Enough With The Mindless Chauvinism

To read the urgent rallying cries in the slogan riddled open letters and petitions circulated by some Moroccan associations in the U.S. against the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights for its support of Aminatou Haider, to browse the chauvinistic comments charged up readers posted on Moroccan-American blogs and community news websites, one would think Algeria’s army is standing-by to charge Morocco’s borders, that Polisario separatists are marching in on Moroccan cities at this very moments.

Nothing could be further from the truth; There is no doubt in my mind that Algeria is employing all its intelligence, diplomatic, and political assets to undermine Morocco’s efforts to focus on an authoritative resolution to the issue. It would be naïve to believe that Aminatou Haider’s actions are not motivated by a hostile political agenda. We have to come to terms with the fact that Taieb Fassi Fihri, Morocco’s Foreign Minister, has made a few diplomatic blunders that allowed the Polisario Front and Algeria to make great strides in their public relations campaign. Notwithstanding, Morocco couldn’t have been more in control internally and externally. It has the unconditional support of its population under the banner of national unity and the endorsement of the United States and European allies who need no convincing that an independent Western Sahara is not a viable solution from a strategic security standpoint. From geopolitical and sociopolitical perspectives, an independent Western Sahara will throw the region into an asymmetric turmoil that will be taxing on both Morocco and Algeria alike.

This is a situation where Moroccan government-sponsored or grassroots advocacy groups can either form meaningful coalitions to advance the Kingdom’s cause or further damage its international standing by creating new enemies.

To admonish the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights, an apolitical and reputable entity, and to characterize its support of Aminatou Haider as inimical to Morocco denotes poor judgment. Let’s first read the RFK center’s publications on the subject and understand its intent. The RFK Center is not against Morocco; it has a contention with the way Aminatu Haider was forcefully exiled to Spain by Moroccan authorities. I have already established in a previous article that Haider was indeed removed in a way discordant with Article 9 of the Moroccan constitution and Article 12.4 of the international Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; it goes against Dahir 1-58-250 ratified on September 6, 1958 which governs procedures pertaining to citizenship issues.

The Center’s perspective on what Morocco calls its Southern Provinces and what Haider calls “Western Sahara” is in accordance with U.S. policy. It seems to me that there is a lack of understanding as to what the U.S. policy on the Southern Provinces of Morocco is. The U.S. department of State, in its background notes on Morocco, states that the southern border of Morocco is “shared with Western Sahara;”it recognizes, however, Morocco’s 1997 decentralization/regionalization law which devided the country into 16 administrative regions (Wilayat) with Guelmim/Essemara as region 6, Laâyoune/Boujdour/Sakia ElHamra as region 7, and Oued Eddahab/Lagouira as region 11.

The CIA, in its world factbook, recognizes only 15 of Morocco’s wilayat; it took great care to note that region 6 and 7 are part of “Western Sahara;” the CIA further notes that Morocco CLAIMS that “Western Sahara” is part of its territory; it describes Morocco’s Southern Provinces as a U. N. Non-Self-Governing Territory (meaning occupied) whose “sovereignty remains unresolved.” Furthermore, the CIA considers Tindouf, Algeria, a “shelter” to the Moroccan Sahrawis the Kingdom considers “detainees.”

The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, the products of which AFRICOM uses, shows a “Western Sahara.”

It behooves the Moroccan-American community to petition first for the U. S. government to remove the ambiguity of its position on Morocco ‘Southern Provinces.

These mindless petitions that amount to nothing more than rote regurgitation of government slogans ought to stop. They call for the organization of demonstrations in DC in support of Moroccan democracy as reflected by The Equity and Reconciliation Commission (IER) and The Consultative Council of Human Rights (CCHR). Any national independent political analyst and observer will tell you that IER and CCHR were good initiatives then, but they were never sustained. They were shamelessly plundered by bureaucrats. The compensation process dragged on and the majority of the restitutions were never paid in full. National and international human rights advocates observed that 2008 and 2009 have seen flagrant violations by the authorities of freedom of the press and freedom of expression. Just this past Monday, Bashir Hazam, a blogger from the town of Taghjijt, in the Guelmim Province was sentenced to 4 months for reporting on the police’s violent attacks on a peaceful demonstration by university students.

Now, how can you call Moroccan-Americans, who respect, defend, and abide by the U.S. Constitution, to rally in support of democracy in Morocco when the Moroccan government violates its own laws and international ones? A democratic country does not operate at the whim of the leadership; a democratic country respects the letter of the law. Try Haider as a traitor, a fomenter, but respect the laws already established for such cases.

A. T. B. Copyright © 2009

I Sadly Announce The Arrest of A Moroccan Blogger

The Moroccan Bloggers Association announced that on December 7, 2009, three days before the 61st anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Moroccan security forces arrested Bashir Hazam, a 26 years old blogger, for reporting on the violent suppressive operation the police and military forces conducted the previous week in the town of Taghjijt, in the Guelmim Province, against a group of university students who gathered to peacefully protest the flagrant lack of resources. The students attend Ibn Zohr University in Agadir, 156 miles away. They demanded among other things adequate public transportation, education funds to buy books for the local cultural center, and financial and material support to mitigate education cost (printing of term papers and dissertations). In Morocco, a country suffering from a chronic unemployment crisis, university students, most of whom hail from impoverished rural areas, are incapable of finding employment to support themselves; they rely on meager scholarships provided by the government to pay for lodging, food, transportation, and books. Many live in squalid quarters and subsist on minimal nourishment to pursue their education.

According to Hesspress, the Moroccan authorities in Taghjijt, adopting lessons learned from the June 2008 Sidi Ifni incident, conduct technical and physical surveillance on local internet cafés to prevent the dissemination of photographs of and witness reports on the student protest and the repressive actions of the police force. The authorities arrested anybody suspected of providing support to the students; one of those arrested is a manager of one of these internet cafés who was charged with printing tracts.

Many other bloggers were among the students arrested, but Bashir Hazam is the only one detained for writing on the event. I visited his blog, but unfortunately, all his posts since Ramadan have been deleted. He is due to plead on December 14, 2009.

A little over a year ago, Utah Air National Guard, U.S. Marine Corps communication specialists, Navy dentists, and National Guard translators, accompanied by Moroccan military medical personnel, visited Taghjijt within the framework of the U.S. Defense Department’s State Partnership Program. They provided dental and optometric care to over 9000 local residents. It is ironic how the authorities are now trying to shut their mouths from speaking the truth and blind their eyes from seeing the reality.

A facebook page has been created to support Bashir Hazam and the students of Taghjijt.

A. T. B. Copyright © 2009

Aminatou Haider: Where Morocco Went Wrong

When, on Saturday, after strenuous negotiations between Moroccan and Spanish high level government officials, her return seemed imminent, Aminatou Haider, a 2008 Nobel Peace prize nominee and a Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights award recipient, ended the hunger strike she had started on 14 November when the Moroccan government forcefully exiled her to Lanzarote, Canary Islands.

We are told that Morocco ostracized Haider, who was flying in from the United States where she had received the Civil Courage Award from the Train Foundation for her human rights advocacy, for indicating on her customs security form “Western Sahara,” an area the Moroccan government considers an integral part of its territory, as her final destination. According to Moroccan authorities, Haider’s passport was confiscated when she renounced her Moroccan citizenship during a security interrogation in El Aayoun airport. Morocco also alleges that Haider is a fomenter commissioned by Algeria and the Polisario Front to discredit its campaign, led by the Royal Advisory Council for Saharan Affairs (CORCAS), for the autonomy of its Sahrawi Provinces just as Christopher Ross, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s new Personal Envoy for Western Sahara, is due to arrive in the region. The Algerian government responded through its media rejecting Morocco’s accusations and demonizing its leadership; its acrimonious attacks against the Kingdom vary from imprecations to accusations of chimerical Mephistophelean schemes.

Haider’s Saturday flight was, once again, denied clearance to land. Morocco rescinded the authorization at the last minute. It seems loath to allow her to return to her family. She resumed her hunger strike in a total lack of commiseration from the Moroccan government. This last episode drew harsh criticism from around the world as it coincided with the landing in Rabat of an uncleared aircraft carrying a wounded Captain Dadis Moussa Camara, Guinea’s dictator, seeking medical attention after surviving a failed assassination last Thursday.

