FOM Monthly Electronic Rolling Newsletter
August 2003

    Almanac: Calendar information about cultural and community events in Morocco.   Events in Rabat, Casablanca, Fez, Tangier and throughout Morocco of possible interest to readers are included.  Updated weekly each Thursday.  Compiled as a community service by Mark Parkison of AMIDEAST.  Contact Mark to be included on the mailing list.

    Events Calendar for Friends of Morocco in the USA

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   8/30 Week in Review:  News clips from Morocco
   8/23 Week in Review:  News clips from Morocco
   8/16 Week in Review:  News clips from Morocco
   8/09 Week in Review:  News clips from Morocco
   8/02 Week in Review:  News clips from Morocco
   7/26 Week in Review:  News clips from Morocco


Compiled weekly by Mhamed El Kadi in Morocco and posted each Saturday on this site

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    The United States and the Kingdom of Morocco negotiate free trade agreement as old friends with new priorities

The United States and the Kingdom of Morocco Negotiate Free Trade Agreement as Old Friends with New Priorities In an April 23, 2002, White House ceremony, President George W. Bush and His Majesty (HM) King Mohammed VI of the Kingdom of Morocco jointly announced the intention of the two historically close nations to secure a Free Trade Agreement. A U.S.-Morocco Free Trade Agreement will be the culmination of a long history of economic cooperation that includes the 1991 U.S.-Morocco Bilateral Investment Treaty and the 1995 Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA). ...

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    Life is hard in Morocco, yet folks go on

By Terry Ward special correspondent to the sun-sentinel Posted July 27 2003

Samir, my host at food stall No. 125 in Djemma al Fna square, one of Africa's most eclectic massings of humanity, is a tooth-challenged teenager who claims to have lovers in every corner of the world. ...

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Pickled lemons are sold in jars in Middle Eastern grocery stores. You could substitute the juice of half a lemon ........

Read this recipe carefully to draw up your plan of action, and count on having a stylish, robustly seasoned dish on the table, to serve four people, in under half an hour.  The seasoning used for both meat and couscous is influenced by the spicy flair of Moroccan cuisine. Olives, raisins and yogurt are other Mediterranean ingredients rounding out the taste spectrum, with the yogurt serving as a cool garnish.

The government's long term project to bring 10m tourists annually to the country by 2010 came under scrutiny recently, as recent cyclical and political events raised concerns. However, many tourism professionals remain confident of reaching the target, as OBG found out at a recent debate hosted by the American Chamber of Commerce. There, Tourism Minister Adil Douiri presented the strategies envisaged for Moroccan tourism after September 11. The 2010 plan envisages an increase from an estimated 4.5m tourists a year presently to 10m, with the ultimate aim being to make tourism the primary

The story "Al-Hamam" ("The Baths"), is one of the most beautiful stories in the Moroccan writer Al-Tahar Ben Jelloun's new collection, "Amours Sorcieres." "What most great writers do is to draw from the reality a background on which they draw everything incredible, from ecstasy of the world to the craziness of people. What writers see is difficult for others to see. Or they refuse to see ...............

    A welcome in the lands of the Prophet From Morocco to Uzbekistan, Muslim traditions of hospitality enchant Justin Marozzi.

I lost count many years ago of the times complete strangers in the Muslim world invited me into their houses for lunch or dinner or endless cups of sweet tea. The occasions merge into a blur of hospitality unmatched in Western culture. During an expedition across the Libyan Sahara, my companion and I, not to mention our five camels, were offered food and lodging in every oasis we visited. Sometimes, it was clear the family was extremely poor, but any attempt to contribute financially was firmly and courteously rebuffed. In Taliban-run Afghanistan, old friends risked severe punishment asking me into their homes. In Cairo and Karachi, Tashkent and Tripoli, in the mountains of Morocco and the deserts of Jordan, the story has always been the same. These experiences are not unusual. Far from it. They are staples of travel in this part of the world. The great explorer Sir Wilfred Thesiger remarked on the Arabs' boundless capacity for hospitality in Arabian Sands, published in 1959. "I have wondered sadly what Arabs brought up in this tradition have thought when they visited England," he wrote, "and I have hoped that they realised that we are as unfriendly to each other as we must appear to be to them."

Islam can take much of the credit for this generosity. "Whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day should honour his guest," wrote the Islamic scholar al Bukhari, collator of the Prophet's sayings. "Provisions for the road are what will serve for a day and night; hospitality extends for three days; what goes beyond that is charity." Like the world's other sacred texts, the Koran is replete with injunctions to extend hospitality. I mention this rich tradition because it is one - and only one - of the privileges and glories of travel in the dar al Islam, the Muslim world. Why dwell on it? Because ever since the events of September 11, hard on the heels of the second Palestinian intifada, followed in quick succession by the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, it has fallen off the travel map for many Westerners. Why risk a suicide bomber ruining your holiday when there are plenty of other countries to see?

Such caution, although understandable, is exaggerated and misplaced. At the very least it disregards the facts. Al-Qaeda has shown it is as capable of killing people in Kenya (and indeed in the US) as attacking in the Middle East. As our political masters are fond of reminding us, terrorism today knows no boundaries. Personally, I have never felt safer than when travelling in the Muslim world, even during times of conflict. I remember watching television images of the bombing of Baghdad in 1998, surrounded by Touareg tribesmen in a Libyan village. They tut-tutted in disapproval but were far too polite to address any angry words to a British guest. In unruly Afghanistan last month, I found the tradition of respect and courtesy towards visitors unchanged, despite the alarming rise in anti-western feeling fuelled by the US-led conflict in Iraq.

Travelling when everyone else is staying away is usually a rewarding experience. Says the acclaimed travel writer William Dalrymple, veteran of the Levant: "The first rule of any serious traveller is as soon as you hear of any incident, book an air ticket there. You have heightened security and the place to yourself." When I first visited the Roman cities of Leptis Magna and Sabratha on the north African coast in the early 1990s I was as astounded by their monumental magnificence as by their emptiness. With the exception of a local family or two I had the most outstanding Roman sites in the Mediterranean to myself. But then Libya was a pariah state, a dangerous place to visit in the popular mind.

