Traveling To Israel with Moroccan Passeport

NEWS

02/16/13

Western Sahara: Where Is The Local Sinn Fein?

HASSAN MASIKY

02/22/13

Washington  /  Morocco News  Board --The “politically charged” trial of the 25 defendants accused of killing of 11 people, including members of the security forces, in the Western Sahara in 2010 went smoothly and efficiently. Aside from complains by the “usual” left wing European organizations and the Algeria backed Western Saharan groups, most independent observers agreed on the fairness and openness of the Moroccan military court of Rabat judicial proceedings.

Looking For Jewish Music In Morocco

CHRIS SILVER

02/11/13

Chris Silver
Some three years after first discovering the magic of musician Haim Botbol in a record store in Casablanca, I returned to Morocco to find his music in cassette stalls across the country. In fact, I got an even deeper sense of the critical importance of music in the Maghreb on this trip. In Tafraoute, in the country’s deep southwest, frescos of musical instruments like the rebab and images of musical standouts from the 1940s like Hadj Belaid adorned walls throughout the region’s ancient villages.

At Morocco's UN Perch: Advocating For Resolution of Syria's Civil War with Israel's Help

HASSAN MASIKY

02/18/13

Washington / Morocco News  Board --  When Morocco joined the United Nations Security Council, Moroccans were hoping to see their country make a strong diplomatic comeback on the international scene. Besides cheering for the French intervention in Mali, Morocco’s delegation to the United Nations has been MIA -missing in action.

U.S.- Morocco Joint Military Exercises Expand

NEWS

02/08/13

Sgt. Will Price

Morocco: Stumbling Diplomatic Performance

HASSAN MASIKY

02/15/13

Washington / Morocco News  Board---   Morocco’s dismal diplomatic performance on the international scene seems to have changed little during Saad Eddine Othmani tenure as Morocco's first political appointee Foreign Minister. Moroccan diplomats, lacking a grand plan to promote their country’s diplomatic agendas, keep stumbling on the face of a more “ideologically”driven Algerian schema.

Morocco: African Americans And Gnawa Music

NEWS

02/05/13

Nicole Sams  

Algeria: Current Policies Hinder Regional Development

M. CHTAINI

02/06/13

San Francisco / Morocco News  Board -- My first encounter with post-independence Algerians was with a group of young Algerian students who came directly from the maquis to study in America at the University of Wisconsin in 1964. In spite of the hardship these brothers endured fighting for the independence of Algeria as members of the FLN forces and in spite of all the suffering they went through, they were enjoyable companions at the Wisconsin University campus. 

MOROCCO: HOW STATE CORRUPTION WORKS

NEWS

02/03/13

issandr el amrani 
There is an excellent, multifaceted investigation of corruption involving licenses attributed by the state for the use of quarries in state lands that has recently been published in Lakome, the independent Moroccan news site. As editor Aboubakr Jamai explains in a  companion editorial piece, the investigations details how members of the royal cabinet, 

Morocco Football: A Fantasy

OTMAN AFFAYA

02/06/13

Mr. Rachid Taoussi, Morocco's Fotball team coach,  started his conference by claiming to open a line of communication and honesty with the public, and to clarify any rumors or misconceptions. It was a great news because this is the first time in the Moroccan Football history someone has made an effort to present a report to the public, we are making some progress in the PR area. For this we will try to assess this report, issue by issue, bullet by bullet in more objective matter and give credit when it is due, and also make some suggestions for the future.

Mali Highlights African Union Irrelevance

HASSAN MASIKY

01/30/13

Washington / Morocco News  Board---As French troops solidify their military control on the historic city of Timbuktu in Northern Mali, the 20th bi-annual summit of the African Union leaders closes its session without major accomplishments. Unable to reach consensus on resolutions to the major conflicts bedeviling the African continent, African heads of states have proven, once again, the irrelevance of their Pan African organization.

Morocco Football: Not Good Enough

NEWS

01/29/13

OTMAN AFFAYA
 North Carolina / Morocco News  Board-- In modern football time and space are the deciding factors, also the concept of teamwork, you win as a team and you lose as a team. I was hoping the coaching staff will instill this concept in Moroccan team. Unfortunately what we heard is just the blame game. 

North African teams came up short at the African Cup of Nations

NEWS

02/02/13

YOUSSEF BENLAMLIH

Writing in The Guardian, football journalist Jonathan Wilson noted that “… for the first time since 1992, there will be no north African presence in the quarter-finals.” He speculated as to whether this pointed to a “a significant trend of decline in the north African game.” Egypt, “the most successful team in Cup of Nations history, has fallen victim to the political upheaval there,” and did not even make the tournament. (Incidentally, their premier league is restarting this weekend.)  

Obituary: Actor And Artist Mohamed Majd (1940-2013)

NEWS

01/31/13

JAMAL BAHMAD

Mohamed Majd in Waiting for Pasolini (2007)

Stirling, Scotland / Morocco News  Board--- Mohamed Majd passed away last Thursday at a clinic in Casablanca. He was admitted the week before for respiratory problems following a short stay in Dubai to promote Noureddine Lakhmari’s latest feature Zero (2012). Majd plays one of the lead roles in this film about police corruption, social exclusion and an anti-hero's redemption through found love in the film-noirish streets of downtown Casablanca at night.

The Algerian Hostage Crisis & Militant Islamism in the Sahara

MOHAMED DAADAOUI

01/31/13

The hostage crisis in Algeria is a violent reminder of the rapidly deteriorating security situation in the North Africa and the Sahel regions. On January 16th, 32 armed militants stormed the In Amenas gas complex in southeast Algeria, holding several hundred hostages in the process. After four days of siege, and an early attack by the Algerian forces on the terrorists who tried to move the hostages, the Algerian army launched a final assault on the core gas facility where the terrorists were holding most of the hostages, and reportedly engaged in a collective assassination of the hostages.

Algeria: Intelligence Agency's Dubious Role In Fighting Terrorism

HASSAN MASIKY

01/25/13

Washington / Morocco News  Board---    Now that the United States , in the words of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, “ faces very serious, ongoing and “strategic threat in North Africa from al-Qaeda affiliates and other jihadists” , the role of Algeria’s feared and secretive military security agency (Département du Renseignement et de la Sécurité or DRS) is coming under scrutiny in the American and European press.