‘CASABLANCA’ AT 70: What's So Great About it?

NEWS

08/13/12

This year, we commemorate the 70th anniversary of one of the most overrated (but still great) films ever, ‘Casablanca’ (1942). Its blend of humor, romance and action has apparently riveted audiences in ways totally unexpected while the film was being made.

Is Western Sahara's Polisario Still A Player in The Conflict?

NEWS

08/13/12

Yael Miller
For over three decades, one of the major issues preventing Maghreb unity has been the Western Sahara conflict. Analysis of the conflict has always emphasized the need to include The Polisario Front (or POLISARIO) in any peace plan or vision. The Polisario Front, a Saharawi separatist group, has fought for Western Sahara’s independence from Morocco since the early 1970s.

Middle East-North Africa: Secularism Vs. Hypocrisy And Doublethink

NEWS

08/16/12

Washington / Morocco News Board---  At a Conference in Ontario, Canada, Mr. Ahmed Benchemsi, Moroccan Journalist  and Stanford Visiting Scholar, spoke about the challenges the people and the secularist movements confront in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).He appealed for what he called “secularism from within” to replace the hypocrisy and doublethink that defines what people across the Arab world understand themselves to be.

Scandal: Moroccan Expats Harassed At Border Crossings

NEWS

08/10/12

New York / Morocco News Board---  Police, Customs agents were Arrested Following Investigation Into Ill-Treatment Of Moroccan Expats
Morocco's king has ordered an investigation to be opened into corruption and harassment acts by police and customs agents at the country's border posts.

Morocco: The IMF To The Rescue

ZOUHAIR BAGHOUGH

08/08/12

New York / Morocco News Board---Here’s some exclusive information for the readers. The IMF took the trouble to answer our emails (and calls) about the Precautionary Liquidity Line (PLL) deal Morocco has benefited from. Still and all, it is humbling when the IMF takes the time to lay things out.  But as far as I can tell, the Moroccan press corps did not report on the main talking points discussed during that press call conference.

Morocco: Does Racism Translate?

MATT SCHUMANN

08/07/12

New York / Morocco News Board---   If a word from one language takes on a racist meaning when translated into a different language, is that term racist in itself?
Does the racism come from it's meaning and us in the source language or in the translation? Or is this an unfair comparison?
Lately, these questions have been on my mind. Last night I attended Archie Shepp's performance at the World Sacred Music Festival in Fes. While he was being introduced in Arabic, the presenter referred to his music's connection with the جماعة الزنوج jama3at al-zunuj. I've only known zunuj as a derogatory epithet for Africans which most politely translates to "Negroes."

American Expats in Morocco: The Tax Return Burden

NEWS

08/06/12

 I.J. Zemelman
As an American expatriate, you are required to file your federal tax returns yearly, just like a U.S. citizen or resident who doesn't live abroad. Because, fact is, it's not just your U.S. income that determines your tax rates, but your total income from any country. In other words, your foreign income counts. On the plus side, you're entitled to a bunch of expatriate tax benefits: foreign tax credits, income exclusion, and housing allowances to name a few.

New Genetic Analysis Maps North African Jews

NEWS

08/06/12

Bronx, NY — A new genetic analysis focusing on Jews from North Africa has provided an overall genetic map of the Jewish Diasporas. The findings support the historical record of Middle Eastern Jews settling in North Africa during Classical Antiquity, proselytizing and marrying local populations, and, in the process, forming distinct populations that stayed largely intact for more than 2,000 years.

Morocco at London Olympics: Doping and No Medals

NEWS

08/05/12

Despite the fact that Morocco has won more Olympic medals (21) in previous games than any other Arab nation, the 2012 games have had a very slow start. In addition two doping incidents have tarnished the country's reputation and, to make matters worse, a French judge has asked British police to arrest the head of Morocco’s Olympic committee in relation to the 1965 disappearance of Moroccan opposition leader Mehdi Ben Barka.

Ramadan In Morocco: The Morality Police

MATT SCHUMANN

08/05/12

Muslims around the World are celebrating the month of Ramadan, spending their days abstaining from eating and drinking and focusing on nurturing their spiritual connection to God.
Given the spirit of this time, it's not surprising to find this story, by the news site hespress, describing a recent police operation in Casablanca to shut down hookah bars in Morocco's largest city. In the current environment, an operation like this bolsters the ruling Islamist Party for Justice and Development's commitment to upholding public morality.

Spain-Western Sahara Separatists: The break Up?

NEWS

08/04/12

Khalid Ibrahim Khaled
The relationships between Spain and the Western Sahara Separatist Group Polisario leadership have seriously deteriorated and are at their lowest since the creation of the Western Sahara pro-independence movement.
The kidnapping of three Western aid workers in October 2011 in the camp of Hassi Rabouni, few hundred meters away from the Headquarters of the Polisario, was the last straw.

Traveling to Morocco during Ramadan: do’s and don’ts

NORA FITZGERALD

08/04/12

This year Ramadan runs from about July 20th to August 19th, so right in the middle of summer holidays.  Marrakesh is usually bursting with tourists at this time of year, despite the scorching heat.  I have seen groups of sunburned, dazed and confused looking tourists walking around, probably not too sure about what’s going on, except that Macdonalds seems to be the only restaurant open for lunch.

Morocco’s Islamists: In Power Without Power

NEWS

08/03/12

David Ottaway
Seven months after an Islamist became prime minister for the first time in Morocco’s history, it remains as nebulous here as in Tunisia and Egypt what the Islamists coming to power really portends. It is a conundrum that Islamist-wary Western capitals and independent analysts are all struggling to fathom.
In Morocco, King Mohammed VI has yet to yield any real authority under a new constitution, which requires him to pick the prime minister from the winning party of parliamentary elections won last November by the moderate Islamist Justice and Development Party (PJD). 

The Primacy of Human Development in the Arab Spring

Dr. YOSSEF BEN-MEIR

08/02/12

The durability of national governments in the Middle East and North Africa is now determined by the extent to which leaders can expeditiously and effectively address the primary cause of the Arab Spring: shameful levels of underdevelopment of the people in the context of abundant socio-economic potential.  To be sure, this cause is significantly reinforced by grossly wealthy and exclusive political-corporate ruling cliques in a region where the less brutal of governments still seemingly lack the will needed to promote considerable social change.

Morocco: Can the Third Way Succeed?

NEWS

08/02/12

Marina Ottaway

When uprisings began across the Arab world in 2011, King Mohammed VI of Morocco quickly plunged into a process of political reform, attempting to stave off protests before the groundswell engulfed his regime—the only Arab leader to do so. In a matter of weeks, he created a commission to write a new constitution, which was swiftly approved in a referendum three months later. By October, new parliamentary elections were held, and when the Islamist Party for Justice and Development (PJD) won a plurality of seats, the king did not hesitate to name PJD Secretary General Abdelilah Benkirane as prime minister.

Conference on Morocco's Reforms: Going Forward or Not?

NEWS

08/02/12

Kevin P.
A recent conference, at  the US Capitol in Washington, entitled “Finding a Way Forward: The U.S., Morocco and a Changing North Africa.” The panel discussion included among others Alexis Arieff of Congressional Research Services, Audra Grant of RAND Corporation, and J. Peter Pham of the Atlantic Council and Haim Malka of the Center for Strategic and International Studies.