Ever since her arrival at the Lanzarote airport, Haider, who was unknown outside of human rights advocacy circles, garnered spontaneous international support for her cause from world-renowned entertainment icons, intellectuals, and commoners who dubbed her the “Sahrawi Ghandi”. The decision to expel Haider from Morocco provided her with an international springboard to project her ideas to a wider audience. This ill-advised decision is the mark of an incompetent, short-sighted, injudicious political corps. It proved exacerbating to the country’s already damaged human rights image; the backlash is increasingly painting Morocco in darker hues in the eyes of the world. Morocco’s actions against Haider gave credence to her claims of abuse against the Sahrawi; claims that were partially discredited on account of the fact that she lived in Morocco and was free of her movement and expression. The United States, France, and the Arab governments (minus Algeria,) thus far, bask in a stolid insularity.

Could Morocco have handled Haidar’s issue internally? Absolutely yes! She is, after all, Moroccan. The removal of a Moroccan’s citizenship is governed by Dahir 1-58-250 ratified on September 6, 1958; the royal decree outlines the circumstances and requirements for such a procedure and emphasizes that the authority rests with the king is not delegated. The Moroccan legal system has established a set procedure to be adhered to. Moreover, the expulsion os Haider is an infringement on Article 9 of Morocco’s Constitution and Article 12.4 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. A Moroccan cannot just surrender her passport, and renounce her citizenship, nor should the government deprive a Moroccan of her citizenship without due process. If Aminatou Haidar decided to submit a request to the King to forfeit her Moroccan citizenship, and such request was approved, only then could she be handed over to MINURSO officials for transport to the refugee camps in Tindouf. If we espouse the irrational notion that because Haider is a separatist and a traitor and therefore she is denied due process in accordance with the law, then we are not ready for democracy; we don’t deserve it. There should be no exceptions to the law.

The Aminatou Haider incident exposes the flaws of Morocco’s policies and the inefficiency of its security posture vis-à-vis its Southern Provinces. Perhaps emboldened by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s expressed commitment to support Morocco’s agenda (after all, Christopher Ross is a career U.S. Foreign Service Officer,) Mohammed VI, in his speech commemorating the 34th anniversary of the “Green March,” delivered a stern message to the Sahrawis signaling that the democratic process afterglow had waned. The King presented the Sahrawi population with an ultimatum a la George W. Bush – “you are either patriots or traitors.” The execution of his directives was immediate. Security forces rounded up dozens of activists accusing them of providing material and/or ideological support to the Polisario Front; they reinforced their presence in southern cities and the routes connecting them.

If Haider is indeed a subversive member of the Polisario, as Morocco’s Foreign Minister Taeib Fassi-Fihri claimed today in Brussels, the Moroccan authorities should have arrested her, presented their evidence, and tried her. Much like Ahmed Alansari, Brahim Dahane, Yahdih Ettarouzi, Saleh Labihi, Dakja Lashgar, Rachid Sghir and Ali Salem Tamek, all arrested on October 8th in Casablanca, Haider was known to Morocco’s intelligence services since 1987 when she was “disappeared” for four years for joining a local underground pro-polisario support group. After the passing of Hassan II and seizing on the permissiveness of the transitional spirit that characterized Mohammed VI’s political outlook then, Haider overtly campaigned for the independence of “Western Sahara.” When riots broke out in El Aayoun in 2005, she was, once again, arrested and detained for seven months. Morocco’s counterintelligence office had an opportunity to launch an offensive intelligence operation to deny Algeria the initiative. Haider and other Sahrawi dissenters could have been recruited as sources considering their tremendous placement and access allowing them to answer some of Morocco’s priority intelligence requirements. Granted that they lacked the motivation to support what they regard as a colonizer, but the Moroccan government should have embraced them, involved them in the political process and provided them with a controlled venue to express their frustrations. From an intelligence perspective, Aminatou Haider is an utter failure.

It is clear that Morocco’s strategy, as it stands, is counterintuitive. The King’s rigid approach will greatly compromise Morocco’s long-run political prospect and tax its security forces by driving the opposition underground forcing it to devise a stealth modus operandi and making it suitable for exploitation by foreign intelligence services and terrorist organizations. A calibrated strategy with depth and forethought would seek to foster an environment of debate and a culture of transparency that does not revolve around passionate rallies of mindless patriotism. Instead of threats, the government should bring arguments to the fore. Instead of echoing gauzy statements to cover up its mistakes, it should take responsibility.

A. T. B. Copyright © 2009

Morocco’s Undignified Independent Press

On Wednesday 25, Idriss Chahtane, the publishing director of the Moroccan weekly Al Michaal, addressed a panegyric letter replete with aureate expressions of deference to King Mohammed VI pleading to be pardoned. As you remember, Idriss Chahtane was sentenced on October 15 to a one year jail sentence for the publishing of a speculative article on the health of Mohammed VI. I was one of those who reproved Al Mishaal when it published the article. I figured, much like everybody else, their sensationalistic article was motivated by nothing more than a marketing ploy to attract readers. I also condemned his sentence as being excessive and politically motivated. Al Michaal has been barred from publication since then.

I cannot pretend to know the circumstances that led Mr. Chahtane to request a pardon. While wallowing in misery and deprivation in a crowded cell at Zaki prison in Sale, his yearning for those familiar sounds and smells one often takes for granted tightening like a noose around his neck, he foundered. The shrinking of his personal agency to nothing more than his body and the numbing frequency of requests from prison officials that he signs a statement attesting to his mistake and requesting forgiveness must have aggravated his situation. He was, most certainly, promised that his pardon is guaranteed if he would only request it and that his return to his family and loved ones imminent if he would acquiesce. I am not doubtful that the few weeks Mr. Chahtane has spent in confinement, his psyche breaking down by prison regimentation as imposed by apathetic guards and malevolent prisoners, must have seemed insufferable.

No matter how intractable his situation must have been, I cannot bring myself to empathize with his request. I have known journalists who’ve led lives rife with dangers in combat environments; still, they’ve lived up to their responsibility to bear witness to the wretchedness of destitute beings. Some of them have died in doing so. It seems to me that, by asking for forgiveness, Mr. Chehtane traded in his dignity as a human being and his integrity as a journalist. Certainly Mr. Chehtane was well aware that a journalist’s paramount responsibility is to rebel against complacent acquiescence to the spurious practices of our government; he certainly knew that a journalist’s articles could be catalysts to persecution, imprisonment, or even death. It is such moments that test the obduracy of a journalist’s resolve. To survive captivity and torture with honor requires a journalist possesses great intestinal fortitude, unwavering dedication, and steadfast motivation. Self sustainment in such conditions demands a strong belief in the fundamental right to freedom of expression, the right to make mistakes, and the right to an opportunity to correct those mistakes without having to make humiliating compromises.

Moroccan journalists will always find their fate in the hands of government officials whose straitened minds are focused on creating a diffident and nervous media disciplined to distill. The majority of Morocco’s independent media today is deconstructed into a self-loathing, Janus-faced enterprise that further hobbles our ability to forge democratic solutions and weakens our faith in the success of the democratization process. Demonstrating grave and persistent dignity in such trying times is the hallmark of a true independent journalist, one who, despite the constant beckoning of ubiquitous government minders, excoriates government policies and longstanding undignified monarchic rituals that make even a name ineffable.

A. T. B. Copyright © 2009

Morocco’s Military: Too Conventional For Today’s Asymmetric Threat

To enhance its air combat and air defense capabilities, the Moroccan Royal Air Force (RAF) had requested from and was approved by the United States Congress to purchase AIM-120C-7 Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air missiles (AMRAAM) from Raytheon, a U.S. company specializing in Defense technology. Some sources reported that Morocco’s purchase request and commitment was for 96 missiles; other sources reported a much lower number. AMRAAM will allow RAF to maximize on the operational capabilities of its recently purchased F-16 Block 52+ aircraft.

AMRAAM costs $1.1 million each. It weighs 154.22 kilograms and has a range of 70 kilometers. Its air-to-air and surface launch dual application as well as its increased lethality makes it an attractive acquisition despite the fact that its precursors, AIM-7 and AIM-9, fared poorly in combat. Only 28% of the 88 AIM-7 fired during the 1991 Gulf War hit their targets. The combat tests of the AIM-9 Sidewinder, an improved version of the AIM-7, were even less impressive; of the 97 missiles fired, only 12.6% hit their targets. AMRAAM has been insufficiently tested. Only 13 missiles were fired in a combat environment. However, the results were positive; 77% hit their targets.

