Virtual Magazine of Morocco on the Web
Morocco Week in Review 
February 15 , 2014

The Legation’s tales never cease to fascinate.
Gerald Loftus, TALIM Director’s blog February 11, 2014

Paraphrasing comic Dave Barry, Legation Lions would be a good name for a football team… No, the “Legation Lions” refers to the rather cumbersome gifts that Presidents used to given by Moroccan Sultans back in the 1800s. And the poor Tangier consuls who had to deal with the furry beasts.

From the US State Department Office of the Historian:
In 1834, the Sultan presented Tangier US Consul James Leib with a lion and two Arabian horses as gifts for the President. He had to house the lion until he could persuade his superiors to transport it and the horses to the United States. After much debate, Congress passed a resolution calling for the animals to be sold at auction. The “Numidian Lion” fetched $3,350, with the proceeds being divided between two Washington orphanages.

His successor Thomas Carr was faced with a similar quandary: The Sultan of Morocco presented Carr with two lions and two horses. Congress passed another resolution authorizing the President to “dispose in such time and manner as he shall see fit of all such of the presents as cannot conveniently be deposited or kept in the Department of State, and cause the proceeds to be placed in the Treasury of the United States.” The animals were duly sold when they arrived in Philadelphia in 1840.

For years, the scanned letter where Carr plaintively writes of lions eating him out of house and home on his meager Consul’s salary has enchanted Legation museum visitors. Especially amusing is the “gift you can’t refuse’ aspect: giving the lions back would result in the messenger’s decapitation. Not an option for a Consul with a conscience.

The previous scans’ sickly green hue (maybe it was the early scan technology) finally became an eyesore, and we vowed to put up more presentable images. Enter Kristen Kouttab and the Moroccan American Cultural Center in Washington. With her colleague Dave Bloom, they went to the US National Archives in College Park Maryland and, with the help of friendly NARA archivist David Langbart, located the original letter and took these stunning photographs. We only regret that we don’t have an action photo of Dave Bloom climbing on tables and chairs to get the right shot in challenging lighting conditions.

The National Archives contain the “lion letter” and other treasures of American history that are there waiting for other Legation friends to exploit. There’s even an exhibit (sans lions) of famous gifts to US Presidents.

We greatly appreciate Kristen, Dave, and MACC help on getting this piece of American history in Morocco.
Now, we’ll get the five sheets of the letter properly framed, as well as the beautiful but slow-to-read 19th century cursive handwriting transcribed for museum visitors. Perhaps it was the pressure of dealing with successive sets of lions, but Leib and Carr later succumbed to Demon Rum and exhibited rather odd behavior on Zankat Amrika, recounted in our previous blog post on Crazy Consuls.
http://moroccoonthemove.com/2014/02/14/return-legation-lions-talimtangier-american-legation-institute-moroccan-studies-gerald-loftus/#sthash.8m8fw8Ic.dpbs
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Morocco council gives voice to youth.
By Siham Ali in Rabat for Magharebia – 14/02/2014

Young Moroccans have high hopes to be heard in 2014. Their voices will soon become audible, thanks to the proposed Youth Advisory Council. The council's legal committee and members of international organisations met Saturday (February 8th) in Rabat to discuss a bill that will be submitted to the government in March.

The council will offer young Moroccans a springboard from which they can participate in the economic, social and political life of the country, Youth Minister Mohamed Ouzzine said. It is vital to regain the trust of young people and boost the infrastructures dedicated to them, he added.

The proposed council will help youth fulfil their aspirations, sociologist Rahma Chatibi said. Young people agree that a legal structure is necessary to ensure that their participation is no longer just a slogan, but rather a reality on the ground.

"I hope the Youth Advisory Council will serve as a framework to study the expectations and needs of young people, including unemployment and political disengagement," said 22-year-old accountant Mouaad Chrite.

Employment Minister Abdesselam Seddiki told Magharebia that great efforts would be made to create jobs in 2014.

The "Moubadara" project for jobs in non-governmental sectors and the TAETIR mentoring programme for long-term unemployed graduates are both set to get under way this year. But despite the government's optimistic tone, young people remain sceptical.

Until a concrete measure has proven to be effective, there is no reason to get excited, said Ahmed Srairi, who graduated in economics three years ago and still has not found a job. The new schemes could help young graduates find work as long as the employment ministry signs agreements with companies to encourage them to hire programme beneficiaries, he said.

Any strategy to boost employment will remain fruitless if the government does not offer incentives to employers who hire inexperienced youth, business management graduate Salma Chaltiti said. "Businesses want experienced staff. I have been struggling to find a job for two years even though I have a vocational training certificate," she told Magharebia.

For his part, Amine Badri, an accounting graduate, highlighted the importance of monitoring all new government projects. For four years, his employer did not renew his contract. He was initially recruited under the Idmaj (Integration) scheme, a programme that gives young graduates with no job experience the chance to work for a business, which, in exchange, benefits from encouraging exemptions. "Businesses are not renewing young people's contracts under this scheme so that they can recruit other employees through the same programme and keep receiving the benefits offered by the state. I and several of my friends have suffered because of this," he said.

Trade unionist Abdelatif Saber agreed that government supervision was essential. "In some businesses, 90% of staff is recruited through the Idmaj scheme in order to avoid paying employment entitlements. The state needs to play its role and set recruitment rates that must not be exceeded under this employment scheme," he said.
http://magharebia.com/en_GB/articles/awi/features/2014/02/14/feature-04
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Morocco struggles with abused, underpaid and exploited child domestics disgrace.
(02-13 11:01)

The death of a 14-year-old domestic helper abused by her employer has sparked a public outcry in Morocco. The girl, known as Fatima, died last March after suffering third-degree burns to her hands and face. Her employer, a woman, was jailed for 20 years in January after being convicted of her death.

The trial became a symbol of the ordeal that some of the tens of thousands of child domestic workers have to endure in the north African nation, rights groups say. Morocco's labor laws prohibit the employment of anyone under the age of 15 and require the authorization of a guardian for anyone under 18.

Despite some improvements, the national planning commission says, however, there are still more than 90,000 children under 15 working in Morocco. And Human Rights Watch said in January that girls as young as eight continued to work in private homes for up to 12 hours per day, and for as little as US$11 a month.

Morocco does not have laws protecting domestic workers but parliament has tabled a bill aimed at regulating their working conditions. The proposed law would give domestic workers contracts and a minimum wage of around US$100 a month – half the national figure – as well as one day's holiday per week and an annual leave allowance. Employers who flaunt these terms could face financial penalties of up to 5,000 dirhams (US$600).

Finalized in June, the bill “has been endorsed by the Economic, Social and Environmental Council, the [state) National Council of Human Rights and we are ]totally open to all propositions'' from parliament, Labour Minister Abdesslam Seddiki told AFP. But the legislation has its critics too, and rights groups and opposition politicians have demanded the bill be expanded to offer better working conditions.

Human Rights Watch last November urged Moroccan lawmakers to revise the bill, saying it had “a unique opportunity to put an end to the exploitation of domestic workers by bringing the draft law in line with standards set by the International Labour Organisation.'' “Morocco can become the first country in the Middle East and North Africa to ratify the domestic workers' treaty,'' HRW's Tamara Alrifai said in a letter to Seddiki.

