Virtual Magazine of Morocco on the Web
Morocco Week in Review 
June 14, 2008

An Operation Smile international medical team will treat children born with facial deformities for free between June 17-27,'08 at Hospital Hassan II in Agadir .
Operation Smile contacts are as follows: Tel.: 027 550444 / 022856155 / 022823835
 Email: opsmile@menara.ma
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Blood donors in Morocco do not exceed 1% of overall population.
Rabat, June 13

The number of blood donors in Morocco does not exceed 1% of the overall population, while the World Health Organization (WHO) requires a 5% rate, director of Rabat blood transfusion center, Hassan Belekbir, revealed.

Some 172,000 people gave their blood in Morocco in 2007, i.e. a 3¨% increase compared to 2006, with the highest percentage recorded in the regional blood transfusion center of Casablanca with 49,000 donors, followed by the Rabat center (over 41,000 donors), while the rest is shared out among the 16 Moroccan blood transfusion centers, he added. The objective in 2008, he said, is to achieve a 20% increase of the number of donors and reach some 52,000 donors in the blood transfusion center in Rabat.

According to statistics, a single donor can save the life of four people. People aged 18-60 can give 400ml of blood every 56 days, i.e. 7% of their blood mass, without any health risks.
http://www.map.ma/eng/sections/social/blood_donors_in_moro/view
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Newfields native has two-year stint in Morocco with Peace Corps.
By Lara Bricker: newsletter@seacoastonline.com June 10, 2008
NEWFIELDS — Casey Coes first felt the pull of the Peace Corps almost three years ago on a trip to South America.
A Peace Corps volunteer he met just outside of La Paz, Bolivia, made an impression on the Newfields native. So much so, that when Coes returned to college at American University after the trip, he began studying politics with a focus on American international development institutions.

This spring, after more than a year of preparation, Coes left to work for the Peace Corps in Morocco, where he will remain until May of 2010. He feels his own philosophy and ideas are similar to the Peace Corps' mission and approach. "I started to become a believer in the Peace Corps' grassroots approach to sustainable development," Coes stated in an e-mail interview from Morocco. "Peace Corps believes ... facilitating the capacity of individuals, organizations, and government to manifest the changes they want to see is best. So do I."

Coes is working with the Ministry of Health in rural areas outside the imperial cities of Fez and Meknes. His primary purpose is to promote community support for primary health care and governmental control measures. His projects include water and sanitation infrastructure, and the improvement of communication channels among health care agencies, providers, and recipients. In addition, he is involved with health education on a plethora of topics, including preventative health care practices, early disease recognition and nutrition.

The issue of preventative medicine is a huge one, as many people in the area where he is are reluctant to go to a medical clinic for an everyday problem. "Little problems are ignored and they get bigger," Coes wrote. "The area I live in has a massive problem with prenatal care and birthing. Community members estimate two-thirds of babies have been lost during, or shortly after birth in the last year."

The area has manpower, funding and government initiatives to help with this work, but connecting with the people can be tough. "The real challenges are trying to achieve educational goals while being sensitive and inclusive of religious and cultural traditions," Coes wrote. "The keys are learning the language and doing everything you can to integrate into the community to build trust and functional networks."

Coes speaks the Tamazight language, which is a language of the Berber people. Those people have experienced a surge of ethnic pride in recent times and call themselves the "free people," Coes explained. "I have had interactions with Berber people where they have expressed to me how much it means to them that an American is speaking their language, and taking the time to learn their culture and live in their country," Coes wrote. "When that happens I tell them about New Hampshire's state motto 'Live Free or Die.' They love it, and it is a wonderful and meaningful exchange to be a part of."

While Coes is now fully immersed in his efforts in Morocco, his journey to the Peace Corps was a long one. He first applied in January 2007 and had to go through a grueling approval process before he got his assignment to Morocco in November. Peace Corps volunteers are assigned to a country for a period of no less than 27 months and start with 11 weeks of training. During the training, he was flown to Morocco where he and the other volunteers were given specific training on learning the language.

They started with Moroccan Arabic and Coes then learned Tamazight. He spent about a month learning the language, along with details of Moroccan life, the economy, culture and most importantly, religion. "Morocco is a strict Muslim country with a strong tradition of conservatism," Coes wrote. "Being knowledgeable and sensitive to Islamic values and beliefs is essential to effectiveness here."

His living conditions in Morocco are more advanced than in other parts of Africa, in terms of beds, bathrooms and food, though it is far from luxurious. He is looking forward to dispelling myths about Morocco, Islam, terrorism and the United States. "If there was ever a time for dialogue, understanding and the opportunities for exchange that the U.S. Peace Corps encourages, it is certainly now.," Coes wrote. "Most conversations I get into with Moroccans about the current state of world affairs focus on the common ground we share, including our values, priorities, and religions of peace."

Coes thinks it is important to listen to what other countries have to say about the United States."I have yet to find someone just looking to berate or hassle me about the United States. I get more hassle for being unmarried and trying to do my own laundry. Its hilarious and wonderful. I love it here."
http://www.seacoastonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080610/NEWS/806100321/-1/NEWS11&sfad=1
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Guest commentary: Peace Corps volunteers help to build bridges of understanding.
Published Thursday, May 8, 2008 Story appeared in SOUTH PLACER ROSEVILLE section, Page G4

This Mother's Day, I, like many mothers across the country, will await a call from a son. The call will come with amazing clarity from 5,000 miles away. From a small village in the Atlas Mountains of Africa's northernmost country: Morocco. My son is entering his 16th month of volunteer service with America's Peace Corps. I couldn't be prouder of him. When he left on a bright, crisp March morning last year, my heart felt heavier than I thought I could bear. I still tear up when I think of my parting words, "This is your time, your turn. Go, fly, soar. And, always, please be a wise son." He is soaring, and his wisdom is increasing exponentially, especially as he tells the tales of cultural immersion in a Muslim village's community life.

I, too, have come a long way since the day we said goodbye – the same day I drove home, curled up with the hooded sweat shirt he'd left behind and bawled for hours like the proverbial baby. He is my baby, and a mother never stops worrying, praying and feeling the absence.

Today, I am blessed as I learn of his travels and accomplishments. And how blessed America is to be the author of such a program as the Peace Corps. Many of my generation will remember President John F. Kennedy's compelling message at his 1961 inauguration: "Ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country." President Kennedy appointed the father-in-law of our state's governor, Sargent Shriver, to launch the Peace Corps. Morocco was one of the first countries to welcome American volunteers. This welcome continues today.

My son, Barry, has learned a great deal since arriving in Casablanca, a modern and Europeanlike, cosmopolitan city. From there, he and 60 other American volunteers began intensive training, including instruction in Arabic. Before long, the volunteers were asked to choose between two pursuits: health care and environmental projects. Barry is involved with the environment of the mountains, forests and pristine lakes several hours from the country's modern coastal cities. He is deep in the country where pastoral village life includes sheepherders and their flocks routinely passing through.

The tales Barry tells sound like a travelogue for rare excursions: camel riding in the desert, carrying wood to his home by burro, enjoying religious holidays with his host family, eating unusual foods – such as lamb's head, teaching English to eager schoolchildren who learn in a one-room structure with no fancy accessories. Last month, he and fellow volunteers met with a group of Fulbright scholars from the states to share research. Last week, he journeyed back to Casablanca to help initiate a new group of Peace Corps volunteers who had just arrived from Philadelphia.