To increase interoperability with its European allies and U.S. military services and combatant commands – specifically AFRICOM and EUCOM, Morocco has made substantial military hardware and weapons upgrades in recent years. The Congressional Research Service (CRS) indicated in its 2009 report, “Conventional Arms Transfers to Developing Nations,” that Morocco has signed $5.4 billion worth of arms contracts with U.S. companies. In the Arab World, it is surpassed only by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. In addition to the AMRAAM and the 24 F-16 Block 52+ aircraft, Morocco has signed a $30 million contract with Lockheed Martin for the purchase of AN/AAQ-33 SNIPER Advanced Targeting Pods (ATPs) with Ground Stations. The SNIPER ATPs will provide the F-16 aircraft with non-traditional intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (NT-ISR) capabilities. The long range positive identification of targets will boost the accuracy of the AMRAAM and complement command and control functions. Previously, Morocco was approved for a procurement package worth $187 million which includes 16 Air Combat Maneuvering Instrumentation (ACMI) Pods with four Ground Stations, 28 AGM-65(D and H) Maverick missile, 60 enhanced Guided Bomb Unit-12 (GBU-12) Paveway II, 28 M-61 vulcan cannons, 28 AN/ARC-238 Single Channel Ground and Airborne Radios with HAVEQUICK I/II or SATURN I/II, eight Joint Mission Planning Systems, two Remote Operated Video Enhanced Receivers, 30 AN/ALR-93 Radar Warning Receivers, and 30 AN/AVS-9 Night Vision Goggles. Additionally, RAF bought 3 CH-47D Chinook helicopters equipped with AN/ARC-201E Single Channel Ground and Airborne Radio Systems (SINCGARS); the Chinook helicopter package was estimated at $134 million. In 2007, to upgrade its artillery capabilities and enhance its armored combat support, Morocco bought 60 M109A5 155mm self-propelled howitzers in a “as-is-where-is” condition as well as associated equipment and services; the estimated cost of the package is $29 million, a discounted price.

Morocco has signed purchase contracts with European arms providers as well. In 2008, RAF bought 4 C-27J tactical transport aircraft from Alenia Aeronautica, a Finmeccanica company. Netherlands’ Schelde Naval Shipbuilding of the DAMEN Shipyards Group was contracted by the Moroccan Royal Navy to design, build, and delivery three SIGMA-class Multi-Mission Frigates equipped with state-of-the art Combat Systems including, but not limited to Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW), Surface Warfare (SuW), Anti-Air Warefare (AAW), and Electronic Warefare (EW) capabilities. A multi-mission frigate (Frégate Multi-Missions – FREMM) was ordered from France’s Direction des Constructions Navales (DCNS).

To widen the spectrum of security cooperation initiatives and promote regional stability, Morocco has signed tactical memorandums of understanding (TMOUs) with its regional allies, NATO, and USAFRICOM. The agreements are designed to facilitate the coordination and de-confliction of military and law enforcement operations; the objectives of these operations are to interdict human and drug trafficking, counter illegal immigration, and eliminate transnational terrorist and organized crime threats. To that effect, every year, Morocco participates in and hosts numerous iterations such as Exercise Phoenix Express, Operation Active Endeavour, Exercise Jebel Sahara, Exercise African Lion, Operation Enduring Freedom Trans Sahara (OEF-TS), and others. These operations are opportunities for Morocco and its allies to review and update lessons learned and reinforce joint tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs).

General Ahmed Anejjar, CG of Moroccan Infantry, presenting Wissam Al Istihkak Al Askari’ on behalf of King Mohammed VI to Lieutenant Colonel John Perez, British Army, during Exercise Jebel Sahara 09

The International Institute for Strategic Studies, in its 2009 comprehensive assessment of military capabilities of 170 countries, ranked Morocco’s military third strongest force in Africa. Egypt’s is first and Algeria’s is a distant second. The assessment evaluated training, personnel, equipment, and defense economics. It is unconceivable that Maghreb countries will engage in a war. Despite the region’s low strategic value, the U.S. and Europe will not allow regional conflicts to escalate beyond diplomatic fracas. Morocco’s defense procurement binge – and Algeria’s as well – seems nonsensical. I believe that Morocco’s current strategy is one of deterrence rather than provocation. But such strategy is far removed from the reality of the security situation in the region.

It is my conviction that the conventional framework of Morocco’s military today is ineffective in addressing the asymmetric nature of today’s regional conflicts in which the enemy is decentralized, but highly symbiotic and the physical battlespace is irrelevant. The nature of unconventional warefare as conducted by terrorist and insurgency type elements like Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb is to alter the TTPs faster than operational templates can adapt. The Moroccan military will then be denied a specific operational template upon which to base a proactive response. The low operations tempo of Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb today is not a reflection of the effective security measures implemented by local governments, the conventional strength of their militaries, or their regional interactions with western militaries. It is due to the fact that Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb is focused on providing support to insurgency operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, and reinforcing Islamic extremist groups in Somalia. It is only a matter of time before Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb or any of its proxies, their ranks bolstered by battle-tested Moroccan extremists, refocused their operational effort to destabilize the region by conducting tactical and strategic assassinations of political and military leadership, extensive propaganda operations targeting military and security personnel, and large scale criminal activity targeting the civilian population to discredit the police force. Such methods have been tested in Chechnya, Somalia, Iraq, and Afghanistan; they have been proven to seriously affect policy. They forced the U.S. in Iraq to make concessions to the Iraqi insurgency and seek dialogue with Taliban in Afghanistan.

A. T. B. Copyright © 2009

The Politics Of Silence

Even as Morocco’s Minister of Foreign affairs Taieb Fassi-Fihri, during his meetings in Marrakesh with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary R. Clinton within the framework of the Forum for the Future, continues to tout, in his usual saccharine tone, the country’s “soaring democracy,” his nepotistic government sustains its hypocritical and duplicitous campaign against freedom of political expression subjecting the independent media to convulsions capable, I fear, of decimating the country’s prospect to an unfeigned democracy. Its deliberate immolation of Akhbar Al Youm carried on this week when the Moroccan police, at the behest of the ministry of interior, extrajudicially seized the newspaper and prevented its dissemination. Last Friday, in a Casablanca circuit court, a judge sentenced the paper’s publishing director, Tawfik Bouachrine, and caricaturist Khalid Kadar to a suspended jail sentence of eight years, a combined forfeiture of $412,118.00, and ordered its offices sequestered indefinitely. Prior to the sentencing, the offices of Akhbar Al Youm had been summarily shut down for 36 days. Bouachrine and Kadar were sentenced in accordance with article 267 of the penal code and article 41 of the press law.

Khaled Naceri, during a press conference on Thursday 29th, 2009, delivered a sonorous encomium on Morocco’s continued efforts to foster a eudaemonia for Morocco’s palmy independent media. The unhampered circulation of 1200 foreign newspapers and magazines, Naceri stated, attests the country’s freedom of expression. In fact, in light of the recent publication of Femmes Du Maroc and Telquel, one would find it difficult to gainsay the government’s claim of freedom of expression. Personally, I encourage such publications; I am a proponent of a diverse erudition that expands one’s mind and furthers one’s horizon beyond religious panophobia and gratification as envisioned in hell and heaven. But I hardly consider those as a reflection of freedom of expression in Morocco. Neither should you.

A true measure of freedom of expression is when established ideas and institutions are intellectually and politically challenged by dissenting opinions that are afforded as much a platform as concordant ones. This has never been the case in Morocco where critics of the king, his entourage, and his government are often vilified and their ideas muted. The insidious ingenuity of our government has made it such that its contention there are no prisoners of opinion in its detention centers is actually true; there are only criminals who broke the law and were promptly judged and sentenced by a court of law. As Naceri is fond of averring, Morocco is a country of law and order.

There are laws that uphold democracy and protect the people. There are others specifically intended to protect the rulers and advance their agenda. The latter are what civil liberties lawyer and writer Harvey A. Silverglate describes as the “over-criminalization” laws. A fully loaded oppressive system creates its own panoptic laws and appoints obsequious judges to enforce them. Take the nebulous articles 41 and 42 of the press law. Both were implemented in 2002 and are designed to protect the royal family from calumny and criticism. They are invoked to impose penalties on a broad swath of journalistic activity. A journalist could be charged under article 42 if his article is deemed insulting to the royal family. If the journalist’s defense strategy is to demonstrate that the information published is indeed true and argues in favor of the people’s need to know, he/she could be prosecuted under article 41 – statement undermining the monarchic institution – which carries a stiffer sentence; whether the statement is true or false is irrelevant to the judge. For a case in point, consider Idriss Chahtane, Tawfik Bouachrine, Khalid Kadar, Noureddine Miftah, Meriem Moukrim, Ali Lmrabet, etc.