Khadija Rouissi, vice-president of the Moroccan parliament's lower house and member of the PAM opposition party, also thinks the bill does too little to protect underage domestic workers. She condemned the proposed salary threshold, saying it was “lower than the minimum wage, on the pretext of encouraging employers to register their employees''. But she is also deeply concerned about the possibility raised by the bill of allowing youths aged between 15 and 18 working with ``the permission of a guardian.’’ “The priority is banning minors from working. The place of a girl that age is in school,'' she said. “Human dignity is the red line.'' Her party has proposed two bills in parliament that would impose a two-year jail term on those who employ minors.

The labor minister countered that Morocco has already made “great progress'' in combatting the problem, saying the number of minors employed as domestic workers had dropped from “600,000 to less than 100,000'' in a few years. “That doesn't mean that everything is fine. We are going to do everything to fight this issue, the bill is only the beginning,'' Seddiki said. In the absence of a clear law, “state action is limited to trials against the few exploiters who are arrested for murder or abuse,'' according to the civil society group the Collective for the Eradication of the Work of Child Maids.
http://www.thestandard.com.hk/breaking_news_detail.asp?id=46193&icid=a&d_str=
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Morocco’s inheritance dilemma.
Author: TelQuel (Morocco) Posted February 9, 2014. Author Reda Zaireg / Translator(s)Pascale el Khoury

Islamic laws on inheritance keep generating inequalities and contradicting the desire to reform the legal status of women initiated by the new Mudawana (Moroccan personal status code). The following article sheds light on this matter.

Driss Lachgar seems to have understood the lesson. After stirring up controversy by calling for a debate on women's rights, the first secretary of the Socialist Union of Popular Forces (USFP) will avoid ever setting foot in that minefield again. By advocating gender equality, in inheritance in particular, Lachgar has raised the ire of Salafist sheikhs such as Abu Naim and Zemzemi. The case is now closed. So much for debate! This leaves a bitter taste for those women harmed by the law governing inheritance.

“I consider myself to be a victim of dispossession,” complained Wiam, when the question of inheritance was raised. The eldest in a family with two brothers, she received half a share compared with that of each of her brothers, in accordance with Islamic law. “Thank God I work and have an income. Others are less fortunate than I am,” she said.

Such is the case of Aisha. Her deeply religious parents consider women's work as a “sign of the apocalypse.” They had planned to marry her off at the age of 20, but they died a few months after she reached adulthood. Her three brothers have taken the lion's share of the inheritance. “The savings left by my parents were pitiful, but still would have been very useful if they had been distributed fairly,” she said. With no professional training or educational degree, Aisha has long contented herself with minor housework jobs while awaiting a possible marriage, until an aunt took her into her care. “The inheritance law gives more shares to men to provide for the women in the family,” she said angrily.

Times have changed
Cases like those of Wiam and Aisha are commonplace. The guardians of Islamic Sharia have argued that a woman inherits a half-share only in four cases, compared with more than 30 cases in which she inherits a full share. However, it is precisely these four cases that are the most frequent. Islamic law governing inheritance has been drawn taking into consideration the extended family model, which has now disappeared and been replaced with the nuclear family model. Moreover, men before had to meet the needs of the women of their clan, but nowadays they no longer have a monopoly over family finances. According to Hasna Abou Zaid, USFP assistant secretary-general, women attend to the needs of 20% of Moroccan families. This refutes the argument that a brother must inherit twice as much as his sister to take care of her. Nevertheless, the Islamic law of inheritance remains fiercely defended by most Islamic religious scholars, who always find the proper argument to justify the status quo. “The word of God prevails at all times, in all places,” they say, implying that God, who has provided modernity, could well have imposed a different law if he wanted to. Some even went further, attacking the dangerous drive toward allowing women to work instead of “liberalizing” them by confining them to their homes.

Circumventing the law
Kawtar’s parents were more farsighted. “During his lifetime, my father gave me a gift. If he hadn’t, my inheritance would have been distributed with distant family members.” Her parents couldn’t stand seeing their daughter deprived of their hard-earned properties. “A Muslim Moroccan can give all of his estate as a gift, which may seem paradoxical when you think about the thoroughness with which the inheritance of a deceased person is regulated,” explains Fadela Sebti, a lawyer in Casablanca. She added that, in the case of a gift, anyone could be designated as heir, even someone who is not a family member. “The gift is not subject to any condition. This is contrary to French law, which specifies for example that the gift may be revoked for cause of donor ingratitude. [In Morocco,] once the property is donated, the gift becomes irrevocable and the donor can no longer seek restitution.”

The gift remains the preferred means to circumvent the Islamic law of inheritance, but it is not the only one. The bequest also allows the transfer of one-third of one’s estate by way of a will, thus favoring a specific heir. However, unlike gifts, “other heirs must accept the will at the time of its drafting or ratify it thereafter. The will is not a definitive act. It can be modified throughout the life of the donor, and may even be revoked,” said Sebti.

If resorting to a gift is not favored by some parents who fear tarnishing the ties between their daughters and other family members, the bequest is an amicable solution par excellence. However, disagreements among heirs might arise. “When my mother wanted to bequeath me a part of her property, she was met by the refusal of my brother. He said it was haram [religiously forbidden] to modify the inheritance law. Ultimately … she gave me a gift,” said Roqaya. After that, the brother cut ties with his mother and sister and considered them impious.

Still a taboo
Although the issue of inheritance is one of the most-discussed subjects in Islam, it remains a taboo. With the exception of Tunisia, few Arab countries have dared to approach this subject without hearing cries of infringing on Sharia. The general outcry that accompanied Lachgar’s call for discussion reveals the refusal to deal with anything having to do with divine jurisdiction. Those who defend the untouchable character of Sharia join the debate with the intention of excommunication. Islamic inheritance law by no means enjoys a consensus among scholars. Some have questioned it under the pretext that it stems from a patriarchal interpretation, while advocates of Islamic feminism even consider that it misrepresents the real message of Allah. Its victims are unanimous. Just like Roqaya, these victims believe that “the Islamic inheritance law is incompatible with our time and definitely needs to be reviewed.”
Read more: http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/culture/2014/02/morocco-debate-inheritance-law-women.html#ixzz2swLmN33Q
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Experiencing Morocco, from medinas to countryside, as a woman travelling alone.
By Giovanna Dell'Orto, The Associated Press MEKNES, Morocco

"So you travel ... only?" asked the woman sitting next to me in halting but intuitive English as we sat in the packed compartment on a train speeding through Moroccan farmland. We were the sole unveiled, unaccompanied women in the car. Travelling alone in this North African, Muslim country where public spaces are almost exclusively male, I got that question everywhere, from the frequent flyer lounge in the capital's airport to the kitchen of a riad — a traditional home with a courtyard — deep in Fez's medina, the ancient walled section of the city.

With sexual harassment and assault making news from Egypt to India to Brazil, I was keenly aware that as a blonde Western tourist, I could not pass unobserved. And observe, glare and leer many Moroccan men do. A journalist told me his sisters living in Casablanca were desperately tired of being "eye-raped."

