Virtual Magazine of Morocco on the Web
Morocco Week in Review 
October 3, 2015

Registration for American 2017 Diversity Lottery Begins October 1
Tuesday 29 September 2015 Rabat

US Department of State has announced that online registration for 2017 Diversity Immigrant Visa Program (DV-2017) will open on October 1 and will close on November 3. A press release by the Department of State said the department will begin accepting requests to register for the DV-2017 on October 1. For the fiscal year 2047, over 50,000 diversity visas will be available.

The release went on to add that Applicants who will selected in the lottery must meet simple, but strict, eligibility requirements in order to qualify for a diversity visa. People selected are chosen through a randomized computer drawing. According to the same source, there is no cost to register for the DV program. Applicants may register on this website: http://www.dvlottery.state.gov/ . Results of the lottery will be disclosed in May 2016 on the same website.

The Diversity Lottery Program provides a path for foreign nationals to become permanent residents of the United States regardless of whether they have a family member or an employer willing to sponsor them. This program is administrated annually by the US Department of State.
Read General Information about Diversity Visa Program
http://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2015/09/169037/registration-for-american-2017-diversity-lottery-begins-october-1/
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A Modern Story of Moroccan Tourism
Friday 2 October 2015 - Clay and Ann Smith Clay and Ann Smith are an American husband-and-wife team of volunteers working for the U.S. Peace Corps in youth development, Tangier, Morocco.

For years, fantasies of Morocco just drew me in. I could sit and read for hours about the country of camels trekking across vast deserts, markets flooded with exotic foods and spices, and the women mysteriously wrapped. I wanted to personally experience these things so badly, that I saved my money for a year to buy a plane ticket and make my dream of visiting Morocco come true. With ticket in hand and baggage checked, I boarded a plane from the U.S. and headed to Africa.

When the airplane wheels hit the runway, I was more than ready for my adventure of a lifetime to begin! As I walked through the arrival hall at Casablanca airport, I saw a broad diversity of skin colors, manners of dress and languages. Even though I am an American and used to diverse people, it was not what I had expected in Morocco. Looking around gave me confidence and I knew I would fit right in.

The immigration and customs area was extremely busy and it wasn’t clear where to go because I couldn’t read French or Arabic. I saw people gathering in a narrow space between some ropes, so I headed there. These designated “single file lines” had three or four people abreast. People young, old and in between, pushed and shoved in front of other people without saying “excuse me” or “please, may I.” I saw no reason for the hurry; I figured people were just tired and anxious to get home. I got bumped more than a few times, scraped on the leg by some luggage and people stood so close they were actually touching me! It was hot and we were all sweaty. Between the crowd of sweaty people and the thousands of un-brushed teeth from overnight flights, I really missed my personal space more than I might have otherwise.

I had additional trouble trying to find the train station. A well-groomed man, who said his name was Omar, approached me and said he could help. He asked me where I was from and told me that English was his favorite language. Then he said that I should meet his cousin, a tour guide. He said he could get me a good tour price. He offered to show me to the station entrance and a few minutes later, we arrived. I was getting ready to thank him for his kindness when he told me to pay him 30 dirhams for his service.

At the airport train station, the person issuing tickets for the train spoke English and she explained to me that I would first go to Casablanca and then board a different train to Rabat. I decided to splurge on a first class ticket. Once at Casa Voyageurs, I waited for the Rabat train. The platform was full and all of the seats were taken. The train was about twenty minutes late and standing that long was hard on me because I was so tired after my long flight. When the train arrived, I thought, “Finally, I can sit a while, relax during the ride and enjoy the scenery!”

I slid open the door to the compartment and said, “Good morning!” but it didn’t seem to make me any friends. On one side a woman was sleeping over all three seats. Across, a man sat in the window seat and a woman beside him, leaving one seat open by the door. I realized that the man was in my ticketed seat, so I said, “Sorry, that’s my seat.” “Ma-fahemtsh,” he said blankly looking past me, speaking to the hallway and then went back to his newspaper. Then in my best, but not very good French accent, I said, “Pardon,” pointing to my ticket and then the seat. He ignored me, so I focused on my luggage.

My bag was heavy and the storage area was above my head, so I struggled to lift it up as all three people now watched me. Both women glared at my knees, which were exposed below my skirt while I was trying to lift my bag. Feeling now like a piece of raw meat on display, I sat down. A minute later Mr. “Seat-taker” stood and left. I wanted my seat, but I thought it would be rude to move his newspaper and jacket.

Soon, I started to smell cigarette smoke. At the end of the train car, Mr. “Seat-taker” and another man were enjoying cigarettes, standing under a “no smoking” sign. The ONCF (Moroccan train authority) ticket-taker was chatting and laughing with them. In my first few hours in Morocco, I had learned: (1) a ticket does not make your seat yours and (2) a “no smoking” sign means that it’s ok to smoke.

I needed to relieve myself of the mass amount of water I had drunk on the plane, so that I had to pass the smoking men on the way to the bathroom. I tried to wait until the men were finished smoking, but they lit up another and kept chatting. So, I ventured toward my goal. As I squeezed by the men, they stopped talking and just stared at me. I found the “first class” restroom door rusty and stuck and as I tried to force it open, the men simply watched, clearly amused by my attempts. Feeling embarrassed and frustrated, I finally kicked the door and it opened with a loud bang.

As I shrank inside the small space under the continued stares, I closed the door to my new sanctuary. Once inside, I saw that my “first class” bathroom had a rusty, metal sink with a constantly dripping faucet, the mirrors were etched with graffiti and what looked like hand soap was slopped in a disposable plastic cup. The liquid had been muddied by people’s hands reaching inside and it had become dirty soap! The seat of the toilet did not match its base, was cracked, stained and had cigarette burn marks; it looked as if it had been found in a junk yard and it was not inviting me to sit! The toilet bowl was not holding water, but dumped into an open hole to the ground. I watched the track rushing by at the bottom of it and wondered how much human waste had been dumped onto it over the years. That thought made me sick.

Unfortunately, I had no other option than adding to the waste, so I did. My foresight to travel with a packet of tissues had been smart; there was no toilet paper or any paper product of any kind. But, I had to wrap up the used tissue and put it in my purse because there was no trash can and I did’t want to litter. In all honesty, I never considered myself spoiled, but this bathroom experience made me so uncomfortable.

My bathroom experience left me feeling dirty and smelling like cigarette smoke. When I returned to my compartment, the sleeping woman was now in the seat I had first taken. My things had been moved to another seat, I assumed by her, but she never looked at me or said a word. In hind sight, it probably was a bad idea to leave anything unattended on a train in Morocco.

As we were traveling through a beautifully picturesque landscape, I started to finally relax. But then the train began to slow and soon came to a complete stop. After a moment or two of waiting in the middle of nowhere, without notice or explanation, the engine and air conditioner were turned off. As I looked around me for an explanation, I noticed that none of the other people looked concerned, so I turned to my book and waited. A half an hour later, as suddenly as we stopped, thankfully we began to move.

By now, it was really uncomfortably hot and I was sweating and thirsty. Unfortunately, I did not see any place where I could purchase water. I learned later that a man with a cart has snacks and drinks available on the train, but that day, he did not appear. During the rest of the journey, the train made two more unannounced, unexplained and lengthy stops. It seemed to me like we were stopping to wait for an oncoming train to pass, and eventually one always did before we started up again. In some spots, there was only one track when two were clearly necessary to keep the time schedule. It did not make sense to me and we were very late to arrive.

My scenic, “first class” 2-hour train ride to Rabat, turned into a 4-hour, unpleasant experience. When I de-boarded the train, I was exhausted, dehydrated and out of sorts. But, I was happy to have arrived at the train station’s front door, however short-lived. Right away, several dirty and smelly men came towards me asking for money. Other men were trying to get my attention by speaking French (which I did not understand) and others stared at my bare ankles and arms, freely looking me up and down. Even though I was wearing a skirt below the knee and a black shirt up to my neck, I felt like these people felt it appropriate to disrespect me. It is ONLY because so many people were around that I felt even the slightest bit safe.

At this point, all I wanted to do was to go to my hotel and shower! People were getting into both large white taxis and small blue taxis and many were simply walking from the station. Men were waving me to their private cars. My brain swirled while I tried to figure out what to do. In my confusion and state of high anxiety, I must have looked like a crazy person. It was then that an angel, disguised as a well-dressed woman, gently took my arm. She spoke to me in broken English but in a very sweet and reassuring voice. She told me to take a blue taxi and to make the driver use the “kontur” (meter). She wrote the name of my hotel, in Arabic, on a piece of paper so that I could simply hand it to the driver. She left me, saying something in Arabic, which later I learned was, “May God bless you.”

This angel restored some of the excitement for my trip that I had lost along the way, making me smile in spite of it all. However, my first impression of Morocco was already set in stone. The land I had dreamed of for so long and for which I worked and saved my hard-earned money to visit, had, in little more than an instant, become frightening and unwelcoming for me, a woman traveling alone.
http://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2015/10/169332/a-modern-story-of-moroccan-tourism/
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Moroccans and the Waste of Time
Saturday 15 November 2014 - El Houssaine Naaim Marrakech

Societies always reflect on their culture. It is logical to understand a society by studying its culture. The three elements of culture: product, practice, and perspective, contribute to shaping a private image of any society. Thus, culture enables people, sociologists in particular, to analyze a society, and maybe highlight its remarkable features, or discover its negative aspects.

I would like to tackle this topic regarding the Moroccan society, and see how culture reflects and mirrors Moroccans’ view of the concept of time. Although I’m using “Moroccans”, I’m not generalizing. I’m simply referring just to the majority of them.

Culture can reveal the way Moroccans appreciate and consider time. By studying the way they practice ceremonies and holidays, the way they produce and create things, and the perspectives they have towards abstract concepts, we might deduce some facts about the status of time in Moroccans daily life.
Beginning with the products: Tajin, Coscous, and Moroccan Tea are the famous traditional foods and drink, respectively. These products require more than two hours to be cooked, and at least an hour to be eaten, as all of them are eaten or drunk hot. Moroccans relax whenever they cook, even though it can waste half a day. No one cares about time, or consider how to save some of it for doing something else.

Besides food, some traditional or popular daily destinations might also take too much time. Among them is the Hamam, where Moroccans, mainly women, spend at least two hours bathing. Moroccans often stay in cafés for hours, just talking, watching football matches, or reading newsletters.

On the other hand, ceremonies and celebrations may take more time than the above activities. For example, a wedding celebration might take few days. It is celebrated also from night until early morning. The day after the celebration is set aside to catch up on sleep. National and religious holidays are similar. It always takes too much time to celebrate them, as they can take more than three days.

In a direct way, time seems not to be precious for majority of Moroccans. Some Moroccans organize their social or even their professional appointments only by specifying “morning,” or “evening;” they never specify a defined time. Besides this, they also schedule their appointments only by the time of prayer. For example, “let us meet after the Al Asser prayer”

In the same context, some Moroccans might be late for an appointment, class, or work by half an hour, but they still consider this “on time.” Half an hour or an hour is “almost” on time. For example, in a bus station, you might be told that a bus is leaving right now. But when you get on the bus, you discover that “right now” means “in more than an hour.” If you are unlucky enough, you might be asked to change your bus because the one you are in is not going anywhere yet. It does not matter if you are in a hurry or you have something urgent to do in another city.

