Virtual Magazine of Morocco on the Web
Morocco Week in Review 
November 20 2004

Moroccan mock traditional marriage performed in IFC
Children immunization and Fight of iodine deficiency campaigns launched by Princess Lalla Meryem
Maghreban wetlands priority issues discussed by RENAZH network
Spain has extended Morocco 950,000 Euro to support the anti-illiteracy strategy in northern Morocco.
Archaeological excavations unveil part of Moroccan History
Moroccan Coalition for Culture and Arts created
Moroccan exporters fear losing out because of counterfeiting
Morocco launches global television channel
International meeting of Andalusian musicians held in Morocco
A Friendly Future?

Moroccan mock traditional marriage performed in IFC
Washington, Nov 16

A Moroccan traditional marriage ceremony accompanied with a musical show was performed on Monday as part of the World bank multicultural programme at the auditorium of the International Finance Corporation (IFC). The « Sounds of Morocco » band played marriage songs while the bride wore a traditional "takchita" dress and a glimmering crown was paraded born on a « Ammaria » by four young men. The "Berza" rite whereby "neggafates" women, helping adorn and dress the bride with jewellery and various traditional dresses was performed at the end of the ceremony.

Other Moroccan songs and dances were also played, like the celebrated "dakka Marrakchia", a man's dance accompanied mainly by hand clapping.

The World Bank cultural programme, held annually, also features African and Arab fashion parades and other countries folklore.

As of last October 13, the World Bank hosted a paintings exhibition called « Visible Soul: Moroccan contemporary art » in collaboration with the Moroccan Embassy in the American federal capital and the Moroccan Royal Air Maroc company. The event, to wrap up this November presents paintings by Malika Agueznay, Tibari Kantour, Rim Laabi et Mimouni.

At the opening of the exhibition, Hasan Tuly, director of the bank's department of operations of Middle East and North Africa, had said the art works of the four painters show the real image of Morocco, a fully evolving country with a rich cultural and historical tradition.
http://www.map.co.ma/mapeng/eng.htm 
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Children immunization and Fight of iodine deficiency campaigns launched by Princess Lalla Meryem
Marrakech, Nov 18

Princess Lalla Meryem, chairwoman of the National Observatory of children rights (ONDE) presided Wednesday over the launching of the national immunisation campaign and national programme for the fight of iodine deficiency. The campaign launching ceremony held at the high school of Chourafa at Tasltante, 10 km of the Southern Town of Marrakech, was an occasion to inform the Moroccan Princess on the results of the initiatives taken to protect pregnant and procreation-age women as well as children from some diseases.

Some 1.3 million children are to benefit by the immunisation campaign against measles and rubella. Goitre affects 22 per cent of children aged 6 to 12, which has a negative incidence on the economy causing losses of 1.48 pc to the GDP (3.7 billion Dhs, around 370 million euros).

The same day Princess Lalla Meryem presided over the signing ceremony of a partnership convention between the health ministry and the Moroccan Association for salt production (AMPIS).
http://www.map.co.ma/mapeng/home_dep/h_depservants.htm 
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Maghreban wetlands priority issues discussed by RENAZH network
Rabat, Nov 17

The North African wet zones network (RENAZH) started discussions, here on Tuesday, to put into final form priority cooperation issues and plans for the management of Maghreban wetlands. The RENAZH second meeting, held in the Moroccan capital city to ponder means to implement the network activities, made a proposal on collaboration between MedWet initiative and wet zones tutelage administrations in Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia.

A communiqué of the Moroccan water and forest department said the RENAZH meeting is to find a compromise enabling the conciliation of economic development needs and the protection of the environment and ecosystems in selected wetlands in the Maghreban region. For this purpose Morocco chose the Merja Zerga marshes, close to Moulay Bouselham, some 100 km North of Rabat coastal line, to carry out RENAZH goals, namely by training personnel to manage the wet zone and updating the plan to ensure a scientific follow up of the protection of its ecosystem. The Merja Zerga programme includes the inception of a centre on environment education and the organisation of women handicraft activities in the region.

Merja Zerga is a wetland of 7,000 ha, located on the Atlantic coast of Morocco, adjacent to a small coastal town that serves as a centre of attraction for domestic and regional tourism. It consists of a large coastal lagoon with extensive intertidal mudflats, subtidal sea grass and fringing marshes, and can be considered as an coastal wetland. The main problem is the use of the wetland as a public good. All levels of society in the area unanimously agree that the wetland is important and that life without it would be very difficult; however, they use it without considering the durability of resources. There is significant urban sprawl and demographic growth in the region. Pastureland has declined due to overgrazing. Fish have decreased in size and number due to overfishing. The water table has dropped due to the illegal construction of wells depleting the freshwater influx into the lagoon.
http://www.map.co.ma/mapeng/home_dep/h_dep31604.htm 
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Spain has extended Morocco 950,000 Euro to support the anti-illiteracy strategy in northern Morocco.