In January and June, I spent more than three weeks exploring Morocco, from its imperial cities to the desert oases, mostly alone, but at times accompanying a group of students from a U.S. university where I teach. They were all women but one. The group, despite modest dress, literally stopped traffic. Alone, I learned to firmly say "la, shukran" — no, thank you — to any invitation or approach, and got to enjoy the country through a woman's eyes. That meant some pavement-staring to avoid confrontations, but also unexpected glimpses into this mesmerizing land where a wealth of cultures with ancient roots abuts illiteracy and subsistence………
Read more here: http://world.einnews.com/article/190571857/MtV9RRVW-_gLJJEo?n=1&code=F0A6UI8SDeLVJB2O
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Sweet tooth an age old problem.
Technology / Friday 14 February 2014

Scientists have identified what they call the first and oldest case of tooth decay in humans. The discovery was made in a Stone Age cave in Morocco and proves that people had diets rich in carbohydrates and sugar thousands of years earlier than previously thought. Archaeologists made an extraordinary discovery after 10 years of research into the teeth and jaws of Stone Age hunter-gatherers. "We used X-rays and we analysed the products and plants that were consumed by humans at that time," said Taforlt Morocco-UK Project director Abdeljalil Bouzouggar.

The teeth of 52 skeletons, bar three, showed signs of tooth decay. "The scientific value of this discovery resides in the fact that it is the first and oldest case of tooth decay found,” said Bouzouggar. The finding suggests that farming communities developed many centuries earlier than previously thought. “Also, the traces of tooth decay have a very profound and interesting significance because it means that these people who lived in this cave 13,500 to 15,000 years ago, consumed some products rich in carbohydrate or sugar-rich content in plant food for a long period," he said. This shows people - even then - had a sweet tooth.
http://www.enca.com/technology/sweet-tooth-age-old-problem
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Three key ingredients to turn up the heat in your kitchen.
SHAWNA WAGMAN Special to The Globe and Mail Tuesday, Feb. 11 2014

Ras el hanout
In Morocco you might see a customer walk into a spice shop and ask to smell the ras el hanout. The name translates as “roof of the store” meaning that it’s the ultimate secret blend of the spice merchant – the best the seller can offer.
In Toronto, at Momofuku Daisho, it’s more likely to be your server who will be describing what spices made the cut. Sous chef Jed Smith created his own 15-ingredient ras el hanout for a new lamb dish featuring braised belly, roasted rack and a salad of pickled tongue. He started with the classics of Middle Eastern and North African cooking – cumin, clove and coriander – adding floral notes with dried rose, hibiscus and lavender. He also adds a little chili, pink peppercorns and fenugreek, which he admits may not be traditional but are flavours he likes.

The Épices de Cru blend, sold at de Vienne’s shop in Montreal’s Jean Talon market and online, contains 32 different spices. “That’s not including the traditional hashish and Spanish fly,” says De Vienne with a wink. Her recipe has been evolving over 10 years to become ever more mysterious. It contains things like iris root, banglé (a citrusy ginger-like spice from Bali) as well as hand-picked wild cumin from Uzbekistan.
She recommends taking a good spoonful of the blend, grind it and use it as a finishing touch at the end of a recipe – anything from couscous to pea soup or even vanilla ice cream. “It has many delicate fragrances, so it’s the same principle as using perfume,” she says, “A little goes a long way.” De Vienne warns of the ras el hanout imposters out there with just seven or eight ingredients – which to her is a glorified garam masala.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/food-and-wine/food-trends/three-key-ingredients-to-kick-up-the-heat-in-your-kitchen/article16796217/?cmpid=rss1
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‘Demand it and we’ll grow it’: Morocco’s organic conundrum
February 14th, 2014

With annual exports worth US$1.2 billion, Morocco’s produce sector is a major contributor to the global fruit and vegetable market, particularly in the European Union and Russia. With a delegation of 37 companies, the industry made its impression felt at Fruit Logistica in Berlin last week. At www.freshfruitportal.com, we caught up with representatives from the North African country to hear about their experiences with conventional and exotic items, and a national plan to raise organic production.

Moroccan fruit growers say they are ready to grow more organic crops, but for many the market is not yet large enough to warrant a greater supply. Moroccan Export Promotion Center (Maroc Export) director general Zahra Maafiri highlights the success of the Green Morocco plan that kicked off in 2008, leading to a strong reputation in organics and year-on-year growth for the category. “It’s very challenging for the profession but it’s the market we have to target, so we say to growers, ‘if you want to have more profits and a greater share in the international market, you have to focus on organic products to diversify your baskets’, and now they’re working on this,” she says.

“Today a third of the Moroccan pavilion is for organic products.” But for one of the country’s leading citrus and tomato exporters, organics still make up just a small percentage of production. Pack Souss director Khalid Bounajma says his business takes more of a middle ground approach when it comes to pesticide use. “Organic production is low for us because the market is lower. It is not a technical problem because in Morocco we have high temperatures and therefore fewer insects,” Bounajma says. “At the farm in Agadir, we do one treatment on 10% of the farm per year. It’s very low and for the rest of it there is no treatment.

“Organic production will increase slowly but it’s not not a high enough percent. A lot of supermarkets demand Global G.A.P. certification and that is the solution between organic and allowing the consumer to still respect the environment.” He says Pack Souss has gone even further than organic cultivation through more demanding biodynamic farming systems, but only half of the organic clementines and mandarins grown on a test plot of 20 hectares could be sold, because sufficient demand just wasn’t there.

To put the company’s production into perspective, the director mentions he grows citrus across 176,000 hectares in the Agadir region, with 90% dedicated to mandarins. Around 500,000-600,000 metric tons (MT) of fruit is shipped each year. “The season starts in October and finishes with Afourer mandarins in March, and for oranges it starts in December and ends in May or June. “Normally for the markets that need a very high level of taste, Morocco goes very well, but for other markets that focus more on quantities, like Russia, we have some difficulties.”

Maafiri says the Russian market is particularly important for the produce industry, which ships 46% of its fruit to the market and 24% of its vegetables. “We are not at the volumes coming from China, but our citrus have a very good image for the Russian consumers because we have been sending them citrus for 50 years – during the time of Russian socialism, the citrus coming from Morocco were a gift at Christmas, so it’s a very good souvenir for them.

Aside from China, she adds Moroccan citrus also faces tough competition from Turkey, Egypt and Spain. In Germany, she says Morocco is the 12th biggest provider of fruits and the seventh largest supplier of vegetables. “Along with France, U.K. and Italy, the Netherlands and Russia, it is one of our biggest markets.”

Strawberries
Maroc Export figures claim Morocco is the world’s eighth largest citrus supplier, and in 12th place it is one of the world’s top strawberry exporters as well. Maafiri says exports of the berry have witnessed annual growth of 25% in recent years. “We started with 10 hectares and now we have 2,500 hectares. Especially in 1985 and 1986 there was a big change into modern production, which led to much more productivity,” says Fresouer manager Larbi Chaib, whose company is a leading strawberry grower. He adds this hectareage is about the third of the surface area dedicated to the fruit in Spain. “The amount hectares will not grow. The prices will stay firm or will even decrease due to the crisis in Europe.” He says the good sun and high temperatures are clearly of benefit to berry production, which is sent internationally to markets like Germany, the Czech Republic, France and England.