Clearly article 41 and 42 and other similar laws are deleterious to freedom of the press and the citizens’ right to political expression. Since the 2002 press law reform, the government has been straining information streamed to the public through a sieve. Increasingly more journalists and bloggers are being arrested and sentenced each year. Such practices by the authorities and the onerous laws they impose stand against the conscience of every Moroccan who believes in Justice and equality. A select few are put on a pedestal being unaccountable for their actions. Above the law. Deities. We all have heard stories of members of the Moroccan elite committing blatant transgressions and walk away with impunity and without as much as a whiff of an investigation being initiated by the authorities.

Historical and literary examples of established authorities unwilling to countenance challenges to their absolutism abound. Didn’t Quraysh have established laws protecting their idols? But we never think of the prophet Mohammed as a criminal for breaking them. If you were a Jerusalemite and you saw Jesus at the Garden of Gethsemane, would you have called the Romans? If you were Antigone, would you have left your brother’s body to rot on the battlefield in obedience to the edict of Creon the king?

A true democracy rectifies the laws that belie the people’s conscience and undermine the underlying principles of equality and freedom. In the U. S., a bill to protect journalists who refuse to divulge the identities of their sources is currently being discussed in the Senate. In Morocco, there are no laws protecting journalists from gratuitous actions by the government. Journalists are walking lightning rods in an eonian thunderstorm. The situation is made even more tragic by unnerving unassertiveness of the population, the absence of a true national debate over the government’s overboard harassment, and the elusiveness of a reformative structure to remedy the problem. I suspect more journalists will be charged with invidiousness and hauled off to jail, except those the government succeeded in domesticating such as Rachid Nini of Al Masae.

A. T. B. Copyright © 2009

Don’t Blame Femmes Du Maroc

Some of the reactions sparked by the naked picture of Nadia Larguet on the November cover of Femmes Du Maroc (FDM) and the article I wrote about it are rather unsettling. Some make it sound as if Hustler or playboy is being conspicuously sold in newsstands Morocco over, as if FDM is of the same caliber as those magazines that commercialize a woman’s feminine parts as sexual toys for the mind. Our society thinks that all nakedness is immoral and all of today’s modern disposition is immodest and perversive.

Let’s consider FDM’s cover as a Rorschach test of sorts (no offense Nadia. I’m not saying you’re an inkblot.) Those who view the naked pregnant woman’s picture as pornography are, in my opinion, projecting their insecurities and frustrations. Those are the ones who seem incapable of controlling their thoughts and urges. They would rather see a woman clad in a burqa and sequestered at home. If those ideas had prevailed in the 14th century, there would never have been a renaissance; is the “Venus of Irbino” painting pornography? are Michelangelo’s paintings in the Sistine Chapel not art? Is Moroccan writer Abdellah Taia’s novels not literature because he is gay? Is Morocco’s Latrache Abderahmane a neopegan because of his “Nu au Hamam”?

I agree that Islam provided women with rights they were denied by pre-Islamic Arabian societies. However, many scholars agree that the status of woman, after the death of the prophet, slowly reverted back to what it was in pre-Islam era. Islamic women enjoyed more rights during the prophet’s life than they do today.

I respect the choice of some women to wear hijab. Unfortunately, for most women in Moslem countries, it is not a choice; it is a familial and/or societal imposition that is, if not physical, ideological. Western women that wear the hijab are latently aware that there is a set of nonreligious laws upholding their rights not just as women, but as wives. They are content in knowing that their pious husbands cannot possibly admonish and banish them – in accordance with the Holy Qur’an, Chapter 4, Verse 34 – without incurring the wrath of a divorce judge. They reckon their husbands cannot marry younger women as they grow older. It would be unconceivable for an educated woman to detach herself from the protection provided by the laws of modern societies and accept the subjugation exacted on women in countries like Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan. And why go far? In rural Morocco today, thousands of bereaved women are battling an archaic system that deprives them of their land inheritance because they have no surviving male relatives.

Some argued that Nadia Larguet does not represent the Moroccan women suffering in our inner cities and remote villages, that she could care less about the plight of women. It may be so. However, Women’s rights advocacy was introduced in the Arab world not by illiterate and destitute women, but by educated, middle class and bourgeois ones. Do you think it would have made sense if FDM posted the photograph of an unknown, poor, and naked woman? A fellow blogger, Jillian C. York, asked me if it was necessary to use such a shocking strategy to convey a message. My answer is: “absolutely yes!”

Do you seriously believe that our problems are caused by the permissiveness adopted from the western world? Do you honestly think that outside of official channels, our kids do not have access to pornography, drugs, Alchohol…? The exposure of Moroccan teenagers to satellite porn channels is a tropism to the repressiveness of our societies; Women are accosted daily in the street of our Moslem cities by frustrated men who demand sex. The hijab and the niqab does not make a difference to them. We’d rather not see any immorality, but we know it is writhing behind our closed doors. We assign a death or life value to a woman’s hymen as if that shred of skin sums up her character and virtue. Teen pregnancy has much to do with sex-ed. A full awareness of the repercussions of unprotected and/or antenuptial sex – Islam calls for the mindless prohibition of the act – can mitigate much of the social problems Morocco is currently mired in.

Of course the king would rather allow naked women on magazine covers and Sex and the City to film in Morocco. It allows his government to proclaim before the world that indeed we have freedom of expression and freedom of the press.

It’s not about Nadia Larguet. She was hardly a household name. The cover of FDM touches the very heart of one of our main problems today not just in Morocco, but in the Arab and Islamic world. We tend to see a naked woman as a sex object only, even a pregnant or an old woman, or a pubescent girl. It speaks volumes of our mentality. It’s not magazines like FDM that are corrupting our morals. We are already driven by a repressed concupiscence hardly witnessed in western countries.

A. T. B. Copyright © 2009

I Am Pregnant And I Exist

In an already bifurcated country, The November issue of Femmes du Maroc – Women of Morocco, a Moroccan magazine that caters to the interests of Moroccan women with a panoply of feminine subjects is bound to turn into lascivious fodder for a misguided and testosterone charged fringe of society, an opportunity for vitriolic religious condemnations and exhortations to aspiring jihadists to perverted religious zealots, and a cause for celebration to post-feminists and advocates of women’s rights. The magazine dedicated its cover to a very pregnant former 2M anchorwoman Nadia Larguet, in the buff, with one hand covering her breast and the other one holding her belly a la Demi Moore on the cover of the August 1991 Vanity Fair. A first in an Arab and a Moslem country. It will certainly spur a vocal public backlash against Mrs. Larguet and Femmes du Maroc. National and international news outlets will cover the story ad nauseam.

The issue transcends the aesthetic aspects of pregnancy and nudity. The exclusionary and sometimes castigating treatment pregnant women are subjected to is a leading cause of abortion in Morocco where the number of out of wedlock pregnancies have dramatically risen. The pool of medical doctors performing abortions today has grown exponentially. They charge 3000 Dirhams ($391.00). Additionally, an increased number of women, especially in rural areas where medical oversight is minimal and sometimes non-existent, die from standard pregnancy complications.

The message of the magazine’s cover is a loud and clear confirmation of the self: I am pregnant; I am beautiful, and I exist. I agree. In our society, pregnant women need to feel less excluded and be viewed in a more gratifying fashion. For a country like Morocco, where television channels are flipped at the mere sight of a man an a woman kissing, where, in neighborhood foodstuff stores, menstrual pads are stuffed in a black plastic bag to conceal them from the embarassed looks of customers, the idea is outrageous. I find it revolutionary and prescient. I am hoping the cover will set off a debate on what some might see as mere sexual objectification of women and others as feminine empowerment. I see in it an expression of the beauty of fertility and a much needed glamorization of woman as a genitor of life in a male dominated society that regards pregnant women – especially those in their third quarter – as nothing more than diaphanously dressed humanoid incubators, breast feeders, care providers. Generally speaking, men in the Arab culture are outside the emotional support system of their pregnant wives. The task is often delegated to female family members. Husbands who accompany their pregnant wives to OBGY consultations are a rarity. Seldom do men assist their delivering wives or witness the birth of their babies; they financially support the endeavor, but remain content in their impervious insularity.

