individual no matter what his colour, background, culture, or belief is. A religion that urges all people to cooperate in the achievement of righteousness and calls for mutual understanding, cohesion and harmony among all nations of the globe.

In this respect, Allah states clearly these concepts in the Koran:"O mankind! We created you from a single (pair) of a male and female and made you into nations that ye may know each other (not that ye may despise each other). Verily the most honoured of you in the sight of God is (he who is) the most righteous of you. And God has full knowledge and is well acquainted (with all things)." (AL – Hujurat: 13)

This message of coexistence within diversity is further highlighted in the Koran, in no doubtful terms:"Among His Signs is the creation of the heavens and earth, and the variation in your languages and your colour". (Ar-R?m: 22)

International education and current issues
Islam's view on addressing present-day problems is characterized by its comprehensive vision, the complementarity of its dimensions and the coherence of its methodology. Thus, in its education in the values of good citizenship lies a call for respect and wisdom and cultivating citizens who earn the satisfaction of their God, society and themselves.

Likewise, in its education in the values of knowledge acquisition and work lies a shield against the scourge of illiteracy and the dangers of poverty, unemployment and deviant behavior. Similarly, in its education in the principles of respect for difference and acceptance of others lies immunity against the predominance of hatred, intolerance and disrespect and their imposed score of values as well as a call to reject violence and extremism.

In this context, Muslim thinkers must, urgently, focus on underscoring the view of Islam on dealing with contemporary problems and issues such as: extremism, poverty, drugs, wars, and degradation of social values, by preparing guides and curricula and organising sessions, workshops and symposia to train educational staff and address their concerns, from an Islamic humanist perspective. The aim is, therefore, to elevate awareness about these dangers and integrate dynamic values in curricula and educational programmes that are likely to thwart them.

Education in the values of dialogue and human rights and the culture of justice and peace
Based on the values enshrined in Islamic law shari'a that affirm the common origins of humanity, recognize the divine wisdom lying behind difference and diversity, and call for cooperation to achieve complementarity in building human civilization, Muslim ulamas must shed light on Islam's view on dialogue among Muslims on the one hand, and between Muslims and non-Muslims on the other hand and highlight "knowledge-based sensitization" about human rights and the culture of justice and peace, from an Islamic perspective.

Attention must be paid under this concept of "value-based sensitization" to the field of education because it is an effective means to further instilling the values of dialogue and human rights and the culture of justice and peace in the minds and practices of the learners. The objective is to build the personality of learners on these values by integrating them in school courses, offering training in pedagogical skills and means and looking at the value and knowledge aspects of such principles.

These particular objectives can be achieved by convening educational meetings to deepen the knowledge-related dimensions of these values, holding capacity development workshops to teach them in school courses, and producing studies and guides to include them in curricula.

School curricula and stereotyped images of cultures and civilizations
Religious misunderstanding, the distorted legacy left by former colonial powers, old experiences of hostility, as well as, theories sowing the seeds of conflict and war among cultures and civilizations, all contributed to forging a negative image of Islam as a faith, civilization and culture in textbooks. This was attributable to either real or feigned ignorance of the mission of faiths, which consists in spreading the values of diversity and equity and calling for concord and interaction among different civilizations as a common human heritage where contributions come into contact with one another without any clash of values or concepts.

Conscious of the role textbooks play in projecting stereotyped and distorted images in certain states and desirous to strengthen the Islamic perspective which nurtures the loftiest of values such as tolerance and entente and the call on the international community to "learn to live together," education specialists and curricula developers ought to study and assess the concepts and tendencies included in school curricula and textbooks on Islam, Muslims, civilizations and cultures, to foster the values of tolerance and recognition of others, uphold fundamental human rights and expose all allegations and their motives contained in biased educational publications.

To reach these goals, corrective studies must be produced, at once, and educational and information symposia and other gatherings must be convened with the aim to guard against enmity and foster coexistence among civilizations. Various efforts must be made with the intention to exchange visits among students, experts and educational institutions. The ultimate aim is to elevate awareness about the virtuous humane mission of religions, civilizations and cultures and incorporate it in school curricula and textbooks.

Dialogue and alliance among civilizations to promote understanding and mutual understanding
Efforts must be made to enact dialogue among Islamic culture and the other cultures, in order to reinforce understanding and mutual respect between the peoples of the world and achieve durable peace and comprehensive development. Also, activities must be organized for the benefit of school children and youth with a view to educating them in the culture of dialogue and respect of others.
For this purpose, various activities must be considered including publications and symposia, to move from mere dialogue to establishing alliance of cultures and creeds and dialogue among civilizations. In other words, it is urgent to move from cultural exchange to cooperation, and to establish an understanding of "culture" in its broad meaning, which covers the fields of employment, education, science, culture, faith and communication. This must be done in light of the results of the international conference on "Fostering dialogue among cultures and civilizations through concrete and sustained action", which was held in Rabat, Morocco in June 2005, and the international conference on "Human Cultures and Civilizations: from Dialogue to Alliance" (Tunisia, November 2005).