It is noteworthy that in such situations Moroccans describe the ones who are in a hurry as “dead people,” or “li zerbou matu.” So it’s better to take it easy, as it is always too early, “Mazal lhal” as Moroccans say.

Despite all this, Moroccans still have too much time. If you ask someone about what is he doing, he might answer with “nothing”, or rather, “nothing to be done”, while in truth there is a lot of work that needs to be done.

Instead, one might find many Moroccans, especially in the evening, walking for hours and hours everyday, which is their habit. They meet their friends and have long conversations, including asking about what’s new with them, to which most of them answer with “nothing,” or “Walo,” or “just with time,” “Gha Maa Lwaqt,” which has no meaning in the original language as well.

After asserting that culture can have an impact on the societies’ behavior and living standards, I cannot help but mention the role of education in changing the way Moroccans view time.

Education and teachers should adapt subjects that can promote people’s organization and appreciation of time, and educate them to respect time. Curricula should incorporate content that addresses students’ time out of the classroom. Through education, we can change the negative aspects that we have in our culture.

It is not normal to be on Facebook or chat online, while reading books might be more useful. It is not normal to do everything slowly and have no appreciation for time, while we expect to develop as quickly as possible in order to compete with the developed countries.

We should all make an effort to change our behavior. Time is money; no development will be real without knowing how to organize our time, and how to effectively use it.
Edited by Timothy Filla
http://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2014/11/144210/moroccans-and-the-waste-of-time/
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Modern Marrakech: With the Moroccan city's luxury riads taking a modernist turn, European buyers and Hollywood location scouts are being seduced by their sleek minimalist charms.
By Zoe Dare HallSeptember 22, 2015

Ever since cultural icons from Yves Saint Laurent to the Beatles and Stones beat a hippie trail to Marrakech in the 1960s, Morocco’s ornate, exotic architecture has been seen worldwide as the height of bohemian luxury.

When a decade or so ago it suddenly became fashionable to buy cheap riads in the medina to turn into holiday boltholes or boutique hotels, overseas buyers went to extreme lengths to faithfully recreate the artisanal flair of traditional Moroccan design, from acres of handpainted zelig tiles to painstakingly carved stucco.

These days, the wealthy foreigners who are buying or building villas in the countryside surrounding this magical red desert city are changing the rules. They are veering away from the extraordinary intricacy that characterises the city’s riads and palaces and opting instead for sleek modernity inspired by the sort that graces landscapes from Palm Springs to Ibiza.

This new Marrakech style has caught the eye of Hollywood. Dar Bianca – a starkly linear concrete, metal and glass villa built nine years ago by its French owners with the assistance of Algerian architect Imad Rhamouni, a protégé of Philippe Starck’s – appears in Spectre, the latest James Bond film out next month. Through movie trickery, the house – on sale for £3.2m through Aylesford – appears transplanted from its usual location next to Marrakech’s American school to a more stunt-worthy mountaintop.

Mission Impossible 5’s location scouts were also seduced by Marrakech modernism, using a strikingly minimalist villa – on sale for €3.5m through Kensington Morocco, Christie’s International Real Estate’s affiliate agent – for some scenes in the summer blockbuster. “It’s a very modern property with a stunning location overlooking the mountains. Despite its modern, cubic look, it also adheres to Berber traditions of architecture as it’s built from pisé or rammed earth,” comments Kensington’s managing director Marc Leon.

Big foreign money is still weaving its way to Marrakech. In troubled times, Middle Eastern buyers regard it as a safe haven, according to Alex Peto, head of Aylesford Morocco, who says last year’s highest ticket sale was a €100m palace reportedly bought by the Emir of Qatar.

Currently leading the pack on the market is its neighbour, Dar Olfa, on a par with a five-star hotel in terms of its enormity and facilities, and priced at €65m through Christie’s International Real Estate. High-end rentals are big business too. “Europeans are always happy to holiday here, even if they don’t want to spend €2m on a villa right now. We have properties that rent out for up to €40,000 a week, which often includes cooks and drivers. You get looked after well here,” says Peto.

For property buyers who are entranced by Marrakech but find its ancient medina – where there are now more than 1,000 riads catering to tourists – too intense, the city’s surrounding valleys are fertile ground for their huge holiday villas. “The area is becoming far more internationalised – there are now 14 golf courses within 10 miles of Marrakech. Marrakech has the joie de vivre of the Marbella strip 30 years ago, but still with African culture. You can be in your amazing European-style villa but you’ll always remember where you are,” says Peto.

Disorientation may temporarily strike, however, in one villa, on sale for €18m, which blends Nordic and Moroccan design. “The Scandinavian owner had a special relationship with the Norwegian architects Tupelo, but a local architect must always be involved in the project to get a permit so they collaborated with the Moroccan architect Abdelkarim El Achak,” says Marc Leon. “They have created an amazing 11-bedroom house, set in 5.6 acres in the Palmeraie, with Scandinavian modernity and a Moroccan touch in the tilework, sculpted plasterwork and traditional latticework,” he adds.

And there’s another piece of newly-built modern European-style architecture called Ibraaze, in Marrakech’s Ourika Valley, that puts all on show if you’re part of its private enclave – but which is invisible from beyond its entrance, with the 10-bedroom house and its grounds, which include a huge man-made lake, wild meadow and 50m swimming pool, built in a dip in the usually flat valley. “This is very pure architecture – a very flat, minimalist house with a lot of art,” says Leon, who is marketing it for €20m.

Some buyers are straying further into the mountains still for their taste of contemporary Morocco. With Richard Branson’s Kasbah Tamadot having paved the way, L’Amandier in the Ouirgane Valley an hour’s drive from Marrakech, is the latest of several boutique hotels to open in the Atlas mountains. The medina’s madness is close enough, should you want it, but the landscapes – like the architecture – offer a sense of calm. L’Amandier also has luxurious villas for sale, with four left priced from £329,000, marketed as offering "a cool design aesthetic in a warm climate".

“This is a zen-like interpretation of Moroccan architecture,” says L’Amandier’s managing director Anwar Harland-Khan. “The buildings are rendered in the same colour as the earth so there’s a real feel of being part of the landscape, but without the overdone intricacies you usually associate with Morocco. That’s appealing to European buyers. They want a retreat where they can sit back, look at the mountains and soak up the sense of time and space.”
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/luxury/property-and-architecture/84296/modern-marrakech.html
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Socrates in the Classroom and the Community Hall
Dr. Yossef Ben-Meir

Socrates, I imagine, might well have found himself at home at a modern-day community meeting, during which local people discuss the socio-economic and environmental challenges they face and determine solutions to meet their needs, in order of priority.

Rather than transmit an established tradition, the Athenian philosopher (ca. 470-399 BCE) engaged his students in a dialectic that stimulated critical thinking and independent thought and also facilitated adoption of the most logical of several initial hypotheses.  Implicit in this approach is the conviction that truth resides within every individual, waiting to be expressed.

A collaborative, sustainable approach to human development enables communities, assisted by trained facilitators, to plan their own projects, thereby creating jobs and generating benefits in health and education.  Participants in the process are encouraged to share their experiences and ideas for change and build consensus on plans of action.  This participatory approach to community development is, in essence, the application of Socratic methodology by present-day communities.
 
Further, there are features common to successful community development and educational experiences - which invariably make a powerful impact on participants - that are brought about by building applied and analytical skills, expanding outlooks on societies and promoting human satisfaction.  As both a university professor and participatory development practitioner in Morocco, I find great joy and meaning in treating my classroom as a community meeting filled with interaction, data generation, collective analysis and consensus-building.  In equal measure, I derive satisfaction and purpose from treating community meetings as learning environments where participants share knowledge, critically assess life conditions and pursue innovation.

To meet these goals, both classrooms and community meetings must operate under specific conditions.
Firstly and fundamentally, people must be encouraged to communicate.  Individuals should be entirely free to share their perspectives and respond to and challenge each other.  The aims of such inclusive discussion are to respectfully acknowledge differences and thereby develop multidimensional viewpoints.
 
An integral part of productive dialogue surrounding interests and agendas is the acceptance of conflict as inherent and, in fact, productive insofar as its presence can lead to successful resolution.  Practically speaking, the process of overcoming differences includes the expression of personal observations and at times, the proffering of an apology, with the deepening of the participants’ relationships as an important outcome. 
Setting up formal and informal opportunities for writing may catalyze thoughtful contemplation; in a learning and planning environment this would then connect with the dialogue aspect, enhancing and illuminating the entire process.
 
Critical thinking is also central to sustainable community development and transformative learning.  Allowing - even positively facilitating - challenges to our preconceptions and stating connections between actions and their consequences (both vertically and horizontally in society) is necessary to group understanding of multidimensional social phenomena.
 
Finally, collaborative, experiential learning must also be facilitated in the context of powerful education and sustainable development.  This pedagogical method creates a microcosm of the broader sustainable development dynamic, whereby the contributions and talents of individuals are viewed as vital to group endeavor, with each member playing a particular role in achieving the overall initiative.  Students build critical knowledge capacities when reflecting practical experiences back to social theory; all participants sharpen their skills and capacities in group settings as they consider social conditions, evaluate and fashion solutions to social problems and implement the change they seek.
 
If applied effectively, the result of all of this - and particularly of the acknowledgement of the individual within the group - is the collective fashioning of educational and development solutions that meet both individual and communal goals.
 
Thus, while philosophers since the Enlightenment have posited that individual and communal interests inherently oppose each other, sustainable development and collaborative pedagogical approaches, in contrast, cast these interests as mutual reinforcements.
Examples of the success of the latter are apparent worldwide, including in Morocco, where national park managements and neighboring communities engage in participatory dialogue and enhanced critical thinking as a prerequisite to working in partnership to advance both human development and resource conservation.
 
In the classroom and in the field, therefore, it is essential that teachers championing this process and facilitators of participatory community meetings adopt a common approach.  Like Socrates, they must endeavor to draw out the knowledge participants possess and enable the fusion of group ideas into an entity greater than the sum of its parts.  They must catalyze and support critical thinking processes and furthermore, ensure that the entire process is infused with experiential learning, which has been shown to be transformative in terms of both pedagogy and human development.
 
Cross-fertilizing development and education methodology would bring benefits in all areas.  Communities would be in a position to create projects that are appropriate in light of the specific social and environmental factors present.  Students will form frames of reference for processes of identifying, creating and evaluating effective social interventions, particularly those that build upward from the local level.  Teachers and community facilitators will come to find their natural home in each others’ backyards and integrate their respective methodologies to form an enriching, distinctly Socratic brew.
Dr. Yossef Ben-Meir is a sociologist, former Peace Corps Volunteer to Morocco and co-founder, in 2000, of the High Atlas Foundation of which he is President.
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Manipulation of Concepts Creates Confusion in Arab Politics
Saturday 3 October 2015 - Abdellatif Zaki Rabat

The feature that seems to dominate political discourse in the Arab world these days is the attempt to divert attention from the real structural social, cultural, economic and political problems to focus it either on imaginary problems or on those of others. What is called politics, culture, education and successes and failures is a total diversion from the universal understanding of these into instruments at the service of the few dominant groups. Likewise, what is referred to as law and order, security and stability are but the conditions in which their own rule and comfort can last.