The time passes quickly for our whole family, and before long, Barry will return to the United States. His actual Peace Corps assignment is 27 months. In that time, he and hundreds of American volunteers work continuously to build bridges to other cultures throughout the world. Recently, I happened to catch Aziz Mekouar, Morocco's ambassador to the United States, on Book TV. His words, simple enough, speak volumes: "Building bridges helps people cross bridges. The global need for cross-cultural understanding has never been more important than it is today."

Knowing my son is part of the bridge building makes me very happy this Mother's Day.

About the writer: Allison Miller lives in Rocklin where she is a semi-retired secondary English teacher. Another of her favorite topics are her two granddaughters, who reside in San Diego.
http://www.sacbee.com/placer/story/918301.html
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Moroccan reparations program to include vocational training.
By Sarah Touahri 2008-06-08

Morocco's employment ministry signed an agreement this week to further improve its reparations programmes for victims of human rights violations. Plans include expediting health insurance for 12,000 additional victims and expanding vocational training options. As part of ongoing efforts to implement the recommendations of the Equity and Reconciliation Commission (IER), Morocco's Ministry of Employment and Vocational Training signed a partnership and co-operation agreement with the Human Rights Consultative Council (CCDH) on Monday (June 2nd).

Victims of human rights abuse will benefit from the Ministry of Employment's contributions to individual and community reparation programmes which provide victims with access to vocational training and professional development services through the National Agency for the Promotion of Employment and Skills (ANAPEC). CCDH president Ahmed Herzenniof said he hopes the experiment will be a success and said both parties will work together to spread a culture of human rights through training sessions.

Priority will go to regions covered by the reparation programme, such as Figuig, Errachidia, Zagora, Ouarzazate, Khenifra and Nador, where new ANAPEC desks and branches are planned. The CCDH, meanwhile, has committed itself to preparing studies and proposals regarding victim rehabilitation and compensation for damage. The organisation is also training staff at the Ministry of Employment on rights issues.

Minister of Employment and Vocational Training Jamal Aghmani said the major goal of the training initiative is to enable civil servants, from administrators to teachers, to benefit the public by adopting a human-rights-based approach in their daily work. The ministry will also contribute 100 million dirhams in 2009 for vocational training through apprenticeships, Aghmani said. He noted that under the 2007 agreement between the CCDH, the government and the State Social Welfare Bodies Fund, 2,094 victims of human rights violations received health insurance. "We’re hoping to speed things up so that 12,000 people can be provided with insurance, as stipulated in the agreement. It’s through agreements of this kind that we can come to terms with the past and build a better future," he commented.

Amina Bouaayache, president of the Moroccan Human Rights Organisation, told Magharebia that the agreement signed on June 2nd is a new stage in the community reparation process which observers must monitor in order to assess future outcomes. Parliamentarian Lahcen Daoudi of the Party of Justice and Development supported the initiative, saying that society must compensate and support victims of human rights violations, and that the right to training and employment must be guaranteed for all citizens.

King Mohammed VI established the Equity and Reconciliation Commission (IER) in 2004 to rehabilitate victims of human rights abuses during the 1961-1999 rule of his late father, King Hassan II. The Commission's self-defined mandate is to "support the democratic transition of the country, to build the rule of law, and to spread the values and culture of citizenship and human rights".
http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2008/06/08/feature-01
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Morocco consumes 22,608GWh of electricity in 2007.
Casablanca, June 11

Morocco consumed 22,608GWh of electricity in 2007, i.e. a 7.1% increase compared to 2006, according to the national electricity office (ONE). National electricity production reached 19,638GWh, which represents a 0.7% decrease compared to 2006. Production was broken down as follows: thermic 18,041 GWh, hydraulic 901.9 GWh, STEP turbine 416.3 GWh and windmill 278.8 GWh. As to electric energy sales, they reached 20,541 GWh, i.e. a 6% increase compared to 2006. The ONE sold electricity to distributors (45.1%), industrials (25.5%), agricultural clients (6.4%), residential clients (14.1%) and administrative clients (3.4%).

Regarding rural electrification, some 3,643 villages were supplied with electricity through interconnected networks, while 623 villages through individual photovoltaic systems, which benefited some 168,519 new rural households.
http://www.map.ma/eng/sections/social/morocco_consumes_22/view
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Drought, tourism endanger Marrakech palm grove.
By ALFRED de MONTESQUIOU – MARRAKECH, Morocco (AP)

Abdellilah Meddich's childhood memories of the famous palm grove of Marrakech are of a "magical" place, a lush desert oasis of flowers, animals and farmers who tended tree-shaded plots. Today, the unique and vast World Heritage site is "nothing like it used to be when I was a child," says the 37-year-old Meddich, a forestry engineer overseeing a plan to plant more palms.

An ancient city on the rim of the Sahara desert, Marrakech has been a magnet for tourism since the 1960s, when hippies dubbed it "the city of four colors" — for its blue skies, its backdrop of white snowcapped peaks, the red walls of its medieval fortifications, and the sprawling green palm grove on its outskirts. But one of these colors is fading fast. Legions of tall, swaying palms are yellowing and sickly, parched by drought that climate change experts predict may worsen as the planet warms.

Government-encouraged mass tourism, land developers, golf courses and rich Europeans' closed-off luxury villas are squeezing out farmers from the grove. For generations, farming families here lived almost in symbiosis with the palms, harvesting their fruit and shelter while tending to the trees' health. Most now have gone or been evicted, pushed out by lack of work or tourism driving land prices up.

The pace of destruction is staggering.
In 1929, Morocco's then-French rulers measured the palm grove at about 40,000 acres — an area nearly 50 times that of New York's Central Park. By 1998, it had declined to nearly 30,000 acres. Since then, the grove has shrunk by nearly half, to an estimated 16,000 to 19,000 acres.

Water is a major problem, for both the trees and the people who have long lived under them. Fatima Lemkhaouen and her family of two dozen brothers, in-laws and children live crammed in one of the few Douar, or traditional hamlets, still standing in the palm grove. They have no electricity, or sanitation. The guard of one of the luxury villas next to their mud home passes over a hose to fill their plastic jugs and metal basins. "We love the palm grove, but I don't think it's for us anymore," says Lemkhaouen, 29. Local officials have rebuffed their appeals for a public well, she adds. "They just want us out," she surmises.

The grove was planted in the 11th century under the Almoravid dynasty, which founded the city of Marrakech. Its empire extended from present-day Senegal to Spain and Portugal. The United Nations' cultural arm, UNESCO, included the grove when it added Marrakech to its list of World Heritage sites in 1984. The grove's farmers practiced an age-old technique known as "three-layered crops:" wheat and vegetables on the arid soil, fruit trees at a man's height, and dates from the palm trees. A network of hundreds of miles of "Khettarras" — man-made canals and cisterns — brought water from the hills for plants to survive in the desert climate.

This ecosystem is collapsing.
Drought and heavy pumping for extensive agriculture in the hills around the grove have drastically lowered water reserves. The water table — a decade ago just 30 feet underground — is now at some 65 yards, beyond the reach of the trees' roots and anything but the deepest of wells. Simultaneously, Marrakech became a top tourism destination. Even small plots in the palm grove now fetch as much as $1.5 million, creating pressure to sell to promoters. The Lemkhaouens' landlord has refused to renew their lease. "Even one century of cultivation couldn't match the price owners can get for their land," says Youssef Sfairi, head of a nongovernment group trying to preserve the grove. His association, Amal Palmeraie, would translate from French and Arabic as "Hope for the Palm Grove."