In this respect, programmes and activities must be implemented to reinforce interaction and cooperation with and openness towards the other cultures. The first step toward this openness is the ultimate sharing of knowledge and information, and making them available on open networks for cross-fertilization and cross-support. Aspects of the international consensus on dialogue and cultural diversity must be identified and made into proposals for joint action and collaboration, the aim being to ensure the respect for diversity and cultivate the culture of tolerance and brotherhood.
NGOs must work with other institutions active in the field of interactive dialogue in order to reach an international consensus to achieve civilizational alliance, cross-fertilization and complementarity. In addition, new activities in collaboration with partners in favour of this interactive dialogue on cultural issues and others, must be taken into consideration. Such activities ought to include the organization of meetings around specific issues, supporting the publishing of the works of renowned travellers, the organization of exhibitions, festivals and caravans to promote communication among different peoples, all in the objective of sharing and comparing human experiences so as to reach friendship and mutual understanding.

Cultural and civilizational communication networks to build a tolerant and fraternal human society
Partnership and cooperation are new mechanisms that link regional, national and international networks with each other. These linkages create a forum that provides space for dialogue and communication with the others around the world.

Hence, resides the importance of these networks in defending Islam and Muslims, in responding to smear campaigns, and in forming civilizational alliances for dialogue and encounter. The importance of these networks consists, also, in the fact that they prepare for conferences and meetings, by agreeing on a common ground. They must coordinate action in the cultural field with other national and international networks, such as the UN, the Organization of the Islamic Cooperation -OIC-, UNESCO, the League of Arab States, ISESCO, ALECSO, the Council of Europe and civil society institutions, the main aim being to build a brotherly human society and conceive a human culture based on dialogue and peaceful coexistence. This can be achieved by inviting these networks to tighten the links among them via the Internet and exchange cultural information.

Besides, governments, international organizations, NGOs must promote cultural and civilizational communication programmes through a series of diverse activities, as well as, define space or time settings for these activities, such as: the Mediterranean space, the Atlantic space, Andalusia, as a land of religious and civilizational coexistence, pilgrimage scenes, gold or salt routes, and others. They must, also, consider supporting the organization of festivals, cultural camps, caravans, university twinning, student and professor exchanges, etc. In the same context, extend support for the translation and publishing of travel literature, which is a manifestation of cultural communication that reflects inter-cultural exchange and human solidarity with the ultimate objective of building a human society characterized by fraternity, tolerance and the feeling of shared destiny.

Local community institutions in the service of dialogue and alliance of cultures and faiths
It is no doubt that local community institutions, working in tandem with governments, have contributed to enhancing the general performance of societies, by strengthening the role of the executive authorities and assisting them to make the right decision that involves all social categories and expresses their interests and aspirations, and by diversifying the channels of communication between all actors, thus, avoiding conflict and unilateral decision-making. Civil society institutions are now playing an important role in generating a new sense of real nationalism which is more responsive to the interests of nations and people, far from any form of fanatical patriotism: chauvinism.

Aware of the importance of these new and effective roles in the life of nations, governments must encourage the emergence of such institutions as alternative avenues for dialogue and coexistence. Indeed, these institutions reflect the concept of the truly sovereign civilizational interlocutor, who is the product of history and society. It is sure that dialogue among societies through this channel will greatly reduce the barriers between cultures and civilizations, and will allow for the emergence of a human culture characterized by dialogue, peaceful coexistence and the respect for the characteristics of each culture and civilization.

Besides, governments must participate in the projects suggested by these civil society institutions and follow up and support them in providing services in the fields of culture, education, communication and human rights, etc. And, also, publish field studies on the role of civil society institutions, and organize meetings of these institutions considering that they are specialized observatories on development issues. Additionally, they ought to grant merit awards to all such institutions that contribute to spread the culture of dialogue and alliance among civilizations.

International cultural exchange to promote dialogue and alliance among cultures
The world has entered the era of cultural, economic and information globalization. In fact, it is easy to notice that cultural globalization started due to the liberalization of exchange among countries in terms of goods and individuals through trade, tourism, foreign studentship, immigration or labour. Cultural globalization, nowadays, knows a great expansion thanks to the development of cultural industry, information and communication technologies, virtual communication, cultural popular tourism and international exchange in the fields of education, culture and arts.

This globalization takes different shapes with regard to culture. In this respect, equal cultural exchange constitutes the ideal solution to introduce cultural diversity at the international level, and to illustrate the heritage of the nations through new mechanisms of offer and production. However, this cultural exchange has to be well balanced and not subjected to the law of the market and competition, which is nothing but a façade for economic hegemony in the absence of the real principles of equity among producers. This balanced cultural exchange, also, provides the possibility for minorities to express their cultural and civilizational specificities, a much-needed action today.