Shortly after September 11, I galloped around the pyramids alternately shocked, saddened and delighted by the absence of tourists. Never mind that there had been no domestic terrorism since 1997. Egypt was a Muslim country, best to avoid. "They hate us, don't they?" Well, no, they don't, actually. In the present climate it needs to be emphasised that Muslims are perfectly able to draw a distinction between western government policies towards the Muslim world - which they generally oppose - and Western visitors, whom they continue to welcome. Contrast this open-minded approach with the assault of two Iraqi Kurds in Plymouth in May. "Are you f***ing Turks?" two British men reportedly asked, before setting about their victims with a skewer and belt buckle. Ignorance and prejudice go hand-in-hand. When all you see or hear about a region consists of suicide bombers, wars and dictatorships, it is only natural that the Muslim world disappears from the traveller's must-see list. An alien reading the Western press would naturally conclude the region was a seething mass of terrorism. Thanks to the efforts of Osama bin Laden, countries such as Pakistan and Syria have disappeared from the travel pages, confirming the perception that they are unsafe to visit. They are not, but for as long as we view the Muslim world through such blinkered eyes, the polarity between Islam and the West will only become more deeply entrenched. Western political scientists continue to debate whether we are on the way to Samuel Huntington's controversial "clash of civilisations". In many Muslim eyes, we are already there. It is time to re-evaluate our fears and put them into their proper context, rather than allowing the misperceptions to harden.

So if a wander through Petra or a gallop around the Pyramids appeals, if you prefer your Roman sites uncluttered by the tourist hordes, if you have long wished to visit the Islamic jewels of Isfahan and Bukhara, explore the Crusader castles of Syria or hike in the wilderness of Pakistan's North-West Frontier Province, if you are ready to lose yourself in the medieval maze of the souks in the imperial city of Fes or dive in the clear waters of the Red Sea, then put the headlines and over-zealous travel advisories to one side and consider the Muslim world. See for yourself. Its hospitality will put you to shame. Justin Marozzi is the author of 'South from Barbary: Along the Slave Routes of the Libyan Sahara'. His history of Tamerlane will be published by HarperCollins in 2004. By JUSTIN MAROZZI © Financial Times 2003

CASABLANCA, Morocco -- When suicide bombers shattered the calm of the night here on May 16, they did more than take 43 lives - they also endangered Morocco's future as a democracy. Morocco had long been considered a haven of tolerance and peace, and any troubles we had we attributed to foreign agitators. We can't pretend that is the case any more. This time, all the attackers were Moroccans. All grew up in poverty; none had been outside the country. Instead, the ideology of radical Islam came here and found ready recruits..........

    Morocco: Fending off pesky 'mosquitoes' in Tangier requires lots of effort .

By Jackie Spinner The Washington Post Sunday, June 22, 2003 - Page updated at 12:00 A.M.

Richard had an explanation for everything. "I hear English voices," he said by way of introduction, when he found my friend and me wandering through a residential neighborhood in the Moroccan port city of Tangier.

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First, this paper describes the Amazigh people of North Africa and threats to their language and culture from schooling and the domination of Arabo-Islamic ideology...........

Chapter 10 of Revitalizing Indigenous Languages, edited by Jon Reyhner, Gina Cantoni, Robert N. St. Clair, and Evangeline Parsons Yazzie (pp. 117-128). Flagstaff, AZ: Northern Arizona University. Copyright 1999 by Northern Arizona University.

(Washington D.C., June 18, 2003) The affirmation Tuesday of a 3-year prison term for journalist Ali Mrabet is a grave blow to press freedom in Morocco, Human Rights Watch said today. A Rabat appeals court upheld a lower court verdict that also banned the independent weeklies that Mrabet directs, Demain and its Arabic sister Douman.

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    THE GNAWA AND THEIR LILA:

The term "Gnawa" refers firstly to a North African ethnic minority that traces its origins to West African slaves and soldiers. Gnawa communities in the Maghreb (Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia) trace their origins to the Sudan, not meaning the present-day nation of Sudan, but rather sub-Saharan African in general. (The word "Sudan," after all, is merely the Arabic word for "the Blacks.") Thus, like the term "African-American," Gnawa refers to a group of people whose ancestors came from diverse regions of Africa but took on a collective identity in exile. .........

"The most important single element of Morocco's folk culture is its music... the entire history and mythology of the people is clothed in song." [1]Paul Bowles Musically, Morocco is heterogeneous, and this heterogeneity reflects the variety of Moroccan culture. From secular urban professionals and religious singers to rural and nomadic singers. From historic and traditional to modern to Raï music. We find the classical Andalusian style, reflecting Morocco's historic relationship with Spain. We find Sephardic music and other folksongs from the historic Jewish communities in Essaouira and Fez. We also find Gnawa; the music originally derived from West Africa that demonstrates the influence of migrations and cultural interchanges across the Sahara.......

    Dangers On Moroccan Democracy

Mohamad Al Ashab Al-Hayat 2003/06/01
Moroccan politicians would be making two mistakes in case they considered the terrorist strikes against Casablanca as a chance to end the legitimate existence of the Islamic Justice and Charity Party. The first mistake would be because the party, like the rest of the political partners, harshly condemned the suicidal operations and considered them as isolated in using violence as a cosmic phenomenon. The second mistake is because the next local elections would have no meaning with the absence of this Islamic party. Their insistence to hold the moderate Islamists indirectly responsible for the strikes could be understood as solving political issues by increasing the influence of the Justice and Charity Party in the legislative elections next year.

In both cases, the western democracy would be the greatest loser, as long as Morocco is capable to ensure the method to attract the Islamists into the political game, starting from the actual situation without any embarrassment. Before the establishment of the government of the technocrat Idriss Jetto, it was possible to have a coalition government with the Justice and Charity Party. The contradiction would be obvious between a democracy that was standing on its feet attracting people to it and another handicapped democracy excluding a political power that won through the elections.

