RFK Center Kerry kennedy Champions Western Sahara Separatists Position

NEWS

08/28/12

Washington / Morocco News Board--- Several Moroccan ONGs, that regularly criticize the government on various issues, have been surprised by the overt bias of the visiting Robert Kennedy center for Justice & Human Rights in favor of Western Sahara Separatists operating in the city of Laayoune. The ONGs claim that the RFK Center delegation has held meetings that excluded  other components of civil society and representatives of the local population that don't agree with their point of view.

Marrakech: Ramadan In the 45 Degree Heat

NORA FITZGERALD

08/26/12

Marrakech / Morocco News Board--- Ramadan has left us for another year…so sad to see it go, although it was a tough one.  For all of us in Marrakech, having day upon day of intense heat, hardly ever dipping under 45 degrees, well let’s just say it was a Ramadan to separate the men from the boys.  When we go outside in that heat, simply breathing becomes a laborious task, struggling to draw a breath like one struggles to draw water from a well.  It made most of us do as little as possible.

RFK Ctr's Kerry Kennedy: Political Operative or HR Activist?

NEWS

08/26/12

SAID TEMSAMANI

Washington / Morocco News Board---  On August 24, the President of the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights (RFK Center), arrived in Laayoune leading a human rights delegation with distinguished international human rights advocates to visit Moroccan Sahara and then Sahrawi refugee camps in Algeria. The objective of the visit is to assess the human rights situation on the ground.

Royal Air Maroc Fined By US Government

NEWS

08/24/12

Washington / Morocco News Board---   Royal Air Maroc and a couple of other airlines were fined by the US Department of Transportation on Wednesday for violating the department’s expanded airline passenger protection rules. Royal Air Maroc was cited for violation of the rule on baggage fee disclosure. Egypt Air was found to have breached a rule requiring the inclusion of assurances in its customer service plan allowing consumers to cancel a reservation without penalty for 24 hours after they book a flight.

Ki-Moon’s Sunny Wisdom For Benkirane

M. AZAYI

08/24/12

Morocco News Board---  Neither Ramadan nor Eid L’Fitr was a suitable time for criticizing anything let alone a person’s silly political conduct or policies.  So all I was able to do was to compliantly watch and brood on a blasting stream of videos in which the Prime Minister Abdelilah Benkirane hallucinated boldly, building deceptive castles for his followers in the polluted air while ruthlessly crushing others in the dirt of truth.

Morocco:Allegiance Pledge Ceremony;Act Of Loyalty Or Humiliation?

NABIL ARRACH, Ph.D,

08/24/12

Washington / Morocco News Board---Tuesday August 21, 2012, Moroccan officials and representatives from 16 regions and 40 provinces bowed down before the King Mohamed VI, and chanted: "May God protect our King", a yearly ceremony that signifies loyalty and allegiance to the King Mohamed VI.

Morocco: Coming Out Of Political Closet

AHMED TAIBI

08/23/12

Washington / Morocco News Board---Many see Abdelilah Benkirane’s moments of candor and transparency as a breath of fresh air in Morocco’s political governance today. In a clear departure from the false demagoguery proffered by previous prime ministers, he provides a glimpse of a pervasive and growing reality Moroccans have long been denied, but have always suspected.

Morocco: The Yield Conundrum

ZOUHAIR BAGHOUGH

08/22/12

Washington / Morocco News Board---   I have been going on and on about Morocco’s public debt for quite some time. And then, as usual, twitter-conversations have guided my interestIt was suggested that I devote a piece about the public debt. Fellow analyst, Anas Filali and I clashed over the impact of public debt on households, more specifically on the younger generation: he argued inflation and uncertainty need to be accounted for, I fired back it was a blatant sign of economic illiteracy to suggest so, since interest rates already bear that.

Morocco and The Syrian Uprising

NEWS

08/22/12

Said Temsamani

Washington / Morocco News Board---  On the eve of the upcoming meeting of the next fourth "Friends of Syria" that Morocco will hold, the Moroccan government has started taking concrete measures to give a powerful signal to the current Syrian regime that the humanitarian situation in that country cannot be tolerated anymore.  On July 16, Morocco ordered the Syrian ambassador to leave the kingdom and called for an immediate transition to democracy in Syria. 

Morocco: Corruption Imbroglio

NEWS

08/22/12

AHMED R. BENCHEMSI

Says “L’Economiste”, Morocco’s premier business daily: “The period between 2009 and 2011 was the most difficult in the history of Royal Air Maroc (RAM)"(1). By the end of 2010, the national air transportation company known as RAM had recorded an abysmal deficit of 930 million dirhams, more than $115 million.

Julian Assange: Circus And Lies

NEWS

08/19/12

I. Kafka
First, let me state that I am as adamantly in favour of Julian Assange being extradited to Sweden as I am opposed to him being extradited to the USA for any Wikileaks-related offense. Being a jurist, reading the press coverage and blog & twitter comments on the Julian Assange circus has proved very demanding

Morocco: Mistreatment Of Single Mothers

NEWS

08/14/12

Ranya Sossey Alaoui

Fedwa Laroui, that’s a name many Moroccans will never forget.  On February 22, 2011, Laroui, 25, the mother of two children, set herself on fire after being excluded from a social housing program.  According to her, she had also been mistreated by authorities because she was an unmarried mother. 

Morocco: Renovating Ancient Medina

NEWS

08/14/12

Morocco’s Fez Medina project is an ambitious and challenging undertaking that includes renovating four 14th- and 15th-century fondouks in the ancient medina of Fez, as well as a public square called Place Lalla Yeddouna, and renovating or reconstructing approximately 20 buildings surrounding Place Lalla Yeddouna. While there has been progress, challenges still lie ahead

Morocco-Deficit: Toil, Tears and Sweat Ahead

ZOUHAIR BAGHOUGH

08/14/12

Washington / Morocco News Board---  It is plain clear now we are headed toward the end of an expansionary cycle that dates back to late 1990s. Government stimulus cannot do much about it, and we have to bite the bullet. Not only that, but the “if it ain’t broken don’t fix it” policy about Morocco’s structural problems has taken us down the dark path of debt. Austerity, as I have mentioned before several times, is necessary to pre-empt any draconian conditions if we ever fall short.

New F16 Squadrons Give Morocco a Qualitative Edge

NEWS

08/13/12

Jon Lake

Morocco's new Advanced Block 52 F-16 fighters are now in service with the Escadron de Chasse 'Falcon' at Base Aerienne des Forces Royales Air 6 at Ben Guerir, near Marrakech. Two further squadrons, 'Spark' and 'Viper' will stand up at the same base. Jon Lake looks at the country's growing capabilities.