Conscious of present-day challenges related to culture in the world, Muslim governments have to devise a programme that aims at undermining conflict, illustrating the bright side of Islamic civilization, and instituting a constructive and interactive civilizational dialogue based on cooperation, peaceful coexistence and the exchange of expertise and experiences. This can be achieved only by boosting Islamic cultural production, illustrating its diversity and presenting it on multimedia supports. Exposing this heritage to the world and making it available to all and for the service of all will certainly propel acceptance and goodwill many steps ahead and enhance understanding and concord.

To achieve these goals, these governments ought to consider holding international and regional meetings, supporting the organization of exhibitions of cultural products, displaying Islamic heritage on the Internet and supporting the transfer of cultural products through multimedia in order to allow their wide circulation in view of their cultural values calling for coexistence, tolerance and dialogue among civilizations.

Dialogue and alliance of civilizations in regional and international relations
Today it is axiomatic that the development of education, science, culture and communication hinges on security and peace, within or between states, both at the regional and international levels. No development will be conceivable under a climate filled with ethnic, sectarian and religious tensions.

Emphasis must be put on the establishment of justice and mutual respect, which are key elements for creating international relations that could promote prosperity and human development. Also, it is internationally recognized that the alliance of civilizations represents the sole means that can restore balance to the world and establish peace, respect for diversity and the acknowledgment of the legitimate cultural rights and civilizational specificities of the different peoples and nations.

Such positive actions will, undoubtedly, enhance the sense of citizenship and active participation of foreign nationals and immigrants, as well as educate them on the values of tolerance and the rejection of all forms of discrimination, racism and hatred. Similarly, they will strive to reactivate the concept of international cultural Takaful, in order to firmly establish the culture of human rights and the rights of peoples; consolidate civilizational relations and cultural exchange; facilitate cultural mobility and the freedom of movement of people and ideas by encouraging South-South and North-South programmes for student exchange visits. Furthermore, they aim at setting up consultation mechanisms on labour and immigration to ensure the respect of human dignity of immigrants and foreign nationals; devising tourism's development policies within the respect of cultural and civilizational identities; ensuring social harmony and combating poverty, violence, marginalization and social vulnerability.

Shared values and cultural memory for the consolidation of dialogue and alliance of civilizations
The world community must take a keen interest in the issue of dialogue and coexistence between various cultures and religions. This interest must be palpable in the many activities and programmes dedicated to this end, some of which must be made to gain wide international visibility and outreach. Another stride must be made in concretizing dialogue among civilizations and cultures and developing its contents and objectives, through the much sought-after alliance of civilizations and cultures.

The aim of this undertaking is to ensure that cultural exchanges become cultural cooperation and an effective alliance encompassing science, education, culture, technology and communication, and harnessing all these components to achieve common human objectives. These lofty and noble objectives must be fulfilled by consolidating activities aimed at safeguarding the collective memory and shared cultural heritage, encouraging cultural interaction projects to support the dialogue of cultures and the alliance of civilizations and consolidate all that is shared by humanity.

Activities to be scheduled within this area will be dedicated to encouraging creative people and researchers to produce literary and artistic works that highlight the common cultural values and memory of all peoples as a prelude to civilizational dialogue and alliance. These activities will focus on monitoring the major intellectual and cultural transformations being witnessed by the international scene and the intellectual, civilizational and cultural challenges they give rise to at degrees that vary from one cultural group to another. These endeavours are expected to limit the clear deterioration of creativity and innovation in Islamic cultural action and its inability to continue discharging the pioneering civilizational role it had once assumed in the march of human civilization.

These works will be marked by emphasis on reactivating the Islamic fundamentals and principles that encourage creativity and research, renewal of the Islamic intellectual and cultural discourse and celebration of the collective cultural memory of the entire Ummah. They will also provide an opportunity to unleash the creative capacities of the Muslim individual, who is able and capable of meeting cultural challenges, who enjoys civilizational knowledge foundations that are compatible with modern times and who can set out to effectively contribute to the human civilizational edification.

Last word
Islam is a religion of peace and coexistence. Islam is a religion of respect and dignity. Islam is a religion of brotherhood of men. Islam is a religion of understanding and acceptance of the other. Extremism, terrorism, violence and hatred are the ideology of deviant people and has nothing to do with the true Islamic faith, so it is about time this is highlighted clearly in education to achieve positive dialogue with other faiths in total dignity and respect of one and all.
http://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2016/08/193264/facebook-adds-tamazight-list-official-languages
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Asma Lamrabet: Deconstructing Patriarchy in Islamic Thought

By Morocco World News - July 27, 2016 , By Alexandra Krauska Rabat

Individual liberty, equality in heritage, Islamic feminism.
In an interview with HuffPost Maroc published Sunday, Asma Lamrabet said that a debate about the legacy of Morocco "is necessary and indispensable today in the profound transformations affecting society." Lamrabet recently appeared on the television channel 2M, making a statement in favor of the decriminalization of breaking the fast publicly during Ramadan.