The Moroccans continue to assure that the elections of last fall were honest and transparent and with no falsification. They base their assurances on the progress the dissident Justice and Charity Party had made. The paradox here is that voters in the local elections next fall are after eliminating the Islamist party. This would be, in the least, considered as a deterioration of democracy. Elimination is not democratic no matter what the reason is. It could not be a result of eliminating those who are not democratic as some might think; it is revenge with political and economical reasons, knowing the municipal elections will be held while giving more liberties to voters,
especially to the presidents of the local councils. Some say that Casablanca, the economical and commercial heart of the nation, would be the center of fierce electoral competitions.

Eliminating the Islamists from this competition would not be beneficial. Despite the conflict between the Moroccan and Algerian experiences in dealing with the Islamic issue for their difference of the goals and the hypotheses and the nature of the crisis, the events showed that the dissolution of the Islamic Salvation Front wasn't the solution. When Algeria needed to gather its Islamic elements for negotiations, the Salvation Front was divided into many factions, of which an armed faction is the most violent. Thus, we could think that an honest or hidden invitation to dissolve the Justice and Charity Party won't solve the problem, not to forget that the terrorist attacks on Casablanca didn't find any party to adopt them. On the contrary, their condemnation was collective and thorough.  Morocco will not be a laic nation no matter how intense the invitations to separate religion from government get. At the same time, it is doomed to cohabitate in a complex mosaic of Arabism, Islam, Amazig and African beliefs. It is wrong to eliminate any part of this combination, for only Islam remained the unifying element of the nation. As it isn't exclusive to any party or current, it is also not responsible for reckless violent, yet isolated, terrorist attacks.

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    A postcard from Agadir

By Chris Mugan, Evening Standard
Morocco's number one beach destination may well suffer a fall in popularity following the Casablanca bombings, but Agadir will survive. After all, the town we see today was born out of disaster. When an earthquake flattened the Atlantic port in 1960, Agadir was rebuilt from scratch. Le Corbusier was selected to design low-rise, tremor-proof buildings. His functional constructions are rarely beautiful, but Agadir's skyline is dominated by the Atlas foothills rather than hotel blocks. Two hundred miles from Casablanca, the town shares a similar latitude to the Canary Islands. Year-round sun attracted 70,000 Brits last year, mainly couples or families. 

Due to fly out two days after the 16 May bombings, Sadie Turner and Matt Lewery, from Brighton, couldn't change their destination. 'Our travel agents said the Foreign Office only warned of 'higher risk' so we couldn't cancel, and at such short notice everything they offered as an alternative was too dear.' When the couple arrived, though, they found the locals welcoming and enjoyed a Berber feast in the desert. 

Matt Lowe and Rebecca Fox, from Highbury, said: 'We decided to risk lightning not striking twice: Casablanca was a commercial centre - this is a resort.'  Chantel Ostler, from Portsmouth, and boyfriend Chris Wilson, from Winchester, had no hesitation. 'We don't think twice about going to London, and that's just as dangerous.'  They had found an unmissable deal: one week half-board at a three-star hotel for £160 through Panorama on Teletext four weeks ago. 
Exchange rate is 14dm = £1.

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    Morocco: When the Spirit Moves By Satellite
By David Kithcart 
For CWNews 
June 6, 2003
The Muslim world may restrict the Gospel, yet the Christian message is still getting through to hungry people. Many testify of having dreams and visions about Jesus, while others hear His message in more conventional ways. Morocco is a country of exotic people and culture. It's an Islamic country that is home to one of the largest mosques in the world, Mohammed IV, where people come and go often. 

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Trying to please Europe by persuading farmers to grow avocados is not succeeding

Giles Tremlett in Chaouen, Morocco Tuesday May 27, 2003 The Guardian

Dealers off the colourful Outa el Hammam square in the medina were at their most solicitous. "Hello my friend. You want kif? I have very good stuff, 10 euros, come and smoke some." ...........

Between one and two million Moroccans came out on Sunday to give a lesson to the world. They walked-men and women, Muslims and Jews, atheists and Christians, Berbers and Arabs, children and the elderly -to show how national pride and coexistence are experienced in daily life. They carried flags and pictures of the king; they displayed slogans condemning terror; and they chanted Allah Akbar and la ilalha illa allah. It was, in my opinion, the most momentous act of courage Moroccans have displayed in modern history. Just like anti-colonial nationalists and Green March volunteers were willing to give their lives to liberate their country from foreign occupation, those who marched in Casablanca did so to reclaim their rich heritage from the reign of terror. They are our heroes, entitled to the same accolades and wisams. They are torch bearers in a region out of focus and a world without compass. 

Those marchers were also the best messengers for Islam that I have seen in my lifetime. They were patriotic without being chauvinistic, proud without being arrogant, peaceful without being weak, and Muslim without being prejudiced. One veiled woman carried the picture of the victims and showed her utter contempt for the so-called Muslim perpetrators of the act. Our Jewish brothers and sisters (who, as we all know, lived in Morocco way before Islam) came out in huge numbers to reaffirm their unshakable commitment to their homeland and join ranks with their Muslim compatriots. A 17-year-old Jewish woman marched to defend the land of her ancestors. When did anyone witness such a scene before? 

The march was, by far, the best concrete demonstration that Islam has nothing to do with terror. All the declarations and disclaimers by Muslim officials before this momentous day were not taken too seriously by many skeptics and Islamophobes. But this event is different. Now the nations of the world could see for themselves. Here was a shining example of "moral clarity," a perfect illustration of conviction without hatred, national solidarity without scapegoats. It's as if the marchers were marking a new day of independence, forging a new charter for the 21st century and the rest of the millennium. They were affirming that human oneness is more important than ideological purity; that human beings, regardless of faith, are more precious than theologies. God's creation, in whatever color or idiom it appears, is always sacred. To destroy the beautiful but fragile fabric of life in such a reckless manner is nothing short of satanic. 

