The day began with a flag ceremony and ceremonial ribbon cutting at noon where attendees heard from the organizers of the event and the Moroccan Ambassador to the United States Rachad Bouhlal, and the preceding day, from the former U.S. Ambassador Edward Gabriel.  (The ribbon cutting was performed by Easton Mayor Robert C. Willey and Moroccan Ambassador Bouhlal.)  The presentations set the stage for the rest of the day which continued with a souk featuring Moroccan tea, cookies, music, rugs, and clothing, and more. It was a perfect day to wander along Harrison Street in historic downtown Easton, Maryland, and peruse the Moroccan wares that were being sold.

London / Morocco Board News--  Since the PJD came into Office, there emerged an interest as well as an increase in the various Fatwas, which other ways would have passed unnoticed or dealt with by the government. They would have been, in the main, suppressed or swept aside as irrelevant or unfounded, but in the last resort would have been put in jail.

Fes / Morocco News Board ---   My recent article about Morocco's identity as an Arab nation caused a bit of a stir, particularly, and not surprisingly, among Moroccans.
To state that Morocco is an 'Arab nation' is not accurate because it ignores two important realities. The first is that Amazigh peoples, previously and impolitely known as Berbers, make up a majority of the population. Many Amazigh grow up speaking one of several Berber dialects, and many, importantly, are not native Arabic speakers.

Washington / Morocco News Board----  No one denies that Algeria, and I mean here the army Generals and the Algerian state, have been one of the most important factors in the conflict between Morocco and the [Western Sahara Separatist group] Polisario. The latter’s goal , since its formation, was to oust the foreign occupier from The Southern provinces of Morocco but all of a sudden its aim changed with Algeria’s interference even though that it maintains no territorial claim over Western Sahara but continues to be the Polisario backer militarily, financially, diplomatically and morally.

Washington/ Morocco News Board-- Morocco’s swift denunciation of the Touareg rebel’s declaration of independence for the Azawad region in Northern Mali seems out of touch with the feelings of large segments of the Moroccan public. Foreign Minister El Othmani's decision to issue a statement rejecting Azawad independence was deemed by Moroccan nationalists and Amazigh activists as a “rush of judgment” and “not in the best interest” of Morocco and its national cause (i.e. the conflict over Moroccan rule  in Western Sahara).

None of us is responsible for his (her) actions! 
If we were to think logically we’d soon realize that we are but a crossroads of a few unrelated elements:
-The circumstances in which we are born
-Our respective living environments
-The quality or type of brain we are given

Washibgton/ Morocco News Board --- After my Fulbright grant ended last July I traveled to America to visit family and friends for about two months before returning to Morocco to study Arabic. Of all the people I saw, I looked forward the most to reuniting with my undergraduate advisor, a professor in the Religious Studies department at Rice. For three years, he was my guru, especially in Arabic. He guided me through Classical Arabic, its broken plurals, irregular masdars, ma / min constructions, and instilled in me a great appreciation for the language in its most intricate forms.