Lamrabet is a doctor, Islamic feminist and author. She currently lives in Rabat, and is the author of five books about Islam and its relation to women and the feminist movement. In the interview, she discussed individual liberty, equality and legacy, and Islamic feminism. She said that the conversations that society has about these topics "will only advance if we review our entire approach to religion. Inheritance is a question, among others, but it will be impossible to understand if one does not deconstruct dogmatic and patriarchal interpretations undermining any Islamic thought."
Lamrabet argued that it is possible to change people's attitudes on these issues, but "on condition that it is accompanied by a series of reforms, such as those of education, religious teaching, legal reform, and of course political and economic reforms. The dimension of religion is important and unsurpassable in societies such as ours." She believes that religion is intertwined with the political and socioeconomic dimensions of society, and that "one cannot do without the other."

When asked what the contribution of Islamic feminism could be to Morocco and Islam itself, she responded that Islamic feminism questions the standard interpretations of sacred texts. "This proofreading has pinpointed a major failure of the classical Islamic interpretation, [which] marginalized the ethical dimension of the Qu'ran in favor of the economic and legal reading, which is now completely outdated."

"In criticizing the patriarchal religious tradition and its politicized reading, Islamic feminism today puts into question the socio-cultural foundations of injustice and discrimination of all disadvantaged and marginalized people, women or men," she said. "It is also equally critical of some Western hegemonic thinking that exploits the issue of Muslim women – and Islam in general – for geopolitical purposes."

Moroccan feminism today, according to Lamrabet, is a "de-colonial feminism," which is spiritually, culturally, and historically rich. She wants this kind of feminism to be depoliticized, so that it may serve the majority of women, "especially those living in poverty… [it is a] fundamental issue of human rights and thus transcends any political affiliation."
http://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2016/07/192434/asma-lamrabet-deconstructing-patriarchy-islamic-thought/
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Morocco's Toubkal: Difficult Hike, Worth the Effort

By Morocco World News - July 24, 2016 , By Alexandra Krauska Rabat

I wasn't sure what I was getting myself into when I decided to hike Mount Toubkal, the highest peak in the Atlas Mountains of North Africa. It was a difficult climb, between the scree slopes, the heat, and significant change in elevation, but it was an unforgettable experience that I can't wait to do again.

Mount Toubkal is 4,167 meters tall, located south of Marrakech. It was first climbed by Europeans in 1923, though most likely climbed by others before then. The hike is not very technical during the summer months, but during the winter, winter gear and crampons are needed for the snow and ice.

The road from Marrakech ends in a village called Imlil. From there, you can hire a guide or a mule driver. (If you're a very experienced hiker, you may not need a guide, because the trail is easy to follow once you leave Imlil.) Because a few people in our group spoke Arabic, we didn't need an English speaking guide to show us the way, so we saved money by hiring a mule driver who knew the way instead. Muhammed, our mule driver, looked like a Moroccan cowboy, with a cowboy hat riding atop the mule.

To prepare for the hike, you should wear sturdy shoes, pack only what you need, and bring lots of water. I wore Converse tennis shoes, which was not the best idea, though I had no trouble with traction (the problem was the large, purple bruise I found on the bottom of my foot the next day). We were able to leave a lot of our unneeded supplies at our hostel in Marrakech, which lightened the load. Another perk to hiring a mule driver was that the mule carried our bags for us! While this wasn't absolutely necessary, it made the hike much more enjoyable.

The first day of hiking gave us so many great views of the landscape. The clear mountain streams, the clouds floating among the peaks, and the stunning valleys below us were unforgettable. After about five hours in the sun and heat, exhausted from the hike, we arrived at the refuge.

We decided to rent beds in the refuge. It was arranged like a hostel, with many beds in one room. They'll serve you dinner and breakfast, and you can rent a shower if you want, but we opted for an adventure in the cold mountain stream only a short walk from the refuge. At about 3,200 m, the refuge is a great place to spend the night and acclimate to the altitude.

Our group decided to leave early the next morning, just before sunrise, so we went to bed very early the night before. We set an alarm for 11pm, however, to go out and stargaze. As hard as it was to walk out into the cold, those were the clearest stars I have ever seen. With no light interference from nearby cities, you can see everything in the sky.

Hiking the next morning was a chore. I wasn't adjusted to the altitude, and I had a hard time catching my breath. To top it off, this part of the hike was the most difficult part. Between the unstable scree slopes and the trail's proximity to a long fall, one misstep could be very dangerous. The good thing, though, was that it was much cooler in the morning!

