Virtual Magazine of Morocco on the Web
Morocco Week in Review 
November 10, 2012

Morocco Reports 'Sanad' Programme Success.
By Naoufel Cherkaoui, 9 November 2012 Salé

A large-scale Morocco civil society initiative presented a progress report on November 2nd. The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) held events in Fez and Salé to discuss results of its "Sanad" programme. The three-year-old project supports activities in the youth employment and training, consumer protection, education and other sectors.

The project has disbursed 50,000 grants, benefited 1,000 associations and supported 1,500 young people, Sanad project director Vincent Carbonneau said. He added that some 10,000 people had also benefited from training programmes.

"We would like to thank the USAID and the US government for the support they have given to this project," Salé mayor Abdeslam Bekrate said last Friday. "Sanad is a model project because the human element is its main pivot," he said.

The National Human Development Initiative, which is a main partner in the Sanad project, is based on supporting Moroccan citizens, he said. The project helped "put an end to decisions that always come from above, i.e. from administration," he explained. "Administration must be in the service of people who have projects and want to help build this country," the mayor added.

One goal of the project, he said, was to "rehabilitate people to be effective in their daily work and help them interact with all community projects in their area".

Judith Chammas, Deputy Chief of Mission of the US Embassy, said, "We're proud of the result of co-operation between the US administration and the Moroccan civil society in the last three years through Sanad."

Citing the "old friendship" between Morocco and the US, she said that the Sanad project embodied "the nature of this partnership". "Sanad has enabled citizens to directly take part in examining their needs and solving the problems facing their neighbourhoods," the US diplomat said. "This co-operation has led to the creation of the Provincial Youth Council in Salé," she noted.

Abdelouahed Zyate of the National Civil Coalition for Reform also addressed the gathering about the project's success. His organisation is among the Moroccan entities that have benefited from Sanad. "The initiatives we launched in partnership with the programme have added value to youth issues," he said. "What we wanted to do was expand youth participation in decision-making within institutions, enable young people to have the necessary consultation techniques, promote youth issues on the local and national levels and integrate youth in public policies," Zyate added. Sanad helped his group achieve their objectives http://allafrica.com/stories/201211100382.html
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As evening fell and Hurricane Sandy began to lash the region, a large brick house in Falls Church blazed with festivity.Women danced in brightly colored satin and lace robes, long streams of mint tea poured into glasses and Keltoum Azzar carefully drew an intricate checkerboard pattern across the palm of a teenage girl.

It was Eid al-Adha, the Muslim Feast of the Sacrifice, and Azzar, 62, and about 20 friends and relatives, mostly natives of Morocco, were celebrating with a tradition that spans three continents, multiple religions and several millennia: decorating the body with henna.

The practice, which temporarily dyes the skin using a paste made from ground-up leaves of the henna plant, is painless; and with a life span of about two weeks it is far less of a commitment than a tattoo. Among the international mix of residents who make up the greater Washington area, people such as Azzar have brought this old tradition with them to the new world.

“My mom, she likes henna, and every Eid, every holiday, she did the henna for us,” said Azzar, who moved here in 1995. An executive secretary in Casablanca, Azzar didn’t do much henna there — in Morocco, women have shopfront businesses to take care of henna needs. “But when I came here, I started to do henna, because everybody, they asked, ‘We need henna. We need somebody to do the henna.’ ”

The use of henna cuts across a vast geographical swath, from India to Morocco to sub-Saharan Africa and Eastern Europe. Different regions have their own designs and techniques: the paste might be mixed with lemon or scented oils and applied with delicate pointed sticks or squeezed out through small cones.

In India, the tightly woven patterns incorporate paisleys, flowers, lattice and peacocks. In Persian Gulf states, the designs are more ribbon-like and floral. In Morocco, they often incorporate geometric shapes such as diamonds and triangles.

In the United States, where henna art has blossomed in recent years, many artists expand beyond traditional wedding and feast days, bringing their art to schools, fairs and festivals.

“It’s the beautification of women, so people like that,” said Khadija Dawn Carryl, a Canadian henna artist who runs Henna Sooq, a home-based henna business in Elkridge. Carryl does henna for weddings and sweet 16s and on pregnant women’s bellies. “It’s a natural product — it’s organic — and it’s very intimate.”

Who does henna — and under what circumstances — varies across cultures. In Morocco, it’s a feminine thing, but in neighboring Algeria, men use it to stain their feet. Henna has been used to decorate horses’ tails and babies’ hands and sprinkled into corners of rooms to placate evil spirits — but it is perhaps best known as an adornment for brides.

Last month in Fairfax Station, Ashley Singh, 26, spent hours with her arms and legs frozen in position as an artist applied henna for her coming wedding. Singh’s parents’ house filled up with friends and relatives, who oohed and ahhed over the designs as her groom, Roby Thomas, 26, placed morsels of pakora and chaat into her mouth so she could eat without smearing the wet mud.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-area-is-a-haven-for-ancient-art-of-henna/2012/11/05/343fcf2a-2485-11e2-9313-3c7f59038d93_story.html
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Morocco is one of the leading countries in the field of Gender-Responsive Budgeting (GRB), said on Friday, the UN Women Regional Director of the Arab States, Sameera al-Tuwaijiri, hailing the efforts made by the Kingdom to bridge the gender gap.

Speaking at the high level conference on Gender-Responsive Budgeting (GRB) Friday which opened in Marrakech, Mrs. al-Tuwaijiri called for supporting the initiatives aimed at improving gender integration in public budgeting, adding that the UN action in the field of GRB focuses on the adoption of collective approaches, mainly on the part of finance ministries and civil society, to ensure the continuity of such initiatives. She hailed the agreement signed between Morocco and the EU on the support of gender-equality enhancing programs, noting that the issue requires a review of priorities and joining the efforts of all the parties concerned.

UN Resident Coordinator in Morocco, Bruno Pouezat said, for his part that the conference is an opportunity to highlight the success of the Moroccan experience in gender-responsive budgeting which had been given a greater impetus within the new Constitution. He also underlined the UN’s support for the countries’ efforts to integrate the gender approach in their budgets, considering this tendency as an essential mechanism to foster the principles of transparency in public policies.

Organized by the Ministry of Economy and Finance and UN Women, the conference focuses on assessing various GRB experiments and approaches with a view to providing better guidance, results-based and gender-responsive budgeting and on exchange of best practices and responses considered as means to contend with a multiplicity of global crises and their effects on gender equality.

It also focuses on developing a joint approach to providing the ways and means of mainstreaming human rights, gender equality and women’s empowerment within budgetary reforms envisaged in response to economic and fiscal crises, fostering ownership and innovation in terms of the tools and systems used for management monitoring and the promotion of financing for gender equality and women’s empowerment.
http://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2012/11/64483/morocco-among-leading-countries-in-gender-responsive-budgeting-un-official-2/
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IBM Develops Plan to Help Moroccan Farmers Boost Skills, Production
By IBM Published: Thursday, Nov. 8, 2012 - RABAT, Morocco, Nov. 8, 2012 -- RABAT, Morocco, Nov. 8, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

IBM (NYSE: IBM) experts participating in the company's pro bono Corporate Service Corps program have recommended a strategy to lift the productivity of Moroccan farmers.

