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Morocco Week in Review 
May 4, 2019

Virtual Magazine of Morocco on the Web

Morocco Future Leaders Program Selects Winners in Al Hoceima.

In partnership with the US Embassy, the final competition of the Morocco Future Leaders Program ended last weekend with the announcing of the winners.

By Anton L. Delgado -  Anton is interning as a news correspondent and photographer for Morocco World News. Apr 30, 2019 Rabat

The Morocco Future Leaders (MFL) program has just announced the latest winners of its annual competition hosted in partnership with the US embassy in Morocco and the Anual Association.
The goal of the MFL program is to train the next generation of young leaders in northern Morocco and strengthen their leadership, communication, and innovation skills. The program is designed to help youth build project ideas that would lead to social impact. The competition selected 30 youth from seven different cities and areas in northern Morocco, Tangier, Tetouan, Al Hoceima, Larache, Chefchaouen, Ksar El Kebir, and M’Diq and Martil, based on their leadership potential and commitment to their communities.
https://world.einnews.com/article_detail/483816301/CYmGN1dZx5Au35nA?n=2&code=I5p3xRh7196OtpCd&utm_source=NewsletterNews&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Morocco+Or+%28+Peace+Corps+Morocco+%29+Or+%28+Peace+Corps+%29+Search+Results&utm_content=article
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How a Radio Show Gives Unwed Mothers in Morocco a Voice

MOLLY KEISMAN APR 23, 2019

Legal changes gave Moroccan women more rights, but unwed mothers still face prosecution and stigma. A Tangier radio station, Mères en Ligne, gives them a voice. TANGIER, Morocco

Fatima Tourari, 27, realized she was pregnant during Ramadan. She had been raped a few weeks before the Muslim holy month, but kept it a secret because in Morocco, even rape victims risk blame for having sex outside of marriage, which is illegal. “He did what he did, and I don’t like remembering it,” she says. Tourari finally disclosed the pregnancy to her mother, who cried and told her daughter to leave, saying she’d have nothing to do with her.
https://www.citylab.com/equity/2019/04/morocco-women-rights-radio-station-single-mothers-pregnancy/587335/
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Morocco to Build 19 New Waste Disposal Centers by the End of the Year.

19 new waste disposal centers will be built by the end of 2019 says Moroccan State Secretary for Sustainable Development.

By Margot Eliason is a writer at Morocco World News. Apr 30, 2019 Rabat

 The Moroccan State Secretary for Sustainable Development Nezha Al Ouafi has announced that 19 new waste valorization and burying centers will be built by the end of 2019. Construction of eleven of these is already underway. Al Ouafi met with the Association of Natural Science Teachers (AESVT) in Fez last week to discuss the waste management in Morocco. She said disposal, valorization, and burying of waste is a “priority” for the Ministry of Mines, Energy and Sustainable Development. The ministry is currently tackling the conversion of 25 unregulated dumpsites into valorization and landfill centres.
https://world.einnews.com/article_detail/483746245/xrsOxhZtxX-WCLrh?n=2&code=I5p3xRh7196OtpCd&utm_source=NewsletterNews&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Morocco+Or+%28+Peace+Corps+Morocco+%29+Or+%28+Peace+Corps+%29+Search+Results&utm_content=article======================================

Morocco Launches National Campaign to Register All Children.

Morocco launches phase 2 of a national campaign to register children for civil status.

By- Margot Eliason is a writer at Morocco World News.May 1, 2019 Rabat

The Moroccan Ministry for Human Rights launched on Monday the second phase of a national campaign to register children for civil status, to ensure their full access to civil rights. Registration means the official recording of a child’s birth by the government. The first phase of the program was delivered in partnership with UNICEF from September 2017 to May 2018 and led to the registration of 23,151 people across the country, of which 85% e were minors.
https://world.einnews.com/article_detail/483885637/AY20zb2dIXzc1Unp?n=2&code=I5p3xRh7196OtpCd&utm_source=NewsletterNews&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Morocco+Or+%28+Peace+Corps+Morocco+%29+Or+%28+Peace+Corps+%29+Search+Results&utm_content=article======================================

A Lantern of Hope: Morocco’s Ifassen Employs Women to Remake Art.

Global media celebrated Moroccan organization ‘Ifassen’ for Earth Day last week for its work on women’s empowerment and sustainability.