As a UNESCO heritage site, the grove is supposed to be protected by Morocco. Marrakech City Hall, Morocco's government and private partners have committed the equivalent of $13 million to replant 400,000 palm trees by 2012. The plan, launched by Morocco's King Mohammed VI and headed by one of his sisters, has already brought the number of palm trees from 100,000 in 2006 to over 260,000, said engineer Meddich. But most of the new trees are being planted in touristic zones near Marrakech instead of throughout the palm grove, he says.

Hopes rest largely on female palms. Although more vulnerable to drought than male ones, only they carry date fruits — and hence the seeds for more trees. Large teams of street workers circle the grove to maintain and water over 50,000 of these "mother palms." Palm trees only grow each decade, and the small ones being replanted remain vulnerable. Meanwhile, the three-century old, 100-foot tall ones continue to die out.

Omar Jazouli, the mayor of Marrakech, acknowledges that most of the palm trees are "in an appalling state." But he views tourism as the savior, not the bane, of the grove. "From the air you can see that all the trees in private ownership — golfs, hotels and villas — are being superbly looked after," he says. Every construction site for a new villa is required to survey its palm trees and can only move them — not cut them down — if building is impossible otherwise, he says.

The king has set a goal of 10 million tourists visiting Morocco by 2010, up from 7 million last year — including 1.6 million who came through Marrakech. Drawn by the near constant sunshine, tourists are pouring in from Europe on discounted three-hour flights. Jet-setters, Paris glitterati and some 16,000 other foreigners now have second homes in and around Marrakech, multiplying some land prices by 100 in a decade.

With over 40,000 rooms, hotel space has also grown tenfold in the same period, and each of the three golf courses in the palm grove is expanding from a normal 18-hole size to a jumbo 27 holes. Another 15 golf courses are under completion around Marrakech and in the grove, the mayor says. But promoters must pay $4.7 million for building permits for a course, and the money goes to building wastewater recycling plants. One plant is already working near a section of the palm grove now largely viewed as preserved, he says.

Jazouli concedes that the building boom is driving out farmers, but says the benefits outweigh the impact for Marrakech's 850,000 people. Tourism and construction have driven salaries way above the national average, he said, and with just 7 percent unemployment Marrakech is nearly three times below the rest of the country.

Others see a less rosy future.
"Parts of this beautiful palm grove are becoming a construction dump," said Sylvie de Gouy, the owner of the villa who shares her water with the Lemkhaouen family. Gouy, a dentist in the northern French town of Lille, comes to her Marrakech villa at least once a month. "You can't buy a house down here if you don't appreciate the Moroccans and living alongside them," she said, sipping a glass of mint tea at Lemkhaouen's modest breeze-block house across the wall from her mansion. But even for her, water is now an issue. The private well to keep her garden green ran out last summer.
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gG9TyVITN1FOl4pSod_yCnoU2E0gD915AUP80
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Investigative stories honored in Morocco.
Region :Middle East and North Africa  Country :None  Topic :Fellowships and Awards  09/06/2008

During an award ceremony in Rabat, Morocco on May 14, the winners of the Press Now competition, “Best Investigative Story, Morocco 2007,” were announced, with prizes awarded in three language categories: Arab, French and Amazigh (Berber). It was the first time a prize was given especially to Amazigh media in Morocco. Among Arab-language media, Maria Moukrim won for a story published in Al Ayam about the role of Cairo as a transit center for Moroccan women working as prostitutes in the Middle East. Souleiman Bencheikh Latmani won for his French-language story about the brain drain of young Moroccan professionals in le Journal Hebdomadaire. An Said Bajji, from le Monde Amazigh, won first prize for his Amazigh-language story on the famous singer Moha Oumouzoun, who signed contracts in which he surrendered rights to his music and died in poverty.
http://www.ijnet.org/Director.aspx?P=Article&ID=307780&LID=1
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Moroccan authorities refuse to register Amazigh names.
2008-06-10 By Hassan Benmehdi

Despite the involvement of human rights NGOs and Amazigh organisations, Moroccan authorities continue to reject the use of Amazigh names on official documents. Moroccan citizens face a refusal by the authorities to register their Amazigh names on official documents, numerous cases show. Names including Bahac, Damya, Diyia, Mayssa, Guraya, Yuba, Ijja, Aderfy, Amzin, Idir, Massinissa, Tihia, Tinass, Taynust, Sifaw, Massin and others appear to be categorically banned from entry into the register of births, marriages and deaths.

Interior Minister Chakib Benmoussa has rejected allegations of discrimination, saying that in the High Commission for Civil Status, the body in charge of approving or rejecting name choices, "there is no restriction on the choice of names, nor is there a list to restrict public freedom on this matter". Instead, to explain how the commission chooses whether or not to register names, Benmoussa pointed to law No. 37-99 which stipulates that "the name chosen by the person declaring the birth...must be Moroccan in nature and must not be either a family name nor a name composed of more than two forenames, nor the name of a town, village or tribe; similarly it must not be such that it would challenge morality or public order".

Amazigh activists counter that the list of rejected names gets longer every year. Of the 88 cases examined in 2007 by the commission, Benmoussa said 75 names were accepted. Thirteen, however, were rejected for being "un-Moroccan" Amazigh names. The most recent examples of rejected names include Illy, Tilili, Chaden, Dihia. Those names determined not to be in conformance with the law are shared with all of Morocco's registry offices and its embassies and consulates abroad.

Moroccan citizens Farid El Mouchni and his wife found in March that they could not register the name of their daughter, Chaden. Farid told reporters that three months after her birth, his daughter still has no name because the Moroccan embassy in Madrid, where the family lives, said the name Chaden is forbidden by the High Commission for Civil Status. "I don’t understand why they haven’t allowed me to call my daughter Chaden, given that it's not morally offensive, and doesn't break any of the rules," he said, adding that he appealed to Moroccan state officials and the Moroccan ambassador in Madrid, but in vain.

The El Mouchni family is not alone. In the north east city of Al Hociema, the Nouizia family spent five years fighting in vain to register their child's name – Sifaw. In Errachidia, the name Tihia was struck down. In June 2007, authorities at the Agadir registry rejected the Amazigh forename "Illy". After several attempts, Illy’s parents eventually decided to take the matter to the courts, where the case is currently being heard.

Amazigh activists say the refusal to accept Amazigh names is a form of discrimination. Rachid Rakha, a member of the Amazigh World Congress, told Magharebia that the rejection of Amazigh names is an "injustice" against the future of Amazigh identity. "These Amazigh names don’t carry any notion of hatred or challenge morality or public order. Quite the contrary; these are names which recall Amazigh culture, identity, history and great historical figures," he said.

Amazigh movements in Morocco have joined in solidarity against the government's actions and contacted a number of national and international NGOs to draw attention to the issue. In Parliament, three MPs from the Party for Renewal and Equity have proposed an amendment to law No. 37-99, seeking to better protect the right of newborn Moroccan children to have a legally recognised name according to the choice of his or her parents or legal guardians.