The plan focuses on improving coordination between the country's Ministry of Agriculture and the farming community, as well as improve internal coordination within the ministry.  Closer ties with farmers will enable the ministry to provide more timely advisories, training, and research results -- enabling farmers to modernize work techniques and improve their production quality and quantity.

The nine-member IBM team, comprising members who hail from five countries, presented recommendations on a variety of issues after spending one month in Rabat in consultation with organizations from the public and private sector, including the country's Directorate of Education, Training and Research of the Ministry of Agriculture, International Office of Migration, and the Rabat School of Government and Economy.

With the Directorate of Education, Training and Research of the Ministry of Agriculture, IBM helped design a framework for a system to collect and share expertise and institutional knowledge from and between many government agencies.  The system would also disseminate information and training to farmers, help coordinate outreach, and measure impact.  Such a framework, based on cloud computing and shared services technology, could strengthen government services and foster private sector involvement in the agriculture sector.

It would help support "Green Morocco Plan" development programs by providing relevant advisories to farmers and investors throughout Morocco.  Today, agriculture and agri-industry represents 19 percent of Morocco's gross domestic product, accounts 23% of its exports, and employs close to half of the labor force. With its Green Morocco Plan, the Government of Morocco is expanding from domestic food self-sufficiency to developing international markets for its agriculture.

At the Rabat School of Government and Economy, the IBM team developed a methodology for managing surveys that gauge perception of conducting business in Morocco.  The plan would allow the school to post polls online, in print, and via social media. IBM recommended technology to analyze poll results, and outlined a branding and advertising strategy to promote positive feedback.

In addition, the IBM team presented a plan to The International Office of Migration to help it realize its mission to promote social and economic advancement through migration. The suggested framework would allow the office to fine-tune its internal procedures and to create a database of information and insights shared between its North African offices.

The team was a part of IBM's Corporate Service Corps, which sends IBM experts to provide pro bono counsel to government, non government agencies, and the private sector in emerging markets on matters that intersect business, technology and society.  The program aims to help improve local conditions, enhance government services, and foster job creation. Team members, who are among IBM's top talent, offer skills in areas that include information technology, research, marketing, finance, consulting, human resources, and law.

This is the third team of top IBM talent that the company has sent to Morocco on a pro bono basis this year. The last team of IBM experts sent in June provided Moroccan government leaders with recommendations for the implementation of a more efficient public transport system for Rabat and nearby Sale and Temara by 2020.

"The IBM Corporate Service Corps projects in Rabat reflect IBM'S commitment to Morocco. Through these projects, IBM leverages its expertise to address local challenges and, we at IBM, are pleased to support the Moroccan Government in achieving its critical development goals," said Abdallah Rachidi Alaoui, Country General Manager of IBM Morocco.

In September of this year, IBM had announced the strengthening of its operations in Morocco with the opening of an expanded location in the administrative capital, Rabat, effectively doubling IBM's presence in the kingdom.

Since the launch of the Corporate Service Corps in 2008, over 2,000 IBM employees based in 50 countries have been dispatched on more than 200 team assignments in 30 countries.  Africa is a significant focus for the initiative. Since 2008, IBM's Corporate Service Corps has deployed more than 500 IBM employees on 50 teams to South Africa, Tanzania, Nigeria, Senegal, Ghana, Kenya, Morocco, and Egypt.
Follow IBM's Corporate Service Corps on the CitizenIBM blog at www.citizenIBM.com and on Twitter, at @citizenIBM
Media contacts: Ari Fishkind IBM Media Relations 914-499-6420 fishkind@us.ibm.com
Nadia Kallel IBM Media Relations +21698485358 tn22240@tn.ibm.com
http://www.sacbee.com/2012/11/08/4970884/ibm-develops-plan-to-help-moroccan.html#storylink=cpy
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Morocco's king keeps strong hand despite reforms
Alistair Lyon Reuters   November 4, 2012 RABAT (Reuters)

Unlike other Arab leaders challenged on the streets early last year, King Mohammed VI swiftly reformed Morocco's constitution, held an election and let an Islamist party lead the government. His response smothered popular ferment, drew plaudits from the West and seemed to set Morocco on a more democratic course, but 20 months on it is unclear how much power has changed hands.

Le Matin, an establishment French-language daily, still devotes its first half dozen pages to the doings of the monarch and his advisers before the elected government gets a mention.

The Islamist prime minister, Abdelillah Benkirane, still has his office in the vast precincts of the royal palace in Rabat. For now, his Justice and Development Party (PJD), whose success in an October 2011 election brought it into government for the first time, insists political cohabitation is thriving.

"Morocco is an exception in the region," Communication Minister Mustafa el-Khalfi told Reuters. "We have succeeded in developing a third way between revolution and the old system of governance: reforming within stability and unity."

Under the new constitution, King Mohammed, who bases much of his legitimacy on his Islamic credentials as "Commander of the Faithful" and as a descendant of the Prophet Mohammad, keeps control of military, security and religious affairs, while parliament legislates and the government runs the country.

"Key institutions enshrined in the constitution are coming to life," said one Western diplomat of the reforms. "The breadth of debate is changing. People feel part of the process."

Yet after two decades of stop-go reforms that began under the king's late father Hassan II, not all Moroccans are convinced that the palace has loosened its grip that much. "The monarchy has a very strong survival instinct," said Moroccan historian Maati Monjib. "The official tactic is divide and rule and it has been systematic for about 400 years." ……………………
Read more here: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/sns-rt-us-morocco-reformbre8a304z-20121104,0,6490341.story
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Among the locations known for hosting tech and non-tech events, you’ll find one like none other in Morocco. This place is, literally, iNSANE! (pronouned in-sahn, meaning “human being” in Arabic)- the first coworking space in Morocco and certainly one the most curious, different, and amazing venue I’ve personally checked in to on Foursquare in Casablanca!

When I first discovered iNSANE!, it was for the BeMyApp WeekEnd Morocco. I quickly became addicted to the place and wanted to know more about its brilliant founders.

Since its origins in San Francisco in 2005, the concept of coworking has quickly proven itself to be a major productivity and creativity booster for work-at-home professionals, entrepreneurs, frequent travelers or freelancers worldwide.

Inaugurated five months ago in Casablanca, iNSANE! was co-founded by four young Moroccan entrepreneurs passionate about entrepreneurship and innovation. They're three women and one man: Ibtissam El Ghinaoui Bargache, Kenza Benamour, Myriem Hashambhoy and Mehdi Bellatig. I had the amazing privilege to interview them a couple of months ago and we discussed a lot about entrepreneurship in Morocco and the great challenges of our society. 

“iNSANE! إ is a very open place for people to come, connect, and work, where entrepreneurship is the main thing we want to support in the Moroccan society” says Myriem.