By -Katya Schwenk is an intern at Morocco World News.Apr 29, 2019 Rabat

Growing up, Moroccan entrepreneur Faiza Hajji saw plastic bags everywhere. Strewn plastic covered neighborhoods of her city Berkane, in the far northeast of Morocco. She would bike through the streets as a child, she said, frustrated by the waste and wondering how to put it to good use. “And at the same time, I was really sensitive to women’s conditions. My mom was a doctor, and she was receiving a lot of patients from the villages,” Hajji told Morocco World News. “Many women didn’t have enough [to] pay for the consultation.” The price for a visit? Only $7.
https://world.einnews.com/article_detail/483639145/HoSTCdo57WQn94Aj?n=2&code=I5p3xRh7196OtpCd&utm_source=NewsletterNews&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Morocco+Or+%28+Peace+Corps+Morocco+%29+Or+%28+Peace+Corps+%29+Search+Results&utm_content=article======================================

Historical threads: Morocco's last brocade master.

Sophie PONS AFP April 30, 2019 Fes (Morocco) (AFP)

Abdelkader Ouazzani, the last of Morocco's brocade master weavers, has been repeating the same gestures for 63 years in his dilapidated workshop in the heart of the old city of Fes. "This profession is vanishing... There were many craftsmen in Fes, but they all died and only memories remain," says the 79-year-old weaver, the last witness of a bygone era. His skillful hands intricately create shimmering silk fabrics, enhanced with gold or silver thread, for bridal jewellery, designer creations or high-end furnishings. His entire body engages in the delicate job, using a complex drawloom mechanism made up of a large wooden frame topped with beams, rafters, blades, pulleys and counterweights.
https://news.yahoo.com/historical-threads-moroccos-last-brocade-master-025709096.html
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Oxfam: Moroccan Billionaires Make 154 Times More Than Average Worker.

“Around 1.6 million Moroccans are living in poverty, while three Moroccan billionaires’ wealth is estimated at $4.5 billion,” the NGO says, condemning disparities in Morocco.

Safaa Kasraoui is a journalist at Morocco World News. Apr 29, 2019 Rabat

The Moroccan arm of the international NGO Oxfam has written a new report to warn of inequality in Morocco. The report is in line with a campaign under the theme “An egalitarian Morocco, a fair taxation.” In its report, Oxfam notes that the “gap between the richest and poorest
https://world.einnews.com/article_detail/483628474/ZqszoXzrcXGI_RXc?n=2&code=I5p3xRh7196OtpCd&utm_source=NewsletterNews&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Morocco+Or+%28+Peace+Corps+Morocco+%29+Or+%28+Peace+Corps+%29+Search+Results&utm_content=article======================================

Berber hospitality filled 15-day tour through Morocco

By NORMA MEYER The San Diego Union-Tribune April 29, 2019

In dizzyingly exotic Morocco, I'll scurry past snake charmers and lurching cobras, hang onto a bouncy camel for dear life and haggle for bargains in mysterious carpet-swathed ancient medinas. And now, in the serene far-flung mountains, I'm stooped inside a cubbyhole limestone cave watching a crouching 75-year-old Berber nomad named Ahmed hospitably brew mint tea for me while his baa-ing sheep graze nearby. A father of five with a weather-beaten, lined face, he's cloaked in a traditional beige djellaba robe and tagelmust turban wrapped on his head and under his chin's graying beard. Although he speaks no English, he welcomes a dozen of us who are on a rugged half-day hike in the spectacular sheer-sided Todra Gorge when we stumble into his rocky makeshift camp.
Read more here: https://www.ledger-enquirer.com/living/travel/article229795219.html#storylink=cpy
https://world.einnews.com/article_detail/483618071/bIA6CgYOFdfgewsE?n=2&code=I5p3xRh7196OtpCd&utm_source=NewsletterNews&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Morocco+Or+%28+Peace+Corps+Morocco+%29+Or+%28+Peace+Corps+%29+Search+Results&utm_content=article======================================

Abdellah Boussouf: Morocco’s Stability is Due to its Model of Religiosity

The Moroccan model of religiosity has played a key role in eradicating extremism and protecting Morocco from terrorist attacks.

