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Friday, March 12 2010 14:37 |
 The U.S. ambassador to Morocco, Mr. Samuel Kaplan |
The U.S. ambassador to Morocco, Mr. Samuel Kaplan, has expressed "our distress" about the way [the recently expelled Americans] were sent away. He said the Moroccan government refused a hearing for those expelled — and that "violates fundamental rules of due process."
U.S. Ambassador in a message Thursday to Americans residing in Morocco said the U.S. doesn't take issue with Moroccan law.
The recent expulsion of foreign nationals has overshadowed U.S. praise on Friday for Morocco's recent steps to improve human rights, women's rights and democracy.
A charitable group called the Village of Hope, a home for orphaned and unwanted children in northern Morocco, said Thursday that 16 of its workers were ordered on Monday to leave the country.
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Tuesday, March 09 2010 16:03 |
 Washington / Morocco Board News Service / An orphanage called Village of Hope in The mid Atlas Region of Ain Leuh in Morocco, that was being run by 20 expatriates, has been ordered closed by government authorities. they were told that they must leave the country within three days.
A statement from the Moroccan Interior ministry noted that the individuals expelled "exploited some families' poverty and targeted their minor children …. they carried out proselytizing activities aimed at childre nunder the age of 10, adding that the investigation resulted in the seizure of materials used in proselytizing".
The Voice of Hope orphanage has been operating for 10 years, taking abandoned children. Thirty three children lived there, some since its founding in 2000.
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 03/06/2010 / Washington / Morocco Board News Service / A project for an overhaul of the port in the city of Tangier is in the offing.
The plan hopes to transform Tangier into a leading yachting marina in the Mediterranean. Many changes are expected to give back to Tangier a leading place among Mediterranean cities by 2011.
"This major project, which will begin construction in 2011 - will make the port of Tangier and its bay one of the first marinas and cruise destinations in the Mediterranean," said President of the tangier port development & conversion society, Abdelouafi Laftit, in a statement to AFP.
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Assasinated Algerian National Police Chief Mr. Ali Tounsi
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03/05/2010 17:11 / Washington / Morocco Board News Service / Even by Algerian standards, the assassination of the head of the National Police (le directeur général de la sûreté nationale or DGSN for short) in his office was a shocker for Algerians. According to one official version, as there are several official accounts, Mr. Ali Tounsi was shot by one of his close collaborators and the chief of the Police Helicopters Unit, Colonel Chaïb Oultache. The first accounts issued by the Ministry of Interior, which supervises the National Police including the DGSN, reported that the Colonel shot Mr. Tounsi in a “fit of madness”, and then turned his weapon on himself. The Algerian public has been skeptical of the official reports on the incident. As one Algerian blogger wrote before the Ministry of Interior’s announcement: “They [ Government officials] will use the madness theory again to justify a political assassination as they did before in the case of the assassinated President Boudiaf, they must think we[Algerian public] are so stupid.”
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 Preview of film Itto Titrit
Friday, March 5th, 7:30 PM followed by a reception
Goethe-Institute
812 Seventh Street NW
Washington DC 20001--Metro Stop: Gallery Place/Chinatown
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Marginalization of Imazighen by Moroccan Entities
Helene Hagan
 The proof of the margin- -alization of Imazighen by mainstream Moroccan entities is right here, where such well known Amazigh activists in the United States as myself (Moroccan Amazigh activist in the US since 1960) and other members of the Amazigh Cultural Association in America,shington University
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02-03-2010- Washington-Itto Titrit tells the story of a young Amazigh girl and her dream of going to school. Set in Morocco's pre - independence days in the Middle Atlas, the film showcases the political turmoil following the exile of King Mohammed V and the resistance of a small town that dreams of liberty and freedom for Morocco.
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AHMED TAIBI
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 02-03-2010- Washington--Someone’s negligence, not rain, is what killed forty-one people and injured over seventy in the collapse of the Bab Berdieyinne Mosque, Meknes.
There are nagging questions that lurk in the background of the Meknes tragedy. When Ahmed Al-Tawfiq, Morocco’s minister of Awqaf and religious Affairs, appeared on “Hiwar – Dialogue,“ a Morocco’s channel One news program, I thought we were getting answers; instead, he described, with lamentable detachment, the collapse of the wind-whipped and rain saturated minaret and a three-thirds of the Bab Berdieyinne Mosque as being “Allah’s will and unexpected;” |
COLIN MOYNIHAN
 February 28, 2010 - New York Times - As the New York Police Department has initiated and expanded counterterrorism efforts in foreign countries over the last several years, it has also aggressively tried to recruit speakers of Arabic and other languages of countries where Islam holds sway.
Said Hajem says that a police officer reviewing his application told him, “You may be a terrorist.”
But a Moroccan immigrant who applied to become a police officer as a result of those efforts is suing the department, charging that he was not hired because he was a Muslim and was born outside the United States.
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Anouar Hamama
 02/02/10--- Lahoucine Amouzay, like many Berbers, wants greater rights and respect for Morocco's Amazigh citizens. His activism puts him at odds with those who want an exclusively Arab and Islamic identity for Morocco.
"We live in the margins," Amouzay said. "All we get are promises. If we don't fight, we'll always be seen as a backward people."