“Entrepreneuship with a big E,” adds Ibtissam; supporting businesses was the main inspiration for creating iNSANE!. The team strongly believes that entrepreneurship is the key to social change in Morocco, as it can help fight local social taboos about class segregation or unemployment, for example. In a country where half or the population is young and suffers from unemployment, iNSANE! Is clearly positioning itself as an advocate for social entrepreneurship by promoting the idea that starting a business is an alternative to unemployment.

“We come in a time of crisis, which is actually an opportunity,” says Kenza; it’s an opportunity for people to change their job, and their way of thinking, and working thanks to coworking.

The large physical space of iNSANE! is divided into several work areas with sofas, chairs, desks- quiet rooms for thinking, brainstorming spaces, a cafeteria, and of course the biggest must-have: a wifi network. It also offers all of the other essential tools for working, thinking, discussing, and networking, including knowledgeable people who can help shape ideas. Add to that some original decoration, and you have a terrific nest for ideas and creativity. “It’s a place where entrepreneurs can find quick answers to their questions,” adds co-founder Mehdi. Those visiting Casablanca should definitely visit and check out the series of events iNSANE! is regularly hosting like recent Pitch Please! and TedX Casablanca Salon.

I personally think that iNSANE! has proven its effectiveness in Casablanca and Morocco within only a few months. It is a real and powerful catalyst for educating people, younger and older, in entrepreneurship and I strongly hope that many initiatives like iNSANE! will come to life and be encouraged in Morocco and elsewhere in the MENA region.

The big challenge now for Ibtissam, Kenza, Myriem and Mehdi is finding sponsors and investors to help them continue this amazing adventure, by providing help, expertise and funds. Indeed, the venue currently occupied by iNSANE! at Boulevard Moulay Ismaïl will actually be returned at the end of this year to its owners, so the team is actively looking for a new venue for their co-working space. I’ll end with a call for to investors interested in supporting Moroccan entrepreneurs: "Let's make it happen!”
http://www.wamda.com/2012/11/the-rise-of-insane-morocco-s-first-co-working-space
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Morocco plans zakat fund
By Siham Ali for Magharebia in Rabat – 02/11/12

As part of efforts to show solidarity with the nation's poor, the Moroccan government is preparing to set up a public zakat fund. Morocco is moving closer towards the creation of a national zakat fund. The idea was put forward by the late King Hassan II when he called for an entity responsible for collecting alms, but the proposal was never implemented.

Najib Boulif, the Minister Delegate of General Affairs and Governance, recently said that preparations for such a fund were now being made by the Islamic Affairs Ministry, which is working on a management model. The government will then examine implementation mechanisms, the minister told Magharebia on October 24th.

Boulif said that given the very tough economic situation, stakeholders unanimously agreed that the practice of zakat must be expanded.  A zakat fund would enable the government to manage the sizeable sums currently donated by benefactors to organisations outside state control, according to economist Nacer Yahyaoui.

"Streamlining and channelling zakat funds will enable the state to pour large amounts of money into social welfare. Funds could be used to incorporate social aspects into many fields, such as employment, health and education," he said.

Samira Kassimi, a sociologist, argued that such funds exist in many Muslim countries and that it is now Morocco's turn to launch one, especially as there are many benefactors who would be willing to pay into it. She said that some members of the public would like to see their zakat money managed by the state so that it could be used for projects that really make a difference. In her view, public mistrust of the authorities is largely a thing of the past.

"The Benkirane administration is inspiring confidence, if only in terms of transparency and efforts to combat immorality. As a result, charitable people would not hesitate to give their zakat to it," she claimed.

Zakat was mentioned in the Party of Justice and Development's election manifesto. Before the elections, Abdelilah Benkirane said that Moroccans did not yet feel that they could trust a state body with their zakat as they saw this as a matter between themselves and God, but that the party was determined to examine the issue.

From a religious perspective, zakat is compulsory and a right of the poor, according to Hmida Merroukh, a professor of Islamic education. Every year, Muslims must calculate the amount they will give according to their means and give it to the poorest in society, he said. The donation given must be worth at least 85 grams of gold (2.5% of assets). Zakat is payable by livestock, goods, metals and minerals, fruit, vegetables and cereals.

Public opinion is divided. Some people feel that an institution should be created to manage the charitable giving, while others reject the idea.

Safae Meliani, who works for a private company, subscribed to the former view. She said that some fraudsters embezzle zakat money and use it for their own ends, whereas the creation of a public fund would make it possible to manage donations.

That view was not shared by Ahmed J., a public-sector worker, who said that zakat was an entirely personal matter. He said he feared the prospect of zakat being made compulsory for all citizens at a time when Moroccans are already weighed down by taxes. "Income tax is deducted at source. It accounts for 38% of people's incomes. Can't that tax be counted as zakat?" he wondered.
http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2012/11/04/feature-01
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Yesterday, I came across an article written by a talented Moroccan lady, about the preposterous documentary on the four foreign females (implicitly, but not so discreetly suggesting to be Moroccan nationals) in the UAE who are evil home wreckers and that “the law should be adjusted to restrain women from that country from entering the Emirates.”

I cannot begin to describe how mind-bogglingly offensive that was. However, in this spontaneous piece, I will convey what I think about the khaleeji man/Moroccan-woman /khaleeji “victim” woman triangle.

Fighting hatred with hatred doesn’t solve the problem. While khaleejis in general and khaleeji women in particular stereotype about Moroccan women, the latter also, to a considerable extent, reciprocate the indirect hate by generalizing and sometimes assuming that all Khaleeji women are or feel the same way.

I have khaleeji girlfriends that are intellectual, beautiful and talented. To be honest while some were initially open minded and against stereotypes, others had had a negative idea before meeting me and then changed it as we became friends and proved the stereotypes wrong. It felt like getting their “approval”………….

Read more here: http://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2012/11/64355/the-arab-gulf-moroccan-women-time-to-break-the-stereotypes/
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I was struck the other day by the message that two unrelated photographs conveyed.

One was of President Barack Obama on stage with his wife, Michelle, and daughters Sasha and Malia, moments before he gave his victory speech after his re-election Tuesday night. The other photo was of a conference on contemporary women held in Saudi Arabia. There were no women in the photo, but hundreds of men in short thobes……..

Read more here: http://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2012/11/64256/the-invisibility-of-the-saudi-woman-3/
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I’ve been astonished when I consider the words I heard from my sisters before marriage and the radical change I have noticed in them after marriage. “No jeans, no fashionable dresses instead a djellaba and a veil”. Of course, a drastic change in her external appearance, but the worst is the change in how she thinks. I one day asked her, what are the changes marriage has brought to you? Her answer was stunningly cold. She said: “I was smart enough to get a husband and that’s all that a woman needs in Morocco”. Respectively, I think that she was out speaking about the Moroccan culture.

In Morocco, marriage is highly recommended for every man and woman. Women do have an age pressure and can be nicknamed a “spinster” at the age of 30 and over. Unlike men, women’s acts and sexuality are supervised by their families as well as their neighbors, who intermingle in the supervision game. This pressure leads many women to consider marriage more important than their studies and their ambitions. A woman can drop out of school easily to marry at an early age. She can also resort to her parents’ will for an arranged marriage that can secure her a decent living. The will of a woman is relegated to a second position as is her position in the public sphere. In recent years, this has changed considerably with the education of women but despite being educated some women still remain subalterns to their families’ influence.