By Hamza Guessous - May 1, 2019 Rabat

The secretary-general of the Council of the Moroccan Community Abroad (CCME), Abdellah Boussouf, has said that the Moroccan model of religiosity is not well-known among Moroccans Residing Abroad (MREs) and in the West. Boussouf was speaking at a conference at the Faculty of Arts and Humanities of Mohammed V University on Thursday evening, April 2, in Rabat under the theme, “Moroccan Model and Contemporary Challenges.” Believing that the teaching of religious sciences must be in lines with other sciences, such as philosophy, economics, and social sciences, Boussouf called for Morocco to reconsider its science curricula to ensure a smooth integration of graduates into non-academic life.
https://world.einnews.com/article_detail/483914524/3VEpurC1n1so26nW?n=2&code=I5p3xRh7196OtpCd&utm_source=NewsletterNews&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Morocco+Or+%28+Peace+Corps+Morocco+%29+Or+%28+Peace+Corps+%29+Search+Results&utm_content=article======================================

Morocco restoring Jewish heritage at king's command

Many Jews still coexist peacefully with Muslims in North African country despite decimated numbers

La Croix International staff  Morocco

Morocco's King Mohammed VI is bucking cultural trends in the Arab world by making efforts to revive the Muslim-majority country's Jewish heritage. Over 160 Jewish cemeteries have been uncovered, restored and cleaned up at the monarch's command, while former Jewish schools have been renovated, and original names reinstated at Jewish neighborhoods, according to an opinion piece in The New York Times. Meanwhile, members of both communities come together to celebrate festivals like Sukkot, the Feast of Tabernacles, at Jewish places of worship in cities like Marrakesh each year.
https://international.la-croix.com/news/morocco-restoring-jewish-heritage-at-kings-command/9869#
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The Moroccan Exception in the Arab World

King Mohammed VI is carrying out a wide-ranging effort to revive his country’s Jewish heritage.

Ms. Azagury is a writer. Mr. Majid is the editor of Tingis magazine. April 9, 2019 TANGIER, Morocco

On a recent balmy spring afternoon, a group of Muslim Moroccan students visited Rabbi Akiba, a jewelbox of a synagogue down an arched passageway in the Siaghine area of Tangier. Constructed in the mid-19th century, the synagogue underwent a meticulous renovation and recently reopened as a museum. The students peered at the polished marble floors from the women’s balcony and examined a threadbare, hand-drawn map of the synagogues in the neighborhood. The tour of Rabbi Akiba is just one of many ways that Muslim students in Morocco are learning about their country’s Jewish heritage.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/09/opinion/morocco-jews-mohammed-vi.html
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On a trip to Morocco, the driving is all going south

Giles Coren, April 15 2019, the times

I got back from Morocco on Saturday morning after a week’s holiday with the kids, very glad that I need never see another tagine as long as I live and full of some quite reasonable and not-at-all-xenophobic thoughts about driving. Why is it, for example, that the farther south you drive from England, the more terrifying the roads get? In northern France, they pretty much plod along like us (apart from the crazy N-road truck drivers), but the périphérique round Paris is a giant racetrack where nobody observes any sort of lane discipline at all and using your indicators just means you’re a wuss. Then on the motorways south, they’re roaring past you on the inside at 200mph in the “slow lane” and parking wherever…
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/comment/on-a-trip-to-morocco-the-driving-is-all-going-south-qbwg8rstc
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Moroccan American Network Considers Moroccan Cities for 2020 Morocco Day

The first Morocco Day, in Washington, D.C., celebrated the culture and heritage of the city of Zagora, the gate to the Moroccan Sahara desert.

By Safaa Kasraoui is a journalist at Morocco World News. Apr 16, 2019 Rabat

The Moroccan American Network (MAN), an organization dedicated to create business opportunities for Moroccan small enterprises in the US, is preparing a list of Moroccan city candidates for the second annual Morocco Day, in which the culture and heritage of Moroccan cities are celebrated. The network said in a previous statement that it will celebrate one Moroccan city from each of the 12 regions of the North African country every March 29 for the next 12 years in Washington, D.C. The head of MAN, Mohammed El Hajjam, said in a recent press release shared with Morocco World News that a committee of the network is now studying the files of the candidate cities for 2020 Morocco Day.
https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2019/04/270729/moroccan-american-network-moroccan-cities-2020-morocco-day/
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Morocco’s treasure trove of Jewish history waiting to be discovered.

