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Morocco Will Soon Welcome a Second Group of Malian Imams – La Nouvel Observateur/AFP

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(Article in French)

Last year, while visiting Mali for the inauguration of its new President, Ibrahim Boubacar Keita (right), Morocco's King Mohammed VI (left) agreed to the training of 500 Malian Imams using Morocco’s moderate and tolerant form of Islam to help fight the spread of extremism within their communities. Photo: MAP

Last year, while visiting Mali for the inauguration of its new President, Ibrahim Boubacar Keita (right), Morocco’s King Mohammed VI (left) agreed to the training of 500 Malian Imams using Morocco’s moderate and tolerant form of Islam to help fight the spread of extremism. Photo: MAP

 

Le Nouvel Observateur/AFP (June 13, 2014) — Morocco is preparing to welcome a second group of Malian imams in Rabat to ensure their training in accordance with the agreement signed last year during a visit of King Mohammed VI to Bamako.

“The first group of imams, composed of 106 Malians, will pass their second year here and we are awaiting the arrival of the second group,” said the Minister of Endowments and Islamic Affairs, Ahmed Toufiq.

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[Continue Reading at Le Nouvel Observateur...]

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The post Morocco Will Soon Welcome a Second Group of Malian Imams – La Nouvel Observateur/AFP appeared first on Morocco On The Move.


African Music Legends Pay Homage to Mandela at Morocco Festival – Global Post, AFP

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Senegalese singer Youssou N'Dour peforms during the 20th edition of the World Sacred Music Festival in Fez, Morocco, on June 16 ,2014. AFP PHOTO / FADEL SENNA

Senegalese singer Youssou N’Dour peforms during the 20th edition of the World Sacred Music Festival in Fez, Morocco, on June 16 ,2014.  Photo: AFP / Fadel Senna

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Global Post, AFP (June 16, 2014) ― African superstars Johnny Clegg and Youssou N’Dour paid homage Sunday to late South African icon Nelson Mandela at the 20th edition of the World Festival of Sacred Music in Morocco. The show in Fez, the spiritual capital of the north African nation, began with a reading of English poet William Ernest Henley’s “Invictus,” often recited by Mandela while imprisoned by the apartheid government.

Thousands of people then broke into dance as South Africa’s Johnny Clegg, a musician internationally renowned as the “White Zulu” for mixing English and Zulu lyrics and rhythms, took to the stage. “Thank you for this homage to a great man who played an important role in my life and in the world,” Clegg, 61, said in French, after belting out his hit 80s ode to Mandela “Asimbonanga” (We have not seen him).

He melded his voice with that of another African great, Senegal’s Youssou N’dour, in a medley including N’dour’s song “Nelson Mandela,” which he wrote in 1985 after spending hours in Dakar “watching the news on apartheid with my mom.” “At that moment, you really felt as if the image of Nelson Mandela was soaring over the stage,” said French festival-goer Michel Pautel after the three-hour double concert.

[Continue Reading at Global Post…]

The post African Music Legends Pay Homage to Mandela at Morocco Festival – Global Post, AFP appeared first on Morocco On The Move.

Morocco: House of Representatives Committee Approves Agreement on American Schools in Morocco – Lemag

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Moroccan Parliament.  Photo: Lemag

Moroccan Parliament. Photo: Lemag

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Lemag, MAP (Rabat, Morocco, June 17, 2014) — The Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defense, Islamic Affairs and the Moroccan Expatriate Community at the House of Representatives of Morocco’s Parliament has approved an agreement on the system of American schools in Morocco.

This agreement, signed between Morocco and the United States in February 2013, aims to enable Moroccan and US citizens to acquire skills in Arabic and English, promote the teaching of the language and culture of the two countries through American schools in Morocco and Moroccan schools in the US, contribute to the development of cultural and educational relations between the two countries, and promote mutual understanding.

The agreement defines the framework conditions for the creation and management of American schools in Morocco, as well as providing for cooperation between the boards of American schools and Moroccan educational authorities, particularly in teaching the language, culture, history, and geography of Morocco to Moroccan students.

Under this agreement, these institutions are required to make annual reports to the Moroccan authorities with regard to their status as non-profit organizations. In return, they receive a series of tax and customs privileges in accordance with Morocco’s international commitments and tax legislation.

The post Morocco: House of Representatives Committee Approves Agreement on American Schools in Morocco – Lemag appeared first on Morocco On The Move.

Morocco Protects Mosques from Religious Extremism – Magharebia

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Instructor-imams will be tasked with supervising religious discourse in Moroccan mosques. Photo: Magharebia/Hassan Benmehdi

Instructor-imams will be tasked with supervising religious discourse in Moroccan mosques. Photo: Magharebia/Hassan Benmehdi

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* Morocco’s 50,000 mosques are now benefiting from a “Religious Guidance Support Plan” that puts instructors in places of worship… “Their task is to help and guide imams in mosques to preserve the fundamentals of Islam in Morocco, based on the Maliki rite.” *

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Magharebia, by Hassan Benmehdi (Casablanca, Morocco, June 17, 2014) — Morocco’s 50,000 mosques are now benefiting from a “Religious Guidance Support Plan” that puts instructors in places of worship to guide discourse.  Some 1,300 imams-mourchidines (spiritual instructors) will provide religious guidance without inciting intolerance or hatred. “Their task is to help and guide imams in mosques to preserve the fundamentals of Islam in Morocco, based on the Maliki rite, contrary to takfirism, which is constantly invading the minds of our young people,” Islamic Affairs Minister Ahmed Toufiq said at the plan’s unveiling Friday, June 13 in Rabat.

The imam-instructors will also develop services provided by mosques, such as literacy programs, the minister added.  According to Belkacem Elomari, an imam-mourchid in Khemisset, the program uses modern technologies. “The creation of an integrated information network will facilitate communication and ensure that religious activity is consistent across the country,” Elomari said.

El Haj El Hassani, another imam-mourchid, said that this initiative captured the essence of community religious activity. “The plan also seeks to tackle all forms of exploitation of religion continuously,” he pointed out. El Mokhtar Baadi, a religious instructor, highlighted the importance of helping imams in mosques to shape the spirit of this “support plan”, which also aims to root out takfirist ideology at its source.

The president of the Council of Ulema, Ahmed Yessef, said that the demand for religious services was growing constantly due to people’s interest in worship in Morocco. “The level of education of the population, the emergence of new problems and the polluting parasitism of the religious domain most often make it necessary to provide urgent responses,” Yessef told Magahrebia.

But the way in which religious reform is handled in Morocco should not underestimate the importance of civil liberties, some political and civil society figures said.  ”Against a background of religion being exploited for political ends, this initiative is needed to protect mosques from political one-upmanship,” commented Benzine Fettah from the Party of Authenticity and Modernity.

But Yasser Benmalek from the youth wing of the Party of Justice and Development (PJD) said that freedom of expression must be preserved for religious leaders too: “An imam must condemn social injustices and ills above all other duties.”

Houda Ait Lahcen, a human rights activist in Casablanca, said that “amid a regional context of widespread jihadist salafism, fatwas must be issued through an institutional framework so that we can prevent anarchy and disorder in the religious domain.”

For the purposes of the “support plan,” imams-mourchidines hold licenses, memorize the entire Qur’an and have received additional theological and professional training that draws on national values.

The post Morocco Protects Mosques from Religious Extremism – Magharebia appeared first on Morocco On The Move.