What do women think of marriage? Is it a life long decision where the two reciprocally swear trust, love and commitment? Or is it just a way to escape cultural and social pressure? I am writing considerably about the issue since I find out that marriage in Moroccan society is more cultural than a personal choice.

Far worse for me, to give an example, my private life becomes public and my personal matters are exposed to my colleagues. At the work place, everyone knows I am not married. The pressure to find a husband becomes a daily nightmare. I tried all the answers in the world as responses to their questions. Just lately, I realized that the best answer is to disregard them. Who am I as an individual? What does privacy mean in the Moroccan culture? In collective cultures like mine, being economically independent does not save you from others’ nosiness, and marriage is the only rescue. As a result, I was about to trap myself into some marriage proposals that were destined for failure just to flee the sharpness of their tongues. Indeed, the perception of a single independent working woman is still uneasy to digest especially that the media, another major player, consolidates this patriarchal view.

What do men think of women? And what do women think of themselves? An object of sex to satisfy men’s desires and pleasure, which Rousseau stated during the enlightenment era when he idealized women’s maternal and domestic roles and explained that women are neither citizens nor independent, who relied on powers of manipulation to gain a man’s support. Or as individuals do they have their own perceptions and determined choices.

However, the patriarchal propaganda that is maintained through media, educational institutions, family upbringing, religious and cultural beliefs, etc are strong to shape women’s perceptions of themselves and of the other. Women perceive the whole world from these biased lenses; that is why, I strongly assume that many of our problems are within ourselves. I am as a woman brought up to think that a man is my protector and my rescue. My culture enslaved me in the fear of the other. My sexuality, my reproduction, my freedom of choice are controlled. I am harassed in the streets paying every day the price of my beauty since I have no partner. If I am accompanied by a man, regardless of his age, I am more likely to be respected and secured.

Every man I have crossed in my life qualified me with a gaze into my attractive body but never look into my ideas and thoughts. I pity my masters’ classmates who at every session of Gender studies class say “ all what we say inside class is not what we really think outside;” schizophrenic thoughts of how they think and how they act. In short, I conclude that it is important to build marriage on a solid basis, on communication, commitment and trust between couples not only be a refuge from others’ tongues.
© Morocco World News. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be further published, rewritten or redistributed
http://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2012/11/63580/what-do-women-want-reflection-on-marriage-issues-in-the-moroccan-society/
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For more than 60 years, many teachers have relied heavily on textbooks as instructional materials (McCutcheon, 1995, p.157). Goodlad (1984) further claimed that textbooks are the dominant forms of a curriculum and that they play an important role in different levels of education. For this reason, it has come to be commonly practical for teachers to have a textbook to guide them toward a finer instructional methodology.

Furthermore, not only does it serve as an instructional handbook, it has also been proved that “the school textbook holds a unique and significant social function which is to represent to each generation of students an officially sanctioned, authorized version of human knowledge and culture,” as Luke & Luke argued (1989, vii). This claim brings to light the idea that language textbooks impart not only grammatical/linguistic knowledge, but also a great deal of cultural awareness.

Generally speaking, language textbooks can be regarded as a foreboding ideology in the sense that they reflect a worldview of a cultural system, and a social construction to both teachers and students. In actuality, writers not only construct mental representations of their socially acquired knowledge, but such schematic knowledge also influences their writing in terms of the rhetorical organization of a text, audience awareness, topical priorities etc. For instance, EFL textbook writers, in most cases, like everyone else, think and compose mainly through culture-specific schemata, thus consciously or unconsciously transmitting the views, values, beliefs, attitudes, and feelings of their own English-speaking society.

Despite all that, there are some hypothetical claims about the necessity of teaching the target language in exclusive relation to its own culture. According to Stewart (1982), the target language culture is an essential feature of every stage of FL learning. He asserts that teaching the formal aspects of the foreign language while referring to the native culture of the learner is virtually useless. In other words, FL learning is very likely to be pointless if the learner is denied the opportunity to cope with experience in a different, “foreign” way.

However, this assumption is not totally believed to be true. In the words of Brumfit (1980), “it forms part of the ‘strange paradox’ that, while in mother-tongue teaching what is emphasized is children’s ability to express themselves, in FL teaching learners are forced to express a culture with which they are barely familiar.” Seelye (1974) puts forward a number of goals for language teachers to set while teaching culture, which serves as a reference list in the process of selecting, collecting and compiling cultural materials/ textbooks.

To illustrate, such materials, as Brooks (1975) lays out, should be derived from symbolism, values, authority, order, ceremony, love, honor, humor, beauty and spirit, and should take into consideration and reflect several aspects, such as the life style, uniqueness, common sense, religion and family values of the speakers of the target language. In light of the issues mentioned and emphasized here, the creative classroom teacher can come up with numerous ideas regarding how to integrate culture into the textbooks and classroom activities.[1]

By way of conclusion, it is widely acknowledged that textbooks are the main materials used in language classes. They may act as the teacher, the trainer, the authority, the resource and the ideology in the foreign language classroom (Hinkel, 1999). Thus, it is extremely important that these textbooks include the vital components to teach the language, its culture, and are appropriate for learners’ needs, cultural background and level.

[1] Extracted from: Sultan Turkan’s portfolio, entitled “Integrating Culture into EFL Texts and Classrooms: Suggested Lesson Plans”, p. 23.
http://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2012/11/64353/culture-integration-into-language-textbooks/
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Being black in Morocco: 'I get called a slave'

The latest cover of Maroc Hebdo magazine—seen as racist by some, defended by others—has launched a national debate on the struggles faced by sub-Saharan Africans living in Morocco.

“The Black Peril.” That's the controversial headline that the Moroccan weekly ran on its cover last week to tease to an article about the rise in the number of immigrants from sub-Saharan African, many of whom come to Morocco in the hopes of making it to Europe. Many are turned back and end up staying in Morocco, where they live in poverty. Some end up taking part in illegal activities to make a living. According to Morocco’s Interior ministry, there are about 10,000 illegal immigrants from Sub-Saharan Africa living in the country. Human rights organisations estimate this number higher as closer to 15,000............

Read more here: http://observers.france24.com/content/20121108-being-black-morocco-slave-insult-sub-saharan-african-physical-assault-casablanca-immigration-guinea
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With an emergency medicine physician as health minister, Morocco is looking to increase the quality of care. Moroccan Health Minister Houcine El Ouardi reiterated his pledge Wednesday (November 7th) to make emergency and psychiatric care a top priority in health reform during a Rabat press conference.

Healthcare is a hot topic for the public and members of parliament. Almost every week since he was appointed health minister, El Ouardi has been quizzed by MPs about several issues affecting the Moroccan healthcare sector. The minister, who is also a professor of medicine, has set out his priorities, chief among which is an improvement in mental health and accident and emergency care.

With regard to accident and emergency care, members of the public have complained about admissions and the amount of time spent on patient care.