Casablanca nurse El Taeïbi told Magharebia that the Amazighs' reaction to the rejection of the names they choose is natural. "It's unfortunate and unjust in my view, and the issue needs to be reconsidered." http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2008/06/10/feature-01
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Morocco's real GDP growth rate reached 2.7% in 2007.
2008-06-10

Morocco's real GDP grew by 2.7% in 2007, the High Commissioner for Planning (HCP) announced on Monday (June 9th). However, the 2007 GDP growth was significantly lower than the 7.9% growth rate achieved in 2006, due to unfavourable weather conditions and the resulting decline in agricultural production. The manufacturing and service sectors recorded 6% growth in 2007 against 4.7% the previous year, which could be attributed to continuing investment inflows and a strong tourism season. http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/newsbriefs/general/2008/06/10/newsbrief-06
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Film Festival in Zagora to feature desert films.
2008-06-10

When the fifth Trans-Saharan Film Festival opens on June 12th in the southern Moroccan city of Zagora, it will have a special emphasis on desert and Sahara-themed films, MAP reported. Films from Spain, China, Burkina Faso, Algeria, Canada, Belgium and Hungary are among those to be screened at the festival. The three-day programme includes a symposium on the Moroccan desert in cinema and workshops for local high-school students.
http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/newsbriefs/general/2008/06/10/newsbrief-07
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Friends scatter Yves Saint Laurent's ashes in Morocco.
2008-06-12

The ashes of famed French fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent were scattered in the garden of his Marrakesh villa in a private ceremony Wednesday (June 11th). The designer was born in Algeria but spent a large part of his life in Morocco. He and his partner Pierre Berge bought the unique Majorelle Gardens, a popular tourist attraction, back in 1980. "He will stay there in a country that influenced and marked him greatly. He will end up in the Maghreb where he was born," Berge said at his funeral in Paris last week. Yves Saint Laurent died June 1st of a brain tumour at the age of 71.
http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/newsbriefs/general/2008/06/12/newsbrief-07
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Morocco touts action plan to combat child labour.
2008-06-13

Speaking on the occasion of the World Day against Child Labour (June 12th), Moroccan Employment and Vocational Training Minister Jamal Rhmani reiterated his country's determination Thursday to fight child labour by implementing national plans and international agreements, MAP reported. A number of campaigns and legislative reforms have already been organised, the minister said. The government's 2006-2015 action plan includes a section dedicated to the fight against child labour. http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/newsbriefs/general/2008/06/13/newsbrief-04
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2 activists (and 2 views) of women's rights in Morocco.
By Daniel Williams  Tuesday, June 10, 2008 RABAT, Morocco:

Saida Idrissi and Nadia Yassine have a lot in common in the fight for women's rights in Morocco. The two advocates battle violence against women while campaigning for their education and the ability to participate in politics. They are nonetheless separated by a divide that, according to both, makes it impossible for them to work together, weakening the drive for equality in the Middle East.

Idrissi, a secular human-rights activist, says Islamic tradition must not be allowed to influence laws governing social issues like marriage and divorce. Islamic militants, she says, "'want to base law on the Koran, something we think will inhibit women." Yassine, the daughter of a nationally known Islamic opposition leader, counters that Islam, when applied correctly, is the real basis for women's rights. "Secular feminists live in a separate world," she says. "They ape the imperialist West. The fact is, we are Muslims here. How else can women see rights except through Islam?"

Morocco's dueling feminists are part and parcel of a political struggle taking place across the region. Secular democratic and human-rights activists keep their distance from Islamic activists, arguing that the religion is autocratic and wants to use democratic measures only to impose its rules on marriage, dress, and social and sexual mores. Islamists counter that religious teachings and human rights aren't at odds. They charge that their adversaries want to suppress their freedoms, effectively putting the secularists in league with dictatorships that rule most of the Middle East.

In effect, Idrissi's path to liberation leaves Islam behind; Yassine's follows a strict Islamic road map. The conflict spilled into Moroccan feminist issues in 2003, when the country revamped family law after several years of debate and pressure from supporters of women's rights.

The new law established legal procedures for divorce. Previously, a man could dump his wife simply by uttering a few phrases of repudiation - a practice justified by some Islamic scholars - without going to court. Under the reform, women were no longer required to obey their husbands in everything, and, for the first time, were allowed to apply for passports on their own. The law also lifted the marriage age to 18 from 15, and while not banning polygamy, which Islam allows, it permitted a first wife to veto in a marriage contract future matrimony by her husband.

Women are up against a traditional perception that they are inferior, even diabolical, says Mounia Belafia, 37, a journalist and secular feminist who wrote a book on representations of women in Moroccan proverbs. Many of the aphorisms are hardly complimentary: "A woman is the belt of a snake wrapped around the devil," says one. Even those meant to flatter somehow come out as a put-down: "A milk's quality is measured by the size of the cow's udder; a woman's quality, by her legs."

Belafia says the Koran fortifies these attitudes by referring to women as "topsoil" to be cultivated by their husbands. Idrissi agrees. She belongs to the Democratic Association of Women of Morocco, which researches women's issues and provides legal advice. Women come and go from her office in Rabat, the capital, wearing free-flowing hairdos and short-sleeved blouses - marks of the secular, urban Moroccan woman.

Idrissi, 51, says judges intimidate wives who seek divorce by saying their action is un-Islamic. The government's continued toleration of polygamy, even with restrictions, suggests that Islamic law trumps civil rights, she adds. "The issue is mentality," she says. "Islam is part of the patriarchal mentality that dominates Morocco." Yassine, 49, opposes some of the family-law measures. She speaks for the women's branch of the Justice and Spirituality Movement, an Islamic opposition group founded by her father, Abdessalam Yassine. Women at her home, just a few kilometers from Idrissi's headquarters, wear tight-fitting scarves around their heads to hide hair and long-sleeve blouses - signs of Islamic-based modesty.

The Justice and Spirituality Movement is banned from politics but provides social aid and education to the poor. Thousands of its members demonstrated against the family law in 2003. In 2005, Nadia Yassine was charged with contempt of "national sacred institutions" for favoring establishment of a republic in Morocco - a no-no under King Mohammed VI's rule. Her trial has been postponed repeatedly. She contends that raising the marriage age ignores the reality that poverty, not Islamic macho domination, drives women to wed early in Morocco, where 40 percent of the people live in rural areas. Otherwise, undereducated girls turn to prostitution to support themselves, she says.

The secular demand to ban polygamy goes against Moroccan "identity," Yassine adds, noting that the Koran's tolerance for as many as four wives was, in fact, a limitation imposed on men who, before Islam, could have "hundreds." "These other so-called feminists think only in terms of employment," she says. "It is also a woman's nature to have a maternal role, and they don't talk about that." Any chance of Islamic-secular sisterhood between Idrissi and Yassine, given their common desire to improve the lot of women?

"Well, we don't really talk," Idrissi says. "We wouldn't mind," Yassine says. "But they don't want to meet. They're afraid of us."
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/06/10/africa/letter.php
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Costly private tutors supplement traditional Moroccan education.
By Sarah Touahri  2008-06-13

An increasing number of Moroccans see expensive private tutors and remedial classes as essential to their children's academic success, but as what was once a luxury becomes commonplace, many families are struggling with the additional financial burden. The phenomenon of supplementing traditional – and free – education in Morocco with expensive private classes or tutors has taken hold in recent years, with parents and pupils finding themselves "forced" to resort to this solution in order to improve grades. For many students, paying for school "outside" of school is the only way to fill in the academic gap created by overcrowded classes and an insurmountable course load. For families, however, especially those with several children in school at once, it poses a heavy financial burden.