Food Matters: In Fez, a Restaurant Starring the Finest Chefs in the World – The New York Times

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Restaurant Numero 7 in Fez, designed by the creative director of the Jardin Majorelle in Marrakesh, has reopened as a showcase for a rotating cast of international chefs. Photo: New York Times

Restaurant Numero 7 in Fez, designed by the creative director of the Jardin Majorelle in Marrakesh, has reopened as a showcase for a rotating cast of international chefs. Photo: The New York Times

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* ‘Food is the fastest way to understand a culture, & cooking puts you into immediate contact with where you are.’ *

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The chef Jerome Waag of Chez Panisse is creating daily three-course menus at Restaurant Numero 7 until June 23. New York Times

The chef Jerome Waag of Chez Panisse is creating daily three-course menus at Restaurant Numero 7 until June 23.  Photo: The New York Times

The New York Times, by Alexander Lobrano  (June 16, 2014) — Deep in the hive-like medina (old city) of Fez, Morocco, one of the world’s most beautiful restaurants has just reopened as a venue for an intriguing new visiting-chef-in-residence project that casts the kitchen as an incubator for both cultural exchange and culinary innovation. Restaurant Numero 7 is owned by Stephen di Renza, a former fashion director for Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman who divides his time between Fez and Marrakesh, where he is the creative director for the Jardin Majorelle, Yves Saint Laurent’s old lair.

Di Renza, who has lived in Morocco full time since 2007, originally designed the striking restaurant — which features black-and-white tile work, a black marble water wall and an installation of hand-blown glass bubbles — to complement his adjacent hotel, Riad 9. But he had to close it when its founding chef, Bruno Ussel, decided to return to France last year. Sometime later, Di Renza found himself in conversation with Tara Stevens, an English food writer who divides her time between Fez and Barcelona, and Jerome Waag, a chef at Chez Panisse in Berkeley, Calif., about what to do with the restaurant.

Together they came up with a chef-in-residence program based on the discovery of Moroccan produce and the Moroccan palate, a concept they dubbed “Beldi market cuisine,” beldi being a Moroccan Arabic term used to denote something indigenous, traditional or locally produced. Each visiting chef will be invited to create a daily menu based on seasonal produce sourced from Fez’s central market or nearby farmers. After a fire at Chez Panisse cleared a space in the French-born Waag’s schedule, he agreed to go first. He’ll be creating daily three-course menus until June 23, when the restaurant closes for Ramadan and the rest of the summer; taking over on Sept. 1 will be Analiese Gregory, who has been cooking at Quay in Sydney and Mugaritz in Spain. Waag’s most exciting discovery in Morocco, he says, has been the country’s “amped-up produce. It’s so dense and intense, so I’ve had to rethink the way I use an herb like mint — it’s so potent here.”

[Continue Reading at The New York Times…]

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Essaouira Gnaoua Festival Promotes Dialogue – Magharebia

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The Gnaoua World Music Festival opened June 12th in Essaouira. Photo: Magharebia/Hassan Benmehdi

The Gnaoua World Music Festival opened June 12th in Essaouira. Photo: Magharebia/Hassan Benmehdi

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* “Culture helps open up channels of dialogue and resolve the conflicts that tear apart and divide this continent.” *

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Magharebia, by Hassan Benmehdi (Casablanca, Magharebia, June 17, 2014) ― Every time it hosts the Gnaoua World Music Festival, the Moroccan city of Essaouira is transformed into a crossroads for world cultures and civilizations.

The 17th edition of the event was attended by musicians and artists from all over. The performers act as ambassadors for their countries’ heritage. An equally large number of international visitors travelled to Essaouira for the festival, which wrapped up Sunday (June 15th). The four-day event entertained the young and old.

Young participant Faicel Ladibi and his friend Zouhir Belmaati from Casablanca told Magharebia that the Essaouira festival gave them an opportunity to meet people from different cultures. “The Gnaoua Festival gives us a chance to experience moments of sharing and discover other civilizations,” they said. “It’s really cool.”

Another participant, Morad Badouz, said that after his baccalaureate exams, the Gnaoua Festival was a long-awaited opportunity for him to have fun with his friends. “My friends and I had our dose of Gnaoua music combined with other styles such as jazz and blues,” Badouz said.

Tandia M’bay, a tourist from Senegal, summed up her happiness as follows: “At this festival, I feel as if I’m at home.” Organizers focused on sub-Saharan culture in this year’s edition. They highlighted its role in reconciliation, sharing and peace in this region, which has fallen victim to terrorism at the hands of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb.

“Through this year’s festival, we have tried to show that culture is a force for reconciliation between Africans and an effective tool to promote it among young people and combat violence and backward thinking,” event director Neila Tazi said.

The festival in Essaouira drew to a close on Sunday on Moulay Hassan Square with a fusion concert led by the Gnaoua Maalem, Hamid El Kasri. Accompanied by Bassekou Kouyate, a Malian master of the N’goni (an African traditional musical instrument), El Kasri offered music that delighted the audience.

During a meeting with journalists, Marcus Miller, the great bass guitar player, said that he had discovered a melodic style of music where fusion with another musical genre “gives nothing but happiness and harmony.”  Fusion was the main attraction at the event.

At the top of the bill was the mix of music provided by Maalem Hassan Boussou, a Gnaoua musician who likes to mix it all up. French musician Didier Lockwood also performed for the crowd, while Foulane, who plays the Agadir rbab, added an Amazigh flavour to this Gnaoua celebration.

During a forum held on the side-lines of the festival on Saturday, the participants lamented the lack of interest in African culture. This situation needs to be challenged “because culture helps open up channels of dialogue and resolve the conflicts that tear apart and divide this continent,” they agreed. “We must turn our attention to reconciliation,” National Human Rights Council President Driss El Yazami told attendees.

US Ambassador in Rabat, Dwight L. Bush, who attended a portion of the forum on Saturday, said he was surprised by the cultural diversity of a city and a festival he had not been familiar with.

“By contrast with previous festivals, no big concerts were scheduled for this seventeenth run of the festival,” said Maalam Abdselam Alikane, the festival’s artistic director. “But the event did its job of reassuring fans by offering high-quality fusions and in particular by showcasing Gnaoua culture.”

During a speech at the opening ceremony Thursday, Moroccan Culture Minister Mohamed Amine Sbihi underlined his department’s commitment to supporting the coastal town in its role as a crossroads for world civilizations.

 

The post Essaouira Gnaoua Festival Promotes Dialogue – Magharebia appeared first on Morocco On The Move.

World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought – High Atlas Foundation

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High Atlas Foundation works in arid and desert regions of Morocco such as Boujdour. Photo: HAF

High Atlas Foundation works in arid and desert regions of Morocco such as Boujdour. Photos: HAF

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* Ultimately Morocco’s success, built around the participatory approach to development and addressing deep environmental concerns, could be of great advantage in the future in a tumultuous region.  The model sought by the Kingdom is both a national imperative and a global guide, encompassing local control of shared new growth and resource management, partnerships at the national level (with multi-sector support) and full recognition and inclusion of all people. *

 

Dr. Yossef Ben-Meir, president, High Atlas Foundation, sociologist

Dr. Yossef Ben-Meir, president, High Atlas Foundation, sociologist

Dr. Yossef Ben-Meir
High Atlas Foundation

June 17, 2014

For 2014 on this day, held under UN auspices, the chosen theme is the incorporation of sustainable land management policies and practices into our collective response to climate change.  In this context — and when considering the great mountain ranges as well as desert regions that exist in Morocco — the High Atlas Foundation wishes to highlight conditions replete with the potential for prosperity yet which currently manifest systemic poverty and pose serious risks to the region and the nation if positive action is delayed for much longer. My twenty years of not being able to walk away from the transformative possibilities implied — and often brought to reality — by project implementation in rural Morocco arises from precisely this dichotomy between real development opportunities that would multiply the economy in a sustainable manner and act as an engine of social change, and continuing subsistence conditions that see schools without running water, education cut short for most and a multitude of dreams left barely vocalized.