Hayat Serghouchni, a 22-year-old student, said that much needs to be done to improve emergency care in Morocco, particularly given the shortages of nurses and doctors. She added that young people should be encouraged to enter these professions, not only to address the shortages but also to reduce unemployment.

MP Rachid Houmani said that although significant efforts have been made in the healthcare sector, attention must be paid to remote regions which suffer from big shortages of human resources, especially between Casablanca and Rabat.

The health minister has given assurances that work is under way to develop a community-based policy on hospital and pre-hospital emergency care which will involve re-organising, restructuring and providing equipment for accident and emergency departments.

The official, who has worked as an accident and emergency doctor himself, is advocating a community-based policy on hospital and pre-hospital emergency care, with plans for 80 community emergency medical facilities. Those centres will be targeted at people living in rural areas.

Specialist accident and emergency centres will treat 6 million Moroccans, up from the current 4 million. The minister has already opened 20 emergency medical units for rural obstetrics. Some 55 ambulances and six mobile hospitals have also been purchased.

On the mental health front, the government's strategy is based on increasing the accommodation capacity of psychiatric hospitals. The ministry wants to raise the number of beds available nationwide from 800 to 3,000 by the end of 2016.

Three drug rehabilitation units have also been opened this year in Tetouan, Marrakech and Nador. Next year, another three will be built in Agadir, Fes and Al-Hoceima, and a wider range of services will be made available in Tangier, Larache, Ksar El Kebir and Chefchaouen by 2016.

Professionals have highlighted the serious shortage of psychiatrists and specialist nurses. The president of the National Human Rights Council, Driss Yazami, who raised the alarm over this issue in September, said that it was a fundamental aspect of human rights and development.

The health minister has vowed to address this situation by offering more initial and on-going training for mental health professionals. The target is for 30 psychiatrists and 185 psychiatric nurses to become qualified each year. Four university departments specialising in child and adolescent psychiatry will be set up in partnership with the higher education ministry so that ten psychiatrists can be trained each year.
http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2012/11/08/feature-04
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On November 9 King Mohammed VI visited the construction site of the Mohammed VI green city, close to Benguerir, a one-off project in Africa that gives a new royal impetus to a megaproject joining modernity and sustainable development.

Today many Moroccans live in towns and cities. Urban areas concentrate most of the environmental challenges facing our society but also bring together commitment and innovation to resolve them. The meaning of ‘The Green City’ concept in recent years and how it could be developed in the future. This was needed then, and it is still needed today. Urbanisation is increasing in Morocco currently.

A large portion of the population lives in cities. In another thirty years, the number will skyrocket. To keep cities liveable and economically sound, it is important that construction activities are not conducted at the expense of green space. By now, ‘The Green City’ concept has been embraced by various organisations and government agencies. Other cities and towns in Morocco now should join together in the form of a Moroccan Green City Network. The Green City will certainly attract attention internationally.

The Green City of Benguerir was held not simply to realise a non-recurring event for sightseers, but as a way to introduce more green into the whole region. This approach will greatly improve the livability of the city and means that organisations, citizens and the government are not only involved in the development of Benguerir but will also start other projects to beautify Bengueir and the neighboring towns: undeveloped sites will become green oases, unsightly construction sites will be screened from view by covering walls with plants, and mature trees will be getting the protection they deserve. In these ways, plantings and green space are taking on functional meaning in everyday life.

Diversity and function are also important: a carpet of gardens providing the foundation for highlighting the functions of plants such as food production, horticulture, health, art, culture and education, energy and water management.

Green is indispensable for creating liveable cities. The challenge is for the construction industry to work together with the horticultural sector. It will be important not just to develop ideas together but also to implement these plans. These times in particular demand taking action: the future starts now.

Governors, mayors and NGOs should be looking ahead to ways in which cities can provide for their green space and food needs. Technology will play a major role in this. For example, the construction of vertical greenhouses for the large-scaled production of vegetables. In Morocco there are actually plant labs. The co-production and courage were the first criteria to realise these kinds of innovations. The good news is that the time is ripe for innovators in Africa to do just that. After all, periods of crisis are the best times to realise breakthroughs. Dare to innovate!

This exhortation will certainly be taken to heart by the advocators of the ‘Growing Green Cities in Africa and the Arab world– A Call to Action manifesto. This means Morocco, as usual, will commit itself not only to sharing its expertise but to apply it as well. And Morocco is looking forward to doing this. King Mohammed has always advocated sustainable spatial development in Africa. In his optimistic vision, he would like to see similar green cities not only in Morocco but in the whole African continent.
http://www.eurasiareview.com/09112012-the-first-green-city-in-morocco-a-one-off-project-an-africa%E2%80%8F-oped/
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Leila Kilani's story of broken dreams: Living life 'On the Edge' in Morocco.
November 7th, 2012

The city of Tangier in Morocco was once a paradise for Western literary icons like Paul Bowles and Jean Genet.

Today, waves of young Moroccans pour into the city from rural areas only to find that the colorful cosmopolitan dreamscape immortalized in foreign imaginations has morphed into an industrial hellhole on the fringes of a global capitalist empire.

This new generation lives “On the Edge,” the title of 42-year-old director Leila Kilani’s first feature-length narrative film.

The film, which received the Grand Prix in the 13th National Film Festival in Tangier, is based on a true story reported by the press in 2005 about the “feminization of crime.”

The story follows the lives of four young women from poor backgrounds who come to Tangier to find work in the burgeoning industrial center. Through their eyes, we see the city as a magnet for destitute and marginalized women like themselves who work either in seafood factories, where the stench of fish coats the skin, or in textile factories for famous European brands.

Tangier has another side, however, and the women soon find themselves caught up in its vibrant underbelly. They transform from victims into heroines, warriors who live by their own rules and take their rights by force when they are not given freely.

In one illuminating scene, one of the women explains her life philosophy: “I do not steal, but I compensate myself. I do not rob, but I repossess my belongings. I do not smuggle; I trade. I do not prostitute myself, but this is what they claimed. I am not lying. I am merely expressing what I will become. I am only one step ahead from reality, my reality.”

Their life of crime reveals a city that has witnessed tremendous changes in the last few decades. It is less youthful than the Tangier of old, more ruthless, and beholden to a global economic system in which the benefits are reaped elsewhere.

Kilani’s is the latest in a string of Moroccan films that toy with the subjects of fate and poetic tragedy. Other such examples include Faouzi Binsaidi’s  Death for Sale (2011) and Nour-Eddine Lakhmari’s  Casa Negra (2008).

Both those films spoke to the challenges faced by men in Morocco’s big cities. Kilani’s  On the Edgeexplores the lives of women.

Kilani, who began her career in 1999 as a documentary filmmaker, chose amateurs with no prior acting experience to play her protagonists. Her roots in documentary filmmaking is very apparent in her observational style, even as a feature director.