I will ask you to not judge the magazine by its cover. You can choose to see it as nothing more than a nude picture. Such is your prerogative. You can also choose to see the glossy cover as an attention grabber to all the problems women endure on a daily basis. Everyday, in a remote decrepit mud hut in one of our villages, a pregnant woman is dying from complications while her husband, because of that traditional mindset we are so attached to, is detached from that reality. The problem is in the multitudes of abortion clinics in our cities. The problem is the increased teenage pregnancies caused by, not promiscuity, but lack of sexual education. Tradition has not solved these problems. In fact, in some cases, it has exacerbated them. It takes moral fortitude to recognize that aspects of our traditions are part of the problem. It’s outrageous to me that there are some who refuse to see beyond the nudity. Was it necessary to sensationalize the issue with a nude picture? Absolutely! Because the Arab psyche is so traumatized that only shock therapy would work. Countless articles were written about Moroccan women’s problems, but they all failed to dislodge the entrenched retral thinking. If a polemic is what will do, so be it.

We need to purge ourselves of that mentality. 

A. T. B. Copyright © 2009

Morocco: Criminalizing The Independent Media

The Moroccan government’s unremitting onset against freedoms of the press and of expression has been gaining momentum recently. After the arrest of Idriss Chahtane, the managing editor of the weekly Al Michaal, and the sentencing of Rachid Mhamid and Mustapha Hirane, two journalists working for the same weekly, the gavel struck again in the case of Ali Anouzla, the managing editor of Al Jarida Al Oula, and Bouchra Eddou, a journalist of the same daily. Both journalists were handed suspended jail terms of a year and three months respectively. Sentencing of Tawfik Bouachrine, the publishing director of Akhbar Al-Yaoum, and Khalid Kadar, a caricaturist for the same paper, was postponed till October 30th. A jail sentence, it seems, will soon constitute a required journalistic credential to establish the bona fides of Moroccan independent journalists and activist bloggers who write in defense of democratic principles in Morocco.

The French newspaper Le Monde and its corresponding Spanish one El Pais were banned in Morocco for publishing caricatures by Jean Plantu lampooning the Moroccan royal family. Khalid Naceri, in justifying the banning to the Spanish Agency for International Information, labeled the caricatures irreverent to the monarchic institution. The government’s tendency to apotheosize the royal family is rather disturbing and creates an environment that is hostile to the permanence of democratic ideas.

The shamelessness of the Moroccan government’s dictatorial policies against the independent media is even more contrasted now that the French and Spanish governments have opted to respect the rights of Le Monde and El Pais to free expression. Indeed, one has to ponder the Moroccan government’s emerging political praxis of distressing the country’s national institutions and citizens to ingratiate itself with foreign organizations and regimes so as to promote its recreant foreign policy. A Moroccan court of law, at the behest of the Moroccan government, amerced Le Journal Hebdomadaire with the ludicrous fine of 250,000 Euros for an alleged libel on the European Strategic Intelligence and Security Center (ESISC), a Belgian think tank. Some suspect the government’s litigation against Le Journal was motivated by the fact that ESISC’s president, Claude Moniquet, a staunch advocate of Israeli tactics in Gaza and the West Bank, has supported, through his editorials, Morocco’s position on “Western Sahara;” In a similar fashion, Al Jarida Al Oula, Al Ahdat Al Maghribia et Al Massae were put in the dock for supposedly defaming libya’s dictator by calling him a …dictator. They were ordered to pay 99,000 Euros each.

Such practices created significant strains between the government and the independent media. Based on comments left on a number of online Moroccan newspapers, the Moroccan people consider their current government disastrously unprepared for the advance of democracy. Indeed, our inchoate and paranoid government is run by men who did not suffer the crucible of Hassan II’s regime, but strengthened it, moralized it, rationalized it the same way they are today rationalizing their repressive actions against the independent media and Moroccan’s right to express their views on the leadership. The strategy they have conceived and orchestrate has lowered the standards of free speech and pluralism and is inching the country to a post Hassan II nadir.

A. T. B. Copyright © 2009

TAXI

I just posted my latest short story – TAXI. You can read it here.

About Face

Driss Chahtane

If you want to find journalists, human rights activists, and bloggers that speak their mind in Morocco today, look first in the government’s prisons. Then, check the holding pens of the country’s judicial system. You will find them clustered in groups waiting to be slaughtered. Driss Chahtane, Mostapha Hairan, and Rachid Mhamid of Al-Mashaal have just been meted out excessive prison sentences and fines for their publication of what the government alleged was false information on the king’s health. The sentences are disproportionate to the offenses and are most likely political reprisals to bridle what our irascible government deems a rambunctious independent media that has, in its view, stymied the democratic process. But the true cause to the unraveling of the democratic process in Morocco is not the independent media. The Moroccan government was never adept at dealing with opposing ideas. The government’s baleful reactions to the beachheads the media establishes in our hamstrung freedoms of expression and of the press have widened the schism dividing the reality of democracy in Morocco and the government’s florid rhetoric and slogans.

The king’s speech, on August 20, in which he announced a sweeping revampment of the judicial system, buoyed up people’s hopes that the democratic experiment in Morocco might succeed after all. To some, it was an indicator the king is attuned to his subjects’ primary concerns. Morocco’s antediluvian justice system, it is argued, is a major anti-democracy juggernaut. Its reform would represent a positive token of the government’s commitment to democracy. What happened after the speech seemed rather counterintuitive; Abdelwahid Radi, Morocco’s minister of justice, promoted judges he was expected to retire; he raised the salaries of self-serving judicial bureaucrats. The closed-door judicial proceedings against journalists and activists have intensified. The system’s gumption fails to materialize when it comes to investigating its own officials. When Mohamed Taieb Ahmed, a.k.a. El Nene, Morocco’s infamous drug lord, recently provided the names of high ranking judges as being on his payroll, and the information was leaked to the media, the justice system tried to cover it up. None of the judges was ever summoned by the police. The system’s licentiousness in cases involving prominent political or business figures is shameless and revolting. Hassan Al Ya’koubi and others come to mind. In retrospect, the king’s August 20 announcement seemed more an appeasement policy than a genuine effort to overhaul the system. It seems to me democracy in Morocco has the durability of a smoke ring.

Toufik Bouachrine

Toufiq Bouachrine and Khalid Gueddar, both from Akhbar Al-Youm, are already pushed through the curvy corral toward judges who have demonstrated an uncanny knack for injustice. Akhbar Al-Youm published a caricature by Gueddar depicting Mouly Ismael with as a background the Moroccan flag centered by a Star of David. Chakib Benmoussa, the minister of interior, in a blatant violation of due process, ordered the newspaper shut and its assets seized. Bouachrine has no legal recourse to address the grievance. When he brought the issue up to Khaled Nasseri, the minister of communication and the government’s official spokesman, during a news conference, the latter’s answer was so unintelligible it sounded like he was scatting. Who in Morocco doubts that Bouachrine and Gueddar’s verdicts have already been decided?

A. T. B. Copyright © 2009

Banning Zafzaf

Mohamed Zafzaf

For the past three years, at the start of each school year and ever since Mohamed Zafzaf’s novel “An attempt to living” was introduced into the 9th grade curriculum, Islamic political parties and activists in Morocco have been calling for its banning. They contend the novel desensitizes the students to debauchery and entices them into un-Islamic behavior. Al-Tajdid, the official newspaper of the Salafist party Al Adala Wa Tanmiya – Justice and Development, published an article on 25 September, 2009, decrying the inclusion, once again, of the “immoral” novel in this year’s curriculum and calling for its removal.

The banning of literary books is not idiosyncratic to Morocco or Islam. More open societies indulged in the delineation of its artists; in the majority of the cases such repression is driven by religion. European and American conservatives and religious zealots have banned quite a few books. George Orwell’s “1984” was banned in Jackson County, FL for being “pro-communist and containing sexually explicit material;” Selman Rushdie’s “The Satanic Verses” was banned, yes! yes! by Ayatollah Khomeiny’s Iran, but also by the Wichita, KS, public library for being blasphemous to the prophet Mohammed; Kurt Vonnegut’s “Slaughterhouse Five” was burnt in Drake, N.D.; Lee Harper’s “To Kill a Mockingbird” was banned in schools in Lindale, TX in 1996 because it “conflicted with the values of the community.” Even Hergé’s famous “Tintin au Congo” is banned from the public surface of the Brooklyn Public Library after patrons complained it was “racially offensive to black people.” The list goes on and on. You can find a more comprehensive list at the Banned Books web site of the American Library Association’s Office of Intellectual Freedom:www.ala.org/bbooks.

Mohamed Choukri

There was a time in Morocco when the Islamist groups and the repressive government of Hassan II, despite their irreconcilable political and religious differences, equally loathed Moroccan literature, especially the Arabic written one whose writers broke away from the romantic mold and the burdened narrative of the previous generation – Abdelkrim Ghalab, Abdelmajid Benjelloun, Mohamed Barada and others . The Islamic groups, which at the time were impotent and mostly underground, were incapable of voicing their acrimonious condemnations, let alone act on them. Hassan II, on the other hand, jailed Moroccan writers and poets and banned their books simply for exposing pretense by their unsparing depiction of the hopelessness, violence, despair, and deprivation that were the stuff of daily life to the majority of Moroccans.