No event has vindicated Islam more powerfully since 9/11 than this historic march. What misguided Muslims have destroyed the brave marchers in Casablanca have begun to mend. Raised in a melting pot at the crossroads of civilizations, Moroccans know how to live with difference. Only last week, the U.S. House of Representatives introduced a resolution expressing solidarity with Morocco because, among other things, it "has chosen the path of diversity and tolerance." The march in Casablanca will not only confirm this tradition, but it may also become a textbook model in the struggle for peace and justice in the Islamic world. 

The long and painful road to global coexistence begins in Casablanca.

Reassuringly, in these post-conflict days, Moroccans are as welcoming as ever to British tourists. Lewis Jones reports

May. 24, 2003. 01:00 AM  Connected to the Internet via a local dial-up in Rabat, Morocco, I'm writing this column following a morning of meandering through this Imperial city' colourful medina. Dating back to the 12th century, the medina is a vibrant maze of narrow, cobbled alleyways where a traditional way of life appears in sharp contrast to the rest of this cosmopolitan, contemporary and clean capital..........

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    News about US/Morocco free trade on Marketplace Radio (heard on select public radio stations)

  Kick up a little gold dust

When the rich and famous visit Marrakesh, they head for an exclusive group of villas and hotels, writes Tessa Boase 'See that villa? It's outdated," scoffed Mohammed, our guide, as we zoomed along the sand track. "It is nine years old. Everything here must be new!"

  Tajeen Mediterranean Restaurant Tiny Tajeen Cafe Is Big On Flavor

By Mary D. Scourtes of The Tampa Tribune Published: April 30, 2003

ST. PETERSBURG - If you can't coerce your date to meet you at the Casbah, maybe Tajeen Mediterranean Restaurant will do. Abraham Hamdaoui, a native of Rabat, Morocco, opened this tiny cafe (it has about seven tables) four months ago. The name is an altered spelling of tagine, the earthy stews so popular in Morocco

  Spain to Morocco's child migrants: Go homeHuman rights groups urge compassion toward minors crossing illegally from Africa to Europe

CEUTA, SPAIN, May 02, 2003 (The Christian Science Monitor via COMTEX) -- The homes in northern Morocco's impoverished villages are roofed with metal sheets held down with rocks or broken appliances. Parents send their children to unpaid jobs, instead of school, hoping that at least they will learn a trade.

  Morocco - In the Fullness of Time

Morocco is a rich storehouse of architecture, decorative art, fabulous food, colorful markets, ever-present history and dramatic scenery.................

Moroccan rugs invite a particularly wide range of reactions from those seeing the material for the first time. But whether the reaction is positive or negative, coming from the perspective of the homeowner, designer, or artist, there is one quality that all seem to agree upon.

   Trade and Exchange of North African textiles according to Early Documentary Evidence.

In the classical period of Islamic civilisation (which roughly corresponds to the European Middle Ages) textiles were highly valued objects. Textiles had an economic value were durable and easily portable, which made them ideal items for trade.

SOME people do sponsored walks for charity, while others organize a fund-raising dance - but not supermarket manager Martin Hammond. The 31-year-old, from March, ran in the toughest footrace on earth to raise up to £4,000 to help children stricken with liver disease. Rachael Gordon caught up with him to find out about his 150-mile journey across the Sahara Desert.

   New generation of Arab filmmakers probes cross-cultural tensions

By Stacey Freed Special to The Washington Post  Wednesday, April 16, 2003; Page F01

A tradition of Moroccan Jews, Mimouna, held on the last night of Passover, is a celebration of liberty and friendship as well as a way to greet the spring........

Matthew Collin discovers much more than sand dunes in Valley of the Casbahs by Jeffrey Tayler and Sahara by Marq de Villiers and Sheila Hirtle 
Saturday April 12, 2003  The Guardian 

Valley of the Casbahs: A Journey Across the Moroccan Sahara by Jeffrey Tayler
352pp, Little, Brown, £16.99

Jeffrey Tayler succumbed to the mystique of the Sahara long before he ever visited it. As a young student of Arabic, he dreamed of shimmering dunes and inscrutable Bedouin, and of following the caravan route of the post-war British explorer and writer Wilfred Thesiger. But his first sight of the desert was less idyllic than he had imagined - he got lost and almost died of thirst. Nevertheless, he returned, beguiled by accounts of the Dra Valley, an ancient trading path stretching hundreds of miles across the Moroccan Sahara to the Atlantic

Hakim Belabbes used to go home every year or so to visit his family in Bejjaad, Morocco during the autumn feast of Moussem Sidi M'hamed Echerqui. He left home for graduate study in literature and film, first to France, and then to the U.S. Now he is an independent filmmaker in Chicago. In 1992, he traveled to Morocco to shoot one of his first films. He and his cameraman, Don Smith, stayed at his home in Bejjaad, filming Belabbes' family as they went about their daily activities, such as preparing meals and cleaning................

    Morocco: Medieval and modern juxtaposed

FEZ, Morocco (AP 02/26) --It's impossible not to get jostled in the narrow alleys in the old city of Fez. Coming toward you, or trying to squeeze past, are formidable Moroccan ladies in black, grizzled men pulling hand carts and boys tugging donkeys.  "Balak!" -- look out! -- the cart pullers call out as they press forward .....

    Peace Corps Suspends Program in Morocco

WASHINGTON, D.C., April 3, 2003 -- Peace Corps Director Gaddi H. Vasquez today announced the temporary suspension of the Peace Corps program in Morocco.

Peace Corps volunteers in Morocco were consolidated on March 20 to allow Peace Corps staff in country and at headquarters in Washington, D.C. to evaluate the political and public climate in Morocco as a result of the events in Iraq. Peace Corps also offered volunteers the option of Interrupted Service for those who preferred not to continue their service.