Kilani is best known for her extraordinary 2008 documentary  Our Forbidden Places, about four families searching for loved ones who were kidnapped during “the years of lead” – the restive reign of King Hassan II when tens of thousands were arrested, tortured and killed, or merely disappeared.
http://www.albawaba.com/entertainment/on-the-edge-morocco-449902
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The signing of the Morocco-U.S. free trade agreement publicly set an agenda of several objectives that are to be achieved in future transactions between the two countries. In formal documents, the agreement promised substantial success at the economic level that in turn would flow into other areas so that all are positively affected. Indeed, part of the claim has been realized; there have been a considerable number of changes–such as the removal of quotas and tariffs from Morocco-US trade. However, there are suspicions of the trade pact actually being an innocent pretext behind FTA. There are signs that implicate the agreement in a dubious situation where trade is only one straightforward objective declared publicly by the United States.

It is important to point out that the United States has been a great ally to Morocco which has received  one fifth of aid targeted for the whole African continent since Morocco’s independence in 1956 (Zoubir 234). The axis of the substantial amount of the aid–the nature of which is either economic or military–was at a time of Moroccan conflicts and turmoil over the Sahara against the Polisario. Though indirectly, the United States was able to change the course of action in Morocco’s favor through military, economic and logistical assistance.

Although the United States did not plainly take sides with Morocco in the Sahara conflict, maintaining the kingdom’s stability was considered as a necessity for the USA. Indeed, the United States was privately inclined to have Morocco reverse the scales in its favor. This small spur was due to a long-standing friendship between the two countries since 1786, the longest treaty of friendship the United States has ever had with a foreign country. Economically, the relations with the U.S. have eliminated all types of tariffs and quotas and thus all commodities have been duty free. Certainly, a positive impact on both countries is expected to be significant as many doors will open in the future for a “new economy.”

There is no arbitrariness in this prediction; there have already been indices that demonstrate the success of the US-Morocco FTA at the economic level. The U.S. exports have revolved around $600 million which makes up a considerable percentage of Moroccan imports, some of which are agricultural such as cereals. In order to prove competition and considerable improvement, Morocco exports to the USA $250 million which is estimated at 4 percent. In fact, both countries have made use of the agreement. For Morocco, its GDP has increased by a considerable value (Ait El Mekki 7).

In light of globalization and its requirements, the United States signed the FTA with Morocco in order to seek markets for different products. According to Merrett (53), the FTA is notoriously known for the messianic quality it has since it helps promulgate ideologies. Indeed, such programs go beyond trade and are meant to be ideological and political containers by which western hegemonic power prevails upon the developing countries.

A Free Trade Agreement is one of the political pretexts that precede exploitations. In this context, Manuel Perez-Rocha argues that free trade dealers have a tendency to use quite appealing words like “investment” and “growth” as an economic pretext for ruthless exploitation (colorlines, e-magazine). The game is about seeking markets for their ideologies. FTAs are doors through which countries endeavor to have access into the sphere of the new allies. The Bush administration propagated the necessity of FTAs under the pretext that they would pave the way for exports and imports, reduce trade barriers and yield a substantial success that ramifies into other fields.

Nonetheless, this was a merely formal, public announcement which is so different to that of Robert Zoellick[2]. The latter declared that the Bush administration only used such attractive words to find a way to the benefits that can be gained in the long term. What is more, the choice of future partners is not arbitrary under any circumstances and it is based on a full, purposive study. Certainly, the final decision comes after an investigation into the advantages that can be taken from a country with particular criteria making this exploitation feasible. The criteria of FTAs are not as related to trade as the agreement formally suggests; they are rather infused with political concerns.

Though it is not stated plainly, since Morocco signed the agreement, it has been supposed and expected to stand by the United States even at a time of war. The contract may not include this non-economic bond; it still is an expectation from the hegemonic partner. As an example, New Zealand was requested to allow American ships containing nuclear materials to dock off its coast. It was expected to follow the orders, but an unexpected refusal took place.

The same disobedience recurred when Chile refused to provide assistance to the United States when the country invaded Afghanistan and Iraq. As a payback, the United States implemented a strange, ham-handed punishment: it did not pass the US-Chile FTA to Congress for approval (Mastel 16). Morocco makes no exception in this regard and is to predict probable troubles America may ask for help with. But generally, Morocco is supposed to stand by ‘in sickness and in health.’

Another objective aims at protecting America from terrorism rather than offering opportunities for the Moroccan economic sector to thrive. The Free Trade Agreement was negotiated after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. The ostensible rationale of the agreement was a quick spur to the economic and political ties between the two countries. Although it was formally initiated by Morocco, the agreement was a shelter of sorts for America. Certainly, The United States was consumed with the fear that Morocco would be a prospective exporter of terrorists, thus an impending threat for America’s national security.

There are signs that allude to the incertitude of the FTA being a matter of trade and economy; it was held in quite strange secrecy, an act that violated the conventions of agreements. Besides, the agreement had only been signed with four partners before: Israel, Jordan, Canada and Mexico. None of these countries have any slight common characteristic with Morocco, which raises doubts about the true aims of the agreement.

Obviously, the United States cannot have been beneficiary of the agreement at the economic level; Morocco was not able to provide more than merely raw materials which could be found elsewhere. According to Joaquim Chissano, former President of Mozambique, this relation is characterized by interdependence of sorts. As he remarked: “Interdependence between North and South is like the interdependence between the cow and its owner. The owner needs the cow because of its milk. The cow needs the owner because he provides it with hay. But when the cow ceases to produce milk, the owner may well decide to slaughter it. The cow cannot do the same to the owner.” (Thompson 3)

Signing the FTA was a rather semiotic symbol of seeking shelter. In other words, the agreement was initiated as a new tool to pacify Muslim societies and encourage tolerance that would only keep the United States on safe grounds. The argument was raised by Zoellick, who declared the FTA actually being more about war on terror, since it leads to “the opening of Muslim societies.” In fact, the dolorous attack on America was an index of future risk at several levels. Therefore, this huge hegemonic country made use of an indirect way to eliminate any potential threat from the east: free trade agreement. The game, however, was soon disclosed and indices began to emerge.

In 2005, Bush declared: “In the long-term, the peace we seek will only be achieved by eliminating the conditions that feed radicalism and ideologies of murder. If whole regions of the world remain in despair and grow in hatred, they will be the recruiting grounds for terror, and that terror will stalk America and other free nations for decades.” (White 4)

Bush’s policies of foiling terrorist attempts did not always take the shape of threatening; as alluded several times by Zoellick, the measures taken in this regard are sometimes wrapped in a less severe disguise than usual. The policy is more about inviting and befriending rather than attacking back. The FTA by implication plays the role of a nicely euphemistic pretext that is used as a new tool in the War on Terror.

Though the idea of the FTA giving economy a spur and being productive of many benefits for partners is quite true, it only represents an optimistic plain objective in the agreement. The idea that is to be conveyed through the essay is the new concept of FTAs being double-edged. Certainly, naïve is whoever believes in free trade being about trade that is free. FTAs selfishly seek private political interests, which puts partners in a situation where political compliance is inevitable.