For Morocco and for all nations, operating in a multiplicity of geographical contexts, the great and most dependable hope for a vast breakthrough in sustainable development relies on communities being given the opportunity to determine, plan and implement priority local projects in which they are stakeholders and from which they receive direct benefit.  Dozens of High Atlas Foundation projects — in agriculture, education, health and training — in the mountainous and dry regions of Morocco — attest to such communal participation fully enabling project sustainability.  Globally, the development field recognizes the indelible link between community-driven projects and the actual achievement of social goals.

Trees planted in arid mountain areas help fix soil, provide incomes, combat climate change.

Trees planted in arid mountain areas help fix soil, provide incomes & combat climate change

In addition to the people themselves being receptive to and running with participatory development when given the chance, another, just as vital, factor needs to be in place. This is already the case in the Kingdom, where the government actively seeks popular participation in such development to meet human needs, to actualize participatory democracy and have people’s representatives completely dedicated to this goal.  National parameters have been put in place through the example of the National Initiative for Human Development, the Communal Charter, decentralization and other initiatives to foster conditions for a bottom-up burst in local, sustainable growth.  This goes to the heart of why Morocco is so important to the region — and in global terms — and explains the country’s hopeful and still uncertain experience in the Arab Spring. Thus, just in terms of national potential that now exists, popular development within a highly supportive Moroccan context can achieve scale within the entire nation, across the 11,000 villages and countless urban neighborhoods.

[Continue Reading at High Atlas Foundation…]

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Moroccans’ community-led planning supports sustainable development. Photo: HAF

Moroccans’ community-led planning supports sustainable development.

The post World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought – High Atlas Foundation appeared first on Morocco On The Move.

Dawn of Midi: Hypnotizing the World One Post-Jazz Groove at a Time – Willamette Week

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Dawn of Midi’s (from left) Qasim Naqvi, Aakaash Israni, and Amino Belyamani - Image: Falkwyn de Goyenche

Dawn of Midi’s (from left) Qasim Naqvi, Aakaash Israni, and Amino Belyamani - Image: Falkwyn de Goyenche

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* “Amino [Belyamani, the trio’s pianist] is from Morocco and has a pretty deep background in African music as a percussionist,” says Aakaash Israni, the troupe’s Indian bassist, from Melbourne, Australia, just prior to performing at the city’s jazz festival…“We’d like more and more for people to dance, and it’s starting to happen.” *

Listen to Dawn of Midi’s Dysnomia

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Willamette Week, by Dave Cantor (Portland, Oregon, June 18, 2014) — It’s not necessarily a reconstitution of New Orleans’ Congo Square—that trading spot where, back in the early 20th century, African, European and indigenous cultures got jumbled up and spat out jazz—but New York’s Dawn of Midi is searching for a similar cultural confluence in its music. The acoustic trio’s latest album, Dysnomia, comes off like a batch of androids performing a 47-minute, through-composed statement of purpose. Its unbending structure, gifted to listeners from what looks like a jazz group, assimilates motorik beats and seemingly electronic patterns, and just might be as culturally inclusive as whatever happened down in Louisiana all those years back.

“Amino [Belyamani, the trio’s pianist] is from Morocco and has a pretty deep background in African music as a percussionist,” says Aakaash Israni, the troupe’s Indian bassist, from Melbourne, Australia, just prior to performing at the city’s jazz festival. “I knew that he had all this language, and we’d been nerding out about rhythmic ideas for a long time together.”

Turning in its debut, First, in 2010, Dawn of Midi arrived as a freely improvising group, indebted both to 1960s out-jazz and contemporary European classical works, but nothing among the dissonant piano, muted bass figures and scattershot drumming of third member Qasim Naqvi intimated the conceptual leap of the group’s next album. Dysnomia is ostensibly a percussion album, Israni says, with his bass and even Belyamani’s piano taking on a rhythmic quality. On “Atlas,” a few tracks into Dysnomia, the band hits a locked groove, repeating a phrase until the tension begs for release. Passages like this draw comparisons to krautrock ensembles and post-rock groups, but Dawn of Midi’s embrace of repetition is gleaned from African drumming traditions, not Western appropriations like Can or Tortoise.

[Continue Reading at Willamette Week…]

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As Moderate Islamists Retreat, Extremists Surge Unchecked – The New York Times

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Rachid al-Ghannouchi leads Tunisia’s Islamist party, which gave up control of the transitional government. Credit Samuel Aranda for The New York Times

Rachid al-Ghannouchi leads Tunisia’s Islamist party, which gave up control of the transitional government. Credit Samuel Aranda for The New York Times

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* “If moderates hope to counter the jihadists and build democracies, their parties must be much more inclusive and conciliatory toward non-Islamist rivals… Tunisia’s Rachid al-Ghannouchi said the solution for the Islamist movement was not to fight back with weapons, but to further embrace pluralism, tolerance and compromise. ‘The cure for a failed democracy is more democracy.’” *

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The New York Times, A1, by David D. Kirkpatrick (Tunis, Tunisia, June 18, 2014) — Islamist politicians swept elections across the region in the aftermath of the Arab Spring, stepping close to power in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Morocco and undermining the thesis of Qaeda-style militants that violence offered the only hope for change.  Today, those politicians are in frantic retreat from Riyadh to Rabat, stymied by their political opponents, stalked by generals and plotted against by oil-rich monarchs. Instead, it is the jihadists who are on the march, roving unchecked across broad sections of North Africa and the Middle East. Now they have seized control of territory straddling the borders of Iraq and Syria where they hope to establish an Islamic caliphate. And they are reveling in their vindication.

“Rights cannot be restored except by force,” the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, the surging Qaeda breakaway group, declared last year after the Egyptian military removed President Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood from office. Islamists must choose “the ammunition boxes over the ballot boxes” and negotiate “in the trenches rather than in hotels,” the group proclaimed, calling the more election-minded Muslim Brotherhood “a secular party in Islamic clothes” and “more evil and cunning than the secularists.” Thwarted by the old guard and eclipsed by the jihadists, moderate Islamists in Egypt, Libya and Yemen and among the Syrian opposition are finding themselves shoved to the margins. And they are debating what went wrong, how to salvage their movement and how to revive the dream of synthesizing Islam and democracy. In Syria, too, moderate and secular rebels have been eclipsed by extremists in their battle against President Bashar al-Assad.

One camp of moderate Islamists maintains their defeats are temporary setbacks that will only make them stronger. The struggles will “increase the Islamist movement’s strength, experience, coherence and understanding of the reality’s inner workings,” Roushdy Bouibry, a Moroccan Islamist, argued in an essay posted on his party’s web site.