The issue of the refugee situation which mobilizes the whole world, for example, is not only not given as much time in official Arab media and public discussions as it is in Western and Russian media, but also when it is treated it is talked about as if it were the work of others, although it is a spinoff of the degradation and disintegration of the Arab region. As another example, we have a country like Algeria, rich because of all the gas and oil she is sitting on and which she exports and the billions she has made throughout the last few decades. With a political system that maintains in power a president too feeble to govern and a military junta that draws all the privileges from the situation while citizens can hardly make ends meet, the government continues to divert the attention of Algerians by fostering and funding a militant separatist discourse addressed against the unity of neighboring Morocco.

This paradoxical situation (one would normally expect politicians to draw attention to real problems) may be the result of an increased nervousness about facing the public with unpleasant facts of history and the image of characters who have dismissed the priorities of peace and wellbeing of their nations for the interests of minority socioeconomic groups or those of faraway foreign powers.

In fact, the failure of politics to generate a discourse powerful enough to mobilize the population around credible and viable alternative social projects has led politicians in power to focus on justifying their increasingly complex forms of oppression — at times with extreme forms of intellectual, emotional and physical violence — of those criticizing them by accusing them of jeopardizing the peace, internal coherence and stability of the country. The politicians have faced the pitiful political, economic and cultural regression of the region and its respective countries by falling back on ideologies that need neither very much rigor nor imagination in argumentation to be sold. This has resulted in blurred visions, incoherent propositions, ambiguous concepts and hesitant choices which have left populations confused and at a loss.

While an Arab leader was spending billions of dollars on a two-month holiday surrounded by more than one thousand courtesans, millions were being shelled, bombarded, burnt alive, beheaded and put on boats that were not seaworthy and caused more to drown than to reach a safe haven. Those lucky enough to manage to reach the shore become wanderers in Europe hoping someone would host them, feed them and provide care for their babies and young children. The hardships and the loss of dignity which Arabs are undergoing both in their own countries and as refugees have no significant presence in the political alternatives that their leadership is proposing.

In such times, opportunistic, and often extremist, trends, are born and bred. Likewise, statuses are hijacked and identities stolen, as when, for instance, propagandists are taken for lecturers, abusers of the vulnerability of populations for philanthropists, preachers and evangelists for intellectuals, radicals for revolutionaries, obscurantists for saviors of humanity and dictators for democrats. The ambiguities that thrive in these times affect procedural political concepts such as those involving democratic processes by overloading them with loosely defined moral values like irreversible loyalty to a party and total denial of one’s individuality and submission to the decisions of a political central authority. When the ideology motivating a party is of a radical religious nature, this kind of ambiguity turns democracy into hegemony, dictatorship and totalitarianism.

The manipulation of democratic concepts includes the claim that a relative majority in a multiparty system (such as in a country with more than thirty parties like Morocco) should allow the highest percentage party to rule even with less than one-eighth of the votes. Any coalition to form a majority that excludes the party with the higher number of votes is presented as a betrayal of the will of the population and the members of that coalition are charged with plotting against the people and taxed with the worst moral evils and vices possible. Furthermore, because of the dominant self-righteousness of these pseudo-majority political parties, they may choose to coalesce with former adversaries to make up control of some city council, for example, but would accuse of the worst immoral qualities any other party who does exactly the same thing. While in their case there is always the supreme interest of the nation that justifies such odd coalitions, there is only disloyalty, greed, corruption and immorality that motivate others.

These manipulations may also include the exclusion of a category of the population based on gender, religion or ethnic group from some political, judicial and administrative responsibilities. Thus, a political party will claim to adhere to democracy but will not accept, for example, that a woman, a Christian, a Jew or member of an ethnic minority be a judge, a minister or a senior officer of law enforcement agencies. None of the Moroccan major parties presented a women to run for mayor or for president of a region in the last elections, although they all claim adherence to the parity principle in politics. This poses a serious problem to the coherence of the discourse of these parties both with their own behaviors and with the criticism they level against Western societies, which they tend to accuse of racism and religious discrimination when everyone knows that they appoint Muslim women of Arab or other minority descent to high-ranking positions. The universal aspect of Human Rights is thus often problematic to many democrats of the region.

A confusion that is maintained purposefully by some political trends concerns concepts of right to work and of Human Rights. In fact, many are translating the right to work as having to mean the right of every citizen to be employed by the state in the public sector. According to this manipulated definition of this right, to be democratic, equitable, egalitarian and fair, the State must recruit all new graduates of all universities and schools in the public sector. It becomes thus legitimate, and a Human Right, for anyone to oppose resistance to the State when it does not comply with this definition. Likewise, the concept of Human Rights was used to counter the fight against crime by corrupt law enforcement organizations that allege complying with Human Rights laws when they are actually protecting criminals and helping them to avoid falling under the rule of the law.

To conclude, this manipulation of concepts is mixing up, in the minds of many concerned citizens, political choices, economic analyses, governance procedures, and religious morality. In other words, it tends to substitute technique for theory, justifying for explaining, submitting to protocols for understanding processes, regimenting cohorts of children and young men and women for education, opportunistic loyalty for solidarity and illusion for realistic projects.
http://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2015/10/169382/manipulation-of-concepts-creates-confusion-in-arab-politics/
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Grad Student, Boren Fellow Seeks Answers to Youth Unemployment in Morocco: Graduate student Mary Sloan sits on a boat near El Jedida, Morocco, where she visited a youth employment project in the area. Photo courtesy of Mary Sloan.
October 2, 2015 | Matt Shipman
Editor’s Note: This is a guest post from Nash Dunn, a writer in the communications office of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences.

Throughout the Middle East and North Africa, youth unemployment rates are some of the highest in the world. Upward of 30 percent of the region’s population younger than age 25 don’t have jobs. That’s more than double the global average, according to the International Labor Organization.

In Morocco, the story is no different. NC State graduate student Mary Sloan wants to know why. As a 2015 recipient of the prestigious Boren Fellowship, Sloan is spending 10 months studying in Morocco, researching what’s keeping young people from finding employment in the region. In addition to studying Arabic during her stay, Sloan plans to survey Moroccans ages 18-30 and also area employers. “This will allow me to capture both the demand and supply-side constraints,” Sloan said.

Her research will also include interviewing donors and program officials from current youth employment programs. “Combined, I am hoping to use this data to evaluate the reach of these programs and their effectiveness,” Sloan said. After studying Arabic and economics at the University of Illinois, Sloan enrolled in NC State’s Master of International Studies program in 2013 to further explore her interests in development issues in the Middle East and North Africa.
The summer before she began her graduate studies in NC State’s School of Public and International Affairs, Sloan spent two months in Fez, Morocco, studying Arabic. She fell in love with the country, she said, returning the next summer through a College of Humanities and Social Sciences Paula G. Cothren Global Scholarship to intern with the High Atlas Foundation, a nonprofit that creates sustainable development projects in Morocco. “As an intern, I was able to see firsthand how these projects were developed, implemented and evaluated,” Sloan said.

The internship was also the first time she learned about the Boren Fellowship. One of her peers had received the international study award to research Moroccan language. “It was exactly what I wanted to do after finishing my coursework, and so I decided to apply,” Sloan said. The application process was straightforward but rigorous, she said, requiring three different essays for her proposed project. Luckily, Sloan said, NC State Scholarship and Fellowship Coordinator Tiffany Kershner was there to help. “She read over my essays numerous times and is very knowledgeable about the whole process,” Sloan said.
School of Public and International Affairs professor Mark Nance helped her iron out the details of her research project and SPIA professor Jeffrey Diebold and NC State’s Arabic Section Coordinator Jodi Khater wrote her letters of support. “I can’t over-emphasize how helpful and supportive these individuals were,” Sloan said.

While her latest research will focus on youth unemployment, Sloan has also studied the impact of humanitarian aid. At the NC State Graduate Student Research Symposium in March 2015, she won first place in the social sciences and management category for her poster, “Measuring Need: The Spatial Placement of Aid in Morocco.” Among other findings, results from the study suggested that donors have typically aligned aid with impoverished areas rather than human security hot spots, or areas where environmental, economic, food and health insecurities overlap.

After studying in Morocco, Sloan will fulfill a one-year commitment to the U.S. government, a requirement of the Boren Fellowship. She wants to continue monitoring and evaluating development projects and will apply for positions with the U.S. Agency for International Development and other agencies working in the Middle East and North Africa. “Hopefully I will find myself back in the region sometime in the future,” she said.
https://news.ncsu.edu/2015/10/sloan-boren-fellow-2015/
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Five Moroccan Students to Participate at 70th Session of UN General Assembly
Friday 2 October 2015 -morocco world news By Yasyn Mouhir Marrakech

A delegation of five master’s degree students will participate in the Youth Delegate Program at the 70th Session of the UN General Assembly from October 9 to 16 in New York. Sponsored by Morocco’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, the young delegation includes Nada Berrada (Virginia Tech), Bassam Cherkrane (Sorbonne University), Mohamed Hashim Wafdi (EGE Rabat), Meriem El Atouabi (Sciences Po Rabat), and Sofiane Kadmiri (Al Akhawayn University).
The program allows youth to be delegates to the United Nations and to participate in important meetings organized on a global scale, including the General Assembly and the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations.

The young delegates, representing the Kingdom, participate in events in Morocco and in the MENA region to raise awareness of the important role of young generations on the international diplomatic scene. The “Youth Delegate Program” has been implemented in 8 countries. Morocco is the first Arab and African country to implement this initiative.
http://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2015/10/169353/five-moroccan-students-to-participate-at-70th-session-of-un-general-assembly/

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Summer Jobs: Moroccan Students’ Opportunity to Make Money
Friday 2 October 2015 - morocco world news By Ayoub Derraza Rabat

Summer jobs do not require a special uniform, or standing in a queue for a work permit. All you need is to choose a popular commodity and the appropriate place to sell it. Every summer, products which become necessary for the season appear on sidewalks and near beaches. This phenomenon attracts people from various professions. “This trade does not thrive only in the summer, specifically from June to September,” explains Ayoub, who sells sunglasses and protective hats he bought from one of rabat’s popular markets, on sidewalks. The 22-year-old always tries to satisfy his customers by bringing new models of glasses. “Most of my customers are ladies and teenagers,” Ayoub adds. It seems that unemployment forces many youths to create new kinds of trade, even if it cannot extend past the end of a specific season.