In fact, it has usually occurred that FTAs are synonymous of interests. Besides, the abrupt incident of September 11 made this quest for political interests even more intense. The fear that the United States was consumed pushed it into approaching danger in a different way, a pretentious way that keeps enemies friendly. However, the awareness of Moroccan government, in particular under the PJD, should shift the agreement objectives towards a merely economic nature. Moreover, the people’s passiveness witnessed during the Arab Spring was a positive indication for the United States, which may render FTA an agreement that only boosts the economy of the two countries, no more.

References:

Manuel Pérez Rocha is an Associate Fellow of the Institute for Policy Studies in Washington D.C. where he directs an advocacy and research project on “the Security and Prosperity Partnership and the NAFTA Plus Agenda.”

Robert Bruce Zoellick, Bush administration’s chief trade negotiator and the eleventh president of the World Bank, a position he has held since July 1, 2007

Joaquim Alberto Chissano (born 22 October 1939) served as the second President of Mozambique for nineteen years from 6 November 1986 until 2 February 2005

Ait El Mekki, Akka ,Tyner. The Moroccan-American FTA Effects on the Agricultural and Food Sectors in Morocco1, Indiana:  Purdue University.

Chen, Michelle. Labor Day Showdown: Can Advocates Stop ‘NAFTA of the Pacific’? Colorlines. September 2 201 <http://colorlines.com

Mastel, Greg . The Rise of the Free Trade Agreement Challenge, Vol. 47, No. 4 (2004), pp. 41-61

Merrett, Christopher D. Free Trade: Neither Free nor About Trade. Montréal: Black Rose Books, 1996. Print

White, Gregory. Free Trade as a Strategic Instrument in the War on Terror?The 2004 US-Moroccan FreeTrade Agreement. Middle East Journal, Vol. 59, No. 4 (Autumn, 2005), pp. 597-616

Zoubir, Yahia H. North Africa in Transition: State, Society, and Economic Transformation in the 1990s. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 1999. Internet resource.

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and not necessarily reflect Morocco World News’ editorial policy
http://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2012/11/64266/the-unspoken-objectives-behind-us-morocco-free-trade-agreement-2/
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Camel’s head, sheep’s testicle, calf’s feet and plenty less exotic treats – all to be had at Marrakech’s famous open-air restaurant.         

In 2008, Paula Wolfert’s book, Couscous and Other Good Food from Morocco, won the Cookbook Hall Of Fame award, twenty-five years after its publication. At the time, Moroccan cuisine would probably have seemed pretty exotic. These days fancy food trucks and posh catering carts may be blocking the highways in Europe and the US, but Morocco’s biggest street food heaven hasn’t moved in a thousand years.

Jmaa el Fna, The Place of the Dead, The Mosque at the End of the World, North Africa’s most vibrant and exotic square, the ancient heart of Marrakech, where snake charmers, storytellers and acrobats entertain the passing crowds. By day the bustle of henna artists, potion sellers, fresh orange juice vendors and red-robed water sellers; by night the curling smoke of a hundred barbecues spirals over the largest open-air restaurant in the world.

When dusk falls, handcarts are wheeled into Jmaa el Fna and unfolded to reveal portable grills, tables, benches, pots and pans. While the mounds of food are prepared young men in long white coats work the crowds trying to convince you that the succulent dishes served at their stall are the absolutely top-notch best; “Deliah Smith created our menu”, “All our fish comes fresh from Sainsbury’s”. And Sainsbury’s would probably be proud of the fish the stalls served, dipped in flour seasoned with salt and saffron before being deep-fried in bubbling oil until crisp and golden.

There are stalls to fit every taste and pocket; a bowl of harira, a traditional rich tomato and lentil soup with beef or chicken, seasoned with ginger, pepper, and cinnamon, or b’sarra, white bean soup with olive oil and garlic; add a sandwich served in a khobz, a small, round flat loaf with the top nipped off to form a pocket, filled with freshly deep-fried slices of liver dribbled with a green chilli sauce, or a hand-full of merguez, thin spicy sausages, and you will be set up for a stroll around the souks. (Keep an eye open for the really esoteric mixture of merguez, hard-boiled egg and tuna fish.)

Kebabs shops appear on almost every street corner around the globe these days, but in Marrakech vendors snub the effete pressed meat served elsewhere in favour of slices of real lamb, glistening with dribbling fat, sprinkled with cumin and salt as the cook hands it over to you wrapped in a paper cone. Chicken with preserved lemons, delicately spiced with kasbour (fresh green coriander) and served with piquant olives; brochettes of lamb and liver, seasoned with red pepper and cumin, carefully grilled over charcoal, which spits and smokes as the luscious fats fall on to it; beef or lamb tajines, cooked with raisins, prunes and almonds, have their conical tops whisked off by the waiters, just as the lids of elegant silver salvers would be at the Savoy. (Although you may want to leave the tajine of sheep’s or calf’s feet and the sliced camel’s head to the locals to enjoy, and it would take a certain amount of culinary courage to sample a cooked sheep’s head or bowl of sheep’s testicles – cooked, of course.)

On the west side of the square, a row of chefs steam mounds of snails in battered enamel bowls. The menu is simple, snails or snails, but as the little gastropods served in a tantalizing broth are a gastronomic institution in Morocco, it isn’t always easy to get a seat at these stalls. Apparently wonderful for the digestion, locals drain the broth after having their fill of the snails. (They also often carry a safety pin to wheedle the little devils out, but a toothpick is usually provided.)

Vegetarians might not savor their best gastronomic experience, but it can delicious. Hard-boiled eggs are chopped and mashed with potatoes, with the inevitable sprinkle of cumin, (served alongside salt and pepper on every stall). Bright vegetable salads, glistening piles of savory chick peas spiked with fresh-ground black pepper or bowls of lentil stew cooked with finely chopped onion and garlic; fried aubergine with a hot green pepper served alongside a pile of fresh cut and fried potatoes, all washed down with a glaringly orange Fanta.

Young boys man-handle small handcarts or struggle with large wooden trays laden with glistening sweetmeats through the densely packed crowds. Delectable as the pastries may look, aren’t always that sweet. If your taste is for fruit for desert, try, carmose, prickly pear, and the vendor will carefully remove the skin for you.

For a simple wandering snack, strings of sfenj donuts are held together by a strip of leaf to make carrying easier. They are delicious with a coffee, and come either sweet (with egg beaten into the batter) or savory. Also useful for a back-up snack on long journeys.

If you haven’t washed your meal down with a drink at the stall, a glass of fresh orange juice will be squeezed before your eyes at one of the many carts around the edge of the square. You might also find raisin, pistachio and pomegranate juice, which have a mysterious flavor of their own. The Technicolor yogurts sold in big glasses look more off-putting that delectable, but raib, a home-made yoghurt with a milkshake consistency slides down the throat deliciously.

The beautiful chaos of the food stalls is entertainment in its own right, but when you have eaten your fill there is still the raucous street entertainment of Jmaa el Fna to keep you from your bed.

Derek Workman,  who is an English journalist living in Valencia City, Spain – although he admits to a love of Morocco and would love to up sticks and move here. To read more about life in Spain visit  Spain Uncovered
http://moroccoboard.com/viewpoint/382-derek-workman-/5739-marrakech-reastaurant-at-the-end-of-the-world
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Here’s looking at you, Morocco
November 9, 2012

Richard Mack and Jill Buckner describe themselves as two photographers with one vision.