As difficult as it was, it was all worth it, because the views from the top were absolutely incredible.

Okay – I'll confess, I didn't make it to the top. I had to stop once I got to the ridge, still 50m from the peak. I was exhausted, I couldn't breathe, and I didn't want to miss a step and fall down the mountain. My group made it to the top without me.

The way back down was much easier, as the air started to feel lighter and easier to breathe, my fingers stopped swelling from the altitude, and the trail gets easier and flatter on the way down. We arrived in Imlil sore, sweaty and exhausted, but the whole experience was very rewarding.

I'm not an experienced hiker, and I don't have great cardiovascular fitness. I should not have expected to make it to the top, without having done much physical preparation. However, knowing what I do now, when I come back in a few years and try it again, I will make it to the top.
http://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2016/07/192201/moroccos-toubkal-difficult-hike-worth-the-effort/
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The bridge into Africa

25 July, 2016 REUTERS/Youssef Boudlal

Najwa El Iraki, Head of Business Development at Casablanca Finance City, discusses why Morocco's young financial zone has the potential to be a hub for Africa. The Casablanca Finance City (CFC) was first established through a directive of Morocco's King Mohammed VI in 2010, making it a relatively young but fast growing gateway into African markets. Through aggressive business development and key partnerships with financial centres across the world--including Mauritius, Paris, Singapore, London, Luxembourg and Montreal--the City now boasts just over 100 companies operating under its umbrella.

Sitting on 100 hectares in the new Casablanca-Anfa city centre, the City now hosts several international banks, insurance companies and advisory groups--but has ambitions for much more. Najwa El Iraki, Head of Business Development, sat down with Banker Africa's Isla Macfarlane at the Africa Financial Services Investment Conference to discuss.
What makes Casablanca Finance City a hub for the African region?

Looking at Morocco's assets, they basically represent the key success factors for building an internationally recognised financial centre. First, there are several strategic advantages--this includes ongoing political stability and Morocco's strategic geographical position between Africa, the Arab world, Europe and the Americas. We also have world-class infrastructure, which includes the largest airport in the West Africa region--we have 33 air connections from Casablanca into other African cities, we are the number one air hub between Europe and Africa...We also have world-class highways, ports, speed rails and networks, making Morocco's infrastructure stand out compared to the rest of the continent.

The second key advantage is a sound regulatory framework; we actually have the second-most developed financial sector in Africa, and a regulatory framework which is recognised as a benchmark in the region according to the IMF, not just in terms of banking but also in terms of insurance.

Thirdly, there is a strong presence of Moroccan champions in Africa. Our companies accounted for about nine per cent of business transactions in Africa last year. Our banks and insurance companies are present in over 30 African countries. Morocco is also the second African investor in the region after South Africa. In terms of being a regional hub, we have very strong cultural, historic, and economic ties with our African neighbours.

Finally, I will add the whole macro-economic environment as one of Morocco's key assets. We are an open economy with strong fundamentals and with free trade agreements that give us access to markets [with a combined total] of one billion customers. This has contributed to improving our rank in the Global Financial Centers Index to become Africa's first financial centre as of April 2016.

All these elements and more give us the ability to be a pan-African hub. Under this context, Casablanca Finance City was set up as Morocco's business and financial heart at the initiative of His Majesty the King in 2010, and we've gone a long way towards having a specific value proposition for companies with the CFC status, granting them a number of advantages to operate in the region. CFC is today an operational reality with over 100 member companies.

In terms of new financial companies coming in, where have you seen the biggest growth areas?
Before all, we should look at the kind of companies that we are targeting. We are interested in companies across the services spectrum within four main categories that together constitute the CFC ecosystem: first, financial institutions such as corporate investment banks, re/insurance firms, asset managers and so on; second, regional headquarters of international corporates in all kinds of industries; third, holding companies and fourth, professional service firms --lawyers, management and strategy consultants and so on.

So where we've seen the most growth looking specifically at the first category i.e. financial institutions: we can see a growing interest from GPs/financial advisory firms in the private equity and investment funds industry. There is also the reinsurance sector that has seen significant growth--just in the last year or so, we've had about 10 companies from this sector, which have come on board.

As far as regions, companies from Europe and North America are most common, since today we are functioning as their North West hub to North and West Africa. But we are also seeing companies from Asia joining our ecosystem more and more, mainly Chinese companies.

How do you support small businesses?
Our offer caters to both larger and smaller businesses; if they are smaller businesses, they want to be part of CFC because firstly 'Casablanca Finance City' is a label--a quality label. So just being part of CFC gives them in a way a certain natural marketing [angle]. We support smaller businesses through our comprehensive ecosystem, with over 100 financial and non-financial companies that can help generate business for them, either directly 
or indirectly.