Summer months are, for the majority of those hawkers, an unrefined opportunity to do this profitable business. Houssine, 29 years old, sells sunglasses on one of streets in Rabat’s Bab Elhad neighborhood. He says, while arranging his goods on sidewalks and as anguish fills his face, “this trade does not prosper except in summer when tourists begin to visit our beaches.” Houssine describes these months as the “peak season, “ which is why he adjusts product prices – by adding higher profit margins – in order to benefit well from this period.

As long as the temperature remains high, selling ice cream retains its profits – especially in July and August. However, this profession is full of troubles and suffering. Ayad, who was born in 1968, says, “I do not work except during the three months of summer. I tolerate the exorbitant transportation expenses which reduce the profit margin. On the best day, I earn MAD 70.” Once the peak months finish, Ayad returns to the daily battle with poverty.

Because our beaches become full of vacation-goers, many hawkers wander between them – carrying on their backs various kinds of sandwiches in bags. Afternoons especially give witness to many of those sellers, as the beaches become extremely full. Abdurrahman, 43 years old, says that he is “suffering from lack of sales and [his customers] are pestered by those who want to monopolize the beaches. Mostly, I respond with silence.”

Just steps away from Abdu, Sanae combs the beach with her bag full of sandwiches. After a long hesitation, the 23-year-old agreed to tell about her suffering from some tourists and hawkers, “most of them do not hesitate to harass me. Some even try to abuse me physically. Life is too hard.” The student of Arabic studies adds, “Every summer, I find myself obligated to do something in order to cover the expenses of my studies. What else can I do?” With those shocking words, Sanae tries to speak about her suffering which has torn her in opposite directions: the high cost of studying and an unmerciful society.

Seasonal trade is not necessarily linked to sunglasses, summer products, caps, and protective sunblocks. Rental chairs also represent also a profitable business. “This domain does not always provide us enough to live by as the benefit is only in summer months,” says Tareq, 33 years old and a father of two. He adds, “Some exploit our trust and just steal chairs.” In order to provide a lasting income, Tareq invests what he saves during this period. “We live just like ants. We save what we earn during these months to spend in the coming ones.”

Commenting on the phenomenon, the sociologist Ali Shaabani says, “Even if the seasonal jobs are only marginal and do not provide stable income, they abound in the summers. Since people are attracted to these products, it is a seductive business venture for many. However, only if you have a product that receives a large turnout will you make a sizeable profit.” The sociologist adds, “The absence of surveillance contributes to the spread of this trade; however, its practitioners do not respect safety conditions in the absence of deterrence mechanisms.” Regarding customers’ growing demand for sandwiches, Ali mentions the effect of restaurants on food consumption trends of Moroccan families. “The family meal setting is preferable – especially in this season – to snacks”.
On the other hand, vacationers’ opinions vary between the supporters who see this commerce as an attempt to fight unemployment and those who are afraid of the products. Siham, 26 years old, says, “Sandwich sellers provide many things which we cannot bring with us because we spend the whole day at the beach.” Anouar, another beachgoer, mentions, “I do not risk buying those products, because they do not respect safety conditions, especially sandwiches. Even their prices are too expensive,” the 19 year old adds.

Summer raises several problematic issues such as the emergence of seasonal professions. Several age groups try to fight unemployment, albeit for a short period. However, many questions exist specifically regarding safety conditions. Among these are how to abate the trend and what alternatives exist to the crowds of jobless people practicing these professions unwillingly – questions that are still without response.
http://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2015/10/169237/summer-jobs-moroccan-students-opportunity-to-make-money/
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Moroccan One-Legged Man Climbs Highest Mountain In North Africa
Saturday 19 September 2015 - Larbi Arbaoui Taroudant

Nabil Kail, a Moroccan disabled young man from Casablanca, made it successfully to the peak of Jebel Toubkal, the highest mountain in Morocco and North Africa, with an elevation of 4,167 meters. Despite his disability, the young man managed to successfully reach the top of the mountain in 10 hours from the rural Commune of Imlil, where he started his hard trek. With strong determination, the one-legged young man hiked to the summit of the mountain, using his elbow crutches.

Speaking to Moroccan press, Nabil said, “I feel proud when I reached the summit of the mountain,” stressing that he wanted to prove to everyone that disability does not prevent from the realization of human ambitions and dreams. “Nothing is impossible if there is a will, determination and courage,” he added.
He explained that practicing swimming, his best sport, helped him a lot to climb the mountain, despite the discouragement of some hikers he met on his tough hike. “Most of the people I met on my way told me that it is impossible to succeed in climbing up to the summit of Toubkal,” he said.

Nabil had his left leg amputated after suffering from cancer, but his disability never stopped him to do sport and hike the highest mountain in North Africa, a tough experience that seems very hard even for normal people.

Last July, Belgian-Moroccan young mountaineers Yanis and Adam Oulad, accompanied with their father became the first children to climb Jebel Toubkal.
Toubkal is the highest mountain in Morocco and North Africa, located in the Toubkal National Park, 63 km south of the city of Marrakesh at 4,167 meters.
http://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2015/09/168191/moroccan-one-legged-man-climbs-highest-mountain-in-north-africa/
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MCC Board Approves $ 450 million Aid for Morocco
Saturday 19 September 2015 - Larbi Arbaoui Taroudant

The Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) Board approved on Thursday in Washington a second financial aid package for Morocco worth $ 450 million, said a statement from the MCC. Under the Compact, approved at the quarterly meeting of the MCC, Morocco will benefit from this financial assistance to develop an open economy, to increase productivity and improve employment in high-growth sectors like fruit tree productivity, fisheries and artisan crafts. According to the MCC Board, the $450 million Employability and Land Compact “will support two Moroccan Government priorities: high-quality education and land productivity.”

“An employability project is designed to improve the quality, relevance and equitable access of secondary education and vocational skills training; and a land project will help rural and industrial land markets better respond to investor demand, and modernize property rights policies,” explains the MCC Board.
“The Government of Morocco has demonstrated a strong commitment to the reforms outlined in our compact, and we look forward to together creating opportunity for the Moroccan people,” MCC CEO Dana J. Hyde.

This new compact comes after the successful completion of Morocco’s first compact in September 2013. Created by the U.S. Congress in January 2004, the Millennium Challenge Corporation is an innovative and independent U.S. agency that is working to reduce global poverty through economic growth.
http://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2015/09/168225/mcc-board-approves-450-million-aid-for-morocco/
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In Moroccan Oases Women Watch Plants and Incomes Grow
by UN Women September 26, 2015

Amid the expanses of sand and rock, the arid desert landscape is interrupted by a vibrant patch of greenery. Oases are natural sanctuaries around which communities are built, providing scarce water, food and refuge from the harsh surroundings.

More than 100 women living in oases in the south-eastern province of Errachidia have found a unique way to mitigate the effects of climate change on their environment by producing medicinal and aromatic plants (MAPs). UN Women, with the support of the UNDP Tafilalet Oasis Programme and the Swiss Cooperation, organized workshops on how to cultivate MAPs using renewable energy, while promoting the work of women. One result was the creation of an Economic Interest Group, which allowed the women to bring their products to the market in a more organized way.

Women like Atiqa Jorfi, Vice-President of the Aftawik association based in the rural community of Ghriss Essoufli, in Errachidia, have been empowered through the production and commercialization of these crops in oases, which constitute a natural barrier against desertification but are susceptible to degradation as a result of climate change.

“It is the passion for plants that has encouraged us to continue to settle in this place we care for,” said Ms. Jorfi. She explained that her work with MAPs has increased her confidence, and she has noticed that other women who are involved in the initiative have felt more empowered within the community.
The women understand that protecting the oases is crucial, not only for their ecological importance but also their economic value, as 90 percent of the economic activity in oases is derived from agriculture. Medicinal and aromatic plants yield a higher profit than traditional crops. They have also proven to be able to withstand the harsh climate, and have low water requirements.

Populations living in oases have seen their livelihood endangered because of soil degradation and water scarcity as consequences of climate change. This, in turn, can lead to the further sprawl of surrounding desert. Women are especially vulnerable due to the unequal distribution of roles, resources and power between women and men.

To overcome such vulnerability, women members of the Annama Association have seen their livelihood improve through the project. Created in 2012, the group started out by acquiring a hectare of land to plant the seeds, and decided to use the drip irrigation method and a solar pump to cultivate their crops in the most sustainable way possible. Theirs is a success story: in only two years, they have seen their incomes increase, allowing them to open their own bank accounts, and achieve financial independence this way.

The project’s accomplishments have far exceeded expectations. The economic interest group now brings together 12 cooperatives and 15 NGOs to support the production and commercialization of the women’s herbs. More than 100 women in eight oases have already participated in trainings and watched their incomes grow. After only two years, the Annama Association was able to buy a second hectare of land to continue their MAP production, and they are hoping to acquire more fields. They are also hoping to extend their experience to other ksours (neighbourhoods) and villages.

By continuing the production of MAPs in a sustainable way, the women of another oasis, in Tizagharine, are not only able to earn a living, but they are also contributing to the resilience of the oasis ecosystem to better resist the threats posed by sprawling desertification and climate change.

Massaôudi Lkbira, President of the Annama Association, says that these women work hard, “struggling for a more dignified life.” No one would have believed two years ago that these women, of whom only three could read and most had not stepped outside the city of Errachidia, would have opportunities to relocate and to participate in workshops and meetings, and would gain more confidence each day.

“This project has demonstrated that rural women have a priceless ancestral know-how and can be described as custodians of agricultural diversity,” said Leila Rhiwi, a representative of UN Women Mahgreb. “This proves how important it is to keep promoting their participation in the formulation, planning and implementation of environmental policies, but we also need to double our efforts to ensure their right to the environment. Sustainable development within the framework of climate change is not possible without the full participation of women.”
This article is part of a special “In Focus” editorial package in which UN Women examines how women are affected by—and can affect—each of the 17 proposed Sustainable Development Goals
Read more: http://www.care2.com/causes/in-moroccan-oases-women-watch-plants-and-incomes-grow.html#ixzz3nW2ilq4r
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Sex, addiction and shattering tradition in Moroccan literature
Sat, Sep 26, 2015, 09:15

Moroccan author Leila Slimani has taken a bold step in writing about a bored woman addicted to sex at a time when publishers in the region expect her to ‘describe sand dunes and camels’, and women's sexuality is an explosive topic in her country and the wider Muslim world.

“One must not write what is expected. It’s important for north African writers to show they have other things to say.”

Leila Slimani, whose novel In the Garden of the Ogre has just won the Prix La Mamounia literary prize in Morocco.

In the most shocking scene of Leila Slimani’s In the Garden of the Ogre, the main character, Adèle wakes up with her face in an ashtray, crawls on all fours to vomit in the toilet, and eventually makes it to the shower where she realises her genitals are bruised and bleeding.

The previous evening, Adèle, an attractive, middle-class Parisian, put on her makeup while waiting for Mehdi and Antoine, the “escort boys” she’d contacted through the internet. “Just because you pay doesn’t mean you should let yourself go,” she tells herself. After an hour of cocaine and champagne-fuelled sex, she asks Mehdi to hurt her. At the beginning, he is careful. “Then he started to like it, seeing her twist and turn, hearing her inhuman cries.”