Driss Khouri

Up until the nineties, the term “Arabic literature” in Morocco excluded Moroccan writers, playwrights, and poets. The Moroccan Abdelfattah Kilito, one of the most celebrated literary critics in the Arab World, noted in an article he wrote for “Art and Thought,” a cultural magazine published by the Goethe Institute, that for Moroccan readers, literary books came from the Middle East and western countries. The curriculums the ministry of education designed for all levels of education regarded Morocco’s native literature as one of a lesser kind. Suffice it to say that Mohamed Choukri’s autobiographical novel “For Bread Alone” was originally written in Arabic, but was first published in English in 1973. It wasn’t until 1982 that the book was published in its original form; it was, then, banned from 1983 to 2000. Zafzaf himself became known to mainstream Morocco posthumously. Abdellah Zrika, one of the most famous poets in Morocco today, spent two years in jail and saw many of his poems censored. Idriss Khouri was marginalized. These were (Idriss Khouri is still alive and writing) the Louis-Ferdinand Céline, the Charles Bukowski, the Pedro Juan Gutiérrez of Morocco.

Since Mohamed VI became king, the government has largely withdrawn itself from banning literary books. Islamist, however, resurged as a brutal repressive force against Morocco’s bards of brothels and bars. They labeled some apostates and accused others of heresy. Their constant venomous and over-the-top opposition should come as no surprise; Zafzaf and other Moroccan writers like him railed against a society that both the government and Islam failed; they wrote, not to the academia, but to the downtrodden of Moroccan society in a style far from mellifluous. While the Islamic fringe is revolted, Moroccan readers are besotted by their realism and easy diction.

Between Morocco and a more consensual society, its Islamists. There are writers, poets, and artists in Morocco today who impose on themselves a stiflingself-sensorship and whose creative process is stymied by the pernicious ideology Islamists advocate. Their work, consequently, is piffle compared to that of Zafzaf et al. If the Islamists have their say, school curriculums will consist of nothing more than the Koran and hadith. This literature that Czeslaw Milosz, in one of his poems, described as “A feast of brief hopes, a rally of the proud,/A tournament of hunchbacks, literature” will be on sufferance, or disappear.

A. T. B. Copyright © 2009

Wissam Al ‘Arch Bestowed on a Jewish Lobbyist

The King of Morocco, Mohammed VI, bestowed, on 29 September, 2009, the Wissam Al Arch – Knight of the Order of the Throne of the Kingdom of Morocco, one of the country’s highest honors, on Jason Isaacson, director of government and international affairs of the American Jewish Committee (AJC), an American lobbying group that advocates Jewish interests worldwide, according to a company press release. AJC’s clout is far reaching internationally and is courted by high level political and business figures in the U.S. and overseas. They have strong ties with the current U.S. administration as well as officials from previous administrations.

The ceremony was held during a dinner organized in Isaacson’s honor at the New York residence of Morocco’s ambassador to the United Nations Mohammed Loulichki. Among the attendees was Serge Berdugo, the president of the Israeli Communities Council of Morocco (Conseil des Communautés Israelites du Maroc), Taieb Fassi Fehri, Morocco’s foreign minister, Israeli officials, and AJC’s most senior leadership. Taïeb Fassi Fihri was reported to have secretly met earlier during the week with Avigdor Lieberman, the Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs and its Deputy Prime Minister.

Coincidently, the last Wissam Al Arch the king bestowed was on a Jewish personality, Chief Rabbi of Morocco Aaron Monsonego, on 20 July 2009.

It has been speculated that in the absence of a viable Moroccan lobbying group in the United States, AJC, in coordination with the Israeli Communities Council of Morocco, has been assisting the Moroccan government in promoting its political agenda, emblazoning its image, and revitalizing its military procurement efforts. In the absence of tangible diplomatic bargaining chips such as oil or natural gas, a dependable coalition, or a military force to be reckoned with, Morocco seems to be relying on relations with the U.S. and Israel as deterrents to Algeria and Spain. To that effect, it has made substantial concessions putting itself at odds internally, with its citizens, and externally, with other Arab and Islamic nations.

A. T. B. Copyright © 2009

Akhbar Al Youm: Moulay Ishmail?

Morocco’s ministry of interior ordered the seizure and banning of independent Moroccan newspaper Akhbar Al Youm for three days in a row, 26-28 September, 2009. According to a ministerial communiqué, the banned paper published a caricature of Mouly Ismail, the cousin of Mohammed VI, as he was celebrating his wedding with as a backdrop a Moroccan flag centered by… a Star of David. Taoufik Bouachrine, the owner of the newspaper, inveighed against the government’s decision to ban the Monday and Tuesday prints of his newspaper since the controversial caricature was published over the weekend. He denied the caricature depicted a Star of David. The Wiccan star on the Moroccan flag lacks the criss-crossing pattern shown on the caricature of Akhbar Al Youm.

The government is charging the newspaper with disrespecting a member of the royal family and flagrant anti-Semitism. It confiscated the newspaper’s offices and publishing locales. In an unusual course of action by the royal family, Mouly Ismail decided to sue Akhbar Al Youm for defamation.

The Moroccan government has grown increasingly sensitive to the country’s independent media as they broached subjects considered verboten. Its judicial and political cannonade of independent journalists and artists, and the newspapers and magazines they work for belies its averment it advocates and protects freedom of speech and freedom of the press. Some observers pointed out that the government stands as the backstage instigator of the ad hominem bickering plaguing the independent media these days.

Knowing the story behind the rift between Bouachrine and Nini of Al Masae, the latter is going to have a field day with this one.

A. T. B. Copyright © 2009

Morocco Updates: M.A.L.I, Zainab, Israel

Bite size morsels of information to keep you abreast of stories you care about.

M.A.L.I: Much Ado About Nothing
Zainab El-Rhazoui, the confounder (not the co-founder) of the Alternative Movement for Individual Freedoms (MALI), finally reappeared last Wednesday. Apparently, she was hiding at a friend’s house as she was worried the police would brutalize her. After her reappearance, she was questioned for eight hours and let go. Of course, if the authorities did not raise Cain by dispatching over a hundred police troops to the Mohemmadia train station, nobody would have noticed MALI. How the government was alerted to MALI’s plan is subject to speculation. It did not stop at that; Morocco’s Council of Islamic Scholars (Oulemas) publicly condemned the group and its intended act, Chakib Benmoussa, Morocco’s minister of interior, rallied the leadership of Morocco’s political parties and civil associations to express their strong disapproval, Moroccan media filled its pages with elongated articles on the two bits of information available. Al Massae, the unofficial official newspaper, went so far as to publish chat transcripts hacked from Facebook. I, myself, wrote about the issue stating that MALI’s action was ill-advised and lacking courage; the right of Moroccan citizens who were born Muslim to embrace a different religion is worthier. The government couldn’t have hoped for a better opportunity to sidetrack the nation’s attention from its recent setbacks such as its diplomatic blunder in Libya, the hike in consumer prices, the rise of violent crimes, the spiking unemployment rates, the communal election debacles. So much so that I believe if MALI did not exist, the government would have created it.

ZAINAB: The pressure is on

Zainab and the judge

The case of Zainab Shtet, an eleven-year old maid that was tortured by her employers, a judge and his wife, is still dragging. The defendants are still free to roam as they please. In fact, a few days ago, the judge and his family visited Zainab’s village, in the region of Taza. They slaughtered a sheep outside her parent’s home, a long-standing tradition in the area designed to amend for an offence. Through intermediaries, they offered Zainab’s father enticing monetary incentives and exerted tremendous social pressure for him to drop the charges; he refused. Using his connections in the judicial circles, the judge was also able to have the description of Zainab’s injuries changed from “lasting” to “superficial” and the charge lessened from a felony to a misdemeanor. In an ideal Morocco, the judge’s actions should lead to an array of criminal sanctions. The removal of this judge from his tenure should constitute a positive first step toward the judicial reform Morocco’s king advocated in his last speech. According to Moroccan human right associations, Morocco counts between sixty and eighty thousand underage maids. Since the story of Zainab broke, a number of demonstrations have been organized requesting the government’s involvement to protect them.