Many are lashing out furiously at the fundamentalists whom many moderate politicians hoped to tutor as political allies. Instead Egypt’s ultraconservative Salafis supported the military takeover, saying that it would limit social strife. And in Libya, Syria, Yemen and Tunisia, the violence of ultraconservative militants is hobbling efforts to build inclusive democratic states. Some moderates play down their own mistakes, and insist that the main lessons to be learned are about the strength of their enemies, not their own shortcomings. Or they portray the reversal of their fortunes — even the killing of more than 1,000 Muslim Brotherhood supporters by Egyptian security forces — as a kind of divinely ordained test to be endured. But others, led by the moderate Islamists here in Tunisia, argue that the movement is partly to blame. They say that if moderates hope to counter the jihadists and build democracies, their parties must be much more inclusive and conciliatory toward non-Islamist rivals and even those who participated in the old authoritarian governments.

[Continue Reading at The New York Times…]

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Planet Appetite: MarrakChef Culinary Competition, Marrakech, Morocco – Huffington Post

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The concept is simple — each chef must create 2 dishes, a main and a dessert, creating a fusion between their own style of cooking and that of Morocco.  Huffington Post

The concept is simple — each chef must create 2 dishes, a main and a dessert, creating a fusion between their own style of cooking and that of Morocco. Huffington Post

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* Four top international chefs, from France, Belgium, Spain and the UK, gather in Marrakech to create new dishes inspired by the cuisine of Morocco – only one of them will win the acclaimed title of MarrakChef 2014. *

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Rupert Parker, writer, photographer, filmmaker

Rupert Parker, writer, photographer, filmmaker

Rupert Parker
Huffington Post
June 19, 2014

I have a long love affair with Moroccan food and like nothing more than to dust off my tagine pot and make one of those aromatic slow cooked stews. I even make my own preserved lemons, with great success, I have to admit, and there’s an ample supply of couscous from the Algerian stores, close to my house. So an invitation to travel to Marrakech and taste the creations of gourmet chefs from Europe is well received. Even better, I get the chance to take part in the judging, along with my fellow journalists and an expert panel of Moroccan chefs.

MarrakChef is taking place in the divine Naoura Barrière Hotel, within the medina and a 10 minute walk from the Djemaa el-Fna square. Of course, when the day has cooled, I make a visit and check that they are still serving the same exotic food as I remember. I dodge the snake charmers and see that sheep heads are still on the menu, along with my favourite -spleen stuffed with spicy heart and liver. Now these may be too much for some, but couscous, kebabs, snails are all up for the eating. Unfortunately I have to hurry back to the hotel for the competition and don’t want to spoil my appetite for the judging.

The concept is simple — each chef must create 2 dishes, a main and a dessert, creating a fusion between their own style of cooking and that of Morocco. The basis of the main course must be either a tagine or couscous but they are free to interpret these however they wish. Specific Moroccan ingredients on offer are fresh coriander, saffron, olives, argan oil, cumin, preserved lemon, dates, sesame seeds, fresh ginger and turmeric. Themes for dessert should be based on either pastilla, a sweet and savoury pie in flaky pastry, or citrus fruits or both. Ingredients are fresh mint, orange blossom, honey, almond paste, sesame seeds, almonds and dates. Damien Bouchéry from Le Bouchéry, in Brussels, kicks things off. He’s prepared a fillet of monkfish accompanied by couscous, chickpeas, mini vegetables with a sauce of argan oil and preserved lemon. The fish is perfectly cooked and he’s created a symphony on the plate…

[Continue Reading at The Huffington Post…]

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It's no surprise to find that Richard Toix, from France wins the Trophée Maroc Gourmand. His dishes are genuinely a successful fusion of French and Moroccan and flavours.  Huffington Post

It’s no surprise to find that Richard Toix, from France wins the Trophée Maroc Gourmand. His dishes are genuinely a successful fusion of French and Moroccan and flavours. Huffington Post

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King Outlines 3 Pillars of Morocco’s South-South Cooperation for Stability & Progress in Africa

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Morocco's King Mohammed VI

Morocco’s King Mohammed VI

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Full text of King Mohammed VI’s remarks for 25th meeting of Crans Montana Forum in Rabat; outlines Morocco’s innovative approach for South-South cooperation to help make dream of “African miracle” a tangible reality:

    1. Promote status of African citizens with partnerships for human development, economic growth, and food security.

    2. Consolidate spiritual bonds and share Morocco’s model of moderate Islam, such as training Imams, for those requesting it.

    3. Contribute to security and stability through mediation and UN peacekeeping operations in Africa.

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Maghreb Arab Press (Rabat, Morocco, June 20, 2014) — On Friday, Morocco’s King Mohammed VI addressed the 25th meeting of the Crans Montana Forum which kicked off in Rabat.  Below is the full text of the royal message read by foreign minister, Salaheddine Mezouar.

 

Full text of King Mohammed VI’s address to Crans Montana Forum:

Praise be to God

May peace and blessings be upon the Prophet, His Kith and Kin

Your Excellencies,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

It gives me great pleasure to send you this message, at the opening of the 25th session of the “Crans Montana Forum”, which is being held under my high patronage, and to welcome the prominent personalities attending this distinguished meeting in their second home, Morocco.

I would like, first of all, to commend you on choosing the topic of “Heading to the South-South, not a strategy but a necessity”. This reflects the growing importance of south-south cooperation in achieving stability and progress in Africa.

Indeed, south-south cooperation should not remain a mere empty slogan, but become a tangible reality. It is a must which has to be addressed through a holistic, participatory and integrated approach that can help achieve effective results.

I am confident that our continent, with its combined natural resources and human potential, can create an “African miracle”, based on security, stability and human development and conducive to progress and prosperity.

This miracle is not just a dream, nor an aspiration, but a tangible reality that our peoples can achieve, if artificial disputes are resolved and if there is a political will to join efforts in order to build a stable and unified Africa.

As I said in Abidjan, if African countries want to stay the course and achieve economic and human development, they should build self-confidence and self-reliance.

Furthermore, security and stability in the continent depend, first and foremost, on respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of states. They also require coordination in the fight against terrorist organizations and arms, drugs and human trafficking gangs. Those are a threat not only for regional security, in the Sahara and Sahel area, but for the whole Euro-Mediterranean zone, and even worldwide.

The South in general, and African countries more particularly, are in need of effective south-south cooperation, based on solidarity between all countries, through comprehensive regional strategies focused mainly on sustainable human development.

They should also adopt triangular cooperation as an innovative mechanism for optimal use of available resources, both between regional economic groupings in the South, and within the framework of balanced and mutually beneficial partnerships with the North.

In this regard, the Kingdom of Morocco is willing to share the experience and know-how it has accumulated and to build on the confidence and credibility it enjoys with both its partners and international institutions, as part of this triangular cooperation, for the benefit of African peoples.

Your Excellencies,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

As Morocco is a nation deeply-rooted in Africa, I have been keen to strengthen the bonds of brotherhood, cooperation and solidarity with African countries and peoples, in the various political, economic, social, spiritual and cultural fields.

Convinced that our continent is able to foster the much-awaited “African miracle”, the Kingdom of Morocco is making every effort for the emergence of an African continent that is proud of its identity, derives its strength from its spiritual and cultural heritage, a continent that is liberated from the yoke and shackles of the past, free from any inferiority complex, and asserting itself as a modern, ambitious and enterprising Africa.

This hope and the confidence I have in Africa stem from a profound conviction that the future of the continent lies in the men and women who live in it and that the future of Africans lies in their continent.

This is the reason why South-South cooperation, as we see it — effective and solidarity-based — is a pillar of our foreign policy. This is illustrated by the many visits I paid to a number of African sister nations, as well as by the development projects achieved and cooperation agreements concluded, in all fields, during these visits.

In this context, a comprehensive and homogenous approach was adopted, combining the need for building bilateral partnerships based on effectiveness and solidarity, and the imperative of laying the foundations for solid integration between African regional blocs.