In the opening scene of the novel, Adèle studies men in the metro car on her way to work, thinking of each that “he would do”. She finds the address of a sometime partner in the white mobile phone she keeps secret from her husband, goes to his apartment for sex and then to the office. A seemingly interminable series of sexual encounters ensue. They are never titillating, aways sordid and joyless. Adèle is addicted to sex.

In the Garden of the Ogre has just won the Prix La Mamounia; the literary award considered the Moroccan equivalent of the French Prix Goncourt. “It’s the dark story of Adèle’s double life as a sex addict, constantly cheating on her husband, though not for pleasure,” Slimani explains at the award ceremony. “She loses control of her life. This is a book about addiction; a book that asks if love can survive betrayal.”

Slimani tells me how she chose the theme. “In May 2011, I had just given birth to my son. I watched television when I was nursing him at night and that’s how I learned that Dominique Strauss-Kahn had been arrested in New York. All the newspapers published articles about sex addiction, as if it were a new disease. But none of them were about women. I read psychiatric books and went on internet chat sites where sex addicts tell each other about their suffering, like drug addicts or alcoholics.”

Slimani’s novel was a brave choice for the international panel of judges. Slimani (34) is married to a French banker, lives in Paris and is published by Gallimard, France’s most prestigious publisher. In the Garden of the Ogre somehow slipped passed Moroccan censors, but it’s a safe bet no Moroccan publisher would have dared print it.

Other finalists adopted more traditional themes such as nostalgia for one’s country of origin, identity and the rise of radical Islam. The 2014 winner, Reda Dalil’s Le Job, was about an unemployed Moroccan who drowns his sorrows while his best friend, who has also lost his job, moves to Saudi Arabia to become a radical imam. The 2013 laureate, Rachid O’s Illiterates, addressed the persecution of homosexuals, another frequent theme in Moroccan literature.

Slimani is the first woman to win the Prix La Mamounia. “No man would have dared write what she did. It’s an extraordinary first novel,” says Alain Mabanckou, the award-winning Congolese writer and a member of the jury.

The Irish-American novelist Douglas Kennedy – the best-selling English language writer in France – is also a La Mamounia judge. “The modern novel started with Flaubert’s Madame Bovary,” Kennedy notes. “Is this a modern Madame Bovary? The style is very clinical, void of moralising. It’s also about the mortal boredom of the quotidian, about nihilism and the need for danger.”

Like Emma Bovary, Adèle is married to a doctor, has a male child and ends up in Normandy. The beautiful house purchased by her husband is her prison. “Sometimes she looks like a crazed bird, knocking its beak against the window panes, breaking its wings on the door knobs,” Slimani writes.

Like most of the Moroccan elite, Slimani was educated in French. She has no qualms about writing in the language of the former colonisers. “I am not patriotic or nationalistic,” she says. “But the French language is like a country where I take refuge when I have nowhere else to go. It consoles me for everything. For me, the language no longer belongs to the colonialists.”

Mabanckou says publishers seem to think north African writers should “describe sand dunes and camels”. Slimani was determined to break that mould. “Authors have a nationality; books do not,” she says. “The choice I made was almost political. I too am interested in identity and Islam, which is what people expect of us. But one must not write what is expected. It’s important for north African writers to show they have other things to say.”

Sex is perhaps the most explosive topic in present-day Morocco. Slimani’s second book will be an illustrated text about the sexuality of Moroccan women, based on interviews she has conducted. Several cartoonists backed out of the project after being threatened.

Much Loved, a film by the Moroccan director Nabil Ayouch, has just opened in French cinemas. The story of four prostitutes in Marrakech was banned by the Moroccan government when it was shown in Cannes for “grave outrage to moral values and Moroccan women and a flagrant attack on the image of the kingdom”. “It shows how polarising sexuality is in Morocco,” says Slimani, who has made Ayouch a character in her next book. She quotes the Turkish writer Zülf Livaneli: “All the misfortunes of the Mediterranean come from the fact that honour reposes between a woman’s legs.”

Slimani deplores what she calls the sexual poverty of Muslim countries. “When you deprive a young person of their sexuality, you alienate them. The right to sexuality is fundamental. In Morocco, all sex outside marriage is punishable by prison. Homosexuality and abortion are illegal. A child whose mother is not married can never carry a family name and legally does not exist.”

Slimani recalls the case of Amina Filali, a 16-year-old Moroccan girl who took her own life by eating rat poison three years ago because she was being forced to marry the man who had raped her.

Morocco has seen less Islamist violence than other Arab states, though attacks in Casablanca in 2003 and Marrakech in 2011 killed 45 and 17 people respectively. Dalil, the 2014 prize winner, spoke of the “Moroccan exception” created by King Mohamed VI’s status as “commander of the faithful”.
Imane Robelin, a finalist this year, said she does not want to write about jihadism “because people already talk far too much about it, and I want to convey a peaceful image of Islam”.

Could these Moroccan writers, most of whom live abroad, be ignoring the most important issue facing the Arab world? Slimani places great hope in a new generation of Arab feminists, including herself, the Egyptian writer Mona Eltahawy and the Lebanese journalist Joumana Haddad. Slimani admits that her way of thinking and the ideology of Islamic State are “two absolutely irreconcilable faces of the Arab world”. Which side will win? I ask her. “I don’t know,” she replies.

La Mamounia: Patron of the arts, refuge for the wealthy

Since its foundation in 1923, La Mamounia has been a favourite refuge for the rich and famous. The hotel is suffused with scents of amber, cedar and sandalwood. Rooms are decorated with marble columns, sculpted wooden ceilings and Ali Baba lamps. It recently won the “Best Hotel in the World Readers Choice Award” from Condé Nast Traveller. It also nurtures a reputation as a patron of the arts, and sponsors the Prix La Mamounia, which is awarded by a panel of seven international judges to a Moroccan author writing in French. The award is now in its sixth year.

The hotel’s library has art books on Matisse and Delacroix in Morocco. Winston Churchill wintered at La Mamounia, which he described to Franklin D Roosevelt in 1943 as one of the loveliest spots on earth. The 17-acre garden is hundreds of years old. In alleys of tall, knotted olive trees, coconut palms and rose hedges, one hears only birdsong. The garden was a gift from the 18th century Sultan Sidi Mohammmed Ben Abdallah to his son Mamoun, hence the name of the hotel.
Other guests have included Alfred Hitchcock – who shot The Man Who Knew too Much at La Mamounia – Charlie Chaplin, Marcello Mastroianni, Kirk Douglas, Silvester Stallone, Richard Gere, Kate Winslet, Elton John and Catherine Deneuve.
http://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/sex-addiction-and-shattering-tradition-in-moroccan-literature-1.2366216

Dark novel on female sex addiction wins prize in Morocco
© C. Helie, Gallimard | Leïla Slimani received La Mamounia literary prize in Marrakesh for her novel "In the Garden of the Ogre"
Text by Sarah LEDUC
Latest update : 2015-09-29

Leïla Slimani, a Franco-Moroccan novelist and journalist, scooped up the Mamounia literary prize for her novel "In the Garden of the Ogre". It was a bold choice that rewarded a raw novel about female sexual addiction.

In a trendy café in the busy Parisian neighbourhood of the Marais, you sometimes need to strain to hear Leïla Slimani. Her voice is as soft as she is discreet. As Slimani speaks, her radiant smile intact, it’s hard to imagine that this luminous 30-something wrote "In the Garden of the Ogre", which takes a cold look at sexual addiction and a woman’s descent into hell – despite her appearing to have a perfect life.

"A gutsy subject," noted novelist Christine Orban, as she handed Slimani the prize in the Morrocan city of Marrakesh last week. Slimani is the first woman to receive the award, which is aimed at celebrating Moroccan novelists writing in French. The president of the panel said that the jury unanimously picked Slimani for her courage in addressing a taboo topic as well as for her brilliant and psychologically gripping prose.
Slimani was born and raised in Rabat. "When I write what I think about sexuality in a country where homosexuality and sex outside marriage are prohibited, that engages me. Somehow, I take risks," she said.

Like a crack junkie

“In the Garden of the Ogre” is not a romantic novel. Instead, the sexuality evoked by Slimani is dirty, sad and painful. Her character, Adèle Robinson, craves sex like addicts crave a crack pipe. Adèle is unhappy in the daily boredom of her bourgeois life. So to forget her existence, she sleeps with anyone, anywhere, seeking neither pleasure nor tenderness.

As soon as her gastroenterologist husband leaves for work, Adèle, a journalist focused on international affairs, opens the door to her second life. She seeks in men, and often strangers, "that magical feeling of touching, with her finger, the vile and obscene, the bourgeois perversion and human misery".
"Adèle can only think of that. She gets up, drinks a strong coffee in the sleeping house. Standing in the kitchen, she balances on one foot and then the other. She smokes a cigarette. In the shower she wants to scratch, to rip her body in two. She bangs her forehead against the wall. She wants us to grasp her, to break her head against the glass,” reads one paragraph.

The jury’s choice was a bold one, particularly since a few months earlier "Much Loved", Nabil Ayouch’s film about prostitutes in Marrakesh, was banned from being shown in the country after officials in Rabat deemed it "a serious affront to moral values and Moroccan women". Slimani’s book has not only escaped censorship but was received favourably by the Moroccan public. "When I presented the book, people were very open, very curious. Moroccans are fond of debates and they are tired of the hypocrisy and the taboo that weighs on certain topics, notably sexuality," said Slimani.

‘We don’t need to write about dunes and camels’

Slimani nonetheless admitted that "things would have been much more complicated if [her] character was Moroccan or lived in Morocco”. “Authorities in Rabat believe that if we create a Moroccan character, even in a work of fiction, we are responsible for the image of Moroccan women," she said.

"When a young North African publishes a first novel, it needs to be about Islam, identity, Maghreb, immigration, etc. I also wanted to say that a North African in France has access to universal experiences and is not obliged to mention dunes, camels and mosques,” said Slimani, who abhors the eternal question of identity that people always want to bring her back to.

Slimani was born in 1981 in Rabat to a mother who is part French (from Alsace) and part Algerian, and a Moroccan father, both of whom are "very liberal" and to whom she dedicated the book. "My parents were lovers of books and they raised us in a manner that viewed freedom and subversion as indispensable," Slimani said. After attending French school in Rabat she left for France, where she attended Sciences Po university in Paris and then studied in the media department of the ESCP business school. After graduation she was hired by Jeune Afrique newspaper, where she worked for five years.

But "life in a newsroom is not [her] thing", she admitted with a smile. She resigned to devote herself to writing. After a first autobiographical novel remained in her drawer – "In writing, you have to throw out [your work]," she said – it was the DSK affair in 2011 that gave her the idea for her novel. DSK is a reference to former International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn, who had a spectacular fall from grace after he was accused of assaulting a New York hotel maid. She was breastfeeding her son, who she has from her marriage to a French banker, and watching TV coverage of the DSK affair when the idea for her book struck her.

