 Rabat - Morocco deplores Algeria's negative reaction to its participation on March 16 in a regional conference on cooperation in the fight against terrorism and cross-border crime in the Sahel-Saharan region, a statement of the Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday.
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 03/06/2010 / Laayoune / Morocco / Slavery still practiced in the Tindouf camps (south-western Algeria) is completely unacceptable and cannot be silenced, president of the African-American congress Seddiq Abu Bakr Way said on Friday.
Following a meeting with several Saharan NGOs notably the "Ligue des défenseurs des droits de l'homme au Sahara", Abu Bakr Way said the Algerian press overshadows the appalling practices in these camps and focuses on the baseless claims of human rights abuses in the southern provinces.
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2010-02-19 18:48:52 - Laayoune - M'barek Cheikh Ahmed Baba Al-Kadi, a young Saharan from the Rguibet Laâyaycha tribe, escaped Tindouf camps (south-western Algeria) to join homeland, Morocco.
M'barek Cheikh, 24, had participated along with several Saharans in a sit-in staged in front of "Polisario’s secretariat general", near Tindouf.
The young Saharan told MAP that he returned home to regain his freedom and dignity and meet his relatives.
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Dakhla, Morocco - Mohamed Ahmed Hamou, a Moroccan citizen from the Saharan Ouled-Dlim tribe, on Monday urged UNSG Ban Ki-moon to save the lives of his brother and friends who were arrested last December by the western Polisario militia in Tindouf camps (south-western Algeria).
In a letter sent to the UN chief, Mohamed Hamou called for putting pressure on Algeria and the Polisario to free the three prisoners; Balouh Ahmed Hamou, Ahmed Salem Chibani Hamou and Mohamed Salek Ouled Gueya, who were arrested for publicly expressing their opposition to Western sahara separatist Polisario leaders.
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Brussels - A large majority of Morocco southern populations is convinced that the Moroccan proposal to grant a broad autonomy to the southern Saharan provinces is the only solution to settle the Sahara issue, member of the Royal Advisory Council for Saharan Affairs, Moulay Ahmed Mghizlat, said on Tuesday.
A large majority of the Sahara populations is convinced that the Moroccan proposal to grant a broad autonomy to the southern provinces is the only credible and realistic solution to settle the Sahara issue, given that all attempts to solve this artificial conflict were a complete debacle, Mghizlat said at a series of meetings in Brussels of a delegation of Saharan MPs and officials with European deputies from across the political spectrum. |
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The Moroccan initiative comes in response to repeated requests of the United Nations Security Council and several of its key members, including the United States, that Morocco propose a solution to this longstanding problem that could facilitate the opening of negotiations for a “just, durable and peaceful” political solution.
After nearly a decade of trying to bring the Polisario and Morocco to agreement to conduct a referendum to determine the territories future, Kofi Annan, then Secretary General, and James Baker, then Personal Envoy for the Western Sahara, reported to the Security Council that it was not possible to achieve agreement between the Polisario and Morocco on the central issue of who should be permitted to vote in a referendum. Consequently, Annan and Baker recommended that the Security Council encourage Morocco and the Polisario to enter into direct negotiations to find a compromise political solution. The Security Council accepted the assessment of Annan and Baker that a referendum would not be possible, and began a process carried through several years of UNSC resolutions calling for direct negotiations.
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Mohammed Boughdadi
Le Sahara marocain, le même peuple dans les mêmes frontières
Le Sahara est l'un des sujets qui a été le plus exploité par la littérature méditerranéenne des siècles derniers. Toutefois, les Européens en ont un aperçu tout à fait particulier, ne sachant comment le distinguer sous ses différentes coutures. Le plus connu par l'Europe est le Sahara français. Sa conquête par la France, en 1830, a fait l'objet d'écrits plus ou moins préconçus et sa libération, en 1962 après la guerre d'Algérie, n'a pas manqué d'attirer l'attention des observateurs et écrivains de toutes les tendances.