The Moroccan approach is based, in a balanced way, on three pillars:

  1. Promoting the status of the African citizen by giving priority to human development programs and boosting economic growth. The capacity of African countries to rely on their own resources is best illustrated by the strategic partnership signed between Morocco and Gabon in the field of fertilizers. The aim is to take advantage of natural resources in both countries to develop agriculture and contribute to achieve food security in the continent.
  2. Consolidating spiritual bonds which have at all times existed between Sub-Saharan populations and the King of Morocco, Commander of the Faithful, and enhancing cooperation in the religious field, with African brothers who voiced the wish to avail themselves of the Moroccan religious model, based on the Malekite rite, which advocates a tolerant and moderate Islam and whose tenets are shared by African peoples. The training of Imams in Morocco is an illustration of this cooperation.
  3. Contributing effectively to bringing security and stability to the continent, either through mediation initiatives for the peaceful settlement of disputes or through participation in UN peace keeping operations in Africa.

I should like to take this opportunity to stress Morocco’s pledge to continue its efforts to give fresh and renewed momentum to cooperation with countries from the South, both at the bilateral level and within regional groupings.

I want to stress once again that Morocco is keen to develop an innovative model for South-South cooperation, based on stronger involvement of private economic actors and on building partnerships between the public and private sectors, for a combined effort to further co-development objectives in African countries.

Your Excellencies,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Morocco believes in our continent’s capacity to create the “African miracle” we aspire to.

This, however, can only be achieved through collective, dedicated efforts to build strong and sustainable economies, settle inter-African disputes peacefully and lead a common action to rise to the development and security challenges facing the continent, on the basis of solidarity, complementarity and integration.

I am confident this important meeting, thanks to the expertise, competence and vision of the participants, will be an opportunity to exchange views on the tangible steps needed to go forward in our endeavors to achieve peace, stability, human development and prosperity in Africa.

Furthermore, thanks to the recommendations you will adopt, this meeting will help strengthen the bonds which exist between African countries and support efforts to explore new avenues for prospective partnerships with specific objectives and innovative mechanisms for their implementation.

Once again, I welcome you to the Kingdom of Morocco and I pray that Almighty God grant you success in your endeavors.

Wassalamu alaïkum warahmatullah wabarakatuh.    

The post King Outlines 3 Pillars of Morocco’s South-South Cooperation for Stability & Progress in Africa appeared first on Morocco On The Move.

Life’s journey: Sufi parable for tolerance, diversity in Fes, Morocco – K.Marshall, Huffington Post

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The Fes Festival was launched in Morocco not long after the 1991 Gulf War, as a deliberate effort to bridge the divides that threatened to polarize "the West" and "Islam." Drawing on the history of Fes, a city that describes itself as Morocco's spiritual capital and prides itself on ancient Muslim and Jewish populations living side by side, the festival brings together music and other art forms from all parts of the world. It is an expression of tolerance, but, still more, a celebration of difference. Huffington Post  Photo: Fes Festival

Fes Festival launched in Morocco not long after the 1991 Gulf War, a deliberate effort to bridge divides that threatened to polarize “the West” and “Islam.” It brings together music and other art forms from all parts of the world, an expression of tolerance, but, still more, celebration of difference.  Photo: Fes Festival

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* “Diversity is of the essence… That is the living expression of the festival’s message: a love of difference and a faith that together different melodies and rhythms can bring harmony without compromising the essence of any part. In less poetic language, the hope is that by coming to know and enjoy the musical expressions of different religions and cultures people will understand and appreciate each other. And stop fighting.” *

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Katherine Marshall, Senior Fellow, Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, & World Affairs, Georgetown University

Katherine Marshall, Senior Fellow, Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, & World Affairs, Georgetown U.

Katherine Marshall
The Huffington Post
June 24, 2014

A band of birds of different species set out on a perilous journey through the unknown, in search of their king. That is the story of The Conference of the Birds, the twelfth century masterpiece of Persian poet Farid ud-Din Attar. Like Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, it offers an amalgam of myths and vignettes of daily life, tales of courage and divine inspiration and silly, telling stories. It is a parable for humankind’s spiritual quest and life’s journey.

The annual Fes Festival of World Sacred Music, which celebrated its twentieth birthday this year, took the Conference of the Birds as its centerpiece. The idea was to explore religious and cultural diversity through the allegory of the journey of the birds. Each member of the band of birds represents a different human type, saintly and querulous, brave and foolish. They travel through a series of seven valleys (in the poem, searching, love, understanding, independence and detachment, unity, astonishment, and finally poverty and nothingness). These valleys, in the festival’s opening operatic spectacle, each represent one of the world’s great religious and cultural traditions. When the brave survivors reach the Simorgh, the king they have been seeking, they look and see, as in a mirror, themselves. The search for truth, for God, for a king, and for the answer to living together must begin with a searching exploration of the self. Only there can the answers be found.

The Fes Festival was launched in Morocco not long after the 1991 Gulf War, as a deliberate effort to bridge the divides that threatened to polarize “the West” and “Islam.” Drawing on the history of Fes, a city that describes itself as Morocco’s spiritual capital and prides itself on ancient Muslim and Jewish populations living side by side, the festival brings together music and other art forms from all parts of the world. It is an expression of tolerance, but, still more, a celebration of difference. The Fes Festival has grown into a renowned world music event, drawing exuberant crowds from Europe and beyond. The theme is sacred music and classic Christian, Jewish, and Sufi music is part of the program. But so are performances, like that of South African Johnny Clegg and Senegalese Youssou N’dour and a delightful Irish group, the Atlan Ensemble, that bring audiences to their feet, clapping, shouting, and dancing. Diversity is of the essence, both in the artistic expression and in the dress and comportment of the audience.

[Continue Reading at The Huffington Post…]

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Jajouka: The Master Musicians of Morocco – Detroit Performs

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Detroit Performs: Jajouka Master Musicians at Arab-American National Museum

Detroit Performs: Jajouka Master Musicians at Arab-American National Museum

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*The Arab American National Museum presents Jajouka: The Master Musicians of  Morocco, a new exhibition featuring the music and philosophy of a group of extraordinary musicians…*

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El Hadj Abdesalam Attar, former leader of Master Musicians, father of current leader Bachir Attar. Photo: Joel Rubiner, 1972.

El Hadj Abdesalam Attar, former leader of Master Musicians, father, current leader Bachir Attar. Photo: Joel Rubiner, 1972.

Detroit Performs (June 25, 2014) — From a small, isolated village in the foothills of Morocco’s Rif mountains, the sounds of an ancient musical tradition reverberate worldwide. With a lineage tracing back several centuries, The Master Musicians of Jajouka carry on a family legacy to create ritual music imbued with healing powers that is central to village life.

Beginning in the 1970s, their recordings and collaborations with western musicians helped to forge what became known as the “world music” genre. This exhibition recounts the history of the Jajouka Musicians, whose descendants continue to produce this magical music, both on recordings and in rare concert performances around the world. This exhibition was guest curated by documentarian Augusta Palmer.

The Arab American National Museum presents Jajouka: The Master Musicians of  Morocco, a new exhibition featuring the music and philosophy of a group of extraordinary musicians who are preserving the history and culture of a remarkable people. The exhibition opens Saturday, June 28 through Sunday, Nov. 2. The exhibition is free with museum admission.

For more details, click here.

