| Abbas Al-Fassi Vs. Facebook |
| HASSAN MASIKY | ||||||||||||||||
 Washington, Feb 02, 2010 (Morocco Board News Service) --- Facebook group versus Al-Fassi-Fihri part II is on! Following the decision by the social networking website Facebook to shutdown the original Facebook group denouncing “the nepotism” and “over influence” of Morocco’s Prime Minister Abbas Al-Fassi and his extended family, a group of young Moroccans decided to restart a “new” similar group but with a slightly different name.The original Facebook group’s wall contained various posting that were racists and prejudice. In fact, the administrator censored several legitimate comments while tolerating few unsavory comments. It is ironic to see a group pretending to denounce unfairness exhibits the same practice. An article critical of the Prime Minister of Morocco but also disapproving of the group tolerance of posted racist statements was removed from the original’s group page on several occasions. Also, e-mails to the group’s moderators went unanswered. In a different development, Ms. Badou, the current Moroccan Minister of Health and a member of the Al-Fassi family, denounced the racist nature of the Facebook group. During an interview on Morocco’s channel 2M, the Health Minister was appalled by what she called bigoted attitudes -of some members of the Facebook group- reminiscent of the days of the French occupation. Ms. Badou insisted that members of the Al-Fassi family have every right to apply and get jobs, just like the rest of the Moroccans. Lost in this debate are the true motivations behind the popularity of such groups. Most of the young people who joined the Facebook debate are not racist or envious of Al-Fassis; they are simple Moroccan citizens who were systematically deprived of a fair chance to compete for jobs in a saturated job market. A chief complain among Moroccans is the lack of transparency in the job selections process for government positions. The requirement to have “an insider” to help a job seeker land a post is an “accepted” anomaly among Moroccans. This type of partiality must end. The corruption and preferential treatment in the job market along with the inability of the current government to address the demands of the highly educated unemployed youths are fueling an ever stronger social courant that will come back to hunt Moroccan officials. However, these social malaises do not justify the crude comments posed on Facebook. Furthermore, the censorship by the moderators’ of the original anti-Al-Fassi Facebook group is a sign of a grave lack of political maturity that is evident in the local press, in the political discourse and among some journalists in Morocco. Facebook made the right decision by removing the original anti-Al-Fassi group. Several comments posted on the groups’ “wall” went beyond political civility, while views different form the moderators’ were removed! Charges alleging a scheme between the Moroccan government and Facebook to discontinue the anti-Al- Fassi group are untrue. The group was in violation of the rules and ethics of the social network’s chart. Nevertheless and on a different subject, the development of these types of online groups is a sign of more web-centered political activism to come. As the Moroccan authorities move to establish control over bloggers deemed too independent, some web based groups may decide to go underground. As the world learned from China, unless a government goes cold chicken and shut down internet access, the Moroccan officials will have to live with online dissent.
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Comments (8)
Free soul
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They do not care about us!!! In college I had friend who are Fassis and I saw how they are fortunate to live in luxury and privilege while other Moroccans living in poverty and despair. Sometime I blame my father for being part of the resistance while cowards fled to France and later returned to assume all government and sensitive posts and what we got nothing!!! Even ‘Allal al-Fasi preached his people and I quote, “send your kids to France for education and let Orobiya and Chloh fight for independence”. What a coward move and clever one too. I do not believe that they are Moroccans, they really do not care about Morocco, they are here to suck our blood and deprive us from any chance to live like humans. They were thrown out by crusaders and we have to bear this burden. Fassi are plain Racists!!! I really believe that Moroccan should address this issue and every Moroccan should have a piece of the cake because we live once and there is no such thing in all religions that preach such cruel and selfish behavior and greed. I hope that the era of Fassis will come to an end and we should live and think as Moroccans period. |
Free soul
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... I was born in Casablanca; my father was a warrior who fought for the Moroccan independence, refused to go to France like so many other middle class and rich Moroccans did to peruse their education from the enemy (Mostly Fassis)…I agree that they are educated but other Moroccans are too but they don’t receive the same treatments… My father was denied compensations because he didn’t bribe one official, but he was modest and he moved on. I did not held grudges against them and I still helped with thousands of dollars that I wired to open a business and help my family. But, some corrupted officials destroyed it, faked charges and threw my brother in jail for something he never did!!! What I supposed to do? Do I have to change my attitude against my native country? Do I have to hold Mr. Fassi al Fihri and his family responsible for their failures and their corrupted officials? All I can say is that I betrayed my beloved America because the money I invested in Morocco should stay where it was made; here in the land of the free…But, I will not give up, the truth will appear one day and the real criminals will face justice…. Look what happened to the Ba’athists in Iraq, they were chassed like rats because when they were in power, they were cruel and their cruelty destroyed them; a simple divine justice. |