“After a thorough assessment of safety and security issues it was determined that it would be in the best interest of the Peace Corps volunteers to temporarily suspend the program in Morocco. Moreover, the uncertainty of a date or time for the volunteers to return to their job sites has proven to be a disruption to the continuity of their work,” stated Director Vasquez.

The Moroccan government has been extremely supportive of Peace Corps volunteers and programs in their country and very attentive to the needs of the volunteers during these difficult times. The Peace Corps values the relationship that has been established for more than 40 years and looks forward to returning volunteers to Morocco in the near future. Peace Corps staff will continue to operate the Peace Corps office in Morocco.

Family members may make inquiries about Peace Corps/Morocco by contacting the Peace Corps’ Office of Special Services, which maintains a 24-hour a day, 7 days a week duty system. The telephone number during normal business hours is 1-800-424-8580, extension 1470. The after hours number is 202-638-2574. Special Services can also be reached via e-mail at ossdutyofficer@peacecorps.gov.

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    Take no shortcuts to authentic Moroccan favorite, couscous Repeated steaming, fluffing are key

Foods travel the globe, yet frequently, modified versions arrive on distant shores. To tempt a different culture, ingredients of a particular dish may be changed or exotic flavors toned down. Sometimes the preparation is altered to make it easier or more accessible. So it is with couscous................

    Dried fruits keep the chilly season sunny A bounty of regal recipes uses apricots, dates, and raisins

In some regions of the world, agriculture rules the table. During the months of the year when the sun isn't strong enough to ripen fruits and vegetables -- and none are trucked in from warmer climates -- the population depends on what is put away after the harvest.

Well, there goes the neighborhood. Last week, the moving van pulls up to the Petersens' old house and-yup, you guessed it-a bunch of Moroccans move in. I haven't even met the Aatabous yet, but already I can't stand them: All night long, they won't stop with their damn ululating...........

    Home-grown cannabis outstrips imports from Morocco

 Alan Travis, home affairs editor Monday March 17, 2003

 The Guardian

The majority of cannabis now consumed in England and Wales has not been smuggled in but is actually grown here, according to a study to be published next month.  The research for the Joseph Rowntree Foundation reveals that there has been a sharp rise in recent years in domestic ultivation, particularly in home-grown cannabis for personal us......

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     In the kasbah: Moroccan food is exotic in a familiar sort of way

 03/19/2003  By Dorothy Randoll / Special Contributor to The Dallas Morning News

 Morocco - so exotic, so romantic, so strange. Although your only acquaintance with Morocco might be Bogey and Casablanca, it might be more familiar than you think. Many of the staple ingredients of Moroccan cuisine sound like Tex-Mex favorites: cumin, cilantro, chiles, onions, tomatoes, beef............

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    Recipe: Shish Kebabs Marrakech Style

 03/19/2003   

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     Recipe: Tagine of Chicken With Dried Plums and Toasted Almonds in Honey Sauce

 03/19/2003  

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    Arab countries: The chances for democracy could decrease

There is no shortage of ironies in US relations with the Arab world. Arab governments in key states such as Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan have been quietly cooperating with the United States in its preparations for war with Iraq  even as non-Arab countries in Europe and elsewhere have opposed America's plans. At the same time, public resentment of the United States among Arabs may have reached an all-time high. Consider the results of a survey I conducted with Zogby International in six Arab countries  Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan,Morocco, the United Arab Emirates and Lebanon  in late February and early March. Only 4 percent of Saudis, 6 percent of Jordanians and Moroccans, and 13 percent of Egyptians said they had a favorable view of the United States. Majorities in most countries said their attitudes were shaped by American policies, rather than Arab values.............

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    Taste of morocco is no belly flop

Liam Rudden  

MOROCCO, boasts the introduction to Walima’s menu,"has some of the most fragrant and sensual food in them world. They appeal directly to the senses of smell, sight, and taste in a way no other cuisine does"........

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    MOROCCO 

SUNDAY February 23, 2003

FEZ, Morocco -- It's impossible not to get jostled in the narrow alleys in the old city of Fez. Coming toward you, or trying to squeeze past, are formidable Moroccan women in black, grizzled men pulling hand carts and boys tugging donkeys. "Balak!" -- look out! -- the cart pullers call out as they press forward, forcing ....................

LONDON -- "It is one law for the Moroccans and another for the Gibraltarians," says Amin Benhamoun. After 26 years of work on the Rock and around 57,000 pounds in tax and national insurance payments, Amin does not receive child benefit for his school-age son, Elias. If he loses his job, he could be deported.

In March of 1999, the -then Moroccan State Secretary for Family Affairs- Saïd Saadi, introduced a bill known as the "National Action Plan for Integrating Women in Development" to change some classic notions of gender in Morocco. ......

More than a dozen heavy metal musicians and fans have been jailed in Casablanca for moral and religious crimes, local media reported. The 14 men, all between the ages of 22 and 35, were convicted of "acts capable of undermining the faith of a Muslim" and "possessing objects which infringe morals". Their sentences of between one month and one year followed newspaper pieces which dubbed them "Satanists" involved in international devil-worship.......

     A recent State Department security warning urged all Americans abroad to make sure their cars have a full tank of gas. The message itself was odd: Is there really a Foggy Bottom office responsible for the level of petrol in every expatriate's gas tank? But the emphasis on prevention was wise. The Bush Administration's foreign aid request shows that not all our overseas allies merit the same interest as our overseas automobiles.

     Imagine a populous Arab country that lies astride a strategic waterway through which much of the world's shipping — including U.S. Navy aircraft carriers — regularly passes.

     This country has a progressive leadership that recently supervised an election universally recognized as free and fair. It also just won an encouraging evaluation from the International Monetary Fund for its economic management.

     This country, an unabashed ally in the war on terror, even sends its intelligence officers to help ours in Guantanamo Bay. It does this despite having to face a growing and assertive Islamist movement, whose most radical elements frequently pop up as al-Qaeda operatives and whose moderate wing just tripled its parliamentary representation.