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[Continue Reading at Detroit Performs…]

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The Master Musicians play in a line to welcome guests to Jajouka. Photo by Joel Rubiner, 1972.

The Master Musicians play in a line to welcome guests to Jajouka. Photo by Joel Rubiner, 1972.

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In Morocco, A Lasting Impact Means Building Trust – Huffington Post, Stefan Cornibert

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Andradene Lowe and Phoebe Shelor, both students at Washington College and volunteers with America’s Unofficial Ambassadors, lead activities on their first day as French language teachers in the village of Tarmilaat in Morocco.  Photo: AUA

Andradene Lowe and Phoebe Shelor, both students at Washington College and volunteers with America’s Unofficial Ambassadors, leading activities on their first day as French language teachers in the village of Tarmilaat in Morocco. Photo: AUA  (Click on photo to watch video)

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* “Of all our partners, the one I knew would surely tell it to me straight was Ito, the head-woman of Tarmilaat village, who had come to call some of our volunteers last year her ‘American daughters’… Earning her trust and keeping it has long been a goal of mine ever since I first set foot there almost two years ago.” *

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Stefan Cornibert, Program Coordinator, America's Unofficial Ambassadors

Stefan Cornibert, Program Coordinator, America’s Unofficial Ambassadors

Stefan Cornibert
The Huffington Post
June 26, 2014

Being an effective volunteer abroad is about more than just doing well in your service work, it means building trust and partnerships with the community you’re serving. I’m back in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco for the second term of the America’s Unofficial Ambassadors (AUA) summer program here, helping a new team of volunteers get started in their service roles. Our team has a lot to do in Morocco; teaching English at a local community center, running a summer camp for young people, teaching French in a village school, and building partnerships along the way with the people of this beautiful country.

It’s heartening to look ahead at the impact our volunteers will have in the lives of the people they’re serving. At the same time, my visit has also been a chance to look back at what our 2013 volunteers accomplished and take stock of how effective the program is.  One of the biggest criticisms of volunteer abroad programs ― an often apt criticism ― is that while they may “feel good” for the volunteers, they fail to have a real impact in the lives of local people and fail to gain the trust of the communities they serve. Part of my job is ensuring our volunteers don’t fall into that trap. So after each placement with AUA is finished, we do a whole series of reports and follow-ups with all of our partners to gauge the volunteers’ performance, all with intent of ensuring we placed the right people with the right skills in the right service role.

Still, I hadn’t been back to Morocco in almost a year before I came here last week to get things ready for our new team and those reports are no substitute for face-to-face feedback from our partners in the field.  Of all our partners, the one I knew would surely tell it to me straight was Ito, the head-woman of Tarmilaat village, who had come to call some of our volunteers last year her “American daughters.” Always smiling, always incomparably welcoming, Ito commands respect in Tarmilaat and there isn’t much that happens in the village without her approval. Earning her trust and keeping it has long been a goal of mine ever since I first set foot there almost two years ago.

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[Continue Reading at The Huffington Post…]

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UD student Madalyn Becker spent her summer in Morocco, teaching through the America's Unofficial Ambassadors program. Photo: AUA

U. of Delaware student Madalyn Becker spent her summer in Morocco, teaching through the America’s Unofficial Ambassadors program. Photo: AUA

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From Morocco to Jakarta, Muslims Mark Ramadan – Washington Post, AP

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Ramadan in Morocco 2012: Moroccan faithful pray in Hassan II Mosque on Laylat al-Qadr during the holy month of Ramadan, in Casablanca. Photo: Reuters Ramadan 2012: Moroccan faithful pray on the esplanade of the Hassan II Mosque on Laylat al-Qadr during the holy month of Ramadan, in Casablanca. The Eid al-Fitr festival marks the end of Ramadan 2012, the Islamic holy month of fasting. Photo: Reuters

Ramadan in Morocco 2012: Moroccan faithful pray in Hassan II Mosque on Laylat al-Qadr during the holy month of Ramadan, in Casablanca. Photo: Reuters

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Washington Post, Associated Press, by Zeina Karam (Beruit, Lebanon, June 28, 2014) ― Across a wide belt that stretches halfway around the globe, the world’s estimated 1.6 billion Muslims will mark the beginning of Ramadan this weekend. The holy season is marred by unprecedented turmoil, violence and sectarian hatreds that threaten to rip apart the Middle East, the epicenter of Islam. Syria is bleeding. Militants have taken over large parts of Iraq. Lebanon, Libya, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Egypt are all battling Islamic extremists. Millions of war refugees are scattered across the landscape. Although the bloodshed has eroded much of the Ramadan joy, millions of Shiite and Sunni Muslims will fast for grueling hours, both hoping for God’s acceptance.

Ramadan in Morocco 2012: Moroccan faithful pray on the esplanade of the Hassan II Mosque. Photo: Reuters

Ramadan Morocco 2012: Moroccans pray at Hassan II Mosque. Photo: Reuters

Some facts about Ramadan:

A Muslim holy month of fasting during which Muslims abstain from food, drink and other pleasures from sunrise to sunset. Ramadan is the time Muslims believe God started to reveal the Quran to the Prophet Muhammad. For believers, Ramadan is meant to be a time of reflection and worship, remembering the hardships of others and being charitable. Islam is based on a lunar calendar, so the start of Ramadan on the Gregorian calendar varies each year. Once the new crescent moon has been sighted, observance begins. The new moon at the end of the month signals Eid al-Fitr, a three-day festival marking the end of fasting. The majority of Shiites tend to mark Ramadan a day later than Sunnis, although this Ramadan is an exception and a rare event where Shiite and Sunnis will mark Ramadan together — at least in most places.

A Palestinian vendor displays food, including pickled vegetables and olives, in preparation for Ramadan at a market in the West Bank city of Hebron, June 28, 2014. Photo: Majdi Mohammed/AP

Palestinian vendor displays food, including pickled vegetables and olives, in preparation for Ramadan at West Bank market in Hebron, June 28, 2014. Photo: Majdi Mohammed/AP

Fasting is one of the five basic tenets, or pillars, of Islam. Muslims give multiple other reasons: to teach empathy with the poor, learn self-control and show devotion to God. Islam exempts the elderly, young children, pregnant women and those who are ill or travelling from fasting. In some countries like Saudi Arabia and the Emirates, non-Muslims are banned from eating, drinking, or smoking in public during Ramadan. Other countries are more flexible. It may be a time for introspection but Ramadan can also be a time of indulgence. Much like Christmas or Thanksgiving in the Western world, Ramadan is a time for families and friends to gather for elaborate, fast-breaking daily meals known as iftars. There’s a tendency to overeat and go wild on sweets. Prices go up. So-called Ramadan tents are popular venues, providing a place for people to meet after sunset to eat and smoke water pipes until the early morning hours.

[Continue Reading at The Washington Post…]

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Morocco’s Moderate Muslim Model Attracts Regional Interest – Middle East Online

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Members of the Tijaniyya Brotherhood pray as they take part in a remembrance for Sheikh Sidi Ahmed al-Tijani who lived during the eighteenth century on May 14, 2014 in the Moroccan city of Fez. Photo: AFP/Fadel Senna

Members of the Tijaniyya Brotherhood pray as they take part in a remembrance for Sheikh Sidi Ahmed al-Tijani who lived during the eighteenth century on May 14, 2014 in the Moroccan city of Fez. Photo: AFP/Fadel Senna

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* Morocco’s model of moderate Islam is attracting regional interest, with Saharan-Sahelian countries touched by jihadist violence now soliciting the Kingdom’s help. Already 190 imams from Mali are being trained in Rabat, with Tunisia, Libya and Nigeria among other countries requesting Morocco’s help in training its preachers. *

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Well-timed initiative. Middle East Online

Well-timed initiative. Middle East Online

Middle East Online, by Simon Martelli (Rabat, Morocco, June 28, 2014) ― Morocco is promoting its moderate version of Islam as a counterweight to the widening jihadist threat in the Sahara, training hundreds of imams from affected countries, but analysts question its motives.  The initiative is well-timed.  Islamist violence is plaguing Libya and Nigeria, Mali is still recovering from an Islamist takeover of half the country, and Tunisia is increasingly nervous about the return of battled-hardened nationals fighting for Al-Qaeda-linked groups in Syria and Iraq.