Morocco and Spain have signed a partnership convention under which the Spanish Agency of International Cooperation will extend with 950,000 Euro in support of the Moroccan strategy to fight illiteracy through informal education, according to Arab Maghreb news agency (MAP). The program will support capacity consolidation of literacy programs carried out by non-governmental organizations and improve the coordination, follow up and assessment performance of the Moroccan secretariat of state. The budget will also serve to educate and help integrate in schools 5,000 children from the region.
http://www.dubaiinteract.com/Media_SectionDisplay.aspx?Sectionid=88DC0EFB-ACD2-48CD-86D3-4B1D2CC0F9B3&Articleid=0231EB80-A7D7-44CF-9BD9-A33F8487EF5B&DisplayObjectMode=Article&DisplayMode=Detail&ObjectId=95807c39-4afa-4dd4-8809-a4365f132356 
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Archaeological excavations unveil part of Moroccan History
Berlin, Nov 16

Archaeological excavations in the Eastern Rif Mountains have uncovered signs of ancient civilizations, the oldest dating back to 800,000 to 200,000 years before Christ, said researcher Abdeslam Miqdad of the Moroccan Institute of Archaeological Science and Research on Heritage (INSAP). The excavations, conducted since 1994 in cooperation with German experts in the North-East of Morocco, have helped bring to light an important part of the country's History, Miqdad told a congress held over the weekend in Berlin.

Miqdad told the Moroccan News Agency MAP he presented to the congress the findings of the excavations carried out by the INSAP and the German Archaeology Institute (DAI).

Stone tools of the "Acheulean" civilization 800,000 to 200,000 years BC were found on the sites, Miqdad said adding hunting, arrow heads, hide tanning tools of the Mousterian civilization 120,000 to 40,000 years BC were also unearthed. Other tools include silex blades and finery items believed to belong to the Iberian-Moor civilization 20,000 to 10,000 years BC, as well as objects of the Neolithic producer era marked by human passage from food gathering to farming. Decorated earthenware believed the oldest discovered in Morocco and bronze and copper earrings of the metal age 2,000 years BC are among the items found.
http://www.map.co.ma/mapeng/home_dep/home_dep09.htm 
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Moroccan Coalition for Culture and Arts created
Nov 16, 2004 (Al-Bawaba via COMTEX)

A new organization has been created to protect Monday November 15 called the Moroccan Coalition for Culture and the Arts, according to the Moroccan news source Menara. The Coalition met in Casablanca attended by intellectuals and artists from all walks of life - theatre, literature, music, plastic art and cinema. They decided on the creation of an executive structure and a constitution. Presided by Hassan Neffali, (of the national union of theatre professionals), the executive also includes adjunct presidents Ahmed Alaoui (music union) and Mohamed Loma (art distribution) and Mohamed Souf (writers union), among others. The Moroccan minister of culture, Mohamed Achaari praised the new venture and said he is looking forward to a blossoming of culture life in Morocco.
(albawaba.com) By Al-Bawaba Reporters (C) 2004 Albawaba.com, All rights reserved.
http://www.zawya.com/Story.cfm?id=321w4573&section=Countries&page=Morocco&channel=All%20Morocco%20News&objectid=22403786-8F1A-11D4-867000D0B74A0D7C 
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Meeting of North African Network in Morocco
Nov 16, 2004 (Al-Bawaba via COMTEX)

The North African Network of Humid Zones is meeting Tuesday November 16 in Morocco according to press sources in Morocco. The two day meeting is the second meeting of the network and is dedicated to finalizing decision on priorities for regional cooperation as part of the project "Maghreb Humid Zones." This project is a collaborative effort between Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia and aims at finding compromise positions in order to reconcile economic development needs across these three countries, particularly in areas of mutual interest and that are not necessarily limited to national borders, for example ecosystems. A major tactic is to strengthen local capacities by imparting on a grassroots level the importance of sustainable development and the shared interests that the three countries have in terms of environmental resources.
(menareport.com)By Mena Report Reporters (C) 2004 Albawaba.com, All rights reserved.
http://www.zawya.com/Story.cfm?id=321w4563&section=Countries&page=Morocco&channel=All%20Morocco%20News&objectid=22403786-8F1A-11D4-867000D0B74A0D7C 
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Moroccan exporters fear losing out because of counterfeiting
Nov 17, 2004 (Al-Bawaba via COMTEX)