Last May, they spent five days lugging heavy equipment through exotic marketplaces loaded with piles of fresh dates, olives and spices when they visited Marrakesh and Casablanca. It was the first of what could be multiple journeys to Morocco to complete their book of photos to tell the story of the country’s unique color, culture and cuisine. Forty of their photos will be displayed at Ysla Gallery in Wilmette in the exhibit, “Treasures of Morocco: A Sensual Feast of Color,” that will open with a special event Nov. 9.

The trip was a turning point for both artists. “It was mesmerizing,” said Buckner, a Wilmette resident. “The experience pushed me out of my comfort zone.”

They snacked on nuts and dates throughout the day, saving their appetites for traditional Moroccan dinners. A grilled sea bass encrusted in salt at Le Cabestan in Clasablanca was “the finest fish I’ve ever eaten,” recalled Evanston resident Mack. “It was salty, but not overly salty. I was a little surprised by the charcoal flavor; you could tell it was cooked outside on the grill.”

At Casa Nostra, a restaurant in Marrakesh owned by the family of their friend Ahmed Kazouini, chef/owner of Chez Joel in Chicago, they sampled tagines. Tagines are meals of meat or vegetables cooked in an earthenware pot. Tagine is the word used for the pot and the meal. “Chicken tagines are as common in Morocco as fried chicken is here,” Buckner said.

A Kazouini family favorite, pastilla, a savory-sweet chicken pie made with phyllo dough, will be served during the gallery event. Kazouini’s pastilla recipe was passed down from his great-grandmother and features ingredients like saffron, orange flower water and turmeric. “It’s a once-a-week dish in Morocco,” Kazouini said.

The recipe for pastilla is versatile: Traditionalists opt for stuffing it with squab or farm-raised pigeon; most Americans prefer chicken. Some combine the scrambled eggs and chicken; others keep them separate and layer them. Some people call the pie b’stilla; others say pastilla. But most agree that it is a delicious example of Morocco.

Artisinal, a new grocery across the street from Ysla Gallery, will make pastilla for the gallery event. While the store does not typically cater events, they stock the ingredients needed for pastilla.

For more information about “Treasures of Morocco: A Sensual Feast of of Color,” see www.YslaPhotography.com.

Moroccan Pastilla   (From Ahmed Kazouini)

Pastry

1, 16-ounce package phyllo dough
2 sticks unsalted butter, melted
1 large egg yolk, beaten

Filling
1 large (4-5 pound) chicken, whole or cut into pieces
5 medium sweet onions, chopped
1/4 cup virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons salt, to taste
1/2 teaspoon each black pepper, cinnamon, and turmeric
1/4 teaspoon saffron threads
1 bunch cilantro, chopped finely, for approximately ½ cup
8 large eggs, beaten
1 cup blanched slivered almonds, ground
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons orange flower water

Garnish/Topping
1 tablespoon honey
1/2 cup blanched slivered almonds
1/4 cup powdered sugar

Filling:
Rinse chicken and pat dry. Put in large pot with onions, oil, salt and all spices, including saffron, in enough water to cover. Bring to boil, then simmer 30 minutes.

Add cilantro, and reduce heat for 5 minutes.

Take chicken off heat. Spoon out chicken from pot, peel meat off bone, shred it with your fingers and return meat to pot.

Place pot back on stove on simmer; add one egg at a time, stirring constantly with whisk for about 10 minutes.

Sauté ground almonds dry in a shallow pan until just golden brown; take off heat and blend in sugar and orange water. Set aside.

Pie Assembly:

In large ceramic pie pan, coat bottom and sides with melted butter. Add five sheets of phyllo pastry, one on top of the other. Brush butter on top layer, then add one more layer.

Fill pie pan with chicken/egg mixture, then sprinkle with ground almond mixture.

Fold up sides of pastry toward center and brush with butter. Add another layer of pastry, and fold under inner edges of pan to seal. Brush this top layer of folded pastry with beaten egg yolk.

Bake at 350 degrees for approximately 30 minutes until golden brown on top. Allow to cool for about 10 minutes, then drizzle with honey, sprinkle with powdered sugar and cinnamon. Cut into pie-shaped wedges and serve.
http://wilmette.suntimes.com/lifestyles/food/15814449-423/heres-looking-at-you-morocco.html
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Morocco is one of the best holiday destinations in Africa, and it offers visitors golden beaches and a rich cultural heritage. Visitors to Morocco can enjoy the country's many clubs and bars, but also its many beaches - especially the 9 kilometre long beach at Agadir, which is Morocco's most popular holiday resort. Thomson offers many different types of holiday to this intriguing country.

Marrakech is one of the most attractive cities in the whole of Africa, and especial places of interest here include the city's square, Jemaa el-Fna, complete with its famous snake charmers, the tranquil Menara Gardens, and notable buildings El Badi Palace and Koutoubia Mosque. The city also hosts the Jemaa el-Fna Carnival, which is a daily event, and souks that sell many exotic items such as herbs and jewellery.

Another famous Moroccan city is Casablanca. Immortalised in film, the city has many beautiful buildings to enjoy, including the White Mosque and the L'Eglise du Sacre-Coeur. The Museum of Moroccan Judaism is also popular with visitors, and the city boasts many fine shopping areas. Thomson has holiday packages available to places like Casablanca at bargain prices.

In Tangier, you can visit the city's famous casbah and Hercules Cave, which is a cave that has an opening to both land and sea. The cave is so called, because of the myth that Hercules slept here. The American Legation is another fascinating place to visit in Tangier. Consisting of paintings and antiques, one of the most unique things in the museum is a letter from George Washington. The American Legation has free admission.

Rabat will be of significant interest to anyone interested in history. Among the variety of notable historical sites are the remains at Chellah, which are a combination of Roman and Medieval Islamic ruins, and also well worth visiting is the Mausoleum of Mohammad V.

Whether its sunbathing on Morocco's lovely beaches, enjoying traditional Moroccan belly dancing, perusing the country's souks, or taking in the country's culture, Morocco has enough variety to appeal to all tastes.
Moroccan cuisine has long been considered as one of the most assorted cuisines in the world. This is a result of the centuries-long interaction of Morocco with the outside world. The cuisine of Morocco is mainly influenced by the European and Mediterranean cuisines. Moroccan food are fields with original spices and ingredients, like saffron from Tiliouine, mint and olives. The most commonly eaten are chicken and meat. While the red meat and lamb are the Morrocan's favorite but these are relatively expensive. Truly a taste of their own...
http://moroccoboard.com/news/5742-morocco-an-ideal-destination
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I’m back from Hajj. To say it was a moving experience is probably the biggest understatement I have made in my entire life. I didn’t know what peace was until I got to spend so many early mornings on the calming rooftop of the Prophet’s mosque in Medina flicking away on my prayer beads watching the sun rise and its beams crawl across the sky……………………
Read more here: http://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2012/11/64022/what-i-learned-from-hajj/ ##########################################################

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