There is no level of school education which is free from this supplemental tutoring trend; from parents of young school children to those with teenagers preparing for the baccalaureate exams, everyone feels forced to pay for private classes. Nurse Fatima Nebbar typifies this new kind of over-stressed, competitive Moroccan parent. She has to resort to this method to guarantee her children’s success at the end of the year, she tells Magharebia.

She has three children taking extra lessons. Two of them are only in primary school."Some teachers force the pupils to have extra hours of tutoring to get good marks, even if they are already at a good level. This is the case for my children, who were endlessly harassed by their schoolmistresses because they weren’t taking extra lessons at the start," she says. Her eldest, Ahmed, says that under pressure from the maths teacher, he was forced to join those pupils paying for extracurricular support lessons. "He deliberately failed to explain things properly in class and insinuated that those who wanted to succeed and improve their level had no choice but to take some extra hours of tutoring with him. And that costs 250 dirhams a month," Ahmed adds.

The practice is becoming increasingly widespread, even though this kind of "off-the books" supplementary teaching is banned by the national education ministry. It is also unbecoming for a member of the teaching community to get involved in this sort of business, says teacher Mohamed Sijilmassi: "A teacher is supposed to educate generations. It’s a civic duty. But sadly, ethical values have changed." Teachers who resort to this practice put forward a number of excuses. Salima, who supplements her income by giving private classes on the side, says that if teachers were paid according to their true value, the phenomenon would never have come into existence.

"It is difficult to make ends meet with the salary they give us. You really need some other source of income to afford your daily needs," she says. She adds, however, that a teacher should not force pupils to take extra lessons outside of school, but instead encourage the weakest academic performers to improve inside the regular classes. "But in the real world, that never happens," she admits.

According to sociologist Jamal Brahmi, it is not just the teachers who are to blame: the phenomenon is linked to changes in Moroccan society. Parents who are too busy and don’t have the time to look at what their children are doing prefer easy solutions. "Parents prefer to contract out the business of going over their children’s school work so that they can enjoy their free time. The family shuns its responsibilities," he argues.

"Attitudes towards extra tutoring have changed over the years," Brahmi adds. They have, in fact, become a fashion to be followed, whereas a few years ago they were seen as something which was offered to just the lazy pupils." Teacher Karim El Mhidi denies accusations that teachers are fabricating this prosperous side business, saying that that even if the teacher is not giving lessons directly, the pupils head on their own for private learning centres which specialise in whichever subject they need. "Over recent years, the trade in supplemental courses has flourished. This is a success story," he says.

Indeed, a good number of young people are using this method to escape the clutches of unemployment. Hicham Jabri, who graduated in chemistry and physics in 1994, collaborated with several of his friends in 2006 to set up a centre for school support classes in English, French, math and science. "I was giving lessons from time to time to a few of the neighbours’ children to earn a few dirhams at the end of the month. After this, my unemployment dragged on, and I decided to set up a project with my mates, which worked well. There are a lot of them coming to make use of our services," he says proudly.

Salim Mahmoudi, 14, is one of the centre's pupils. He tells Magharebia he was very weak in maths and that thanks to Hicham, he has been able to catch up in this subject. "I was taking lessons with my teacher. But despite that, I didn't manage to understand, because the teacher was happy just to train us for the exams we’d be taking in class. Now, after two years at the centre, I’m quite able to choose a science specialisation in high school," he announces.

According to the National Education Ministry, the State is doing all it can to support those pupils who are achieving at a lower level than their classmates. Since 2006, monitoring units have been set up in hundreds of school establishments, with plans to roll them out across the country at a later date. The aim is to prevent school delinquency by identifying pupils who are in danger of failing and offering them remedial classes.

Civil society is also active in this field. A number of associations give support classes free of charge to the poorest pupils to help them improve their academic level and combat school drop-outs, which affect thousands of children in Morocco. Mohamed Souilmi, a member of the Al Amal association, has a degree in French literature. He teaches French and maths three times a week to dozens of pupils in his district. "After work, I try to find some free time to help those close to me," he tells Magharebia.

"I don’t have the means to support them financially. I use my knowledge to be of use to them and I’m happy when the results are palpable," the volunteer tutor says with a broad smile.
http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/reportage/2008/06/13/reportage-01
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Moroccan economy must reform to face global challenges.
Jun 12, 2008

Recent economic developments are encouraging and demonstrate the resilience of the Moroccan economy to shocks, however, as the country's economy continues to open up and undergoes a structural transformation, a flexible exchange rate regime would give macroeconomic management additional flexibility, International Monetary Fund (IMF), has said at the end of its mission in Rabat yesterday. IMF mission was part of the consultation discussions to review recent economic developments in Morocco under the fund's agreements with the country's authority.

"Important progress has been realized in recent years in achieving macroeconomic stability, resistance of the economy to shocks, and strengthening of the public finance position. However, the spike in the world prices of petroleum and other commodities has significantly increased the cost of subsidies. The strong improvement in budget position in recent years allows, in short term, to absorb this increase in spending without compromising macroeconomic stability," observed the mission led by Mr Mark Lewis on 19-30 May.

IMF's mission further welcomed Morocco's medium-term objective in addressing macroeconomic stability by transforming current subsidies to target the poor of the country. IMF also warned that even with strong determination by the country to maintain price stability as well as keeping a low inflation against backdrop of global economic trends, monetary policies may be more difficult in the near future.

Morocco has an exchange rate regime, based on a peg of the dirham to a basket of euro and (US) dollar, a policy that has contributed to macroeconomic stability for the country. Even though analytical work carried out by IMF mission suggests that level of exchange rate is in line with its economic fundamentals and further observing that country's financial sector is sound and resilient to shocks, there are also concerns on country's economic capacity and resilience.

"While the Moroccan financial sector has largely been untouched by turbulence in international financial markets, it is important that financial supervisory agencies pay close attention to capacity of the sector to operate in a more volatile international environment," the mission observed, adding that strong and sustained economic growth would entail continuation of reforms aimed at improving productivity of Moroccan economy.

"The continuation of sectoral reforms - notably in agriculture, energy, and internal trade - as well as education sector reform and strengthening of infrastructure and social services, will play an important role in raising investment, output, and employment, and improving incomes of the Moroccan population," concluded the IMF mission statement.

Morocco's successful integration into world economy is seen as a boost that would help external sector increase its contribution to growth through diversification of growth sources. Three aspects pointed out as of particular importance in this area are strengthening economy's ability to adapt to a changing global environment; pressing ahead with trade liberalization; and continuing the preparation for the transition to a more flexible exchange rate regime. Morocco has recently adopted and published anti-money laundering legislation and is stepping up efforts to establish the financial intelligence unit in very near future.
http://www.morocconewsline.com/modules/news/article.php?storyid=482
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Local Government Holds Up Development. 
By Abderrahim El Ouali

CASABLANCA, Jun 13 (IPS) - Lack of political will on the part of some municipalities is hindering an ambitious national plan for human development, activists say.