Chaib takes a similar approach to Bounajma when it comes to organic production. “Even if it is expansive, we follow the demand of international markets.” In an interview with France’s L’Economiste, the berry leader said the cost of freight across the Strait of Gibraltar into Spain was the most expensive in the world in terms of price per kilometer, with transportation absorbing 20% of turnover.

A piece of the tropics on Europe’s doorstep
For Maafiri, Tiwiza Exotic is a good example of the diversity of products available from Morocco, as its name suggests. Tiwiza’s manager Lahoussine Kanane says he ventured into exotic produce items after assessing products from Latin America and Asia for production in his native country. “I introduced the fruit kiwano in 2004, and that was when exotic fruit production in Morocco started. For many years we did research and development to select which exotic fruits that would be adapt to the region of Agadir,” he says.

Other products grown by Tiwiza include passionfruit, red-flesh dragonfruit, habanero chili peppers, papayas and cape gooseberries (physallis), while there are still other crops under experimentation. “I wouldn’t say they are the most popular but the ones that catch the most attention would be the kiwano and the dragonfruit. “The most important advantage our fruit has is that in four days it can be in Europe. Meanwhile, Latin America and Asia need 20 days on a boat. “This means the products reach the European market very fresh and have a good period of conservation, so the commercialization of the fruit is much easier.”

He highlights this also has advantages for marketing to consumers, given the lower carbon footprint of transportation compared to Latin American and Asian competitors. Kanane still does not grow his fruits organically, but is considering it if there is more demand in the future. As for expanding his current 25 hectares of production, growth potential depends on investment capital. “With the market as it is we could easily reach 50-100 hectares but it depends on financing.”

In terms of other products grown in Morocco, Maroc Export says the country is the world’s second-highest exporter of green beans, the fourth-largest shipper of tomatoes, and the 12th biggest exporter of melons. The produce contributes to 18% of the national GDP and 20% of exports.
http://www.freshfruitportal.com/2014/02/14/demand-it-and-well-grow-it-moroccos-organic-conundrum/?country=others
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Morocco Bets on 8% More Tourists in 2014, Sets Sights on China
Bloomberg News. February 14, 2014 Bloomberg, by Souhail Karam (February 12, 2014)

Morocco expects European holiday-makers to lead an 8 percent rise in tourist arrivals in 2014, as it looks to China and Turkey to help drive further growth in the second-biggest sector of its economy. “We expect tourism receipts to increase by 4 percent,” Tourism Minister Lahcen Haddad said in a telephone interview from his office in Rabat. “We will provide incentives to local hoteliers to help them resist wild price cuts they had imposed on them because of the economic crisis in the euro zone.” To guarantee future growth of an industry that plays a key role in shoring up national income, Morocco plans to establish direct flights with China in 2015, Haddad said. Boosting arrivals from Turkey and Brazil is also on its radar, he said.

Tourism accounts for about 10 percent of Morocco’s $105 billion economy, second to the agricultural sector, and employs 400,000 people. Last year, tourist arrivals rose 7 percent, though visitors spent less than in previous years — receipts rose by only 0.5 percent to about 58 billion dirhams ($7 billion).

Morocco was relatively untouched by the uprisings that swept through the region in 2011 and battered tourism in Tunisia and Egypt. Airlines and tour operators see Morocco as a “a secure destination,” Haddad said. The tourism ministry is leading talks with British Airways, Lufthansa, Ryanair, EasyJet, Transavia and Air Berlin to open routes to cities other than the two main destinations of Marrakesh and Agadir, he said. Fes, Tangier, Ouarzazate and Errachidia are cities he cited.

The minister faced anger from local industry operators and legislators after the cash-tight government imposed a new tax of $12 per economy-class passenger in 2014. The levy also angered Ryanair, which had threatened to scale down its Morocco operations before announcing this month plans to start flights between London’s Stansted airport and the capital, Rabat. “Ryanair’s announcement this month shows that the new tax is not hurting,” Haddad said.

Funds from the tax will be used to step up the promotion of Morocco abroad, including in non-traditional markets. State-run carrier Royal Air Maroc started direct flights to Sao Paulo in Brazil in December. “Turkey is an important market for us because it’s an emerging economy and there are direct flights each week between the two countries,” said Haddad, adding that ONMT, a state-run agency promoting Morocco overseas, may open a branch in Turkey this year. China’s Foreign Minister in December formally invited King Mohammed to visit and forge a strategic partnership. The two countries plan to lift visa requirements for travel.
http://moroccoonthemove.com/2014/02/14/morocco-bets-8-tourists-2014-sets-sights-china-souhail-karam/#sthash.ZMSchNE3.dpbs
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Morocco to invest $11 billion in clean energy.
Al-Hayat (Pan Arab) Posted February 14, 2014

In a statement to Al-Hayat, Moroccan sources declared that “electricity-generating solar and wind energy projects, implemented by Morocco in several regions in the east and south of the country, with investments worth approximately 90 billion dirhams [$11 billion], will allow Rabat to turn from an importer into an exporter of alternative energy by 2020, through building five solar energy stations.”

Oil and oil-derivatives importation cost Rabat $13 billion in 2013. Energy subsidies currently cost around 35 billion dirhams in the local market, compared to 54 billion in 2012. This negatively affects the trade balance, the overall financial balance and the budget deficit, estimated at 6% of the gross domestic product.

Sources reported that nine gigawatts of new energy would be produced, a 20% increase over current production, thus supplying around 42% of thermal electricity.“We will have an electricity and energy surplus that can be sold to other close countries, particularly in Europe and Africa. This is currently happening in the energy grid between Algeria and Spain,” the sources added.

Energy exports will contribute to improving the trade balance and increasing Rabat’s hard currency resources, thus boosting development. Sources believe that scientific research in the field of future energies constitutes one of the options within the project, just like modern industries in the field of automotives, airplanes and smartphones, in which Morocco is a regional pioneer.

Saudi Power Energy International Group is building the first solar energy station in Morocco at a cost of over $900 million. The station will become operational in 2015. Other proposals are underway to build a second station with an overall production of 500 million megawatts in the city suburbs. Upon project completion, Morocco will become the Arab and Middle Eastern country that uses clean energies the most at the beginning of the next decade.

The Moroccan sources considered Rabat capable of ensuring the funding to build all wind and solar energy units because they are part of a strategic high-priority plan. Algeria is pressuring some parties that are supporting the Moroccan project about the funding of some energy stations in the desert. Sources related the cause to “regional political conflicts.”
Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation Salaheldin Mizwar said that Rabat “has received the needed financial, political and technical support for such strategic projects. There are no funding problems because some states and international and regional financial groups are supporting the solar energy project in Morocco.”

American Forbes magazine wrote, “Giant companies working in the field of energy in North Africa have shown interest in the solar energy project in Morocco. They are excited to expand their activities and might even transfer some of their activity from Algeria, Libya and Egypt to Morocco. The companies pointed out that the Algerian-Moroccan dispute did not affect the decisions of international companies.”
“The problem of funding will not deter Morocco from its ambitious project that is backed by European countries, the Gulf and the United States, in addition to China and Japan, which encourage solar energy,” Forbes added.