We also have a strong value proposition for both large and small businesses, which includes fast-tracking administrative operations (ex: only 48 hours for company setup). So even if a company is a small business, it will still benefit from a dedicated desk and a team of professionals within CFC to help it navigate and accelerate its legal and administrative procedures. In addition, there are simplified processes for business visas, foreign employment contracts, residence permits, and facilitated exchange control with no restrictions on the management of foreign currency assets from foreign sources. This could otherwise be difficult for small businesses, if they do not have specific agreements and partnerships in place. There are also some tax incentives for both the CFC companies and their employees.

All this is essential for small businesses; they want to start doing business quickly, be less burdened by administrative procedures, and pay less taxes - all so that they can grow more quickly and efficiently.

What effect does this have on Morocco's domestic economy?
Generally speaking, having a financial centre in a country does create value. It creates wealth for our city, country, and continent; we are creating jobs, both direct and indirect. We are bringing expertise to the markets, because we are looking at value-added service jobs. On a regional level, we are contributing to increasing business and investments opportunities from Morocco into Africa. Today, 38 per cent of Morocco's investments in the continent come from CFC companies. This, in the long-run, obviously means we will contribute to the GDP growth of the country.

We are also working on the training and talent pool side; we brought in specific qualifications and examination centres in Morocco like the CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst), the CISI (Chartered Institution of Security Investments), and the CII (Chartered Insurance Institute). Thus we're training people on the ground, helping companies within the CFC ecosystem and beyond to better their employees' skills, and to have a good talent pool to hire from.

What would you say CFC's biggest goals are?
There is a vast working field ahead for CFC to strengthen its position as a global financial centre.

We wish to strategically position ourselves on key business lines and attract companies in specialised fields, thereby generating more growth notably in the corporate and investment banking sector. At its basis, CFC is a promoter of African 
investment opportunities.

CFC also has a role to play in improving wider financial regulation. The role of CFC here is to be a facilitator and an accelerator of reforms at the national and regional levels. We are a financial centre that is in constant evolution, and we seek to continuously enhance our competitiveness, the same as even the most advanced financial centres aim to do.

In the longer run, we want to promote regional financial integration. This is really our ultimate end: to make South-South cooperation even stronger with a focus on GNWA [Greater Northwest Africa region] countries, so as to consolidate our position as a pan-African business and financial hub and to represent a well-integrated region having achieved critical mass.
With CFC growing as a financial beacon in the region, what are your biggest challenges?

A global financial centre builds itself over time. There are certain components of our hub which can be improved and which require a strong and sustained mobilisation of multiple public and private stakeholders. I suppose it all comes back to the question about our goals and specifically on the longer-term as I previously mentioned--regional financial integration, which remains the biggest challenge. African states will have to work hand in hand in order to overcome outstanding financial and economic barriers, resulting in an integrated and well regulated market that will increase the attractiveness of the region even further for investors.
© Banker Africa 2016
http://www.zawya.com/mena/en/story/ZAWYA20160725113800/
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White Rabat, Red Marrakech - the enchanting cities of Morocco.

Edmund Smith-Asante
01 August 2016
http://www.graphic.com.gh/news/general-news/white-rabat-red-marrakech-the-enchanting-cities-of-morocco.html
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IMF: Morocco Carried Out Challenging Reforms

Written by: Jaber Ali on August 3, 2016.

The International Monetary Fund has commended the reforms carried out successfully by Morocco, saying the North African Kingdom has implemented challenging reforms such as modernizing the budget framework, enacting energy subsidy reforms, strengthening the domestic financial sector, and most recently reforming the civil service pension system.

In a press release issued after approving a two-year $3.4 billion liquidity line for Morocco, the Fund said the financial support will enable the country to continue its economic reforms and further strengthen its growth prospects.

The IMF's Precautionary & Liquidity Line will also provide Morocco insurance against external shocks in light of heightened uncertainty worldwide. This will help the Moroccan government to continue with their reform agenda aimed at promoting inclusive growth by addressing challenges such as high youth unemployment (about21 percent in 2015,) low female labor force participation and boosting competitiveness.

The challenging reforms carried out by Morocco have contributed to the substantial decline in domestic and external imbalances, says the IMF, warning that the country "is still subject to potential external shocks such as a slowdown in the Euro area, increased volatility in the financial markets, and regional spillovers—such as heightened geopolitical risks that would lead to reduced tourism and increased oil price volatility—which could reverse some of the recent achievements".

The new IMF liquidity line supports Morocco's efforts to further strengthen macroeconomic stability and economic resilience, even if these external shocks materialize. According to IMF experts, the North African country's strong policies and domestic reforms, combined with favorable oil prices have helped steer the economy forward. They praised Morocco's fuel product prices liberalization, expansion of social programs targeting most vulnerable groups, new budget & banking laws, civil service pension reform and new central bank law.