On May 20, 2005, King Mohamed VI launched the National Initiative for Human Development (INDH). The King said then that the initiative aims "to consolidate political gains by promoting economic, social and cultural rights of citizens." Following the royal speech, a priority programme was set to fight precariousness and exclusion with a fund of 250 million dirhams (22.72 million euros). Another programme was set later to cover the period from 2006 to 2010 with a fund of 1 billion dirhams (more than 90 million euros). The fund is intended to focus on encouraging income generating activities, capacity building, and access to basic services and equipment.

Local committees of governance have been set up in 30 cities and 403 rural communities. But in several of these, projects are still pending.

In Casablanca, Morocco's largest city that has taken 15 percent of the funds dedicated to the priority programme, projects are not going as planned, especially in marginalised areas. The Moulay Rachid municipality, for instance, with a population suffering mainly from precariousness, has found its INDH projects still in limbo. The delay in implementing the projects is mainly due to "lack of political will on the part of the municipality," Mohamed Bouichi, member of the local governance committee told IPS.

By law, the head of the municipality presides over the local committee of governance of the initiative. "But the president (of the Moulay Rachid municipality) has never taken part in the meetings of the committee, and this does not allow the other members to decide about projects," Bouichi said. Several interview requests from IPS to the municipality of Moulay Rachid were ignored.

Bouichi said that the committee selected some 50 development projects in partnership with civil society groups in 2007. "We will no more wait for the president, and we will decide in his absence," he said. The lack of will on the part of municipalities is weighing heavily on some civil society associations. Sanaa Naji, member of the Atlas Basin Association for Development (ABAD), is leading a project to build capacities in new technologies for information and communication in the Moulay Rachid Sidi Othmane prefecture in Casablanca. The association has formed two partnerships with INDH and with Professional Training, the official board for professional capacity building within the public sector.

"In the first year of the programme, 30 persons with a secondary school education level will receive professional training," she told IPS. The project "aims to build capacities among young people and women especially."

But the association has not managed to build any partnership with the municipality. "The municipality council is not concerned with development but with elections only," she said. This seems far from being an isolated case. Allal Kotani, member of the central bureau of the al-Mawahib (Talents) association, told IPS that his association had decided to work completely outside the INDH frame.

"This is not because of the goals of the initiative, but because of the way municipalities treat associations," he said. The al-Mawahib association was founded in 1965 and has more than 80 local sections all over the country. Since then, it has been holding education and capacity building programmes among youngsters. "We have always been working in human development," Kotani said. Yet, municipalities "have not understood what is partnership with associations. They treat them as if they were asking for charity." Some of the associations have decided to work independently. Al-Mawahib has "its own human development projects, and is implementing them with its own means and with other partners inside and outside Morocco," Kotani said.
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=42793
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Teacher will make Morocco visit educational.
Jun. 10, 2008  The Arizona Republic

A Spanish teacher from Ironwood High School will help develop a curriculum in Islamic studies while in Morocco. Teacher Jeannine Peña was invited to collaborate with 16 secondary school and community college instructors to create greater learning opportunities for Arizona students.

The faculty members will collect information about historical, cultural, linguistic, social, economic, political and educational aspects of Islamic societies and Muslim culture to enhance curricular offerings in Islamic studies. Eight secondary school instructors will accompany eight college teachers to create global educational modules

Peña has a diversified professional background. After teaching bilingual fourth-graders and a pre-kindergarten migrant summer school class, she now teaches Honors and International Baccalaureate Spanish dual-enrollment classes. By taking her classes, Ironwood students can receive high school and college credit from Estrella Mountain Community College.

While traveling, the teacher will gain insight to share with members of Ironwood's Project Respect Club. Peña facilitates the Annual Unitown camp, which focuses on diversity and cultural understanding, and works on the Anytown project in July. She plans to assist in developing the state Anytown curriculum, using information she gleans in Morocco. The close historical connection between Morocco and Spain will directly relate to her lesson plans.

"The more I study in preparation, the more excited I get," Peña said. "I have never been anywhere with so much history. I went to Mexico as a student 26 years ago, and that trip changed my life. I can't believe I am in a position to be going on a similar study trip." The educator received her bachelor of arts in Spanish from Brigham Young University and her master of arts in Elementary Education from Arizona State University. "It is an honor to be representing the United States, Arizona, PUSD and Ironwood," Peña said. "I feel so fortunate to be able to go and to be able to share what I learn with anyone who will listen."

The Office of International and Intercultural Education for the Maricopa Community Colleges District in collaboration with the National Center for Teacher Education and the Maricopa Center for Learning and Instruction is sponsoring the five-week curriculum development project through a Fulbright-Hays Group Projects Abroad grant from the U.S. Department of Education.
http://www.azcentral.com/community/glendale/articles/2008/06/10/20080610gl-peoteach0610-ON.html
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Vegetarian tagine hails from Morocco.
Associated Press • June 4, 2008

This rustic vegetarian tagine from Ghillie Basan's cookbook, "Tagine," is common to areas of Morocco where meat is considered a luxury. This pairs well with yogurt and flatbread.

Spicy Carrot and Chickpea Tagine with Turmeric and Cilantro
Servings: 4
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 large yellow onion, finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoons turmeric
2 teaspoons cumin seeds
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon honey
4 medium carrots, sliced on the diagonal
Two 14 1/2-ounce can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
Sea salt, to taste
2 tablespoons rosewater
Bunch cilantro leaves, finely chopped
1 lemon, cut into wedges
In a tagine or heavy casserole dish, heat the oil over medium-high. Add the onion and garlic and saute until soft. Add the turmeric, cumin, cinnamon, cayenne, black pepper, honey and carrots. Pour in just enough water to cover the base of the tagine. Cover, reduce heat to low and cook 15 minutes.

Add the chickpeas and toss. Add water, if needed. Cover and cook for another 10 minutes. Season with salt, then sprinkle with rosewater and scatter the cilantro over the top. Serve with lemon wedges.

Start to finish: 40 minutes
(Recipe from Ghillie Basan's "Tagine," Ryland, Peters & Small, 2007)
http://www.news-leader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080604/LIFE02/806040448
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A hidden treasure brings a glimpse of Morocco to W1.
10 June 2008

Nestled on an inconspicuous street corner equidistant to trendy Marylebone High Street and bustling Edgware Road, Occo Restaurant and Bar is a stunning venue that successfully transports the style, flavours and culture of native Morocco to London. Sam Ahmimed, the establishment’s proprietor, hails from the city of Tangier, a place renowned for it’s international connections and colourful past.

Occo is the place where the capital’s beautiful crowd rub shoulders with locals in a truly authentic Moroccan setting that has earned it a reputation as ‘Momo’s only real competitor in London’. Arranged over several levels, the venue is comprised of four separate spaces, each with its own unique style, décor, lighting and atmosphere. The ground floor accommodates the main restaurant and bar area, along with the secret space of the Boudoir – an opulently furnished room with dim lighting and padded walls.

The conservatory is located on a half level between the ground floor and the basement, and is an oasis of light during the day, and an intimate private dining area by evening. The basement is home to Mim: a comfortable subterranean candle lit space featuring a private entrance, dedicated bar, low sofas and DJ decks. With a total capacity of 250, there is a space at Occo to suit every occasion, budget, taste and requirement.

The design scheme attempts to convey the philosophy behind the food on offer at Occo – authentic, but contemporary Moroccan. The materials, colours, lighting and fabrics all adhere to a North African theme and indeed the majority of the fixtures, furnishings and décor were sourced and imported directly from Morocco.