The French government has been engaged in an active fight against exports of counterfeited goods from the French-speaking North African countries for several years. The French government believes North African exports form a large percentage of counterfeited goods on the French market and this makes France more reluctant to buy North African goods. The French government is vowing to increase customs checks on goods coming out of North Africa and there are fears in the North African countries that French purchasers will prefer to turn to suppliers from Italy, Russia and China who have a better reputation. The countries where counterfeiting is considered the most prevalent in the world include Morocco, Turkey and Thailand. Moroccan manufacturers have made an appeal to counterfeiters that their activities could wreck Moroccan jobs.
http://www.zawya.com/Story.cfm?id=322w6758&section=Countries&page=Morocco&channel=All%20Morocco%20News&objectid=22403786-8F1A-11D4-867000D0B74A0D7C 
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Morocco launches global television channel
Thursday 18 November 2004

Morocco has launched its first international television station. The new satellite channel called Al Maghribya will initially broadcast a package of existing programmes from the country's two state channels, 2M and RTM. The government has striven to improve the North African country's image. "This channel is not directed at Moroccan residents abroad only, but at everybody (overseas)," said Communication Minister and government spokesman Nabil bin Abd Allah on Thursday. "We must convey the image of a modern Morocco, a country of tolerance and freedom and transmit the true image of moderate Islam we're developing here," he told a news conference. Programmes on Al Maghribya channel - a mixture of television films, entertainment, current affairs and news - will at first cover 12 hours per day, from midday to 2400 GMT. They will be broadcast to Europe and the Middle East before being extended, probably in 2006, to the United States and Canada. "The language will be 92% Arabic, initially," bin Abd Allah said, with the rest in French and in the Berber language Amazigh. There are plans to broadcast in other languages, in particular in English, at a later stage. More than 2.5 million Moroccans live abroad, mostly in France, Italy and Spain. Many second and third generation Moroccan expatriates speak little or no Arabic.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/423791D6-722E-4A1A-AF19-8F2FC788145E.htm 
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International meeting of Andalusian musicians held in Morocco
Nov 18, 2004 (Al-Bawaba via COMTEX)

A gathering is planned from 25th to 27th November in Casablanca for Andalusian musicians from all over the world called "CasAndalouse". The local district of Larger Casablanca is organizing the event in conjunction with the Amateur Music Association of Morocco. The gathering will include evening performances for the public and also regional visits to Ain Sebaa, Mohammedia, Hay Hassani and Ben Msik. Five foreign countries are scheduled to attend in addition to Morocco; Algeria, Tunisia, Spain, Portugal and Egypt. CasAndalouse hopes to explore the history of these five countries and future artistic cooperation to build on the shared tradition. Famous orchestras such as L'Orchestre de feu under the leadership of Mohamed Briouel, the Tanger Orchestra of Omar Mtioui, Chabab Al Andalouss Orchestra of Rabat under the leadership of Amine Doupy, among others are scheduled to perform. (albawaba.com) By Al-Bawaba Reporters (C) 2004 Albawaba.com, All rights reserved.
http://www.zawya.com/Story.cfm?id=323w8734&section=Countries&page=Morocco&channel=All%20Morocco%20News&objectid=22403786-8F1A-11D4-867000D0B74A0D7C 
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A Friendly Future?
Morocco, Volume 53 17.11.2004

With its decision to press ahead with the "Forum for the Future" in Rabat later this year, Morocco is now set to provide the platform for the first such US-sponsored event in the Arab world since President George W. Bush's re-election. It will also launch Washington's much derided Broader Middle East and North Africa (BMENA) initiative - a repackaged Greater Middle East project. Yet recent political capital lost in the Arab street will make it hard for the United States to gain anything more than token acceptance of its diplomatic goodwill.

Set to take place on December 11, the initiative was officially launched by the G8 back in June 2004. It seeks to provide support for the economic, political and social development in the region. Morocco's decision to host the forum was first announced on September 24, and the go-ahead was confirmed last week, following uncertainty during the US elections. The forum will bring together the region's foreign and finance ministers, their counterparts in the G8, and representatives from civil society and the business community.

The one big sticking point was Israel's participation. As part of the region, the US insisted on the country's presence, yet with this almost all the other invitees would have stayed away. As co-hosts, Morocco could not lose face in front of other regional countries by inviting Israel either. Rabat came up with the honourable solution that where the forum's reference was democratisation, Israel did not need to be invited, as it was a democracy already.

In the end, all the countries of the BMENA region have apparently responded positively. Only one country is not coming, and that is Sudan. In the latter's case, it is continued US anger at the Darfur conflict that has seen it leave out Khartoum's participation.