According to the IMF analysts, the efforts engaged by the Moroccan government to diversify the economy have led to the emergence of new and higher value added industries (automobile, aeronautics, and electronics,) which now provide the country with more export revenues than traditional sectors such as agriculture or phosphates.
The country has also further developed its tourism industry, one of the major pillars of the Kingdom's economy, a source of hard currency and employment.
http://me-confidential.com/13320-imf-morocco-carried-out-challenging-reforms.html
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Human Rights Watch Lauds Morocco's New Law on Domestic Workers

August 3, 2016

Human Rights Watch, welcomed Morocco's new law regulating work for domestic workers saying that such a legislation is "ground breaking" in as far as it will protect the rights of this social category.
This new law "could help protect thousands of women and girls from exploitation and abuse," said the international rights watchdog in a note on its website. "By providing domestic workers with legal, enforceable protection, Morocco is delivering the message that even the most vulnerable workers deserve humane conditions," said Ahmed Benchemsi, MENA communications and advocacy director at Human Rights Watch. "Now that Morocco has established legal protections for domestic workers, it should ratify the ILO Domestic Workers Convention," said Benchemsi. "By ratifying the convention, it can be a leader for other countries in the region in protecting domestic workers."

The Moroccan House of Representatives adopted the new law on July 26, 2016. The law will enter into effect one year after publication in the official gazette. The new legislation requires written contract and sets 18 as the minimum age for a domestic worker. It also limits working hours and guarantees 24 continuous hours of weekly rest and a minimum wage of 1542 dirhams per month ($158.) The law also provides for financial penalties for employers who do not abide by the legal provisions.

HRW urged Morocco to open a public awareness campaign to ensure that both domestic workers and employers are aware of the legislation provisions. The government should also train labor inspectors and other officials in enforcing the law, and publicize penalties against employers who violate the law's provisions, the NGO said, adding that labor inspectors should have the authority to inspect anywhere a domestic worker is employed, and to interview domestic workers privately about their working conditions.
http://northafricapost.com/13276-human-rights-watch-lauds-moroccos-new-law-domestic-workers.html
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'Flying Carpet' Artist Inspired by a Half-Century of Chelsea Life

By Maya Rajamani | August 4, 2016 @mayarajamani CHELSEA

In a small old-law tenement on West 15th Street, Stanley Bulbach sits at his loom and weaves flying carpets. Ever since taking a trip to Morocco in the late 1970s, Bulbach, 69, has spent years crafting the Near Eastern-style carpets — spinning his own yarn, boiling dyes in his kitchen and weaving on a loom in the one-bedroom apartment he has lived in for nearly five decades.

"That kind of carpet, of course, doesn't exist in reality," he said of the moniker. "But it's part of the tradition, the 'flying carpet,' so I make them, too." "Fying carpets" are distinguished by designs that lack a fixed viewing point and lend the viewer "a sense of moving, of twisting, of soaring," Bulbach explained.

The carpet that first inspired him — a flat-woven one with an intricate, repetitive design — was hanging out to dry when he passed it on his travels through the Atlas Mountains. "It was love at first sight," recalled the artist, who jumped out of his car to snap a photo. "I was completely bowled over by the musicality of the design, by the abstract nature of the design."

Seven of his pieces are currently on display at the Hudson Guild's Fulton Center, in an exhibit called "The Interweave of the Near East and Chelsea." After he left Morocco, Bulbach turned to textile-centric groups like the Handweavers Guild of America to learn the art of weaving.

Working toward a master's degree and doctorate at NYU's Center for Near Eastern Studies also informed his craft, he said. "I was fascinated with the idea that these carpets were so important in the lives of people in the Near East — not only in the economy, but also in how people used them in their daily lives," explained Bulbach, who also weaves traditional prayer carpets and carpet beds.
"These pieces could be, really, very powerful statements of their beliefs, their aspirations, their traditional designs, their ideas."

When he first moved to the city from New Jersey to earn a bachelor's degree in religious history from NYU, the textile and fabric trade was booming in Chelsea, he recalled. "You couldn't walk down a block in Chelsea without running into a sewing machine repair shop," he said. "And that ain't no more — they're all Starbucks."

Many of the families living in his current building were from Middle Eastern countries like Lebanon and Syria, and neighbors who saw his work were reminded of pieces they'd brought with them from home or inherited from relatives. Some of his carpets were inspired by those families, who have since moved out of Chelsea as rents and the cost of living have soared. Others were inspired by sights around the city, like the annual migration of Monarch butterflies and the Third Sephardic Cemetery on West 21st Street.

"Chelsea is no longer what it used to be. Like so much else of New York, it's wealthier, but it's not richer," Bulbach said. "I want people to realize... this [work] reflects, in some way, shape or form, what this neighborhood used to be like."

