Across Time and Space: Discovering Morocco

NEWS

05/15/13

Thomas Max Safley

From 30,000 feet in altitude, the coast of Morocco first showed itself a blue-green landmass under a red sunrise.  I might have been looking at a print by Georgia O’Keefe, so strange and familiar it seemed.  The night had been rough.  The delayed flight from winter-bound JFK and the listless service from the Royal Air Maroc crew drove me to seek refuge in sleep.  I awoke in a very different place.

Algeria: President Bouteflika's condition grave, Intelligence Chief reportedly ill

HASSAN MASIKY

05/18/13

Washington / Morocco News Board--- General Mohamed Mediene, also known as Toufik, Algeria’s secret services boss and the real power broker and the engineer who runs the country’s political system, is reportedly ill. News of Département du renseignement et de la sécurité (DRS) chief poor health, as reported by the well-informed website Slate Afrique, comes at the worst possible time for Algeria.

M'Oud Swing: Jazz & Oud

JAMAL LAOUDI

05/14/13

Casablanca - Morocco News Board ----  Oud is a musical instrument that can be described as a pear-shaped and a short-necked string instrument characterized by its rich, sonorous sound and rounded back.  M’Oud Swing is a band that layers oud and modal jazz improvisation.  Both oud and modal jazz are quite difficult to master.  The sound the band creates is very unique and can be quite pleasant to the sophisticated ear.  Here is Karim Kadiri the band’s co-founder and composer: 

Morocco: Outspoken Academic Targeted by Islamists

NEWS

05/08/13

M. Saadouni

Moroccan activist Ahmed Assid has unleashed a torrent of criticism, including a takfir fatwa from a leading salafist preacher, for making controversial comments about Islam. During a three-day seminar at the 10th national congress of the Moroccan Association of Human Rights (AMDH) in Rabat, which ended on April 21st, Assid suggested that religious school textbooks lured youths to violence. 

Marrakech Caftan Fashion Week

NEWS

05/07/13

Last weekend saw the opening of the 17th edition of Caftan, one of the most prestigious events in the traditional Moroccan haute couture scene. It is all over in only a couple of hours, but the work behind the glitz and glamour has taken months.

 

 

Morocco: Atheist On The Run

NEWS

05/02/13

Imad-Iddine Habib, The founder of "Morocco's ex-Muslim Council", is hiding from the police. The security services want to question the Activist who calls for the right of Moroccans to be allowed to officially recant Islam if they wish to.

Bicycling From Scotland to Morocco's Sahara

NEWS

05/03/13

Armstrong, 27, from Alloway in Scotland, is a pilot with the Royal Navy who is equally passionate about cycling as he is flying. In January his entire fleet was grounded after two aircraft crashes and instead of taking off to Thailand with the rest of his squadron he decided to cycle to Morocco.

Moroccan Artisans and Their Work

NEWS

05/02/13

Photographs by Jake Warga has produced a wonderful series of photographs of Moroccan artisans and the work they produce.  Jake is an award-winning independent journalist currently based in Seattle. He has an M.A. in Visual Anthropology and a unique sensitivity and curiosity about the many cultures he visits around the world.  With a microphone in one hand, a camera in the other, he collects stories for Public Radio and images for various outlets 

A Sunday In Rabat, Morocco

NEWS

05/02/13

Colette Apelian
Living not far from the train station in central Rabat means I do not have access to a fresh vegetable market unless I walk five to ten minutes down Avenue Mohammed V into the madina. The old vegetable suq that used to be in an unique plaza under the streets in my area is now a lovely open space lined with an art gallery and restaurants. This kind of gentrification is great for children needing a park of sorts to play under the watchful eyes of parents desperate for coffee and sweets.

 

Morocco: A Royal Lesson in Washington

HASSAN MASIKY

04/26/13

Washington / Morocco News Board--The Report of the United Nations Secretary-General on the situation concerning Western Sahara, released yesterday, is a decisive win for Morocco. This diplomatic triumph came about because of actions and efforts undertaken by King Mohammed VI, some observers noted. The mild text of the resolution demonstrates the extent of Morocco’s success in diluting American attempts to amend the U.N. mission in Western Sahara to include human rights monitoring.  

Sarah K: Moroccan-Canadian R&B Singer Talks About her Work

JAMAL LAOUDI

04/24/13

Washington / Morocco News Board---   Sarah Karkouch aka Sarah K. is a newly discovered talent that hails from Canada where she was born and raised.  She has her own original work, including songs and video clips, and continues to grow and flourish as an artist day after day.  While it takes many artists some degree of success before they could get involved in humanitarian causes, Sarah K. jumped from the get go.  Here is Sarah in her own words for more on that among other topics.   

Morocco's design revolution

NEWS

04/26/13

NATASHA CULZAC

"People said contemporary design wouldn’t work in Marrakech", the dynamic owner of Morocco’s Sirayane hotel tells me with a glint in his eye. “But now I have to build 12 extra rooms because we are always fully booked."

It was only a matter of time before the intricate and ancient designs of North African architecture gave way to a different take on traditional Arabian aesthetics in the country.

 

Morocco: Extremist Values in Religious School Books

M. SAOUT

04/24/13

Morocco News Board -- The activist and researcher at Morocco’s Amazigh Cultural Institute (IRCAM), Ahmed Assid, spoke on Islam and education in Morocco, at a seminar organized by the Moroccan Association of Human Rights (AMDH) in Morocco’s capital, Rabat.


Ahmed Assid said that religious education in Morocco " is now outdated, and teaches religious values that contradict  universal values ​of Human rights". 

UN New Report on Western Sahara: A Blueprint for Moroccan Diplomacy

HASSAN MASIKY

04/25/13

Washington / Morocco News Board--The much-excepted Report of the United Nations Secretary-General (UNSG) on the situation concerning Western Sahara was released today to all parties to review and digest. At first glance, the document seems to bring the UN proposals for “a lasting and mutually acceptable political solution that will provide for the self-determination of the people of Western Sahara” closer to the Moroccan positions.

Morocco: Protest Music

CHRIS SILVER

04/25/13

In the course of the recent Arab uprisings, journalists have paid a surprising amount of attention to the role of music in protests. In general, this has been a welcome development, especially when one considers the all but silent soundscape which those writing about the region have reinforced by ignoring it. However, this has also led to the reifying of the notion that protest music in the region is imported. This manifests itself in the focus on style, usually hip hop, over content.

 

Algeria: Tension in kabylie Adds to Social Unrest

HASSAN MASIKY

04/24/13

Washington / Morocco News Board---  Talk of self-determination for the Kabylie region is back again in full force. Celebrating the 33th anniversary of the Amazigh Spring, the Movement for the Autonomy of Kabylie (MAK) organized several important marches across the Kabylie region in Algeria demanding the right to hold a referendum for self-determination.