That Darfur should be the one inflexible point of contention between Washington and the regional countries is perhaps comforting. The Darfur conflict has raised great concern around the world, especially due to the precariousness of the region's civilian population. But it has not dominated the world's attention as has Iraq and Palestine. It is the chasm that separates US and Arab, or Iranian, or Pakistani, or even Afghani perceptions of those latter conflicts that shapes mutual distrust.

But where Sudan is seen as the aggressor, and the US has vetoed its participation, it is the US that is popularly seen as the aggressor in Iraq. It is also accused of excessive support for Israel.

It is on those terms that the most stringent opposition has been voiced locally. Some political parties, the most outspoken of which has been the al-Adl wa al-Tanmia, or Party of Justice and Development (PJD), have denounced the holding of the forum on Moroccan soil. The PJD's general secretary, Saad Dine el-Otmani objected for four reasons: that political reform is a domestic prerogative; that the US cannot deliver democracy if it is implicated in "these crimes committed by the occupation army", and if it is "considered complicit in Sharon's government and its massacres"; that it has "supported dictatorships in the region and stopped democracies around the world"; and that finally, regional conflicts need to be resolved before holding such a forum.

The PJD is commonly labelled "Islamist" by the press, although its leadership insists its stance is broader and not religious. The fact the Moroccan constitution reserves religious authority to the monarch means that religious terms of political reference are strictly prohibited. The other "Islamist" party, al-Adl wa al-Ihsane, is considered to have a broader base, but its refusal to recognise the king's religious authority has rendered it illegal.

In any case, the PJD acts in concert with a broad coalition of Moroccan parties and associations. The fact the leftist PPS (Parti Populaire Socialiste) of Ismail Alaoui also raised its objections shows this is not simply an Islamist concern.

US diplomats have recognised the task of selling the forum to a sceptical public will not be easy. They have made efforts to explain the forum's intentions and dismiss the more outlandish claims of imperialist imposition. US State Department spokespersons have been at pains to point out the forum is not about "imposing anything from the outside, as much as it is to facilitate efforts that are already being undertaken within the region."

With Bush's re-election confirming Arab suspicions about US ignorance, or worse - indifference - to their sentiments, the forum will be a chance to mend some fences. Already Syria, Libya, and Iran have responded positively to the invite - a mark of at least some goodwill.

Libya is the easiest to comprehend, as it is now back in the West's good books after paying what was seen to be its dues. Indeed, Colonel Qadhafi's willingness to open his wallet has seen relations thaw at an unprecedented speed. Damascus on the other hand is probably keen to talk shop with Washington after becoming the object of sanctions earlier this year, and it is positive to see the US willing to engage once more. Finally, as regards Iran, while relations remain officially tense, quiet contacts have been maintained, so it is once more perhaps unsurprising to see them participate. The fact some Iranians came out in support of the Bush administration during the elections may also have contributed.

In any case, it was a diplomatic acknowledgement of Morocco's intentions. As Rabat had agreed to hold the forum, a decision that bore some risk (as US diplomats must have realised), its decision to invite Iran could not be turned down easily. Western diplomats have applauded Rabat's decision to hold the forum, saying it showed the country was at ease with the pace and reality of its own political reform process.

Certainly, the forum looks likely to attract some lively debate, with not only government officials but also business and civil society leaders invited. A group of civil society groups met in Beirut in September to hammer out a seven-point action plan, and travelled to New York to present it to former US Secretary of State Colin Powell and 12 foreign ministers from the region. Although subsequently overshadowed by Morocco's decision to host the forum (one Lebanese NGO activist complained the meeting had turned into a two-man show between Powell and Benhaïssa), civil society participants will doubtless add some spice to what could otherwise descend into non-committal diplomatic and bureaucratic formulas.

However, it is in non-political economic and business co-operation that consensus will most likely be reached. On the table for the conference will be a raft of such initiatives, ranging from micro-financing for small entrepreneurs to the creation of regional fund networks (a project already taken up by the EU in its own Greater Neighbourhood project). Other initiatives being considered include the creation of regulatory and investment taskforces, business training centres, and literacy training programmes.

During this first meeting, it seems likely that the participants will opt for a "reform-lite" package that is heavy on technical co-operation but light on the more sensitive political content. The priority for the moment is perhaps to regain some trust. Now Condoleezza Rice is tipped to take over at the State Department, the forum will also be an opportunity to see in which ways US foreign policy is likely to develop, particularly as she is known for a more hawkish line than her predecessor. The forum should provide a good gauge of US intentions and regional reciprocity in the coming years.

Chris de Oliveira.
http://www.oxfordbusinessgroup.com/weekly01.asp?id=1108 
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