The head chef is Ahmed Hamidi; a Moroccan native who takes pride in drawing culinary inspiration from his homeland and sourcing the majority of his herb and spice supplies from Marrakech. Hamidi is responsible for masterminding the venue’s popular lunch, dinner, tapas and brunch menus which retain a strong Moroccan emphasis jazzed up with a modern twist. The high quality food on offer is complemented by an excellent cocktail list and an extensive list of Moroccan, new world and international wines.

Main Bar/ Dining Room
On the ground floor is the main bar and restaurant area; a bright, airy and modern space flanked by windows on two sides and serving an innovative cocktail menu and selection of light tapas dishes. A curved copper plated wall separates the bar area from the restaurant, while the handmade serving counter is comprised of highly filed and polished bone fragments, inlaid in silver to create an unusual mosaic effect. The central feature of this room is the dramatic ceiling lights, which are suspended from one central point – echoing the lines and style of a traditional Moroccan tent. In summer diners can enjoy Al Fresco drinks and dining, thanks to the venue’s plentiful supply of pavement tables.

Boudoir
In a secluded corner of the main bar area lies the opulent boudoir (known also as the red room). This is a smaller, more private space adorned with red padded walls, low level seating, an abundance of scattered cushions and a view out over the conservatory area – ideal for people watching. The Boudoir provides the perfect hideaway for an intimate drink or private functions and holds up to 25 people.

Conservatory
Located on a half level between the ground floor and the basement, the Conservatory is a perfectly formed private dining area which is flooded with natural light during the day and candle lit by night. Ultimately this is a peaceful and tranquil space, inspired by the Moroccan courtyard. Decorated in muted shades, the space features an array of padded banquet style seating and chairs along with scattered cushions for lounging on.

Mim
Nestled in the basement of Occo, Mim is a miniature club space and an exotic candle lit den which can accommodate up to 50 people. Decorated in rich purples, the space provides guests with their own separate entrance from the street, private bar and low level sofas. The atmospheric lighting and scatter cushions make this the ideal after dark retreat; sit back with a cocktail and let the distinctly Moroccan vibe wash over you.

Cocktails
Highlights from the cocktail list include the legendary Moore Bubbly – a tantalising blend of fresh lime juice, passion fruit and elderflower cordial topped with champagne and served long. The enduringly popular Moroccan Rose is a unique blend of Wyborowa rose, triple sec, fresh lime, pomegranate juice and seeds. The perfect nightcap comes in the form of the Moroccan milkshake – a heavenly mix of baileys, kahlua and butterscotch schnapps shaken lightly with milk and cream.

Tapas
Key dishes from the tapas menu include shrimp, sardine and tuna fritters with a little chilli, deep fried and served with a garlic and parsley yoghurt dip. Another popular choice is the Beef kefta skewers served with flat bread, hummus, Moroccan salad with radish, pickled cucumber and onion.

A La Carte
Favourites from among the appetisers include pigeon, prune and almond cigars with a pomegranate olive oil and honey dipping sauce. Also Chermoula marinated crab cakes, served with a small herb salad and caper aioli. Specialities among the mains include Roast marinated duck breast with honey, coriander and ginger, served with mango, mouli, dates and pomegranate julienne salsa salad. Also popular is the traditional Chicken tangine with reserved lemon and green olives, served with sauté harissa baby new potatoes. Seafood fans will appreciate the Swordfish steak served with avocado, sun blush tomato and chickpea salad, served with an olive oil and parsley vinaigrette.

Express Lunch
Vegetarians will appreciate the risotto flavoured with thyme, tumeric and grated pumpkin, served with roasted baby carrots, courgettes and asparagus, topped with shaved parmesan and pistachios. Also a hit is the Sesame coated tuna fillet, lightly chargrilled and served with fresh mint and pumpkin couscous, tomato salsa and toasted pumpkin seeds. Looking for a quick and popular bite? Try the cracked pepper and coriander seed marinated minute steak, served on toasted Moroccan bread with harissa mayonnaise, fresh tomato chutney and paprika new potato chips.

Offers
Occo runs a daily happy hour from 5 –7pm offering customers a buy one get one free deal on all cocktails, house wines and draft beers and lagers. Customers can also enjoy 25% off the total bill when dining from the express lunch menu on week day lunchtimes, subject to quoting this offer at the time of booking.

OCCO BAR & KITCHEN
58 Crawford Street
Marylebone
London W1H
See more at Occo.co.uk.
http://www.easier.com/view/Lifestyle/Food_and_Drink/Restaurants/article-184599.html
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Rock the Casbah.
By Stett Holbrook

Essadki brothers recapture the hospitality of their native country at Morocco's BROTHERS Jay and Sham Essadki have created at Morocco's the kind of restaurant that downtown San Jose needs more of: distinctive food cooked and served by people with a personal investment in the happiness of their customers. From the food to the service to the paint on the walls, the Essadki's personal touch is all over the 3-month-old restaurant. While not every dish I tried succeeded, the food, lively atmosphere and hospitality make it a welcome addition to downtown San Jose.

The Essadki brothers moved to the United States from Morocco seven years ago with the express purpose of opening their own restaurant. It took that long for them to learn the ways of the restaurant industry and to raise the financing for a place of their own. They settled on San Jose because of what they see as the city's potential to grow into a dining destination and the help they received from the city's redevelopment agency.

The tentlike fabric hanging from the ceiling, Moroccan art and artifacts on the walls and dusky, low lighting have transformed what was formerly a taqueria into an inviting casbah hideaway. The music, however, is often too loud and ranges from Moroccan to bad Kenny G –like jazz. Stick with the Arab music, lose the bad jazz and turn it down a notch. I left with my ears ringing.

Morocco's bills itself as a Moroccan fusion restaurant, but most of the menu is traditional Moroccan food. What you won't find are belly dancers, tableside hand washing and other practices that the Essadkis say are stereotypes that have little to do with how people actually eat in Morocco. Jay Essadki, Morocco's chef, worked with his mother to create many of the recipes, calling her his "culinary counselor." Sham Essadki runs the front of the house with an effusive willingness to please. You get the feeling he'd help you find a place to park if you were unable to do so. (While the restaurant is across from a parking garage, the restaurant doesn't validate.)

Family-style dining is what Morocco's does best. For $26.95, you and your table mates get a choice of two appetizers, two salads, two entrees and dessert. It adds up to a lot of food, and if you decide you want more, just ask. Plates are replenished at no extra charge.

"That's what Moroccan hospitality is all about," says Sham Essadki.
From the list of appetizers, go straight for the shrimp pil pil and britwatts. The shrimp dish combines plump prawns in a garlicky, spicy chile pepper sauce that's just great. Britwatts are little triangles of baked filo dough filed with vegetables, seafood or a chicken and almond filling. The pastries border on sweet and are dusted with a hint of powdered sugar and cinnamon, but the savory filling keeps it rooted firmly in the savory category. Salads are good, too, especially the lentil salad made with cumin vinaigrette and the beet and potato salad accented with red onions, cilantro and more cumin vinaigrette. Less good was the wildly overdressed spinach and fruit salad with huge blobs of blue cheese.