fares
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God bless Internet Yes, thanks to the era of Internet! it is time to Morocanise Morocco and i€fnaly every single citizen will find the way to be entire part of decision making and the country's destiny. I share your point Patriot. there will be a time in the future when Moroccans remember the fassi era like Europe remembers the darkness era of middle ages with much humour. We should all as highly educated show in a civilised manner to the entire world how unfair are our rulers and how they can be part of terrorism spreading. Basta, stop, enough, ba ra ka ! |
Moroccan Patriot
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If you are qualified you should have the job The Fassi's seem like really smart people. Their family members are all relatively well educated and seem to have strong work ethics. The problem is the nepotism itself. There are rules for example at the United Nations that prohibit one family member from working for the UN while another is also working for the UN, ie. Father/son at the same time. Another possibe solution is to re-examine hiring practises in general. If you are smart and well educated, you should not have to depend on the government to find you a job. You should be able to create your own job. Create your own company and generate revenue on your own. Problem is that Morocco has monopolies that control all of the really profitable sectors. If you want, for example to start your own Telecom, forget about it... if can't. If you want to provide VOIP, that is a no no too. ONA seems to have a direct or indirect monopoly on everything that is profitable. So what is an enterprising Moroccan with a sharp mind and ambition to do? Well, the obvious answer is to escape to Europe or America. Thus, we have seen the smart Moroccans emigrate to other countries while the Moroccan self appointed aristocracy continue to rule through Nepotism, corruption and outright brutal Judicial manipulation. The Moroccan system has a time limit. In the next 20 years or so, Morocco will be a different country, people will think back to when the Fassis held multiple government posts, and view them the same way that people now look at Baby Doc of Haiti, with the same contempt and malice one would have for a petty criminal stealing a quarter from a blind woman. 20 Years from now, there will be no more Fassi's in Morocco, and that will be the ultimate punishment revisited on the sons of the criminals that were. |
E.Hamid
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... It is a well known fact that nepotism is extremely well applied in Morocco and the "hiring" system to well paying jobs. Case in hand is the Fassi Dynasty+ Prime Minister, Foreigh Affairs ( nephew) Ministry of Health ( Niece) ONE ( son of Minister of foreign affairs and Nephew of Prime) Sports ( an other Fass fihri). I ask myself how many Fassis the Moroccan People have to support? The dynasty seems to endure from the days of Allal and Mohamed ( independence era). Enough already. The Country has better equipped technocrats to put the Country in the right direction without drafting the dinasours to ruin it again. The Fassi dynasty has to cease controlling the country and shall retire and leave the running of the government for those who have been highly educated at l'Ecole des Ponds et Chaussees as well as MIT, ITT, Harvard, Sorbonne and not Abbas whose fame come from controlling the Istiqlal group that was set up by his ancestors: Allal and his brother Mohamed. Enough already as we are in the 21 st century. |
MacN
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... If used ethically the internet can be a very powerful tool in empowering whistle blowers without fear of prosecution. Perhaps, the concepts of accountability and transparency will for the first time see light in Morocco. Perhaps, the public service cartel will finally feel that someone is watching and hopefully start working for the Moroccan people. Just recently I learned that certain personalities within the Moroccan government hold more than one high profile position. First, I wonder how a single person can perform all the duties of two demanding jobs. Second, why such person was hired to do both jobs? And who hired them? The result is a backlash from public. Ordinary Moroccans and despite having high degrees cannot even find a single part time job, while those who are well to do seem to be appointed to multiple positions. I have a simple solution for this “bak sahib” hiring process of high profile government positions; the prime minister recommends a qualified candidate for a vacancy, the parliament approves it. If the person is qualified he/she should breeze through the interview with the parliament. This way the Moroccan citizens are part of the appointment –though indirect through our proxies in the parliament- but at least our votes ultimately matter. For starters, let’s called transparency 101. MN |
Abou Merwa
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neta malek me9edem Salam, Every Moroccan likes to play the merda with a big stick. Assidi what violations and ethics are you talking about???? That least thing that Honest Moroccans need to do is to throw every politician from A to Z in jail for life. Not to forget their families as well since they are enjoying flouss lehram while Millions of Moroccans are living in dire poverty iwa jme3 rassek. |
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