Former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton participated, along with King Mohammed VI, in the launch ceremony of the solar energy project in November 2009 in Ouarzazate in the south. The United States renewed its support for these projects during the summit, which brought together US President Barack Obama and the king of Morocco at the end of 2013 in the White House.

Rabat is looking forward to becoming a source of clean energy and collecting extra treasury returns, estimated to range between $7 billion and $10 billion, by 2021. It is also hoping to increase its oil and gas revenues — a prospect that is surrounded by extreme secrecy, although major discoveries of fossil energy have been unveiled. British and Australian companies have dug wells in several Moroccan regions, thereby confirming these discoveries.

On the other hand, government sources confirmed to Al-Hayat that the government will lift subsidies and will gradually liberalize the hydrocarbons sector in 2014. It has already lifted fuel and gasoline subsidies and intends to do the same for all hydrocarbons that are subsidized by the compensation fund. Moreover, the government is seeking to channel a portion of these expenses to poor groups whose classification is a subject of dispute among different political parties in the government.
Read more: http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/business/2014/02/morocco-investments-solar-wind-energy.html#ixzz2tOzFwD7e
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Beyond the law: Protecting Morocco's women:
Significant strides have been made to protect women in Morocco against violence, but more needs to be done.
15 Feb 2014

At a conference[Fr]  on gender violence held in Rabat, Morocco in late January, UN Special Rapporteur Rashida Manjoo commended the country on its recently introduced draft bill protecting women against violence. The Moroccan government paid attention to the issue following a 2006 United Nations study showed the extent to which violence prevented women from fulfilling their potential, restricted economic growth and undermined development.

Given the exigent consequences of violence against women on the economic welfare of communities, it became one of Morocco's pressing obligations to seriously address the issue. However, despite the advances Moroccan legislation made to improve women's rights, they remained hindered by several obstacles. 

Many are aware of the grim story of 16-year-old Amina Filali's forced marriage to her alleged rapist and subsequent suicide that threw Morocco's Article 475 into international headlines. The article protects a rapist from prosecution if he married his victim. Following efforts by grassroots activists, and an Avaaz petition to repeal it, the article reemerged into the spotlight this month when it was repealed by the country's parliament.

Though the abrogation is a positive step forward, yet Article 475 is only the tip of the iceberg. Amina's fate, along with a number of complex issues afflicting Morocco including cracks in the justice system, gaping socioeconomic inequalities, and a need to comply with international standards, is one that can be prevented from haunting others.

A legal culture of impunity

The last few weeks in Morocco have seen heightening efforts by civil society and media campaigners to shed more light on gender violence in the country, a society in which both de facto and de jure shortcomings in women's rights exist. Coupled with a deeply entrenched culture of impunity - especially with issues concerning honour - the country's legal system suffers from bureaucratic weaknesses that stall investigation and implementation. Moreover, female victims of violence are often presumed to be accomplices and questions of consent overshadow the harm they've incurred.

Alleged rapists often receive the benefit of mediation with the blessings of legal aides, police and religious figures without facing prosecution. In order for women to feel protected against violence, a culture of zero tolerance for rape must be enforced.

Female victims of violence in Morocco need to feel that they can trust the system to protect their rights and bring them justice without having - oftentimes-  to resort to extreme "solutions". Their rehabilitation and safety must be emphasised as much as their honour has been.

Another notable weakness of the ability of the Moroccan legal system to protect victims is rooted in court delays, a feature typical of the country's bureaucracy. There are multiple causes of delay including prolonged hearings; insufficient human and financial resources in courtrooms; mismanagement and disorganisation of court resources and caseload; inefficient legal procedures and court processes; and party delays.

Numerous legislative and administrative initiatives have been undertaken over the years to address these issues. And while many have been successful in their specific aims, the issue continues to be flagrant. An efficient and effective court system is crucial to the administration of justice to protect the rights of female victims of violence.

Disparities in resource access

There are several women's rights groups and civil society actors in Morocco who work freely to promote gender equality and equal access to justice in the country. While their efforts have gained momentum in recent years, they are often challenged by a conservative culture  - especially in underprivileged areas such as Amina's village in the outskirts of Larache. In these places, there is little to no information on civil society groups and the services they provide.

Furthermore, few have conducted research on the human, material and financial resources of the civil society organisations working with rural women. As Moroccan Minister of Solidarity, Women, Family and Social Development Bassima Hakkaoui has repeatedly said[Fr], more resources and support must be allocated to women's shelters. This falls under the need for greater coordination between the government and local actors to accurately target and fulfil the needs of these women.

Many rural areas lack basic infrastructure such as roads, which prevent civil society organisations usually based in major urban centers such as Rabat or Casablanca, to exert the same levels of influence in rural areas as they can in urban areas. Something as simple as a road can make the difference between whether a wronged woman in a village can obtain access to justice or not.

Many women, including Amina, who had to make trips from Larache to Tangier to attend court hearings, do not have physical access to legal aid or the resources of non-profit organisations. Many more are unaware or misinformed about their legal rights, and many lawyers refuse to take on pro-bono cases or lower their service rates for victims in rural areas. All women who have been subject to violence must have access to a legal counsel - justice should not have a price tag.

Compliance with international standards

It is not entirely true to say that progress has not been made on improving women's rights in Morocco. Positive steps have been taken to amend the family law (the Moudawana). In urban areas these amendments have created a system for effectively dealing with the increased numbers of women filing domestic violence complaints within the court system. Article 336 of the Code of Criminal Procedure which previously only allowed women to take civil action against their husbands with prior authorisation from the court was also changed, now granting women equal access to the legal system.

In 2003, ammendements were made to the penal code to allow for heavier penalties on a spouse who inflicts harm upon the other spouse. Moreover, health care workers are now authorised to waive professional confidentiality agreements in cases of gender-based violence and to report such incidents to the appropriate authorities.

Morocco has also taken unprecedented steps in the country's history to help eradicate discrimination against women and to improve gender equality by ratifying international instruments of human rights. The country is party to several international rights agreements including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).

These are all encouraging steps forward in Morocco's path to protecting women against violence and to preserving their rights. However, in order for their implementation to be effective, they need to be enforced in tandem with national legislation. By ratifying these international instruments, Morocco has committed to preventing discrimination against women and to assuring gender parity with regards to human rights. However, despite these international commitments, shortcomings in the status of women's legal rights in Morocco still prevail.

A common discrepancy between implementation and international commitments, for example, is with the minimum age for marriage and Article 2 of the CEDAW which urges state parties to refrain from engaging in any act or practice of discrimination against women and to ensure that public authorities and institutions conform to this obligation.

Though Moroccan law sets the minimum age for marriage at 18 for both males and females, judges often waive this requirement at their own discretion, allowing female minors to get married. The laws are bent because culturally speaking, girls tend to marry far older men and are often married when they are under 18. This does not absolve Morocco of its responsibility to the stipulations of CEDAW and the need to comply with international standards.

Today, the advances Morocco has achieved since the millennium have contributed largely to improving many human development indicators, especially for women. The journey to protect Morocco's women is on the right track, but it is far from over. It remains one of the many examples of how societies in the Middle East and North Africa are increasingly grappling with balancing tradition and the human imperative of making society  more just for women.