\Par sa géographie, son anthropologie, ses populations millénaires, son histoire et ses aléas sociopolitiques, il est normal de parler du désert africain. Il se présente sous un ensemble homogène allant de l'Atlantique à la Mer Rouge, avec des nuances à peine perceptibles. S'il n'avait pas été dépecé et cloisonné en plusieurs zones politiques par le colonial européen, il aurait gardé son harmonie et ses lois géographiques. Les frontières administratives de la période d'occupation ont été plus d'une fois modifiées ou effacées. Les coloniaux qui les avaient imposées ont disparu, mais restent à jamais ces éléments géographiques et humains qui continuent de former le corps originel du Sahara. Sa physionomie physique et humaine conserve ses singularités millénaires, restées immuables malgré les vicissitudes de l'époque coloniale.
Le Sahara qui nous intéresse ici est le Sahara Marocain, tel qu'il était avant la colonisation du Maroc par la France et l'Espagne et tel qu'il est aujourd'hui avec ses problèmes et ses labyrinthes. C'est dans cette optique que ce chapitre tente de faire connaître la géographie et la morphologie de cette région pour connaître la population qui y évolue et ses problèmes. Le terrain, le relief, le climat, l'hydrographie, la pluviométrie, jusqu'à la faune et la flore, expliquent le mouvement des masses humaines et déterminent leur mode de vie, leurs caractères et leurs spécificités. L'homme ne choisit pas son mode de vie, mais ce sont ces éléments naturels qui tracent sa destinée. Le nomadisme et le système caravanier n'ont pas été un choix, mais imposés au bédouin par le milieu où il évolue.
La géographie du Sahara
Le Sahara n'est point cette pensée têtue et romantique qui le représente comme une suite infinie de dunes dorées où cheminent, au son envoûtant d'une flûte magique, de féeriques et interminables caravanes qui éveillent la nostalgie d'alléchants et fabuleux voyages. Le Sahara n'est pas non plus un vaste espace constellé d'oasis rêvés pour le repos dans des palmeraies enchanteresses que traversent de roucoulants et limpides ruisseaux où se désaltère le voyageur après sa longue méharée. Seuls les contes des Mille et une Nuits donnent peut-être du Sahara cette séduisante métaphore
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 Moroccan Flag Raising Over City Hall
Friday, January 9th - 3:30 pm to 5:00 pm Jersey City City Hall,
280 Grove Street, Jersey City, NJ |
 It has been long established that involvement in the political process is vital to any community’s success. With each new elected congress, there are a number of positions that require to be filled.
In an effort to open various doors to the Moroccan American community, it brings me great pleasure and joy to announce that the Congressional Muslim Staffers Association (CMSA) has sent out a call for interested individuals to submit their resumes to be included in the CMSA Resume Book. Interested Moroccan Americans are highly encouraged to apply.
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 The Moroccan Community in the 10th Congressional district of Virginia is not happy about its congressman Frank Wolf's series of position regarding Morocco. The congressman has sided with the Polisario front and its backers and dismissed Morocco's Sahara autonomy plan and supported the referendum option championed by the Polisario.
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Every now and then a group of people have a vision, a small idea that
extends beyond each one of them but together they could reach.
Our journey would lead to a destination if we have something in common. We got together in Washington DC and it did not take us long to realize that we love our country. With or without a cause, we wake up and go to sleep thinking about home. What brought us together is an emotion. What made us want to go on a journey together is passion.
It is difficult for a group of people to agree. There are differences that
we must admit and put aside before we hold hands and march toward a common goal. Trust is gained not imposed and for each one of us to look at the other and say "count on me", its a combination of verbs not words.
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Delilah
Rivers of Exile
Last Saturday, I attended a day-long gathering of Moroccan Americans advertized as focusing on "opportunities and responsibilities". The email invite came from a former colleague that I respect and have known for a long time and I had time, so I went - if only to catch-up with old acquaintances and maybe meet new people. That, I did but the rest was pretty much old school, to say the least
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By Khadija Smiri
(AXcess News) Washington ? More than 100,000 Moroccan are installed at the United States. Far from their country, their families and their traditions, they crossed the Atlantic to look for a better life. They left everything behind them to live the American draem.