By Leanne Italie April 28, 2019

WITH its mountains and desert, beach resorts and Berber villages, Morocco is a feast for travelers of all kinds, including those who want to explore the kingdom’s deep Jewish roots. The presence of Jews in Morocco stretches back more than 2,000 years. Before the founding of Israel in 1948, estimates put their number as high as about 275,000, which was considered the largest Jewish community in the Muslim world, said Roy Mittelman, director of the Jewish studies program at The City College of New York.
http://world.einnews.com/article/483508676/gkVuo0DMhcF4WYY1
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Morocco's Jewish legacy

Traces of once-vast community remain

Leanne Italie, Associated Press Writer, Thursday, April 25, 2019

With its mountains and desert, beach resorts and Berber villages, Morocco is a feast for travelers of all kinds, including those who want to explore the kingdom's deep Jewish roots. The presence of Jews in Morocco stretches back more than 2,000 years. Before the founding of Israel in 1948, estimates put their number as high as about 275,000, which was considered the largest Jewish community in the Muslim world, said Roy Mittelman, director of the Jewish studies program at the City College of New York.
https://world.einnews.com/article_detail/483293207/XgVD15hNsLBs2B2S?n=2&code=I5p3xRh7196OtpCd&utm_source=NewsletterNews&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Morocco+Or+%28+Peace+Corps+Morocco+%29+Or+%28+Peace+Corps+%29+Search+Results&utm_content=article======================================

A taste of Morocco: Spice up Easter or Passover

By Emily Ryan, For MediaNews Group   Apr 16, 2019

Imagine exploring the souks of Marrakech, dining out in Casablanca and learning to cook like a local in Fes. Dream of visiting Morocco? Bring a piece of its rich history to your Easter or Passover table.“That’s actually what I’m going to be doing for my own Seder,” said chef and cookbook author Aliza Green, who hosts small-group tours of the North African nation. “That’s been my culinary theme this year.” She’s serving Moroccan Chicken Tajine with preserved lemon, green olives, and caramelized garlic.“It’s still chicken. So, it’s not that scary but also very interesting use of the spices,” explained Green, who heads Baba Olga’s Kitchen/Catering at Material Culture in Philadelphia. Rounding out the meal: Moroccan salads, lemon-almond cake, and her 93-year-old mother’s chicken soup.
https://www.pottsmerc.com/lifestyle/a-taste-of-morocco-spice-up-easter-or-passover/article_7f247a8a-6043-11e9-95cc-f768fba10789.html======================================

From Morocco, with bread… and lots of sweets

The greatest food holiday you’ve never heard of comes to Boulder

By Matt Cortina - April 18, 2019

People pious and lay enjoy several food-centric holidays in the United States. On Thanksgiving, folks chow down on their families’ unique spins on traditional dishes. At Christmas, there are myriad combinations of dishes culled from around the globe. Seder plates at Passover, ham on Easter, corned beef on St. Patrick’s Day, the list goes on.  The point is we like to celebrate with food, and we like the structures of traditional holiday menus — every time a holiday comes around and we eat a traditional family dish, another layer of memories is added to that day. We (food lovers) like hopping for these holidays, we like cooking all day, we like watching holiday-themed baking shows, we buy holiday cooking magazines, and we scan Instagram and Pinterest for new ideas. And most importantly, preparing traditional meals on holidays elevates them by providing structure. From the feast of the seven fishes on Christmas Eve to Champagne on New Year’s Eve to hot dogs on the Fourth of July, holidays give us a reason to prepare unique dishes, celebrate the cultures of others (because we want to eat those delicious unique dishes) and, after the day is done, anticipate those holidays in the future.  
https://www.boulderweekly.com/cuisine/from-morocco-with-bread-and-lots-of-sweets/
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Retracing Edith Wharton’s Trip to Morocco—For Better or Worse

The Gilded-Age novelist, lesser-known as a travel writer, makes for a beguiling, if contentious guide to North Africa.

By Abbie Kozolchyk April 17, 2019

FROM THE crumbling mausoleums to the minaret-spiked sunset, the overlook just outside Fez was almost exactly as my guidebook described. Any omissions—the couples in search of make-out spots or the Eminem fanboys with tomb-rattling speakers—weren’t 
https://www.wsj.com/articles/retracing-edith-whartons-trip-to-moroccofor-better-or-worse-11555522455
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