Leila Hanafi is a Moroccan-American international lawyer, and policy expert from Georgetown University, George Washington University, and American University, Washington DC, USA. Ms. Hanafi is the founder and chief lawyer at the international law firm and think-thank ARPA, the Alliance for Rule of Law Promotion & Alternative Dispute Resolution, in Washington DC, USA.

Sarah Alaoui is an independent writer currently based in Washington D.C. Her work focuses primarily on North Africa.

The views expressed in this article are the authors' own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera's editorial policy.
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2014/02/beyond-law-protecting-morocco--2014212104721165904.html
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Christian Convert From Islam Has 'Proselytism' Conviction Overturned in Morocco. By Morning Star News February 9, 2014

CAIRO, Egypt, February 6, 2014 – An appeals court judge in Morocco today overturned a conviction against a Christian convert from Islam who had been sentenced to 30 months in prison for alleged proselytizing. The judge in the Court of Appeal in Fez dismissed the case against Mohamed El Baladi, 31, because of lack of evidence, sources close to him said.

"The case has ended," said one source close to El Baladi who requested anonymity. "The file will be closed on the 13th of February after a routine administrative process is finished."………………

Read more here: http://www.christianpost.com/news/christian-convert-from-islam-has-proselytism-conviction-overturned-in-morocco-114260/
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Dinner in Minutes: Lamb kabobs are Moroccan fast food.
By Linda Gassenheimer Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2014, Linda Gassenheimer is a food writer for the Miami Herald.

These lamb kabobs, flavored with Moroccan spices, were inspired by an interview I had with Kitty Morse, an author and cooking teacher who grew up in Casablanca. “Kabobs are one of Morocco's most popular fast foods,” she said. Whether in small-town souks or in the heart of Marrakesh, she said, the smoky aroma of grilled meat drifts across the squares as kabobs grill on open fires.

I adapted this recipe from her book “Cooking at the Kasbah.”

For the wine, choose a merlot or Spanish rioja.

Marrakesh Kabobs
3⁄4 pound lamb cut into 1- to 11⁄2-inch cubes
1⁄4 cup finely chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tablespoon paprika (preferably sweet Hungarian)
2 teaspoons ground cumin, divided
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Several drops hot pepper sauce

4 skewers
12 button mushrooms, (about 1 inch in diameter)
1⁄2 teaspoon salt
4 whole-wheat pita breads

Heat the grill or broiler. Remove the fat from the lamb cubes. Mix the onion, garlic, paprika, 1 teaspoon cumin, black pepper and hot pepper sauce in a medium bowl. Add the lamb and toss to coat well. Set aside the lamb cubes while you make the salsa ( Recipe follows). Thread the skewers alternately with the lamb and mushrooms. Place the skewers directly on the grill grates or line a baking tray with foil and place it with the lamb cubes under the broiler. Cook for 5 minutes, turn and cook for5 minutes more. Remove the lamb from the heat.

Mix the remaining 1 teaspoon cumin and 1⁄2 teaspoon salt together and sprinkle it over the kabobs. Place the pita breads on the grill grates or under the broiler to warm for 1 minute. Cut them in half and carefully open the pockets. Slide the lamb and mushrooms into the pockets and top with Moroccan salsa.

Makes 2 servings.
Nutrition information per serving: 614 calories, 13 grams fat (4 grams saturated), 111 milligrams cholesterol, 51 grams protein, 79 grams carbohydrates, 12 grams dietary fiber, 811 milligrams sodium

Moroccan Salsa
2 medium tomatoes, cut into small cubes
2 green onions, sliced
Leaves from 3 mint sprigs (If large, tear into small pieces.) (1⁄4 cup)
1 teaspoon sugar
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Place the tomatoes, green onions and mint leaves in a small bowl. Add the sugar, and season with salt and pepper. Toss well.

Makes 2 servings.
Nutrition information per serving: 46 calories, 0 fat, 0 cholesterol, 2 grams protein, 10 grams carbohydrates, 3 grams dietary fiber, 12 milligrams sodium

Hints
• Beef or chicken can be substituted for the lamb.
• If using wooden skewers, soak them in water for 30 minutes first.
• Clean mushrooms by wiping them with a damp paper towel; this keeps them from absorbing too much water.
• Leave a little space between each item on the skewer so the meat will cook evenly.

Write to her in care of Living, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, D.L. Clark Building, 503 Martindale St., Pittsburgh, PA, 15212, or email tribliving@tribweb.com.

Read more: http://triblive.com/lifestyles/fooddrink/5571652-74/lamb-grams-kabobs#ixzz2t8bIbpEG
Follow us: @triblive on Twitter | triblive on Facebook
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Speedy weeknight suppers: Moroccan fish tagine.
By Katriona MacGregor 12 Feb 2014

Meaty tagines, made with lamb or beef, are cooked slowly for hours giving them wonderful depth and tenderness but making them impractical mid-week. If instead you use fish or shellfish, you can have something ready in less than half an hour.

This is a mild, mellow tagine which can be spiced up with chilli or sweetened with honey. To this you can add olives, saffron, flaked almonds, green peppers or preserved lemons and if you can manage a moment or two of extra chopping, then fresh plum tomatoes instead of tinned.

Try serving with a bowl of fluffy cous cous, flatbreads and fresh salad.

Serves 4

4 x fillets firm white fish such as cod or haddock
1 large onion
1 clove garlic
1 tsp tomato puree
1 tsp each of tumeric, ground cumin and ground coriander
1 x 400g tin chopped tomatoes
3 strips of lemon zest
1 x 400g tin chickpeas
100g apricots or sultanas
450ml vegetable or chicken stock
Fresh coriander

Finely slice the onion and garlic and fry over a medium heat in a little oil for 5 minutes, until softened but not coloured. Keeping the pan over the heat, stir in the tomato puree and spices and cook for further minute. Next add the tinned tomatoes, stock, chickpeas, apricots or sultanas and orange zest. Bring to a simmer and allow to bubble for 10-15 minutes.

After this time is up, stir the sauce well and add the fish fillets, gently pushing them down into the sauce. If the tagine looks too thick then add a splash more stock. Allow the fish to cook in the sauce over a very gentle heat, with a lid covering the pan, for 5 minutes until just cooked through.

Scatter over some fresh coriander. Serve with couscous and salad. http://world.einnews.com/article/190131262/XcwMItPR2CpXHwOU?n=1&code=F0A6UI8SDeLVJB2O
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North African Tajine.
Friday, February 14, 2014

In Morocco, tajine means both a traditional stew and the type of special clay pot that it is cooked in. The pot has a shallow bottom and a dome-shaped top. Meats, vegetables and even fruits are cooked together slowly with a mix of spices. There are many types of tajines. This easy vegetable tajine is made with onion, sweet potatoes, carrots, parsnip and turnip and flavored with cinnamon, cumin and coriander and served over couscous. For even more flavor, top the tajine with a spoonful of chermoula.  http://www.santafenewmexican.com/magazines/health_and_wellness/north-african-tajine/article_41005114-95d9-11e3-8305-001a4bcf6878.html
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Best Souvenirs to Buy in Morocco.
By Donna Welch Wednesday, February 12th, 2014

Morocco is a stunning country to visit. It has souring mountains, massive desert sand dunes and cities that will make you feel like you have stepped back in time. It also has ancient cultures and delicious cuisine, so visitors will want to take back the perfect souvenirs from their vacation in Morocco. One of the best places to go shopping for souvenirs are the markets (souks) in Marrakesh and Fez.