ISRAEL/MOROCCO: Not public yet
According to reports from numerous news outlets, Avigdor Lieberman, the Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs and its Deputy Prime Minister, secretly met in New York, Thursday 24, 2008, on the sidelines of United Nations General Assembly activity, with his Moroccan counterpart Taïeb Fassi Fihri. The Moroccan government has neither denied nor confirmed the news. Relations between the two countries have thawed out since U.S. president Barack Obama’s letter to Mohammed VI requesting Morocco’s proactive assistance in ending Israel’s isolation in the region. Meanwhile, protests against the normalization of relations with Israel continue to be organized by various pro-Palestinian and human rights associations in Moroccan cities. The Moroccan authorities have been tolerating these demonstrations to bolster its image as a striving democracy. On Saturday 25, 2009, a request to organize a pro-Palestinian demonstration in Marrakesh was denied by local authorities. When the organizers objected to the refusal, they were confronted by an overwhelming police force. Some suspect the government’s refusal to authorize the pro-Palestinian demonstration has to do with the five-day 26th International Population Conference being held in Marrakesh since Sunday and which is attended by an Israeli delegation. Aside from the fact that Morocco will stand to benefit from an open relationship with Israel, it is the only way the Israeli/Palestinian issue could be resolved. The emotionally charged and slogan-filled rallying cries to push Israel to the sea are unavailing. It occurs to me now that I have never seen in Morocco a demonstration against affluent Gulf citizens coming to Morocco for sex tourism.

A. T. B. Copyright © 2009

Regional Vigilance, Global Effect

The recent arrests by Morocco ‘security services of twenty-four members of a terrorist network reinforces the country’s position as a viable partner to the U.S. in the global war on terrorism and a major contributor to regional security. The arrests culminated a sophisticated operation that required coordination and deconfliction between multiple security and intelligence disciplines in a number of towns and cities across the kingdom and extensive cross-cueing between Morocco’s territorial security department and U.S. military intelligence and European law enforcement assets.

Judging from the scope of its operations, the network arrested is a fully functional consortium of cells each with a specific mission and leadership; one cell was in charge of spotting and assessing potential candidates and their recruitment; the logistical cell organized the housing and transportation of militants in and out of the country and the procurement of weapons and equipment in support of operations; the operational cell conducted casings of possible targets and was in charge of the execution of operations. The network was operating in conjunction with other terrorist support cells in Sweden, Belgium, Syria, and Iraq. According to the Interior Ministry, it was recruiting and channeling suicide bombers to support Al Qaeda fighters in Afghanistan and Somalia; prior to its arrest, the network was in the process of recruiting ten volunteers and had sent twenty militants to fight in Iraq. Members of the group were scheduled to receive training on explosives from Al Qaeda operatives and were planning large scale attacks in Morocco.

Copyright AFP

In the past two years, the Moroccan government has refocused its security posture to address a growing national security threat; the change came in response to security warnings issued by U.S. forces heavily engaged in combat against Al Qaeda in multiple areas of operations. Based on the interrogations of detained insurgents and the document and media exploitation of their sites, the Combating Terrorism Center (CTC) at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point published reports indicating that foreign fighters hailing from as far as Morocco and Algeria constitute a tremendous impediment to regional stability. In Iraq, foreign fighters constitute no more than ten percent of Al Qaeda ’strength, but make up ninety percent of the suicide bombers. As Al Qaeda was being forced out of its strongholds in Iraq and Afghanistan, Moroccan militants from its rank and file returned home steeped in guerilla warfare and tempered by combat. In July 2008, Moroccan security forces dismantled a terrorist network in Tangier and neighboring cities arresting thirty-eight of its operatives. Forty-three others suspected of links with Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb are charged under anti-terrorism legislation and are awaiting trial. Last week, five Mauritanians were arrested at the Moroccan/Mauritanian entry point Bir Guendouz with a substantial load of 7.62 rounds.

There is a need for a sensitization campaign targeting the pool of potential candidates Al Qaeda recruiters approach. According to the CTC, the majority of foreign fighters are lured into Iraq and Afghanistan with promises that they will be fighting Americans; the majority of Al Qaeda operations in those countries are indiscriminately directed at local civilians and infrastructure. Some foreign fighters are used as drivers of vehicles that are, unbeknownst to them, loaded with explosives and remotely detonated in crowded areas. Morocco’s increased vigilance and steadfast campaign to eliminate the terrorist threat in the region and undermine its global effects are commendable and will most likely be lauded in the 2009 U.S. report on Morocco’s Terrorism Countermeasures; the number of Moroccan militants entering Iraq and Afghanistan has drastically diminished. However, I believe Morocco ‘security forces are still reactive, the effectiveness of the security measures in place limited and their gains tactical as long as improving the economy, creating employment opportunities, and heeding to the needs of the citizens are not a priorities.

A. T. B. Copyright © 2009

The Libyan Hobo

A van belonging to the Manhattan Psychiatric Center and transporting one of its most serious mental patient was involved in a serious accident, early morning, Wednesday, September 23, 2009, in the Turtle Bay neighborhood, just around the corner from the United Nations headquarters. No injuries were noted, but the patient, who is said to be suffering from psychiatric comorbidity and excessive manifestations of hubris, escaped. He was later spotted at the United Nations Assembly lecturing world leaders to sleep.

All joking aside, there is a reason why it took Qaddafi, the king of kings, the leader of leaders, the imam of all Muslims, forty years to finally step before the United Nations Assembly, He wasn’t ready. Based on today’s speech, he still isn’t. During his ninety-five minute diatribe, flailing yellow pages on which he had scribbled notes, he ranted about the security council calling it a “terror council,” advocated his perspicacious political solution to the Palestinian/Israeli conflict, lamented the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy and the Rev. Martin Luther King and shared his hunch they were caused by conspiracies, then tossed a copy of the U.N. Charter like a Frisbee, and purported the swine flu is a military or a corporate weapon. He called the U.S. President “our son.” Reinforcing the belief that dictatorship is genetically ingrained in Africans, he called for Obama to be a president for life. At one point, he admonished the audience for not paying attention to his speech asking them if they were jetlagged; he proposed the United Nations Headquarters be relocated to Libya or China. He concluded by promoting his website. Qaddafi himself looked exhausted, which is understandable since he couldn’t find a place to pitch his tent; he was turned down by major hotels and real-estate agencies in New York. Not even the Charles Gay Assessment Shelter would take him in. I doubt the next recipient of “Al-Gaddafi International Prize for Human Rights” will be a New Yorker.

A. T. B. Copyright © 2009

The Naked Truth About MALI’s Eating Disorder

Photo by Spencer Tunick

I resisted commenting on the arrest of the six members of the e-group “Alternative movement for individual freedoms,” known as “MALI,” who crash-landed on reality and caused much of a bedlam in Morocco recently when they decided to eat publically during the fasting hours of Ramadan in an attempt to call for the abrogation of article 222 of Morocco’s penal code. I thought the group vain, their protest self-serving and quixotic, their initiative worthy, but their judgment poor. Their actions were those of a temerarious group of privileged youths who, despite living in Morocco, lack perspective on the social trepidations of the average Moroccan. I also thought the group lacked courage. Why call for the right of Morocco’s Muslims to disregard Ramadan if so they choose when the real issue is the right of Morocco’s Muslims to tergiversate on Islam?

Article 222, which stipulates that any Muslim who publically breaks the fast before sunset during the month of Ramadan will be punished by the law, holds within it quite a contradiction; how can a person be considered a Muslim if he decides, out of his own volition, not to fast during Ramadan, one of the five pillars of Islam incumbent on all Muslims? One has to wonder what criteria the government uses to determine the denomination of Moroccans. Is a Moroccan a Muslim by virtue of his pedigree, or his public proclamation of faith and his actions in support of its fundamental precepts? It is no wonder that some observers saw in the group’s action a stand against the flagrant hypocrisy permeating the Moroccan society. But such hypocrisy is hardly an idiosyncratic character of Morocco or Islam; all cultures and religions are hypocritical. Hypocrisy is not an inconsistency in religious theory for the quest for enlightenment is a sempiternal process. Samuel Johnson explains it best in “Rambler No. 14” when he says:

Nothing is more unjust, however common, than to charge with hypocrisy him that expresses zeal for those virtues which he neglects to practice; since he may be sincerely convinced of the advantages of conquering his passions, without having yet obtained the victory, as a man may be confident of the advantages of a voyage, or a journey, without having courage or industry to undertake it, and may honestly recommend to others, those attempts which he neglects himself.