‘Human darkness fascinates me’

"I watched these images of a defeated, pale man. I was intrigued by the fact that a man who has control of his life and who has risen so high was able to lose everything for an affair," she said. The idea of how to portray her female character dawned on her quickly. "I like anti-hero women,” she said. “Negative female characters interest me.” Slimani plunged into reading Madame Bovary, Anna Karenina and women who are trying "to escape their lives". Gradually, the character of Adèle Robinson emerged.

"Human darkness fascinates me, I find it intriguing. And there are few female characters who are explored in this light," she said.
The soft-spoken writer also confided that she has started writing a new novel. "With this, it's even worse, I do not even know how I'll reach the darkness of this being," she said, with a laugh. It sounds promising.
http://www.france24.com/en/20150929-novel-leila-slimani-book-sex-addiction-prize-morocco#./20150929-novel-leila-slimani-book-sex-addiction-prize-morocco?&_suid=14438849597330157410399844849
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The Importance of Teacher-Student Relationship in Achieving Successful Learning Experience
Friday 2 October 2015 -  By Ikrame Chibani Rabat

The student-teacher relationship has been the subject matter of various debates. Some argue that teachers and students alike should maintain a relationship that is professional in nature. Others strongly believe that in order to achieve an effective learning experience, a close relationship should be established between teachers and students. Indeed, raising teachers’ and students’ awareness regarding the importance of an effective relationship leads to great achievements.

Opponents of a close teacher-student relationship ignore the humanistic side of learning and argue for the importance of both teachers’ and students’ skills in successful learning. They claim, for instance, that in a class composed of more than forty students, the teacher is incapable of maintaining close relationships with all of his or her students. For these people, a close student-teacher relationship may often be misunderstood; whilst a pat on the back can simply mean an act of encouragement, it could seriously disrupt one’s career, namely, if this act is interpreted as a type of harassment by a staff member or by students themselves. Therefore, proponents of relatively hands-off education prefer that teachers perform their mission in a very strict manner, ignoring the emotional aspect that plays a crucial role in students’ achievements.

Considering the opposite claims, supporters of a warmer teacher-student relationship build their arguments on solid ground. Humans are emotional beings and so students tend to perform better when feeling comfortable. A teacher, therefore, should build connections with his or her students to ensure appropriate conditions for an effective learning experience. In order to do so, the psychological state of students must be a primary concern of the teacher.

One high school teacher claims that a strong relationship between teacher and student will calm a student’s insecurities. She adds that a student who is at ease with the teacher will confidently ask questions if he or she has some difficulties in understanding the lesson. Further, a student may gain interest in a given subject only through a close relationship with the instructor. Lastly, the teacher continues, a teacher who is authoritative in class will be faced with more rebellion, which can eventually lead to serious issues.

A final decision concerning this issue still has not been reached. Yet, it is obvious that education not only means teaching courses and lessons, but also implies taking care of the emotional and the psychological aspects of the student. Therefore, one must strike a balance between conveying knowledge and caring for emotional states, which can be attained only through a positive relationship between teachers and students.
http://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2015/10/169330/the-importance-of-teacher-student-relationship-in-achieving-successful-learning-experience/
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Reforming Education - How Morocco Plans On Empowering the Next Generation
By By Anastasia Pestova

August 20th, 2015 marked the 60th anniversary of the Revolution of the King and the People. In a speech on the occasion, King Mohammed VI called for comprehensive education reform in Morocco. Recognizing that the education sector has faced difficulties in the past, the King described the new system as one of fairness, equality of opportunity, and quality that will encourage individual and social progress.

Morocco has faced education challenges since its independence in 1956. Despite allocating 5.4% of its GNP to education, it still trails other developing countries in the region. A low level of public education does little to bridge the stark divide between a well educated elite and a third of all Moroccans who remain illiterate. National and international surveys have shown low attendance and high dropout rates, particularly past primary schools. This is especially true for rural areas, where inadequate roads and long distances separate students from schools. Educational institutions have also suffered from lack of qualified staff and of an updated, common curriculum for secondary students. The traditional linguistic divide between Berber and the official Arabic language has made it difficult to implement a universal curriculum. However, multiple endeavors, in the form of national polices, have been implemented to overcome these setbacks.
These include the National Literary and Non-formal Education Strategy established in 2004, an Accessibility and Infrastructure Reform in 2005, and an Education Emergency Plan in 2009. Recently, Morocco also launched an initiative to combat the problems of low attendance and literacy levels in rural areas by providing stipends to low income families, supplying bikes to the students in remote areas, and establishing other transportation services. Encouraging attendance in primary schools will hopefully lead to higher attendance in secondary schools and encourage students to pursue a career beyond their rural towns.

The Council of Education recently published the Strategic Vision for the Reform of the Moroccan School set to take place 2015-2030. This plan will address the setbacks mentioned above by basing education policy on three pillars. The first pillar, will create a school fairness and equality of opportunity, which will strive to ensure attendance and combat abandonment in all its forms including a reduction school dropout and repetition rates. This will be achieved by making schools in remote regions more accessible, creating common core examination levels for each grade, and teaching Arabic and French through secondary school, while also focusing on the Amazigh (a Berber) language. The government has also vowed to allocate resources to academic research and scholarships abroad for Moroccan students at the college level.

The second pillar requires a reform of business education and training. It includes training for teaching professionals and creating a new standard for those wishing to work in the educational sector. This is particularly relevant to private institutions, which can suffer from a lack of qualified staff, where a large percentage of the teachers do not possess a baccalaureate.

The third pillar will be based on securing employment for youth and human capital development by promoting marketable skills and vocational training. To accomplish this, Morocco aims to create programs that prepare students for the modern workforce by providing them with internships and necessary technical training.

The reforms emphasize education as a gateway to social and personal development, and the facilitation of a community dialogue that strengthens relationships between institutions and their communities. They aim to create fairness, equality of opportunity, and quality education for all. A reorganization of the educational system will also serve as a means to combat poverty, isolation, and fanaticism while meeting the demands of the 21st labor market at the same time. The King stressed that the "rehabilitation of education remains pivotal in achieving development and is key to ensuring social openness and emancipation." His reforms advocate educational values stemming from tolerance and moderation. Since educational reform is a priority throughout the Middle East and North Africa, if Morocco succeeds, it will set an example for others to consider.
Anastasia Pestova is a research assistant at MAC.
http://allafrica.com/stories/201509240772.html
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Moulay Ismail, the Moroccan Sultan Who Fathered Over 1,000 Children
Wednesday 23 September 2015 - Karla Dieseldorff Miami

Some consider it a legend, others believe it to be truth, and now the speculation can end after scientists have reportedly proven that it is indeed possible that Moroccan Sultan Moulay Ismaïl was the biological father of over 1,000 children.

According to a Live Science report, scientists and anthropologists at the University of Vienna have created computer simulations that studied how many times Sultan Moulay would have needed to engage in sex in order to father 1,171 children in a period of 32 years.

It was French diplomat Dominique Busnot who came up with 1,171 offspring in his research. The Guinness Book of World Records had previously said that Moroccan sultan had 880 children. Regardless, Moulay Ismail holds the title for “greatest number of progeny from anyone throughout history that can be verified.”

The study revealed that “The Bloodthirsty” ruler, as he was called, could be the biological father of the 1,171 kids if he had sex between 0.83 to 1.43 times per day, that is an average of once every single day throughout 32 years until he turned 56 years old.

How do you get enough mothers for that many children? Easy! The Sultan was known to have had 4 wives and 500 concubines, yet the study showed only 65 to 110 women would have been necessary to give birth to more than 1,000 babies.

Questions of women infertility and the quality of the sperm to be capable of fertilizing eggs have come up to debunk the once believed “myth.” Yet the different reproductive studies have reportedly confirmed his fatherhood and put all doubts to sleep.

Live Science shared that Sultan Moulay Ismaïl ruled Morocco from 1672 to 1727 and was a Sharifian, descendant from Prophet Muhammad.

Moulay Ismail was not known being “ruthless” having murdered over 30,000 people plus those fallen in war, hence earning the nickname “The Bloodthirsty”.
Even to the mothers of his hundreds of children, he was not very nice. It is believed that If he had any “suspicion of adultery” he strangled the women, chopped their breasts off, or simply knocked out their teeth. As a man, it was best not to glance at any of his 504 women, running the risk of being murdered.
http://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2015/09/168610/moulay-ismail-the-moroccan-sultan-who-fathered-over-1000-children/
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Moroccan Government Begins Providing Stipends to Needy Widows
Wednesday 23 September 2015 - Amjad Hemidach Fez Abdelilah Benkirane

The Moroccan government has begun giving payments to widows who are in difficult situation, according to Head of Government. The allocations currently benefit 10,500 widows, and the number will increase after the government conducts a study of an additional 40,000 potential cases.

The initiative aims at bringing balance to Moroccan families and helping widowed mothers to support their children. Widows’ children under the age of 21 will receive MAD 350 a month, provided the total for a family does not exceed MAD 1050. Children with special needs or disabilities will benefit from support their entire life. Applicants are required to prove they are in need and that their children are continuing their studies, unless they suffer from a disability. Mothers will also have to provide their children’s birth certificates and certificates proving they are alive.

The program is expected to alleviate the hardships widows undergo and help many children continue their education. Some cases have been delayed because their files do not contain the required documents.
Edited by Timoty Filla
http://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2015/09/168608/moroccan-government-begins-providing-stipends-to-needy-widows/
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Looking for Women Role Models in Morocco?
By Jean R. Abinader Moroccan American Center for Policy (Washington, DC)

On September 16, Forbes Middle East unveiled its 2015 annual ranking of the Arab World's Most Powerful Women during an exclusive gala dinner and awards ceremony in Dubai. A compelling sidebar to each of their profiles is that these women are both exemplary professionals and deeply involved in their communities and country. Forbes ranked them according to the impact they have on their profession, as well as their commitment to social development in their countries.

Six women from Morocco made the list. Rita Maria Zniber, who has led Diana Holdings since April 2014, has built her reputation as a keen business person who sees her mission as making her company a global player in producing wines and spirits. The Zniber brand is well known as the top vintner in Morocco, with more than 6,500 employees. In addition to her business achievements, Mrs. Zniber is known for her foundation, which specializes in care for abandoned children. Over a 20 year period, starting in Meknes, she has established a growing group of services for abandoned babies and orphaned children, now reaching 350 charges a year.

Laila Mamou is chairperson of the Management Board of Wafasalaf, a leading credit card and financing company in Morocco and the region. She began her career with the Moroccan affiliate of Deloitte and quickly rose through the ranks of Wafasalaf, first in risk management and then director of commercial sales, where she oversaw the launch of its very successful "one hour credit" product. Mrs. Mamou has led Wafasalaf to become a leading consumer credit company.
Salwa Akhannouch is the president of Akwa Group, a distributor of petroleum products, and heads the franchise group Aksal.

Her most visible project to date is the Morocco Mall, the largest shopping center in Africa and the Middle East, often included in the top 5 worldwide.Mrs. Akhannouch and her husband, Aziz, the Minister of Agriculture, and members of their family, are deeply committed to promoting Moroccan handicrafts and artisans. Their artisanal center in Sale is a must-see on any visit to the Rabat area.