My first contact with the U.S. Moroccan community was at a lunch sponsored by the Moroccan Americans of the Greater Washington Area in Alexandria, Va., just across the Potomac River.
For a moment, I really thought that I was in Morocco. The host welcomed the people with "salam alikoum." It means "peace on you," and is the way to say hello for Muslims, but it was also a way for the host to detect the Moroccans from the Americans.
Moroccan faces, American citizens
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VISION:
- Empower Moroccan Americans to achieve their full potential and realize their dreams by creating a Network that facilitates dialogue and cooperation between them for the sole benefit of their common interests.
- Become the first and foremost hub for Moroccan Americans, and achieve a lead status through our membership where we are able to influence issues affecting our communities.
- Leverage opportunities provided in the civic society of America to influence laws and policies that will benefit Moroccans living both in North America and their homeland of Morocco.
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Monday, March 15 2010 12:43 |
Geneva - The International Agency for Development expressed on Monday its concern over the persistence in the Tindouf camps of enforced disappearances, and urged the international community to exert pressure on Algeria so that it assumes its responsibility regarding these human rights violations.
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02/16/2010 10:38 PM -- Washington - The non-resolution of the Sahara issue hinders interregional cooperation and prevents the integration of the Maghreb countries, Robert Godec, Principal Deputy Coordinator for Counterterrorism in the Department of State said on Tuesday.
Speaking at a meeting held by the U.S. think tank, The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), on "the dynamics of terrorism in North Africa," Godec stressed that the non-resolution of the Sahara issue hinders the cooperation and integration which the Maghreb region needs.
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02-11-2010 - 19:18:23
Rabat - Saharan NGO, the League of human rights defenders in the Sahara wrote to the UN Secretary-General about "the acts of violence" committed against the Saharans who staged a sit-in in front of the polisario's secretariat general, near Tindouf in the Algerian territory.
In this letter, the NGO said the protesters' families contacted it to express their indignation at the polisario’s behavior which put human lives at risk, adding that the demonstrators were subjected to the worst forms of torture.
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Madrid - Spain, which currently holds the rotating presidency of the European Union, hailed on Thursday the announcement of a new set of informal talks on the Sahara issue.
Speaking in Brussels before the European Parliament, Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos hailed the announcement of a new set of informal talks under the UN aegis, said the Spanish Radio and Television. The new informal talks on the Sahara will take place on February 10-11 in Westchester County, in the outskirts of New York. |
 Washington -02/02/10-- US House of Representative members called on the UN high Commissioner for refugees (HCR) to "protect the rights" of the population held against its will in the Polisario-run camps of Tindouf, south-western Algeria.
In a letter sent the HCR head Antonio Guterres, co-chairs of the partisan Congressional Refugee Caucus of the US House of Representatives, Lincoln-Diaz-Balart and Zoe Lofgren said they believe the Office of the UN high Commissioner for refugees "should work toward ensuring that the rights of the populations living in Tindouf be fully protected".
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Appeal For A Manifestation
In the light of some recent events that attack the sovereignty and the security of our country, We, Moroccans living abroad and friends of Morocco, want to call the attention of the American and international public opinion on the following:
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Following the media storm around Western Sahara Separatist, Aminatou Haidar, a group of Moroccan Americans, friends of Morocco that are not affiliated with any particular organization or association issued a petition on the Western Sahara conflict and its roots.
The petition emphasizes the Moroccan identity of the Sahara, denies the misleading information circulated by the "Polisario Front" and its supporters, and seeks to reach out to the Moroccan Sahraoui people and help them return back home to Morocco. |
Erin Kim
Meryem Riane (left) and Loubna Gourari visit the Blue Door at City Hall. The door was donated by their hometown, Issaquah’s sister city, Chefchaouen, Morocco. The girls visited as part of an exchange program. |
On their first visit to America, students Meryem Riane, 19, and Loubna Gourari, 18, traveled to Issaquah from its Moroccan sister city, ChefchaouenLong before the students made a two-week trip to Issaquah, Issaquah residents and officials took steps to cement the relationship between the city and Chefchaouen.