The Amazigh, commonly known as Berbers, were Morocco's first inhabitants and still account for about 60 percent of the country's nearly 32 million citizens. But Amazigh activists say they are treated like a minority by members of the dominant Arab culture.
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Wednesday, March 10 2010 19:57 |
Children at Ain Leuh Orphanage before Deportation of Religeous Patrons
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Washington / Morocco Board News Service / Of the twentieth foreign nationals deported from Morocco recently for proselytizing and violation of the Kafala (Adoption) Law, six of them were from Holland.
This has caused an outcry among Dutch politicians and national media. The Minister of Foreign Affairs summoned the consul of Morocco in The Hague for consultations. Then came the turn of the political parties - headed by the Christian Democrat party - to denounce the attitude of the Moroccan authorities.
In addition, political parties have threatened to push the European Union (EU) to request a review of the various cooperation and exchanges between EU Member States and Morocco, if Morocco continues to deport European foreign nationals for religious considerations.
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Tuesday, March 09 2010 00:18 |
German Magazine Cover shows the famous Greek sculpture "Venus de Milo" with provocative headline: "A crook in Euro-land." |
The Greek magazine Eleftheros replies with the statue of victory in Berlin holding a swastika |
The debt crisis has brought about an exchange of “greetings” and “good wishes” between Greece and Germany that would make the Algeria-Egypt hate-Fest green with envy.
The height of arrogance was reached by the German newspaper, Bild -more than 12 million readers per day- with an open letter to the Greek Prime Minister that said "Germany also has large debts but we [the Germans] pay out debts, because we get up early and work all day. "(Understand; the Greeks should start getting up early and work hard) with a title " Every Greek pays 1,355 Euros in bribes per year "!
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BENJAMIN GENOCCHIO
Edwynn Houk Gallery
Edwynn Houk Gallery“Les Femmes
du Maroc: Grand Odalisque” Enlarge
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“Lalla Essaydi: Les Femmes du Maroc,” an exhibition at the Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum, draws attention to one of the most interesting if puzzling developments in contemporary art: a revival of exotic, often historical imagery of people from faraway places in the name of a critique of exoticism.
Ms. Essaydi is a Moroccan-born, New York-based photographer who has risen to prominence for her beautiful, striking imagery dealing with the role of women in Islamic societies. But much like Shirin Neshat, Shahzia Sikander and other successful expatriate female artists from Muslim nations, she trades in stereotypes, reflecting back at us our own misconceptions and prejudices.
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HASSAN MASIKY
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The Maghreb Union without the "A"
Dr. Hussein Ben Kirat
 03/03/2010 / Oxford, UK The EU- Moroccan Meeting is not a Moroccan-Spanish meeting, and should have been a MU-EU meeting, if it weren’t for the stubbornness of the Algerian military regime. Without the Union du Maghreb, without the "A", because the Maghreb is far from being Arab, as they do not either master standard Arabic; ...
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 March 3, 2010 / Washington / Morocco Board News Service /As the Moroccan delegation gets ready to land in Granada, Spain, for an unprecedented summit meeting with the European Union, several European critics are questioning Morocco’s commitments to implementing a new Press Code and reforming its judicial system. Recent actions by the Moroccan government to close down independent magazines, to jail bloggers and journalists, and to use the judicial system to silence internal critics are giving anxiety to some of Rabat supporters in the EU, namely France.
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HASSAN MASIKY
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 Washington, March 2, 2010 - Morocco Board News Service - - The Spanish government is pulling out all the stops to ensure the success of the first Morocco-European Union (EU) summit, scheduled to be held on March 7 and 8 in Granada, Spain. Madrid is undertaking a massive diplomatic effort to assure the presence of King Mohammed IV during this highly important meeting. For now, the Royal Palace is not commenting on the event. Spain, which is currently holding the rotating EU presidency, is trying to cement its image as a bridge between the two sides of the Mediterranean.
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Fouad Laroui
03/01/2010 - It is a rather bizarre story that occurred a few weeks ago in the good town of Gouda in Holland.
 Yes! Yes! in the city that manufactures that famous cheese that makes such good sandwiches in a stick just out of the oven with a knob of butter ...... But I digress, we're not here to share cooking recipes but to objectively examine major issues of the day.
An incident happened a few weeks ago in this city, the type of incidents that unfortunately happens in Holland from time to time: a young thug attacked a bus driver. |
 Washington - February 28, 2010 --The 20/20 celebration is about to begin in various locations throughout Washington, D.C. The mixture of academic, cultural, recreational and family events will start on March 1, 2010, and last through the end of the month. As Khalid Nahi notes, the 20 years celebration is “our celebration of unity and love for each other,” and the 20/20 events recognize “the leadership of WMC...for all of these years of service and community building.”
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NEWS
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 02/25/2010 -- Washington - Morocco Board News Service -- At a conference on the Palestine-Israeli Conflict and the war in Iraq organized, last February 16th, by a Moroccan NGO called the National Task Force to support Iraq and Palestine, the keynote speaker and head of the NGO, Mr. Khalid Soufiani, who is known for his fiery anti-American speeches has called on Mr. Andre Azoulay, an influential Moroccan citizen of Jewish faith and a senior advisor to the king of Morocco to pack up and leave the country because Mr. Azoulay had previously suggested that the Holocaust should be included in the curriculum of Moroccan universities.
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