Morocco has kept a tight grip on the religious sphere, which is closely tied up with the monarchy’s legitimacy. King Mohamed VI, who is believed to be descended from the Prophet Mohammed (PBUH), is accorded the title “Commander of the Faithful” and has a religious TV and radio station named after him, has been busily burnishing Morocco’s image as a model Muslim state. This month, he inaugurated a “religious support program” that will see 1,300 imams trained in Rabat since 2006 sent out to instruct preachers lacking formal training at some 50,000 mosques nationwide.

“Their task is to help and guide imams in mosques to preserve the fundamentals of Islam in Morocco, based on the Malikite rite, contrary to takfirism, which is constantly invading the minds of our young people,” Islamic Affairs Minister Ahmed Toufiq has said. The moderate Malikite school of Sunni Islam practiced in Morocco ― as in most of North Africa ― is often cited as a key aspect of its religious tolerance, contrasting starkly with radical “takfirist” ideology that brands non-practicing Muslims “infidels.” Other features of Morocco’s Muslim culture include the important social role played by the Sufi brotherhoods, which Toufiq has encouraged since the King appointed him in 2002, and hundreds of female religious instructors have been trained in recent years alongside the imams.

[Continue Reading at Middle East Online…]

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Tunisia, which the king visited last month, has also requested Rabat's help in training its preachers, having suffered a wave of Islamist attacks since the 2011 revolution, with many mosques falling under the influence of extremists.

Tunisia, which King Mohammed VI visited last month, has requested Rabat’s help in training its preachers, having suffered a wave of Islamist attacks since the 2011 revolution, with many mosques falling under the influence of extremists. Middle East Online, Photo: MAP

 

 

 

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In Fes: A World Music Festival That’s a Beacon of Tolerance – theartsdesk

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Not Glasto: Hamadcha of Fes. Photo: FesFestival

Not Glasto: Hamadcha of Fes. Photo: theartsdesk.com

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* “Forget Glastonbury, Morocco’s Festival of World Sacred Music in Fes goes from strength to strength… The festival, which featured Christian and Jewish groups as well as Islamic and other musicians is, for my dirhams, not just Skali’s ‘beacon of tolerance’ but the best world music festival there is.” *

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theartsdesk.com, by Peter Culshaw (Fes, Morocco, June 29, 2014) ― You are or maybe wish you were at Glastonbury this weekend. Not me. I last went six years ago and it’s just too big for me. And you need about four different passes to get backstage should you have a good or a bad reason to get there. Too bureaucratic. However, I was, as ever, more than glad to be at the Fes Festival of World Sacred Music, which is more human in scale, sociable and, at times, transcendent. This year was the 20th edition. I have gone as many times as I possibly could. A couple of decades back, one autumnal morning in my flat in North London my fax machine juddered into life. I had been invited that very afternoon to a press conference in Casablanca and I had a ticket leaving in a few hours to get there should I want to. I decided to drop everything and go. Being in French, I didn’t understand too much of it, but afterwards, founder Fauozi Skali and artistic director Gerard Kurdijan suggested we drive across Morocco the next day to Fes, via the Roman ruins of Volubilis.

On the way, both of them explained the idea behind the Festival. It was a response to the first Gulf war, an attempt to be a beacon of light and tolerance in one of the holiest and ancient cities of the Islamic world. The city itself, with its ancient medina, is a wonderful place to get lost in. It’s a city where many saints are buried, and even if you don’t believe in them, the fact that many have prayed and meditated and chanted at their shrines changes the energy of the place. It was a destination where many Muslims and Jews who were kicked out of Spain in the 15th and 16th centuries came, and the Festival represents a kind of nostalgia for the great days of Andalucia, where Christians, Jews, and Muslims lived, more or less, in harmony and were at the forefront of medicine, mathematics and knowledge. It has the biggest medina in the world and miles of car-free winding alleys ― the only other comparatively similar one was in Aleppo, but now that tragic city has been virtually razed.

“The city itself is probably the real star of the Festival. It was where a university was founded two centuries before Oxford and Cambridge (by two women), and after a few days I found myself reading a line by Idries Shah about Fes that ‘it is a centre of learning, a place where transmission takes place. It’s where the baton is passed on’ and it made perfect sense.”

Ideally, the musicians would have a couple of days to acclimatize themselves to the energy of this place. As Skali pointed out, in other city festivals the energy is dispersed ― people go off to cinemas or clubs and re-assemble the next day. In Fes the energy is somehow more focused, so that after a few days you’ve slowed down sufficiently and have had your ears opened, so that you can really begin to appreciate the ancient Indian vocal music of Dhrupad or a trio of bardic divas from Uzbekistan and  Kazakhstan. In a globalized world, it’s hard these days to think of anything as alien or exotic, but this trio really seemed from another era, another planet, these strong women’s voices from Central Asia singing songs from centuries ago, and all wearing the most fabulous headgear. Iraq’s top pop star Kadim Al Sahir and Senegal’s finest Youssou N’Dour both returned as they love the Sufi traditions in Fes ― Youssou having a particular connection with the Tidjiani Brotherhood who have millions of followers in West Africa and whose shrine is in the city. Al Sahir says that Fes is like Baghdad used to be “a city of philosophers, musicians and mystics.”

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[Continue Reading at theartsdesk.com…]

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Who do you know in Morocco? – Norman Greene, San Diego Jewish World

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Roberta Greene stands at the aron kodesh in Casablanca synagogue.

Roberta Greene stands at the aron kodesh in Casablanca synagogue.

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* “We had started to gain an appreciation for the tolerant, ‘live and let live’ relationship of the peoples of Morocco… Even today, a chief advisor to the present King is Jewish.  Remarkable when you think of the current Arab world.” *

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Norman Greene, freelance writer, San Diego

Norman Greene, freelance writer, San Diego

Norman Greene
San Diego Jewish World

June 29, 2014

CASABLANCA, Morocco — Dressed in her head-to-toe hajab or jalaba, she reminded me of an Arabic version of San Diego’s late travel maven Gert Thaler as she skillfully guided us on our quest around the old Jewish Quarter in Casablanca.  She was effusive, charming, funny and full of energy.  We had outlined three things we wanted to accomplish during our half-day tour. A weekend before our May departure for Morocco, my wife and I accompanied our daughter and son-in-law on a tour of a new house under construction in Alvarado Estates.  Friends of my daughter’s for many years, Eric and Peggy Sands’ home is being built on Yerba Santa Drive.  During our extensive walk-though, the subject of our trip to Morocco came up and we were surprised to learn that Eric’s grandfather had been born and raised in Casablanca.