     In short, this country is the quintessential "Arab moderate" state, with all the contradictions the term implies — Beverly Hills-style homes wired with high-speed internet connections around the block from corrugated roof slums that lack running water; women clad in chic Parisian fashions arm-in-arm with cousins covered in black, puritanical, drape-like robes; mass rallies that echo with the chilling sounds of "Death to the Jews" not far from the only Jewish muse/um in the Arab world.

     One would expect that this country, one of America's oldest friends, would be the target of an all-out effort to put the Islamist genie back in its bottle, and that it would encourage democratization and reward quiet anti-terror cooperation. The fact that it also meets the economic test of "aid effectiveness" — assistance funds don't normally go down the drain or line ministers' pockets — is an added bonus.

     This country is Morocco. But the reality of U.S. policy is very different. By the universal yardstick — money — Morocco does not even register.

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    How to go on the lamb Sweet and spicy blend of meat, fruit and nuts makes a Moroccan stew

The exotic atmosphere alone is enough to make an evening spent under the tented ceiling at the Village Crown Moroccan worth a trip to the East Village. Ellen and Eli Vaknine make periodic soujourns to Morocco, where Eli was born, to find just the right mosaic tiled tables, ceramic vases, patterned rugs, sconces and mirrors to set the mood in their restaurant. But it's the food that keeps bringing people back................

    The secret of the Moroccan diet

The interest in the Mediterranean diet stems from the growing evidence that it is beneficial to health. The evidence is stronger for coronary heart disease, but it applies also to some forms of cancer. The populations around the Mediterranean basin have different cultures, religions, educational profiles and economic prosperity. Furthermore, in spite of sharing the Mediterranean seashore, several microclimates may exist depending on the country, and therefore can influence the diet. Therefore, the term "Mediterranean diet" can be misleading, since there is not one uniform "Mediterranean......

This take is mainly from a Moroccan-male point of view, but it does reflect to a great extent female Moroccans' situation as well, in the sense that they also have dealt & experienced ( & still do as their male counterparts) with the same problem which is the search for oueld lebled/bint lebled..............

The issue of Moroccans living abroad & being torn as a community is a serious one. A Serious issue demands real attention & study to delve into its whys, whats, hows & ifs to do it justice. A simple article/take like this one would never claim to be conclusive in terms of finding answers to all the above questions & to the intricacies surrounding this phenomenon that is eroding the Moroccans psyche. I'm sure the answers would have to do with many levels : psychological, sociological, historical, individual & finally with the most important one of these levels, which is the Identity level that could encompass all of the above in sub-levels.

Young girls from poor backgrounds are often entrusted to middle or upper middle class families to work as maids and servants. They work hard, sleep very little, eat leftovers, and practically have no days off. One would think that our radical intellectuals would be up in arms about this lamentable situation, yet-notwithstanding the growing attention to the problem-everyone seems to downplay this form of child labor...............

CAMBRIDGE, MASS. - When cooking m'semen pancakes, Hajja Aicha's hands aren't out of the frying pan, but they do stay clear of the fire. Decorated by a deep-brown pattern of henna dye, Ms. Aicha's nimble fingers prod, adjust, and flip the flaky Moroccan pancakes that are cooking perfectly before her eyes in the kitchen at Argana, a popular Moroccan restaurant in Cambridge, Mass. To observers, it seems to be the culinary equivalent of walking on a bed of hot coals. But despite the ample availability of spatulas, it's the only way Argana's baker will make them

    HOTEL LA MAMOUNIA, MARRAKESH

 By ERIK HEINRICH Special to The Globe and Mail

MARRAKESH -- This hotel is an oasis of luxury and Old World sophistication tucked inside the ancient medina of Marrakesh. Walk through its grand entrance of polished marble and brass and you feel as if you have stepped into an Agatha Christie mystery......

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------    Moroccan magic

Feb. 5, 2003. 01:00 AM JULIA AITKEN MENUS

Moroccan cooks are experts at combining humble ingredients with spices to create flavourful dishes that are guaranteed to warm up a Canadian winter. Nudging Europe but anchored firmly to Africa, Morocco boasts a rich-tasting but surprisingly simple cuisine that reflects the flavours of both southern Spain and North Africa. Eating Moroccan-style is a sociable affair, with everyone helping themselves from a communal dish. Meals might start with soup containing lentils, chickpeas or beans, followed by cold salads featuring cooked or raw vegetables in sweet or spicy dressings. ...............

According to Variety, Hollywood studios have committed more than $1 billion to tentpoles scheduled to shoot in Morocco in the next two years. But the drums of war reverberating from Washington to Baghdad are giving Hollywood an epic headache.

Max Hastings reviews An Army At Dawn: The War in North Africa, 1942-1943 by Rick Atkinson The torch landings on the coasts of Algeria and Morocco in November 1942 brought American armies to grips with the Germans for the first time in the Second World War. Six months later, almost 300,000 Axis troops surrendered to the Allies in Tunisia. The British have always been inclined to regard the North-West African campaign as a sideshow, an afterthought to the Eighth Army's desert drive from El Alamein.

Morocco versus France Amateurs Johnny Meersman, who previously played prop for Belgium, is now a referee and went off to Casablanca to referee a match between Morocco and France amateurs. It turned out to be a great weekend, as he recalls. It includes an amusing encounter with a journalist.

RABAT, Feb 2 (Reuters) - With their factories half-submerged in muddy flood waters for a second year running, businessmen in a Moroccan town were cynical when the same government officials as last year came to inspect the damage. Flash floods ravaged Berrechid, the country's second largest industrial area, in late November, causing material damage to 18 factories worth about 150 million dirhams ($15 million)..............

RABAT, Jan 26 (Reuters) - Dressed demurely in the white robes lawmakers wear when the Moroccan king opens parliament, the women MPs gathered around him for a photo opportunity. For some of the ordinary Moroccans watching the scene from the palm-lined boulevard outside parliament, the decision to reserve 30 seats for women in the 325-seat lower house in last September's general election represented a quiet revolution. But it will not be plain sailing for the new women legislators. Much of the electorate may be on their side, but their hardest battles may be within their own parties...................