Hund Bouhia is a star in the financial sector. She is the CEO of Global Nexus, having previously served as the Head of Investment Strategy of CDG, Morocco's Public Pension Fund, and as Director General of the Casablanca Stock Exchange.
http://allafrica.com/stories/201509230958.html
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"Maverick" dentists travel to treat children in remote mountains of Morocco.
Andy Nourish and Cheryl Jones from Advance Dental Care, Barry (39402270) Wednesday 23 September 2015

TWO "Maverick" Barry dentists will be travelling to treat hundreds of children in the remote mountains of Morocco. This weekend (Saturday, September 26) Cheryl Jones and Andy Nourish, Practice Manager and Owner of Advanced Dental Care in Barry, will be flying out to the Rif Mountains in Morocco with the Dental Mavericks charity.

The pair, along with the rest of the Dental Maverick team, plan to treat hundreds of children over the course of a few days in remote villages. The majority of the work will involve carrying out extractions of rotten teeth as the Moroccan diet is high in sugar and the people have no access to dental care.
There is also a Teeth For Life program in which children are taught to brush and look after their teeth. People in each area visited are also left with enough toothpaste and brushes to take care of their teeth for a year.

This is Advance Dental Care’s third visit to Morocco to treat children, after last May's challenging and rewarding visit to the Atlas Mountains where dentists Louise Bottomer and Gareth Crowther helped 350 children out of dental pain.

All Dental Maverick projects are self funded by the Mavericks themselves, along with fund raising and donations from dental suppliers and the general public.
Friends, family and patients of Advance Dental Care generously donated £1000 which buys medical supplies, dental chairs and equipment which enables them to set up a surgery and treat the children. Generous prizes for Advanced Dental Care's raffle were also provided by the Vale of Glamorgan Resort, The Old Cottage, Lisvane and Streets Brasserie
http://www.barryanddistrictnews.co.uk/news/latestnews/13777871._quot_Maverick_quot__dentists_travel_to_treat_children_in_remote_mountains_of_Morocco/-------------------------------------------------------------

The Trainings that Fail: Preparing Docile Teachers for Teaching Jobs
Monday 21 September 2015 - morocco world news By Oussama Raqui Rabat

The training period is an important stage in the professional making of any teacher. But the recent reform fails to tackle real problems in teacher training. Instead of instructing trainee teachers in how to prepare for exams, teachers should be trained to teach effectively and evaluated through performance based assessment in classrooms.

Anthropologists say that fish are the last creatures to discover they live in water. (Kluckholn 1949, cited in Finnan 2000:9) The implication here is that culture surrounds our lives and interactions without us realising, in the same way as fish don’t notice they live in water until taken out of it. While participating in the training program in CRMEF (the regional centre of jobs in education and training) in Safi, we observed that there was a cultural context that shaped the training year and limited the effectiveness of the program.

Many Moroccan teachers maintain that internships are too theoretical and have nothing to do with their daily practices in classrooms. Benhima’s 2014 study revealed that teachers hardly ever put into practice what they learn in training. We argue that novice teachers look to their experience in the training centres for solutions to problems they face in the classroom, rather than the theories they learn. The sometimes damaging way they are taught in the training centres influences their own style of teaching.

The problematic situation among trainees, the administration and the trainers started in the regional center in Safi when, after not having received their scholarship money for three and a half months, teachers boycotted classes and demonstrated. The Ministry of Education, whose responsibility is to guarantee high quality training for the teachers-to-be, stopped providing material support to finance the training. The way the administration and trainers dealt with trainee teachers after the sit-ins in Safi is also worth discussing.

Chtatou (2014) says that ‘the time of the “teacher-lion,” …is over.’ It is not yet over. This kind of teacher was still present in the training centres. Many trainers threatened trainees and attacked them for boycotting the training and asking for their rights. It was disappointing that some trainers were urging trainees not to take part in demonstrations again. The trainers’ threats made us lose our desire to study and focus on our professional development; the dream of becoming a teacher started to turn into a nightmare. Furthermore, some of our colleagues in the English department were questioned simply because they criticized the management of the training on a Facebook page. This is what trainers taught novice teachers in an implicit way: never criticize or question your institution, just obey the rules. After the sit-ins, there was a general attitude of submission shaped by our culture and how we have been socialized in Moroccan society.
The cultural trope of submission was implicit throughout the training year. This aspect of Moroccan culture is outlined by Willis and Maaroof (2010): By constructing an ideological discourse naturalizing the supplicant’s submissive attitude to the shrif and the saint, the maraboutic institution domesticates its followers and disciplines them into docile identities…Saint-goers already drilled by virtue of myth and ritual to submit to the power of the Saint also hope for an intertwined material salvation from the “distributing centre.

Through the cultural ritual of visiting saints’ tombs, submission has been constructed in the collective imagination of Moroccans. Instead of expressing themselves and demanding their rights from the authorities, citizens were socialized to accept their daily sufferings and to believe that saints can change their lives for the best. This worldview was apparent in the CRMEF training program. Trainers functioned as saints/sultans, wielding their power to pass or fail trainees. In this respect, the training centers were equivalent to “distributing centers,” the place where it is possible to change one’s life and material status by getting a job. Teacher training turned into a capitalist relationship between trainees and trainers.

The training was considered a way into a job rather than a learning process to be able to do the job well. Getting good grades in exams was the goal, in order to get a job in a good place with better working conditions. Trainers believed they had this power over the trainees as long as “the employee is hired not so much on the basis of a rational or bureaucratic assessment of skills but on the basis of “charity.” From the employee’s side it follows that there is a duty not of an economic or legal kind but of a binding social, religio-cultural and ethical kind, a gift-exchange cultural model characterized by the obligation not to “bite the hand that feeds you…” (Willis & Maarouf, 2010). Trainers were expected to be charitable by hiring trainees as a return for trainees’ submissive attitude towards the bad educational status of the training centre.

There were few expressions of resistance to this irrational state of affairs, where trainees had to show obedience in order to succeed. This cultural model “allows for an increase in rank and subsequent modifications in status” (Hammoudi 1999, cited in Willis & Maarouf, 2010:43). We argue that the situation of training in Morocco has been going in that direction shaped by the same culture towards successive failures in teacher education.

The recent changes in the procedures of hiring teachers initiated by the ministry are just a stopgap to prevent trainings from repeatedly failing. Trainee teachers are no longer considered teachers-to-be. They are simply job applicants. They have to pass the training as well as an examination to join the teaching profession. We wonder to what extent this procedure will make trainees unwilling to criticize and question aspects of the training. There will always be a hesitation to swim against the current and express one’s opinions freely about different aspects of the educational system in Morocco. The same cultural schema of submission will be directing interactions on a large scale. Students will be doing their best to please trainers and the administration in order to get the job “as supplicants expect the maraboutic distributing centre or saint/sultan to be charitable with them, feed them, protect them, or smooth their life course.” (Willis & Maarouf, 2010)

The above modifications in hiring teachers do not take into account the culture surrounding the process of training in Morocco and will not bring good results for many reasons. The way trainees are assessed in CRMEF needs to be reconsidered. Our performance in classrooms was not given much importance in the evaluation process. In fact, four colleagues failed to pass the training simply because they did not get a passing grade in a module of phonetics. This was the case in various centres in different regions, where many trainees failed although they performed well in practical examinations in schools.

No one denies that the level of students graduating from Moroccan universities is questionable, but it is high time to adopt performance-based assessment to a greater extent for evaluation purposes. Darling-Hamond (2010) points out that “performance assessments that measure what teachers actually do in the classroom, and which have been found to be related to later teacher effectiveness, are a much more potent tool for evaluating teachers’ competence and readiness, as well as for supporting needed changes in teacher education” (p5). And the key to modifying and improving teacher education also lies in performance-based assessment, rather than coming up with measures that further students’ abiding passivity. “[A]ny innovative idea or procedure needs to be critically inspected not only for its potential effectiveness but also for its pertinence to the cultural context where it is to be implemented” (Maarouf, 2015). The way teachers are currently trained and evaluated limits their development of certain characteristics necessary for improvement and success in daily practices in Moroccan classrooms.

It is essential for teachers to possess and acquire certain qualities to succeed in their jobs, but the current situation of training does not seem to initiate this process. It goes without saying that teaching is one of the most difficult jobs. It requires passion, hard work and an ongoing spirit of research in the field. Robert J. Walker conducted a study for fifteen years to discover the best qualities that need to be found in every teacher. The study outlined twelve characteristics that make up influential teachers (see Walker 2008). Being creative, respecting students and admitting mistakes are some of these qualities. The reality of training in Morocco does not foster such qualities in teachers. When Chtato (2014) says that “[the teacher of the future] should also face the information influx with perseverance, wisdom and rationality, through lifelong continuing training, “the teacher’s lifelong learning,” to preserve “teaching fitness,” he illustrates the importance of having teachers who are not only qualified in their field of specialty but also have outstanding characteristics to keep themselves ready to deal with different kinds of problems. This is the missing link in the development of effective teachers in Morocco.
Without giving teacher education enough attention, the reforms have no foundation. Teachers are important players in the educational system in Morocco. Their participation in any reform is crucial to the success of new plans and changes. But the dismal results of training in Morocco are signs of failure to achieve these goals. Teachers are not welcomed to the teaching profession in a spirit of hard work and collaboration. Throughout the training period there was a sense of pessimism about the situation of education in Morocco. This bad start leads to a problematic sense of status for teachers, and might be one of the reasons for the collapse of education.

The Ministry of Education has recently initiated a new examination to hire teachers after they finish their training this year, but it has not yet revealed the nature of this evaluation. We urge the ministry to adopt performance assessments in order to evaluate teachers. Written exams do not reflect teachers’ effectiveness. In addition to this, depriving trainees of their title as trainee teachers and making them unsure about joining the teaching profession will only worsen the situation of training and teaching in general. Trainees must get on the right track from their first years in education or else they will lose their way, leading to a situation worse than what we are experiencing today.
http://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2015/09/168299/the-trainings-that-fail-preparing-docile-teachers-for-teaching-jobs/
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Etrog (citrons) hot spot for Jewish holiday fruit

Each August and September, Jewish merchants come from around the world to his remote grove in the highlands of Morocco — an hourlong hike through mountains, over rocks and along cliffsides.

Mohammed Douch, 67, and his etrog grove are part of southern Morocco’s small and unlikely etrog industry, which has popped up here each summer for centuries. Almost no Jews live in Morocco, but a few dozen Jewish merchants support the industry, sending etrogs — called citrons in English — to Jewish communities on three continents for Sukkot. On the fall harvest holiday, Jews are commanded to pray with a fragrant, colorful collection of four plants, including the etrog.

And even though Morocco does not have formal relations with Israel, the etrogs make it there, too. Because 5775 was a “shmita,” or sabbatical year, when Jewish law prohibits agricultural activity in Israel, demand for etrogs grown in Morocco is especially high this season.