Eric asked for a personal favor.  Could we please find the house where his grandfather, Simon Pinto, once lived and take a few photos of it?  Well, that gave us the start of a little mission in this very modern, French city…one that lacks the charm and character of the rest of amazing Morocco.  We also had read about a Jewish Museum in Casablanca that we wanted to investigate.  So that was a second goal of our planned visit.   Our final activity there was an attempt to meet Jean-Daniel Vitalis a French Moroccan childhood friend of Carmel Valley resident Joanne Laverson, a friend of a friend.  My wife likes these challenges.  Other than the incredible Hasan II Mosque and the touristy, but charming, “Rick’s Café” of Ingrid Bergman and Humphrey Bogart movie fame, there really isn’t much to see in all of Casablanca.  So our three goals gave us a purpose for being there.

It took a bit of sleuthing on our guide’s part since the address Eric gave us was on a street that had been renamed a number of years ago.  But she was up to the task and along with our extremely capable driver, Abdou Tabib Abdenabi, our guide found the new address opposite a closed synagogue on the renamed street.   We took our pictures for Eric.  Then our guide suggested we might like to visit an operating synagogue on the same street, a block away on the other side of a main boulevard.  That was some initiative on her part and the next thing we knew, we were walking into the walled courtyard of the well maintained  building. There are about 150 Jews living in Casablanca today and, as we were told, this is one of the few Casablanca congregations still functioning in this liberal Islamic country. As we looked around the well-worn building and its charming courtyard, my eye was drawn to a Wall of Honor.  There in bold letters was Erik’s grandfather’s name on a marble plaque.  The name literally jumped off the wall as I was walking by.  Another photo opportunity.  Mission 1 accomplished and we had started to gain an appreciation for the tolerant, “live and let live” relationship of the peoples of Morocco.

[Continued Reading at San Diego Jewish World…]

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Guide and caretaker pose with Roberta Greene at Casablanca’s Jewish Museum

Guide and caretaker pose with Roberta Greene at Casablanca’s Jewish Museum

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Selling a Startup Takes Planning: 4 Tips From an Entrepreneur Who Did it Twice – Wamda

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Pictured above at LinkedIn’s headquarters, from left to right, CTO Mehdi Mehni, Senior Product Manager, Cédric Poirier, Senior Software Engineer at LinkedIn Muhieddine El Kaissi, and COO Taoufik El Jamali.

Pictured above at LinkedIn’s headquarters, from left to right, CTO Mehdi Mehni, Senior Product Manager, Cédric Poirier, Senior Software Engineer at LinkedIn Muhieddine El Kaissi, and COO Taoufik El Jamali. Photo: Wamda

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* “When I arrived in Silicon Valley, I changed my mind. I was no longer afraid to talk about my vision, because the most important part is not the vision, but its implementation,” says Moroccan entrepreneur Taoufik El Jamali. *

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Wamda, by Aline Mayard (June 30, 2014) — Despite his success, Taoufik El Jamali is largely unknown in Morocco; too bad, given that his business wins could serve as inspirations for many of his North African peers.  In just five years, the entrepreneur was able to grow and sell his businesses Unyk to Viadeo, and helped sell Netclub to Match.com, the number one professional social network in French-speaking countries and in China. Today, he is the co-founder of Viral Ninja, a viral customer acquisition platform based in Montreal with a team of North American, French, and North African talents that recently became Sociable Labs after a merger.  Here he reflects on his journey and give us tips for a successful exit.

20 million users

After earning a bachelor’s degree in aeronautics at a university in Moscow and working for three years in engineering in Morocco, Taoufik moved to Montreal in 2002 to pursue his master’s studies in e-business and delve into what was then called NICT, New Information and Communication Technologies. There, he met Sebastien Brault, a Québécois working on his third startup: an early dating website launched in France and Québec, called Netclub.com. Together, they sought to create a website that could help drive traffic to Sebastien’s website. In 2004, they created Unyk.com, a smart address book that groups all contacts in a single address book and automatically updates the information of those contacts.

“We spent zero dollars on marketing, and one month after the launch, we had 30,000 registering every day,” the entrepreneur said. This is a success he attributed to the viral nature of the product; you had to invite contacts so their information would be updated automatically, and a lot of time spent on ensuring the sharing process will be seamless. That the app was online in English, French, and Spanish from the beginning also helped get people sharing. For three years, the two entrepreneurs worked on both startups. That changed in 2007, when they realized Unyk was the startup with the more potential, selling NetClub, with its four million users, to Match.com who was focusing on expansion to francophone markets. This allowed in turn for Sebastien and Taoufik to focus their human and financial resources on Unyk. Shortly thereafter, Unyk reached 10 million users. Inspired by the success of LinkedIn and Viadeo, the team developed a strategy to turn the address book into a professional social network whose added value would be the synchronization of contacts with one’s address book. And so they began raising a $15 million round.

[Continue Reading at Wamda…]

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Morocco Reshapes its Image, Through Music Festivals – The Guardian

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The massive pop Festival Mawazine in Rabat, which has starred the likes of Rihanna and Stevie Wonder, this year posted a record crowd of more than 2.6 million over nine days, and sent a message of Morocco as a more tolerant, open Islamic country. Photo: Festival Mawazine

The massive pop Festival Mawazine in Rabat, which has starred the likes of Rihanna and Stevie Wonder, this year drew a record crowd of more than 2.6 million over nine days, and conveyed a message of Morocco as a more tolerant, open Islamic country. Photo: Festival Mawazine

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* “The North African nation hosts three festivals that dwarf Glastonbury – and which are designed to send out a message about the country’s tolerance… They are fascinating festivals; and Fes in particular is, for my dirhams, the best world music festival anywhere.” *

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Festival hero … Mehdi Nassouli at Morocco's Timitar festival. Photo: Rachid Bourhim/PR

Festival hero … Mehdi Nassouli at Morocco’s Timitar festival. Photo: Rachid Bourhim/PR

London Guardian, by Peter Culshaw (July 1, 2014) — You may not have noticed, but Morocco has become one of the leading destinations for music festivals in the world. There’s the Fes festival, a leading world music festival, and the snappily named Jazzablanca in Casablanca. But the biggest ones are the funkier Gnaoua festival in Essaouira on the coast, the massive pop Festival Mawazine in Rabat — which has starred the likes of Rihanna and Stevie Wonder — and Timitar in Agadir.  Each attracts crowds of up to 500,000 people (that’s three times the size of Glastonbury). All of them, too, are not just music festivals — they have specific social and political agendas as well.

Timitar, which I went to the weekend before Glastonbury, is a case in point. That was where I saw a rapper called Muslim — a great name if you don’t want to be Googled — appearing at an event that is at root a celebration of Berber culture. Muslim’s best-known song, which he delivered to a crowd of more than 100,000 at the “urban” stage in Place Bijawane near the beach, is Al Rissala (The Letter) a fiery anti-authoritarian condemnation of corruption and ignorance in high places.

On another stage, Alpha Blondy’s 10-piece reggae band was singing about “spiritual terrorists” who think it’s OK to kill in the name of religion. The next night, local heroine Najat Atabou was singing songs in support of women’s rights in a more traditional style, while Mehdi Nassouli was positively postmodern, almost Prog Berber. In previous years at the festival I’d caught Marcel Khalife, a Palestinian who sings rousing revolutionary songs, and the rock band Hoba Hoba Spirit, whose Will To Live — a setting of a poem written in the 1930s — became an anthem for the demonstrations in Morocco a couple of years ago.

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[Continue Reading at The Guardian…]

The post Morocco Reshapes its Image, Through Music Festivals – The Guardian appeared first on Morocco On The Move.

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