    A camel? This isn't Cancun: Morocco offers sea, sand, sun -- and lamb testicles

Amy Rosen, National Post Saturday, January 25, 2003

While working my way through the maze of stalls, a gent manning a large spice stand stopped me and started rubbing dried herbs between his hands then having me sniff. It was a silent challenge: "Mint," I said. He smiled. "Cinnamon. Lemon balm. And that would be oregano." More nodding. "Ah, eucalyptus." Duly impressed by my heightened sense of smell, Hassam invited me in for tea............

    Books: The lie of the sand Sahara: The life of the great desert

By Marq De Villiers and Sheila Hirtle (HarperCollins, £16.99) Reviewed by George Rosie

Shedding light on that great historical/ geographical mystery is what this new book by Marq De Villiers and Sheila Hirtle is all about. If nothing else, it's a reminder of the sheer size of the Sahara region. It stretches from the Atlantic to the Red Sea. It touches no fewer than 10 countries: Western Sahara, Morocco, Mauritania, Algeria, Mali, Niger, Tunisia, Libya, Chad, Egypt and Sudan. And far from being an ocean of undulating sand it contains some of the most spectacularly shaped mountains on earth, one of which reaches more than 9500ft (almost twice the height of Ben Nevis)....

    Rapping from the Heart Raymzter's Dutch-Moroccan rap is challenging racial stereotypes - and the music is pretty good, too

The big, bad reputation of Dutch-Moroccan rapper Raymzter is dented within minutes of meeting him. He shakes hands politely, is soft-spoken, and offers a cup of coffee. Reclining on a floral couch he displays none of the rebel attitude that makes his stage performances such a hit. Raymzter (pronounced rhymster) is the sort of rapper you could take home to meet the parents. In fact, it's the parents of Raymzter's.....................

The Bush administration is trying to signal its support for tolerant Muslim countries through a free-trade agreement with Morocco, the United States' top trade official said yesterday........

The director of the U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) says her agency plans to support the negotiations between the United States and Morocco on a Free Trade Agreement announced in Washington January 21..........

A Moroccan widow and her 14-year-old mule have become unlikely celebrities after the animal gave birth to a foal. Local superstition around the village of Oulmes, 50 miles south of Fez, equates an animal that should be sterile giving birth with the end of the world.

    Trade Negotiator Sees Progress in Talks with Morocco (USTR's Novelli says agriculture will be sensitive area) (580)

Washington -- The lead U.S. negotiator in talks for a free trade agreement with Morocco says the first round of talks in Washington, completed January 24, was "extremely productive" and leaves the two sides on target to complete an agreement by year's end.

    U.S. Backs Morocco's Efforts to Reduce Child Labor

U.S. and Moroccan officials have signed a letter of agreement between their two governments to collaborate in reducing child labor and to expand educational opportunities for underprivileged children in Morocco.........

January 11, 2003 -- Looking to experience some Middle Eastern culture beyond what you see on the evening news? Well, if ever the mood for Moroccan strikes - New York has a few places that are as close to the real deal as you can get......

Tuesday, 14 January, 2003, By Stephanie Irvine/ BBC Focus on Africa Magazine

There are a few jokes going around Morocco at the moment about the new female members of parliament. For example: when the women get together in committees, instead of discussing policy, they will be exchanging recipes and the names of their dressmakers...............

When I think of Morocco, I think of busy cranes--big cranes --busy building homes, apartment houses, and other living quarters. Wherever I went in that extraordinary country, I was rarely out of sight of some kind of construction. Thus, if Morocco is .....................

    We'll always have MOROCCO:  We're off on the road to the land of casbahs, desert and Imperial Cities

CASABLANCA, Morocco -- Mention Morocco and two words that spring to mind are "Casablanca" and "casbah." Both words invoke romantic fantasies and images of intrigue. Unfortunately, neither is a particularly accurate representation of this fascinating country.

An Amazigh customary legal system has been set up over thousands of years in North Africa covering all aspects of life. In fact, there were customary laws regulating the individual, collective, cultural and political life, and the system of ownership of lands, forests, water and minerals. The Amazigh tribes were organized in confederations according to lands owned jointly, to the geographic space or natural boundaries that allow mutual defense

Thursday, March 8, 2001 By WINDA BENEDETTI  SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

OUARZAZATE, Morocco -- Ung-chigga, ung-chigga, ung-chigga, ung-chigga, ung-chigga. The sound is so loud that, although we're nearly a mile from the source, I can feel the vibrations tickle the soft place where my spine meets my bum. Ung-chigga. It thumps all night long. Ung-chigga. All day long. Ung-chigga. It shanghais the body's rhythms and demands they step up to the tempo. Ung-chigga! Did I mention LOUD?

Wednesday, January 3, 2001 By JOAN BRUNSKILL THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

NEW YORK - The 30-plus years since Claudia Roden wrote her landmark "A Book of Middle Eastern Cooking" have been full of further discovery and change, she said. What this book is all about," she said, "is that during the years I've gone on following up, finding out more and better ways people can do these dishes

James Buchan is enthralled by Tim Mackintosh-Smith's edition of The Travels of Ibn Battutah, a Moroccan view of the 14th-century world

Saturday December 21, 2002 The Guardian

The Travels of Ibn Battutah edited by Tim Mackintosh-Smith 325pp, Picador, £20

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With only 20 kilometers separating Casablanca from Spain, Morocco is the closest Arab country to the European Union. Nor is the proximity only geographical. More than 200,000 Moroccans work in Spain alone, with even greater numbers living elsewhere in Europe. The majority of Morocco's foreign trade is with the EU. Generally peaceful relations between Morocco and the EU as a whole, and Spain in particular, have characterized this closeness, but the last few

Tuesday, 10 December, 2002, 08:57 GMT By Stephanie Irvine BBC, Rabat

The trial in Morocco of three Saudis and seven Moroccans accused of being part of an al-Qaeda plot has shaken the image many Moroccans hold of their country as a peaceful, tolerant Muslim state.....