Bulbach, who also heads the West 15th Street 100 and 200 Block Association, supported himself by teaching and lecturing about weaving until the 1990s, when he began supplementing his income working with computers. "There is really no developed market for fiber art in this country," he said. "It's really very interesting and exciting, [but] it's just relatively arcane and unknown."
As for the carpet that caught his eye in Morocco, its bemused owners offered to sell it to him when they caught him admiring it. He took them up on their offer. "They thought I was a bit crazy," he said. "But I think it was a knockout."

"The Interweave of the Near East and Chelsea: Contemporary Fiber Art of Stanley Bulbach" is on display at the Guild Gallery II at the Hudson Guild Fulton Center at 119 Ninth Ave., between West 17th and 18th streets, Wednesdays through Fridays from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. through Sept. 9, and from 4 p.m. to 7 pm. on Aug. 13, Aug. 20 and Aug. 27.
https://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20160804/chelsea/flying-carpet-artist-inspired-by-half-century-of-chelsea-life
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Guelmim School of Technology Morocco Aga Khan Award Architecture

02-08-2016

The Guelmim School of Technology, in Guelmim, Morocco, designed by architects Saad El Kabbaj, Driss Kettani and Mohamed Amine Siana, was selected amongst the 348 projects participating in the 13th edition of the Aga Khan Award for Architecture and is now one of the 19 finalist projects chosen for this prestigious Award. Th campus of the Guelmim School of Technology, in Guelmim, Morocco, won the Archmarathon Awards 2015 for the "Education" category. It was designed by architects Saad El Kabbaj, Driss Kettani and Mohamed Amine Siana and is among the 19 finalist projects chosen for the Aga Khan Award for Architecture.

The campus is composed of several structures including, among others, a 200-seat amphitheatre, classrooms, workshops, a library, and sports facilities. All buildings are made of reinforced concrete and are connected by yards and sheltered walkways, organised along a north-south axis.

The campus boasts walkways, which are protected from the intense sun, and sheltered rest areas. The different elements composing the project can easily be interpreted and identified. The extensive size and low ceiling height of the buildings are compensated for by glass exteriors and narrow windows emerging from the façades to ensure a more effective temperature regulation and favour natural ventilation. The ochre colour of the exteriors and the layout of the area, which comprises local vegetation and decorative rocks, allows the structures to blend in with the landscape
http://www.floornature.com/architecture-news/news-guelmim-school-of-technology-morocco-aga-khan-award-architecture-11856/
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Medina of Tétouan

At this faithfully preserved medina off the Moroccan tourist circuit you can walk through six centuries of history in one day.

Like Fez, Tétouan grew up in the reign of the Maranid Dynasty. Although Arab and European documents attest to a settlement here from the early 8th century, it was not until the Maranid conquest of northern Africa in the 13th and 14th centuries that Tétouan came into its own. In 1286, the Maranids built the Kasbah and the oldest mosque that still stands in the city.

In the 14th century, Tétouan became a defensive strongpoint against a rebellious Ceuta, a town some 60km to the north. As the Catholic forces of the Kingdom of Castile in northern Spain began to pressurize the Islamic kingdoms of Al-Andalus, the effects were felt too in Tétouan: Thousands of refugees from the Islamic kingdom of Grenada fled their homes and settled here, on the other side of the Straights of Gibraltar. Throughout the 15th and 16th centuries, Tétouan became a hub for these refugees, who brought with them their own Andalusian traditions and customs.
For true Tétouanians, the city's identity is fundamentally Andalusian. The diversity of those refugees from Al-Andalus — Jews, Morisques, Mudejars — forms the essence of a single, united identity today.

The medina testifies to this great diversity. Because of its relatively small size, a visitor can walk through six centuries of history in one day: from the 14th-century Kasbah of Sidi al-Mandari, to the mosques of the 16th and 17th centuries, and the 20th century Jewish quarter. Each quarter bears the architectural stamps of its origin.

Some of the city's most fascinating stories took place below its streets: In the 16th century, 3,000 Christian slaves spent their nights in the natural caves that run from east to west under the city. Later, in 1740 to 41, some 140 Spanish and Portuguese slaves were also held captive here. The altars the set up to the saints of their respective villages still exist beneath the streets of the medina, if you know where to look.

In the economic shadow of larger towns such as Tangier and Fez, and indeed trailing nearby Chefchaoen in terms of international visitors, Tétouan has instead established itself as a centre of the Andalusian culture that is so key to its heritage. There is a prestigious fine arts school (Dar Sanaa) as well as a renowned annual international lute festival, the International Festival of Mediterranean Film, and many other concerts and events that occur throughout the year.

Being off the tourist circuit means that Tétouan has remained mercifully free of the demands of the international tourism industry. Instead of striving to be part of this "exotic" tourists' Morocco, it has rather chartered its own course, and retains that sense of cultural independence today.
http://www.atlasobscura.com/places/medina-of-tetouan
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