In 2006, 12-year-old Iman Belali wanted to create a better understanding between America and Morocco, her home country. Iman convinced her parents to start the nonprofit organization, the American Moroccan International Exchange program. |
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 Virginia’s Moroccan community, working together with other ethnic communities, has arrived on the stage and is planning and increasingly vital role in shaping Virginia’s future.
With four of the most important offices for Virginians —the Presidency, the two U.S. Senate seats and the Governorship in Democratic hands, we have plenty of reasons to smile!...
What’s next? How do we build on these successes to ensure an increasingly healthy role for our community in shaping Virginia’s future?
The most important election in what remains of this decade will take place on Nov 3, 2009. The election for Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia.
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by Dr. Ahmed Kostas
It is a shame that in the name of the man who fought all his life against the axis of evil: communism and totalitarianism, Robert F. Kennedy, the RFK Memorial Canter for Human Rights would honor the communist camp, created by the the military regime in Algeria, that is busy acquiring sophisticated weapons from Russia, for 7.5 billion dollars to deter Morocco's initiatives for peace and back up other totalitarian regimes in the African continent; and who, for decades, bought weapons for Palestinian Radicals to spread terrorism and bloodshed. This camp called "Western Sahara People" was created in 1975, after the success of a peaceful march called “Green March” which rescued the Sahara from the Spanish colonialists to bring it to the fold where it belonged for centuries, The Kingdom Morocco.
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To whom it may concern,
MoroccoBoard, the Moroccan American community media Group in the US, regrets the excessive punitive fines levied against Moroccan Daily , Al Massae, and considers that these kinds of rulings by Morocco’s Court system threatens the emerging independent media and freedom of the press that is currently enjoyed by Moroccans....( Read More )
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 The United States of America affirmed its stance on the Sahara remains unchanged, making it clear that some form of mutually-accepted autonomy is the only realistic solution for this issue,The stance of the United States is written down in a statement that was delivered to the press, US State Department Spokesman, Sean McCormack said on Friday in response to a journalist's question on the Sahara issue
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After more than six months of preparation by Washington Area volunteers. a Moroccan American community network was born on Saturday following the Second Annual Moroccan American conference which took place at the Washington Park Hyatt Conference Hall with the participation of over seventeen Moroccan American Associations from various parts of the country.
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DelilahRivers of Exile
As I indicated earlier, although unacknowledged in the invites or the agenda, the issue of the Sahara was front and center throughout last week-end's Moroccan Americans Convention - and although a formal denial was offered, visibly stage-managed by various officials of the Moroccan government. Ironically, when all the official speech-making was over and we were invited to break into discussion groups, the one dedicated to "territorial integrity" was, by far, the smallest and the networking group the biggest. Says it all, really: people aren't interested in having issues forced down their throat.
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I. BACKGROUND
- The latest American Census Report indicates that the number of Moroccans residing in the United States exceeds 100,000, and is fast growing.
- The characteristics of a successful ethnic minority in the United States consist of four main traits. First, it is economically successful. Second, it is well assimilated in political and social institutions of the society. Third, it enjoys a positive image in the society and is able to defend its members against ethnic hostility. Fourth, it lives with dignity and self-respect, which arises from behaving with courage and moral righteousness.
- The community of Moroccan Americans enjoys all these traits. It is a highly educated and prosperous group of people, with a higher standard of living than many other ethnic groups in the United States.
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In the free market place of ideas, those with solid, sound, and painstakingly researched arguments not only manage to be most resonating, but also succeed in building salient and indispensible credibility and notoriety that one must have in order for his or her ideas to be taken seriously. Those who rise above the fray of personal attacks and refrain from the gratuitous acts of insulting others do make a lasting impression notwithstanding the strength or the weakness of the argument at hand.
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