Tagines, slow-cooked stews, are Morocco's signature dish —the country and the restaurant. On one visit, the chicken tagine was redolent of sour-salty preserved lemons and green olives and cloaked in a rich, sultry sauce. On a second visit, I couldn't detect any preserved lemons or olives and the white meat chicken was dry. Dark meat would perform much better in a braised dish like this. The stewy beef tagine combines prunes, apricots and ginger in a spiced, aromatic sauce. The vegetable tagine, however, made with just potatoes, carrots, olives, garbanzo beans and zucchini, was rather lackluster and tasted just like a plate of boiled vegetables.

Couscous is another classic dish in Morocco. At Morocco's, the couscous comes from a family recipe. The flavorful and juicy lamb couscous is quite good.

Morocco's wine list was rather limited during my visits (several of my selections were unavailable) but I'm interested in stopping back in when they begin serving Moroccan and Lebanese wine. In the meantime, the potent sangria ($8) will do just fine.

For dessert, I was underwhelmed by the almond and saffron crème brûlées, but I loved the mint tea ($3), which given its sweetness is a dessert in itself. Although they're not billed as such, the smoothies make great desserts, too. Try the "nut tree" ($8) —cashews, almonds, pistachios, dates, avocado, vanilla and milk, or the Morocco's smoothie ($6) —apples, bananas, peaches, dates, avocado, yogurt and milk.

In some ways Morocco's is still a work in progress, but it's hard to not be charmed by the restaurant and the hardworking Essadki brothers. I'm rooting for them and hope they become a fixture in downtown San Jose.
http://www.metroactive.com/metro/06.04.08/dining-0823.html
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Morocco offers a surreal mix of old and new. Donkeys transport cargo through twisting alleys and passersby talk on cellphones.
Daniel Drolet. For Ottawa Citizen; Canwest News Service FEZ, Morocco

In alleyways barely as wide as my outstretched arms, the city's bustle pushes past me in waves -- giggling schoolchildren chasing each other, veiled women on their way to market, wizened old men in traditional djellabas walking hand-in-hand, Moroccan style, and chatting. Every minute or two, weary donkeys laden with cargo trot past, their masters yelling "Balik! Balik!" as a warning to get out of the way. I sometimes have to push myself flat against the walls of the houses to let them pass.

Thin shades pulled overtop of these labyrinthine alleyways keep out most of the sharp North African sun and create a dark, dappled place where the scent of orange blossoms mingles with the acrid smell of ammonia. Somewhere nearby, in a cubbyhole off the street, there is a schoolroom, and I can hear the angelic voices of children chanting their lessons. The sound of it is as sweet as honey.

For a moment I am disoriented, unsure not only of where I am, but also -- more strangely -- of when I am. Is this the 21st century? A man talking on a cellphone walks past. I am not in the 13th century after all. I am in the medina of Fez, the ancient capital of Morocco. And Fez, like all of Morocco, is a strange mix of new and old, modern and traditional, cellphones and donkeys.

It's a mix the Moroccan government wants more Canadians to see. About 32,000 of us visited the country last year, says Abdelghani Ragala, Canadian director of the Moroccan National Tourist Office in Montreal. From Canada, the road to Morocco usually starts in Montreal. Royal Air Maroc offers direct flights from Montreal to Casablanca -- the only direct Canadian air connection to Africa. (There are also excellent connections through Paris.)

As my plane lands at Casablanca's Mohammed V Airport, I am struck that from the air, Morocco looks like Alberta: wide, fertile plains framed in the distance by the snow-capped peaks of the High Atlas mountains. That Albertan impression remains as I travel the north of the country.

There are ski resorts in the High Atlas, and cool cedar forests with alpine architecture in the Middle Atlas, and broad plains elsewhere. The expressway between Fez and Rabat, the capital, is as modern as any Canadian highway.

Morocco is a California-sized country with a population equal to that of Canada. But unlike Canada, about half the population is rural. And most of the people are concentrated in the fertile area north of the High Atlas.

Northern Morocco is green and bountiful: In the markets I see strawberries lusher than any I had ever seen, along with oranges, artichokes and green peas in their pods, every manner of fresh herb, beans and grains, dates and apricots, nuts and figs, and mounds of spices.

Morocco's peoples are a mix of Arab and Berber, with black Africans in the south and smatterings of Jews and Christians. But it is an overwhelmingly Muslim and many mornings I woke up to the sound of the muezzin calling the faithful to early prayer.

But if the country looks like Alberta, it sounds like Quebec: French is universally used as a second language after Arabic, and virtually all signs are in both Arabic and French. The French connection dates from France's protectorate over Morocco from 1912 to 1956 and it remains strong.

For anyone visiting Morocco, there are three main attractions: the Sahara Desert in the south, the beaches near Agadir on the Atlantic, and the great cities of the north -- the imperial cities, as they are called here.

I was on a week-long tour of the imperial cities that took me to Marrakech, Fez, Meknes, Rabat and Casablanca. It was a circle tour of more than 1,500 kilometres, done in a group, with a guide and organized through a Montreal-based company. A number of tour companies offer similar visits. While it certainly is possible to travel on one's own, I would never in a million years have been able to find my way around the medinas -- the old Muslim quarters -- without a guide. The medinas are daunting mazes -- and the most fascinating things I saw.

The medina of Fez is the most amazing of all. Now a World Heritage Site, it is 1,200 years old and feels it. The buildings are too tightly packed for motorized transport. You visit on foot, and commerce moves on the backs of donkeys.

The most amazing of all the craft shops of Fez is the city's tannery. After being given branches of mint to wave under our noses for the smell, we are led up a narrow set of stairs to a shop full of leather goods. At the back of the shop is a balcony, and from the balcony is the most amazing sight.

At our feet, two storeys below, is a large open space filled with what look like dozens of over-sized children's paint pots. Each pot is filled with a liquid, and barelegged men stomp on hides in the liquids as if they are stomping on grapes. Some liquids are coloured, to dye the hides. Others are white. These, we are told, are filled with pigeon droppings. The ammonia from the droppings gets the hair off the hides. It also contributes largely to the smells wafting up.

On nearby roofs, other men spread the newly tanned leathers to dry. The sight is truly from another century.
As we leave the balcony, we pass back through the shop where all manner of leather goods are being sold. Would we like to buy something?

Moroccans are a commercial people, always intent, it seems, on selling, selling, selling. And at each craft shop we visit, we are urged to buy, buy, buy.

It is all part of the experience, but it is not always pleasant. That's because shopping is different in Morocco than Canada. With few exceptions, nothing wears a price tag. Every purchase is negotiated -- often at length. If you so much as glance at goods in a shop, you may be approached and asked to come in. In some cases, I was grabbed by the arm in the street and literally dragged toward a shop.

If you want the crafts without the hassle, most major cities have what is called an Ensemble Artisanal -- an "official" crafts store -- where the approach is more North American. And if you find the medinas too disorienting, most cities also have a European quarter with wide, car-filled streets and sidewalk cafes and tearooms selling a delightful assortment of pastries.

We ended our trip in fabled Marrakech, where all the buildings old and new are in the city's trademark ochre colour.
At day's end, we made our way to Jemaa el Fna Square, the heart of the city.
Imagine a market run by the Cirque du Soleil and you will begin to get an idea of Jemaa el Fna: Snake charmers, fortune tellers, monkeys and musicians share space with row upon row of open-air kiosks selling every kind of food imaginable, from boiled snails to roast lamb. And people! Everywhere, a crush of humanity, sightseers and locals, mixing in a roiling, jostling melange.
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