    More Alike Than Different: GW's Muslim and Jewish Students Share A Ceremonial Meal at Sundown

As the floor-to-ceiling windows of the Marvin Center Ballroom framed a magnificent dusk slowly blanketing Foggy Bottom, a warm feeling of brotherhood and understanding emerged inside. Muslim and Jewish students filled the room to capacity to share in an Iftar, the ceremonial meal at sundown, breaking the daily Ramadan fast.

They had traveled to Morocco last month to visit development projects, old haunts and long-lost friends and to revive ties to a land they can never forget. They are "Friends of Morocco."....................

Dry: we think we know dry. It's when your lawn needs watering, or when you're thirsty and resent spending £2.50 on a bottle of water. No, that's not dry. Dry is when every drop of water is a struggle in a land strewn with rocks and sand, where river beds haven't seen the flow of water for months.  Travel beyond the Atlas Mountains of Morocco, along the valley where the Dra runs (when it does run

Traveling in Morocco for two weeks, my partner and I decided that the Medina or the ancient, walled city in Fez was our best chance to shop for traditional Berber handicrafts.

The Daily Astorian  tbennett@dailyastorian.com  

Edina Butler was searching for a "drastic, dramatic change in my life" when she signed up for a two-year stint with the Peace Corps teaching health education in the west African nation of Mauritania......

Annapolis Fourth-Graders Travel Depth and Breadth of Islamic Culture in the Footsteps of a 14th-Century Moroccan Man

First came the exotic locales, the distant geographies: Tangier. Alexandria. Damascus. Baghdad. Then came mention of luxurious goods: Ripe tangerines. Green cardamom. Burnt-orange turmeric. Next, these fourth-graders at Annapolis's Key School were stepping into the dusty shoes of 21-year-old Ibn Battuta as the 14th-century Moroccan man made his hajj across North Africa, to Mecca, and then kept going. By the time he returned home, he was a 64-year-old man............

A Muslim country on the fringes of Europe gives the former gangster the scope to wander with uncharted past or future, and the peace to work on his new novel, finds JEAN WEST

IT'S a romantic notion: the tortured scribe poring over his novel beneath a starry African sky. Somewhere in Marrakesh, hidden in the maze of souks in the heart of the medina, the former Gorbals gangster turned sculptor, Jimmy Boyle, has been fashioning his future as a writer.

U.S. officials directing the latest drive to sell America's image to the Muslim world might learn something from students at a youth center in rural Morocco.  While I was a Peace Corps volunteer teaching English to teenagers and young adults in Morocco from 1998 to 2000, I decorated my makeshift classroom with the only pictures around: posters of life in the United States designed by the U.S. Information Service

Peggy Markel fell in love with North African cuisine on a visit to Morocco two years ago. Today her Marrakesh cookery courses explore the country's spices and ingredients. Lori Zimring de Mori joined her to sample everything from sweet mint tea to saffron-scented seafood tagine.

    Grand tours: Paul Bowles travels back in time in Morocco Out in the desert, armed to the teeth

Sex, drugs, fantasies and the machinery of derangement" - the preoccupations of the writer Paul Bowles are well known, as is his connection to Morocco and the Sahara. Indeed, Bowles is to north Africa what Byron was to Greece: he lived in Tangier for most of his life,

Numerous evidence suggests that Moroccans arrived to the Americas at least five centuries before Columbus:..........................

Steve Keenan takes on the mighty Atlas Mountains THE final, steep climb over snow-covered rocks to an icy ridge 1,800m (6,000ft) up the Atlas Mountains was no problem for Gruff. A Super Furry Animal presumably doesn't feel the cold

Paul Mansfield steels himself for the toughest but most rewarding drive in southern Morocco  The Tizi-n-Test is simultaneously the most demanding and most spectacular drive in Morocco. An irresistible challenge - and a bit of a nightmare..................

Not content with an ordinary marathon, Tarquin Cooper took part in a punishing 150-mile ultra-race in the sweltering heat of the desert Running a marathon is supposed to be the challenge of a lifetime. It requires months of training, and to succeed you have to push yourself to the limit and overcome great obstacles - usually agonizing seizures at about mile 20.

Our regular look at countries which rarely feature prominently in the international news. This week: The appointment of Morocco's new government was overshadowed by a fatal prison fire and P Diddy's big birthday bash

Away from Marrakech's hustle and bustle, Carla Grossetti finds tea, tagine and tranquility in the sleepy Moroccan fishing village of Taghazoute Tuesday November 12, 2002

Tourists may be scarce, but north Africa is still the wild, kaleidoscopic, beautiful maelstrom it always was. Andrew Gilchrist gets happily lost Holidays in the Muslim world

A drive across the Sahara desert in a convoy of Land Rovers gave Anthony Browne access to a Morocco normally off the tourist trail. But this is no trip for the faint hearted

Shades of history fall theatrically across Essaouira's pink walls, from Othello the Moor to Sixties hippies, as Euan Ferguson discovered

Cool and stylish, these Moroccan palaces of peace are the perfect antidote to the noise, crowds and clamour of the city's streets. Jill Crawshaw visits eight of the best

One day Morocco was top of the tourism charts. The next it wasn't. Liz Bird went last week to find out if fears of travelling in a Muslim country are well founded

Its mix of the exotic and the downright bizarre make Marrakech the perfect weekend escape. Katharine Viner tries its top hotel

Tangier has always attracted an eclectic artistic community, from William S.Burroughs to Joe Orton. Novelist Jake Arnott gets a taste for its languid friendliness

It's close, but about as different from Europe as you can get. Lisa Sykes walks through the High Atlas with Berbers and soaks up the atmosphereMarrakech's souks