Both Marrakesh and Fez are incredible cities with much to see and do, and shopping in the massive souks in these cities is one of the most enjoyable aspects of visiting this amazing country. There is plenty of accommodation in Marrakech and Fez, including guesthouses and five star hotels. But Morocco is an ideal place to relax, so we suggest you to stay in one of our spa hotels in Marrakech to fully enjoy your holidays.

Most people like souvenirs that are relevant to a certain culture and Morocco has plenty to offer. One of the best souvenirs to buy in Morocco is a Berber carpet. These beautifully crafted rugs look wonderful in any living room or bedroom and they come in a wide range of ethnic designs and colours. They are hand-woven in the Berber traditional way and have a thick pile weave, intricate border designs and are decorated with beautiful geometric patterns.

Another fantastic souvenir is a Moroccan tea set. They are beautifully designed with a silver-plated teapot and four tea glasses. These can easily be picked up at one of the souks in Fez or Marrakesh.

Morocco is also famous for its belly dancing, so what better souvenir than a belly dance costume? They can be purchased in Marrakesh’s Djemm el Fna souk and are perfect to wear with jeans as a casual outfit. Also, you can buy a full hip belt with coins sewn onto it so it jingles when you move.
http://www.venere.com/blog/souvenirs-to-buy-in-morocco/
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Cellphones and sand dunes: Morocco’s enticing contrast of traditional and modern cultures
By Elaine O'Connor, Special to the Sun February 11, 2014

It’s nearly dusk on the dunes and the setting sun is casting long shadows on the sand, stretching camel legs into spindles as they trek through a seemingly endless expanse of desert. Our caravan is heading into Morocco’s Erg Chebbi dunes — a windswept Saharan sand sea of swells that span over 100 square kilometres near the border with Algeria. As the camels sway through sweeping views of rose-gold knolls rippling to the horizon, we’re lulled into a peaceful serenity. It’s a perfect pastoral scene, the kind of impossible image conjured by guidebooks — that is, until you look closely.

Up ahead, our Berber guide, dressed in a long white djellaba and oxblood shesh whips out a smartphone. Jarringly, he begins to take cellphone snaps of the scene: a line of camels led by local teens who pair their traditional robes and turbans with skinny jeans and sneakers……
http://www.vancouversun.com/travel/Cellphones+sand+dunes/9494666/story.html
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In Morocco, unmarried couples brave cohabitation taboo.
Agence France-Presse February 2, 2014 11:48 February 2, 2014

When Moroccan divorcee Soumaya moved in with her new French boyfriend she was hoping to forget the unhappiness of her marriage. Instead, she lost her children. It's a crime in Muslim Morocco to live together out of wedlock, and unmarried couples not only face police harassment but also the prying eyes of disapproving neighbours.

Soumaya, a mother of two, says her jealous ex-husband ratted on her to the police when she started living with her boyfriend in Marrakesh, accusing her of prostitution and finding 12 witnesses to support his story.I didn't want to make the same mistake twice," she said of her decision not to re-marry. But the boyfriend eventually left her and she lost custody of the kids.

Cohabitation may be relatively common in Morocco's swish urban districts, but conservative religious attitudes can be stifling, especially for young couples living in downscale, traditional neighbourhoods.

Ibtissam Lachgar, an activist and co-founder of a campaign group to promote individual liberties, says she lives happily with her boyfriend in her apartment in the centre of the capital, Rabat. "I don't feel my sexual freedom is restricted, even though we're not married. The neighbours don't bother me, probably because I own my apartment," she says.

The problem begins, she says, when they travel to the country's hinterland and try to stay in a hotel. "It's impossible; the law forbids it. They ask to see a marriage certificate. So we're forced to seek alternative arrangements, like staying with friends."

Last October, social sensibilities were put to the test when activists staged a symbolic "kiss-in" outside parliament. They did that to show their solidarity with three teenagers arrested for posting pictures on Facebook of two of them smooching -- a case that sparked an online uproar. Around a dozen couples took part in the event, which was swiftly disrupted by a small group of counter-protesters who accused the couples of "atheism," shoving them and throwing chairs at them.

The court acquitted the teenagers, who had been accused of public indecency, but the offending couple, aged 14 and 15, were reprimanded by the judge. Lachgar's boyfriend Soufiane Fares, who studies law in Rabat's twin city of Sale, said "consensual sex between adults is a personal decision which others have no right to interfere with. "But living together outside of marriage is very difficult in a conservative society."

Hostile looks and prejudices

Ghassan Hakam, in his 30s, has his own experience of this, living in Casablanca with his French girlfriend for three years. Originally from Fez, the theatre director says that even in Morocco's largest city, they are constantly aware of their neighbours' displeasure. "I try to be discreet, avoiding kissing or touching my girlfriend in the area where we live. But I feel we are being watched, even if they don't say anything," he notes.

His girlfriend Fanny is sure that her life would be a lot more difficult if she were Moroccan. "I would definitely have suffered even more from the hostile looks and prejudices I encounter," she says.

Hakam, who lived in Paris for six years, doesn't believe he needs to get married to prove his love, and questions the reason for criminalising cohabitation. "Are two people who love each other harming society or committing a crime by living together under one roof," he asks.

Article 490 of Morocco's penal code states that sex outside marriage is punishable by up to one year in jail. In December 2012, 22 feminist organisations called for it to be repealed.

Justice Minister Mustafa Ramid, who belongs to Morocco's ruling Islamist party, declared his opposition to that. "These sexual relationships undermine the foundations of our society," he insisted.

Karim, a young entrepreneur who recently moved into a crowded neighbourhood of Rabat, no longer lives with his girlfriend. "She used to come round to my house, but she couldn't stand the looks of the neighbours, especially the men sitting in the cafe opposite." "Sometimes we were forced to return late at night to avoid the intrusive looks, which made us feel we'd committed a crime."

A study conducted by the health ministry in 2007 indicated that 36 percent of young Moroccan men had had sex outside marriage, while the proportion of unmarried young women who had lost their virginity was much lower, at 15 percent.
http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/afp/140212/morocco-unmarried-couples-brave-cohabitation-taboo
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Morocco's enticing contrast of traditional and modern cultures
Feb 12, 2014

It's nearly dusk on the dunes and the setting sun is casting long shadows on the sand, stretching camel legs into spindles as they trek through a seemingly endless expanse of desert. Our caravan is heading into Morocco's Erg Chebbi dunes - a windswept Saharan sand sea of swells that span over 100 square kilometres near the border with Algeria. As the camels sway through sweeping views of rose-gold knolls rippling to the horizon, we're lulled into a peaceful serenity. It's a perfect pastoral scene, the kind of impossible image conjured by guidebooks - that is, until you look closely……………..

http://www.windsorstar.com/travel/Morocco+enticing+contrast+traditional+modern+cultures/9498863/story.html
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'Lalla Essaydi: New Beauty': Lalla Essaydi, a New York photographer who grew up in Morocco, returns to Jenkins Johnson for a second show of large-scale photographs, this one from her most recent series, "Harem Revisited and Bullets Revisited."