There are no statistics on the etrog industry in Morocco, but up to hundreds of thousands of etrogs leave the country each year. Merchants said most of the fruits go to Europe, the United States and Canada. Israel began importing etrogs from Morocco in 2013 with a first shipment of 1,500.

Click here to read more at stljewishlight.com.
http://www.freshplaza.com/article/146036/Morocco-Etrog-(citrons)-hot-spot-for-Jewish-holiday-fruit
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Jews prepare for Yom Kippur in Morocco: Thousands of tourists come to Morocco to celebrate the High Holy Days in the ancient Jewish quarters where Israeli photographer Yisrael Bardugo depicts a buoyant Jewish community.
Ynetnews 09.21.15,

Kapparot (a pre-Yom Kippur attonement ritual) in the streets of Casablanca and etrog markets in the Atlas Mountains signal that we are in the midst of the Jewish holidays.

The days of awe are here and Morocco is flooded with Jewish tourists. One of them, the Israeli photographer Yisrael Bardugo, is excitedly touring the Jewish areas of the Muslim state, and documenting the preparations of the local community for Yom Kippur.

He came to photograph for a series of Chabad children's books "Kids as emissaries," depicting the lives of Chabad emissaries' children in the diaspora (inspired by the legendary book series "Children of the World"). But he says he discovered in Casablanca, Marrakech and its surroundings a buoyant and vivacious Jewish community.

Rabbi Levi Bannon, a Chabad emissary in Morocco, says that the community in Casablanca is preparing for Yom Kippur prayers which thousands are expected to participate in. Casablanca itself has dozens of synagogues, but in preparation for Yom Kippur, Chabad has even prepared a special area to welcome Jewish tourists visiting Morocco during the holiday season.

Isaac Ohayon, in charge of the ancient synagogue in the Mellah (the ancient Jewish quarters of Morocco), recounts that this time of year no less than 40 thousand Jews visit the city and the traffic is felt in its ancient synagogues and in the old Jewish neighborhoods which have been preserved for centuries.
Bardugo says the Jewish community is expecting the King of Morocco to send his son, the prince, to Yom Kippur prayers - a practice which the king exercised all of his childhood. Marrakech's community head, Jackie Kadosh, explains that the synagogue of Marrakech will host the King's representatives for a special prayer for the king's good health.

According to Bardugo, the lively traffic of dealers of the four species (used during Sukkot) has been felt, as they take the orders for etrogs which are grown in the Atlas Mountains. The festive atmosphere is also felt in the souqs - where Arab merchants sell pomegranates and etrogs for the local community.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4702898,00.html
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A Moroccan in Chicago: The Remains of the Nights
Sunday 20 September 2015 - Abdallah Zbir

Chicago, the city Chicagoans call “The Windy City,” is unique, magical and seductive. Located on the shores of Lake Michigan, this Midwestern city is known the world over for its enticing architecture, amazing landmarks, city parks, fancy cuisine, community bars and pubs and, of course, its Irish spirit. Be it in Uptown, Old Town, Wicker Park, Lincoln Park, Logan Square, Little Italy or Roscoe Village, every corner in the city tells a story, recalls a memory or marks an episode of monumental history. Whether it’s the Great Fire of 1871, which killed 100 people and left over 100,000 residents homeless; or the legacy of Al Capone, the best known American gangster and the boss of the Chicago Mafia, historically referred to as the Chicago Outfit; or the celebration of Saint Patrick’s Day or the magic of its blues music, Chicago has its own pride and privilege.

However, Chicago, the city that some call “The Second City” and that I call my second home, has its own problems — serious problems, a dark side and, of course, a bit of shame. The word corruption may say it all. We all know that four of Illinois’ last seven governors served a jail sentence, and the city has always been ranked among most corrupt cities in both polls and university-conducted studies, not only in the Midwest region but nationwide.

In his article posted on The Huffington Post, “Illinois Voters Believe Corruption Is Rampant in State, Chicago Politics: New Poll,” Joseph Erbentraut shed light on this horrifying truth which has “a good amount or quite a bit of an impact on Chicagoans’ daily lives.” He quoted Charles Leonard, a professor who worked on the poll, who commented, “It’s easier for the citizens to assume corruption than to do their homework.”

Corruption is so widespread that every Chicagoan can hear it or see it at the flip of a switch in politics, business and ultimately in policing. Commonly, people would know of their debased city, of its depravity and moral perversion via media coverage. For me, it was different; I learned through personal experience, driving a cab night after night. Here I am!

It was a weekend night in the middle of May, and I was driving my Blue Ribbon cab southbound on Halsted Street in a charming, lively and pleasant nightlife neighborhood. A few yards north of the famous bar Beaumont, a policeman in uniform got out of a black Porsche Boxster car across the street and waved at me to stop. “Wait a minute, please.”

He walked to a Chicago Police van. A few seconds later, he approached my cab along with an attractive and well-dressed lady in an orange dress and said, “Can you take this lady to 17xx North Fremont Street?” I replied, “Yah, it is fine.”

“How much you think it’s gonna be?”

“Oh, around six dollars, it’s just few blocks away.”

The lady was physically and mentally impaired, apparently, by an excess of alcoholic drink. She was screaming, cursing and speaking nonsense. A typical reaction when you are intoxicated!

The policeman said, “Wait a second.”

Less than a minute later, a man in his mid-fifties got into my cab with a big smile on his face. He thanked the policeman and said, “I’ll call you.” The policeman gave me ten dollars and asked me to take them home. “I mean home.” From what I had heard from the couple, I puzzled out their story. Evidently, the lady was driving her Porsche car under the influence of alcohol. She was stopped by police, but guess what! Her man knew the guy… you figure out the rest!

DUI (an acronym for “driving under the influence” of alcohol or other drugs) in the United States equals a tragedy. It basically means a headache the next second, a big mess the next day and, ultimately, trouble for the next five years. In Chicago, sometimes, things work differently…. Yes, differently! That night, I left the scene with so many questions in my head.

In 1996, I read Black Like Me, a nonfiction book by the journalist John Howard Griffin, a white native of Dallas. In his 188-page diary, this courageous journalist described his month-and-a-half-long journey on a Greyhound bus in the racially segregated southern regions of America. The book has its own unique touch and a remarkable literary influence. What matters most for me now, almost two decades after I first read it, is how it marked a significant transition in my own reading of and approach to reality.

I learned from John Howard Griffin that nothing can triumph over experience. Cab drivers do have it when it comes to knowing what is really going on. Cab drivers normally have close contacts with all kind of people: politicians, artists, businessmen and average people. They are also directly exposed to the way the city manifests its socio-cultural, ethnic and religious orientations and disciplines. Let us say that they have “hands-on experience.”
Driving a cab in Chicago gave me a clue into the inner fabric of the city, its people, its culture, its ethics, its life style, its social climate, its mode of living and of course its hidden face — the face of corruption.
http://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2015/09/168238/a-moroccan-in-chicago-the-remains-of-the-nights/
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In Morocco, Reviving the Storyteller: The number of master storytellers in the country has dwindled, but one man is instructing a new generation in the ancient tradition.
Lauren Razavi@laurenrazavi Sep 30, 2015  Paul Stocker /

At Cafe Clock Marrakech, a modern venue tucked away in one of the ancient houses in the city’s medina, or old town, tourists and locals sit mesmerized by a man named Mehdi El Ghaly. Ghaly is telling the story of a king who goes hunting and finds himself in a spot of trouble. It’s a thousand-year-old Moroccan tale with lessons of morality and justice. As he moves across the floor, lit by table lamps, he constantly turns his attention to new faces. When the story reaches its conclusion, the audience bursts into raucous applause. Within just 10 minutes, Ghaly has attracted a roomful of new fans.

A university linguistics student, 21-year-old Ghaly is also an apprentice in the Moroccan art of traditional storytelling. He’s one of four young people who founded an organization called Hikayat Morocco in December 2013. Their group of storytellers shares its work at Cafe Clock every Monday and Thursday. Over a cup of thick Arabic coffee or a camel burger (really), guests sit rapt, learning about the country’s oral traditions.

Storytelling is an integral part of Moroccan culture. Stories drawn from the country’s mixed Berber and Arabic heritage have been handed down from master to apprentice over generations, the storytellers both gatekeepers and guardians of this living record. Traditionally, storytellers—and their listeners—are male.
Visitors to the famous square in Marrakech, the Djemaa el-Fnaa, may observe a crowd standing spellbound around an old man telling a story in Arabic. In 2001, UNESCO named the Djemaa el-Fnaa a “Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity” for its mix of storytelling, acrobatics, dancing, snake-charming, fire-eating, and other entertainment. But the number of Moroccan storytellers has dwindled as the art faces competition from TV and, now, the Internet.

When the Hikayat project began, Ghaly’s group of aspiring storytellers enlisted the help of Hajj Ahmed Ezzarghani—a master storyteller, now in his eighties, who has been sharing ancient tales on the streets of Marrakech for most of his life. Given the decline of the artform over his lifetime, Ezzarghani was surprised to find that there were Millennials interested in storytelling.

“These young Moroccans told me they wanted to learn, and I said, ‘Why not?’ From that time, we have been working together to preserve the tradition.”
The apprentice storytellers meet with Ezzarghani once a week to learn his cherished stories, and some have undertaken the task of translating them from Arabic into English and French. The young people are eager to preserve traditional storytelling, but sharing their cultural heritage isn’t without its challenges, especially when it comes to translation.

“It is hard to translate certain cultural images and jokes, which are only Moroccan,” Ghaly explains. “So we brainstorm to find the best comparison. We have the knowledge of [other] languages and cultures, which makes it easier for us to do this.”

The revival of storytelling in a technology-driven era comes with new problems. While Hikayat has taken advantage of social media to promote its work, online sharing complicates things. “When I’m performing a story, it doesn’t help if the whole crowd already knows it,” says 23-year-old Malika Ben Allal, another of Hikayat’s apprentice storytellers.

Hikayat has developed beyond a simple apprenticeship. In less than two years, the organization has established a solid reputation for its mix of education and entertainment. As well as regular nights at Cafe Clock, the storytellers perform at public events, art festivals, and private gatherings. One of their programs uses storytelling in confidence-building exercises for groups and individuals.

“We show people that they can do a lot of things, once they are inspired by these ancient stories and by the experiences of those before them,” says Ben Allal.
Because telling stories in public has historically been a male role, Ezzarghani’s willingness to train both men and women is significant. Women traditionally told stories only to children, in the private, domestic realm. In recent years, however, the Moroccan storytelling scene has become more inclusive.
“To be working with both genders is an enrichment to this art.”

“Both men and women have always told stories [in our culture], but each one of them has had their own stage. Today, that is changing,” Ezzarghani says. “To be working with both genders is an enrichment to this art.”

Family perceptions, too, have progressed. There’s a shared understanding that the continuation of storytelling in Moroccan culture is more important than old social restrictions about who performs the stories. “Our families are our number-one fans and they support us every step of the way,” Ben Allal says. “For them, it’s awesome to see that someone is paying attention to this art.”
http://www.citylab.com/work/2015/09/in-morocco-reviving-the-storytellers-art/408115/
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