If you go: 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Tuesday-Friday, until 5 p.m. Saturday. Through March 29. Jenkins Johnson Gallery , 464 Sutter St., S.F. (415) 677-0770.
http://www.sfgate.com/art/article/Lalla-Essaydi-New-Beauty-5229186.php
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After a heated debate and a long wait, the Moroccan government secretariat withdrew the “Information Law” draft bill (“Code Numerique”) from its official website, after it had published it in a bid to receive feedback before submitting it to parliament. The document sparked a huge uproar on social networking sites, which impeded its legislative track for now, until it is reviewed.

Communications Minister Mustapha Khalfi had opposed the Information Law. According to him, “the fundamental strength of the Internet lies in the freedom of expression and the ability to garner support for certain issues and positions. … Therefore, this strength cannot be controlled through external mechanisms.”

Khalfi said that the Arabic content of the Internet “is an essential source of information and news for the youth, not just a means of entertainment and conversation. It is a space where they can express their opinion and rally support for any cause or situation.” “The development of online content is based on the level of freedom, the responsible initiative, research and broadcasting ethics and professional ethics, as far as news websites are concerned,” he stressed. He encouraged “adhering to the global debate on Internet content development and investing enormous potential in this regard.”

Tabeth al-Arabi, a researcher in electronic media, commented on the bill, saying, “After a quick look at the Information Law, which was withdrawn after it sparked media attention on social networking sites, it was confirmed to me that we are easily intrigued by anything new that comes up. Activists were intrigued by the appellation of the Information Law more than they were interested in the requirements contained in the bill. In fact, most, if not all, the requirements stipulated by the bill are not new. They are just a compilation of the requirements of a set of laws that were previously issued without being granted any attention. These texts include: the Press and Publication Law, especially the amendments introduced in 2002, the law on the electronic exchange of legal data, the law on consumer protection measures and the law on the protection of individuals with regard to their personal data.”

Arabi said, “The controversy caused by some of the requirements of the Information Law, which — according to some legal experts restrict freedoms — revealed a lack of coordination and legislative regulation on the one hand and a lack of political responsibility at the level of government proposals and draft laws on the other.”

Dictionary for security authorities

In contrast, blogger Khalid Shukri clarifies things in a more technical way: “Many believe that the government's approval of the draft code will open the door for control of the virtual world such as Facebook and Twitter, but this is unfortunately wrong.”

The information technology division of the security services tracks all incoming and outgoing data through the Moroccan communication lines, thanks to a system called "Dictionnaire." The US version of this dictionary includes 3,500 words. Once mentioned in a correspondence or publication, words are detected and subsequently followed up on or archived, similarly to the US Echelon system.

Strangely enough, words such as “president” or “playground” are directly referred for a maximum degree of follow-up and analysis. Security services consider the word “president” as a possibility of assassination, harassment or provocation. The word “playground” is a possibility of a bombing or a riot, etc.

Periodic reports about some active electronic accounts are also prepared, especially those belonging to webpage owners and managers of online groups, being influential actors, in a bid to keep track of their business and their reaction to events that take place in Morocco.

Shukri said: “Surveillance is not something new. There are multiple surveillance methods such as the legalization of aliases, which gives security agencies the power to legally intervene to confiscate any site and prosecute its owner.”

Most Moroccan Twitter users, including human rights activists, bloggers and journalists, called for the need to address the draft law “that is prepared to suppress opinions and restrict freedom of expression in the virtual world.” They posted on their Twitter accounts slogans about electronically defying the draft law.

These people felt that the ratification of the draft of the Information Law would limit the freedom of electronic journalism in Morocco, especially considering that the bill includes imprisonment and severe fines such as the imprisonment of owners of websites in many cases.

“Whoever unlawfully recorded or tapped phone calls or stored personal communication data, by using websites or any other digital means of communication without a judicial authorization, shall be punished by up to five years in prison and shall pay a fine amounting to 100,000 dirhams [$12,157].”  

Imprisonment punishments

The Information Law imposes imprisonment of whoever publishes photos of minors and uses the pictures in an unethical way. The perpetrator is considered to be a “criminal involved in inducting a minor into performing an activity that may put him at risk.”

The law, however, does not only touch on ethical matters but mentions security issues as well. The draft imposes punishments against “whoever publishes data that explains how to make destructive devices, by using explosive or nuclear materials.” The law grants the members of the judicial police “the right to participate in electronic correspondence by using fake names with people who are suspected of electronic crimes.”

The Information Law comprises 114 chapters. The first paragraph of Chapter 73 was the most controversial, given the vague expressions used. The implementation or interpretation of these expressions by the judiciary system or security agencies can lead to a situation where the freedom of expression of those holding different political and intellectual ideas is limited. The paragraph stipulates the following: “Any offensive content, posted implicitly or explicitly, be it through photos or words, violent or unethical scenes that may disrupt the public order; elements that can encourage abuse, neglect and lack of safety or contradict Islam, public political convictions or the private life of individuals; or elements taking advantage of the lack of experience and naivety of minors, is prohibited.”

According to human rights activists, the dangerous aspect of this paragraph resides in its loose expressions that are subject to interpretations when it comes to ethics, Islam and political convictions.

Journalist Moubarak Limrabat said, “It is true that the world knows many risks (terrorism, crime, prostitution, etc.) but the Moroccan authorities are taking these risks as a pretext to tighten their grip on the World Wide Web and limit the 'evils' that may result from it. Its first aim is not to quell this new opposition and silence its voice, but rather to isolate it and render its voice a mere unheard whisper. It also aims to limit its expansion within society, so that its words would have no impact, the same way the authorities succeeded in isolating previous opposition movements and dwarfing the impact of their words.”

“In any way, and under whichever form the Information Law returns, it will remain brittle, easy to be breached and to find a way around it, because it will always be unable to put the Internet under control. The Internet is similar to the land of prominent Moroccan poet Ahmad Barakat: it belongs to no one. It is a land for those who have no other place to express themselves freely and honestly,” he noted.

Morocco ranked second in the Arab world in terms of electronic security. This ranking was mentioned in a report about the international index of electronic security, which prompted many questions about the ability of Morocco to face electronic threats and hacking attempts. Morocco’s index was 0.558, while Oman’s, ranking first, was 0.765. Egypt ranked third with an index of 0.5.

On the other hand, the report ranked Morocco first among African states in terms of the number of citizens benefiting from electronic services. At the same time, the report placed Morocco among countries dealing with a weakness on the level of institutions supervising the issue of electronic security in the country.

The recent ranking of Morocco in terms of electronic security does not go in line with the ranking of the International Foundation for the Protection of Data, which put Morocco third in terms of electronic security. The number of hacking attempts increased by 42% last year, which puts Morocco in the “danger zone” in terms of website hacking.
Read more: http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/culture/2014/02/morocco-new-information-draft-law-criticism.html#ixzz2tCdPJhZe
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