In protesting against the prohibition of public eating during fasting hours, MALI stood against not the Moroccan government, but the majority of Moroccans. As restrictive as article 222 is, it is also protective; its drafters took into serious consideration the dormant fanatic strain inherent in Islamic thinking. If the MALI group carried out their plan to untimely break the fast publically and the police did not get involved, its members would most likely be lynched by a heterogeneous crowd whose members would regard them as “natural apostates.” Its potentially mortal actions would be justified by the prophet Mohammed ‘saying:

“Whoever amongst you sees anything objectionable, let him change it with his hand, if he is not able, then with his tongue, and if he is not even able to do so, then with his heart, and the latter is the weakest form of faith.”

“MALI” failed to realize that article 222 is in complete concordance with article 29 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which states:

In the exercise of his rights and freedoms, everyone shall be subject only to such limitations as are determined by law solely for the purpose of securing due recognition and respect for the rights and freedoms of others and of meeting the just requirements of morality, public order and the general welfare in a democratic society.

Indeed, one cannot advocate individual freedom without stressing the importance of individual responsibility. Embracing an ethics of unfettered individualism will cause any society to fragment. Even in the U.S., where individualism was described by Alexis de Tocqueville as fundamental to its character, the cohesiveness of society is recognized; Mormons, for instance, understood this when they acquiesced to federal and state laws prohibiting polygyny, a practice that was instrumental to the survival of the sect in the 1800s. Individual freedom does not constitute a license to contravene existing values of institutions that are designed to, not restrain an individual, but uphold the integrity of a community and maintain the civility of its members. A naked man calmly wandering in public places would be arrested in any city, be it Rabat, Paris, New York City, or Tokyo, and individual freedom would never be considered a vindicating justification.

The Moroccan authorities saw in MALI’s eating disorder an unparallel opportunity to subvert the serious efforts of those calling for legitimate reforms. It rallied political, social, and governmental entities to condemn opposition activists whom it painted as deleterious to the values and the unity of the Moroccan society. So, thank you MALI.

A. T. B. Copyright © 2009

Are Morocco And Algeria Gearing Up For Arms Race?

On March 2008, I reported on Morocco’s purchase of 24 F-16 Block 52+ fighter jets from Lockheed Martin at a cost of $2.4 billion dollars (read it here). The purchase was in response to Algeria’s March 2006 $8 billion military and technical cooperation agreement with Russia $1.3 billion of which was allotted for the purchase of 29 single-seater MiG-29SMT fighters and six two-seater MiG-29UB fighters. Algeria terminated the contract in 2007 upon receipt of the first batch of MiG-29s which, after a technical inspection, were deemed defective and of inferior quality than stipulated. To redeem itself, Russia renegotiated the contract and offered Algeria new MiG-35 Fulcrum fighter aircraft and 16 Su-30 Flanker fighters. The Russian government also approved a $2.5 billion contract between Irkut Corporation and the Algerian government to supply the latter with 28 Su-30MKA fighters by 2010. In June 2009, The Algerian ministry of defense signed a contract with Agusta Westland, an Italian company of the Finmeccanica Group, to purchase 100 helicopters of various nomenclatures for its gendarmerie, police, and civil protection agency. The Finmeccanica Group is already committed to equip the Algerian navy with 6 AW101s helicopters and 4 Super Lynx 300 MK 130.

On September 9, 2009, Morocco was able to secure congressional approval for the purchase of support equipment and weapons for the F-16C/D Block 50/52 in conjunction with its F-16 contract with Lockheed Martin. The package is valued at $187 million and includes 28 AGM-65D Maverick missiles, a tactical, air-to-surface guided missile designed for close air support, interdiction, and defense suppression mission against a variety of tactical targets. It is developed by Hughes Aircraft and Raytheon. An F-16 can carry up to 6 Mavericks. The Defense Security Cooperation Agency, a government entity that promotes military-to-military contacts in support of U.S. foreign policy and national security interests, has indicated that Morocco was also approved for the purchase of 28 M-61 vulcan cannons, a Gatling-style rotary gun produced by General Dynamics, and 60 enhanced Guided Bomb Unit-12 (GBU-12) Paveway II, a laser guided bomb (LGB) that utilizes a Mk82 500-pound general purpose warhead. Additionally, Morocco requested the installation of communications, air combat pods, targeting pods, ground stations, night vision goggles (NVGs), joint mission planning systems, and radar warning receivers. This latest procurement will increase the interoperability between the U.S. and Morocco and enhance asset capabilities in bi-lateral terrorism prevention operations in the region.

Earlier this year, a Moroccan air force delegation led by Colonel M’hamed Saufi toured Luke Air Force Base in Arizona. Personnel from Morocco’s Royal Air Force are currently being trained at Luke’s and 162nd Fighter Wing airbase in Tucson, Arizona on the mission support, maintenance of F-16 and the organizational elements involved in the base operations of a fighter wing, i.e., civil engineers and fire department, communications, logistics readiness, security forces, and base services. Morocco is currently building an air force base specifically designed to support F-16 operations.

It is worth noting that, with $5.4 billion worth of arms contracts, Morocco is the third top-buyer of military hardware and weaponry in the developing world in 2008, surpassed only by United Arab Emirates, with $9.7 billion in arms deals, and Saudi Arabia, with $8.7 billion. The United States holds 70.1 percent of the arms market; its arms sales in 2008 totaled $29.6 billion. Russia comes in a far second with $3.3 billion.

Considering that Morocco and Algeria are embroiled in a diplomatic dispute over “Western Sahara,” analysts are voicing serious concerns that the two countries are gearing up for an arms race that will upset the delicate status quo balance of the increasingly bifurcated Maghreb.

A. T. B. Copyright © 2009

The Star-crossed Lovers

The National Action Group for Solidarity with Iraq and Palestine and its chief coordinator, Khaled Soufiani, in conjunction with other Moroccan human rights and civil activists and associations organized, on September 9, 2009, a demonstration in the heart of Morocco’s capital Rabat in support of Palestine and to protest the discernable traits of normalization of relations between Morocco and Israel. The demonstrators inveighed against the establishment of the Amazigh-Israeli Friendship Association, the selling of Israeli products in local markets, and the recent distribution of Israel Magazine by Sochepress. Mr. Soufiani, reflecting stock thinking in the Moroccan society and the Arab street in general, was quoted saying that “the normalization of relations with Israel is treason and whoever supports it is a criminal and complicit in the atrocities Israel perpetrates on the Palestinians.”

Morocco and Israel severed diplomatic relations in October of 2000 when their respective liaison offices in Rabat and Tel Aviv were closed. However, unofficial political, economic, and non-conventional military contacts subsisted. There have been no official communiqués from the governments of Morocco and Israel on the subject. Israeli news outlets, however, have been reporting with added frequency on the growing economic and cultural relations between the two countries. Last month, the Moroccan defense attaché attended the farewell party of Israel’s military attaché to the U. S. Major-General Benny Gantz who, in July 2006, led Israeli ground forces into Lebanon; According to Sam Ben Chetrit, chairman of the World Federation of Moroccan Jewry, Mohammed VI hosted, two months ago, a high-ranking delegation from Israel which included Knesset members and community leaders. American and European journalists known to be advocates of Israel’s agenda have recently been writing overly favorable articles about Morocco in which they extolled its laicism, economic development, and advance toward democracy.

As protesters were chanting anti-Israeli slogans and burning the Israeli flag in downtown Rabat, thousands of Jews from around the world, to include Israel, were gathered in Essaouira in a Hailula pilgrimage to the shrine of Rabbi Chaim Pinto, a Jewish saint. For that occasion, the mayor of Essaouira, Nabil Kharoubi, hosted Jewish dignitaries in an official reception attended by representatives from the local government and political parties. The reception included a joint prayer. Similar Jewish pilgrimages to the shrine of Abraham Ben Zmirro, in Safi, and others throughout Morocco have been taking place since the eighties and constitute a substantial source of revenue to Morocco’s tourism industry. Last year, more than eighty organized groups travelled to Morocco to celebrate Sukkot. With this year’s Jewish high holiday season approaching, thousands of Israelis plan on celebrating Rosh Hashana, September 18, and Sukkot, October 2, in Morocco.

To tap into this market, Yambateva, one of Israel’s largest travel agencies, has announced its merger with Maroc Tours and anticipates opening its local offices in Marrakesh. The offices will be staffed by locally employed personnel and managed by Yambateva envoy David Edri.

Heeding U. S. President Barack Obama’s call for greater Arab openness toward Israel, Morocco is reported to be willing to grant a blanket airspace clearance to Israel’s commercial aviation and reopen Israel’s liaison office in Rabat. Qatar, Oman, and Egypt are taking similar measures. Without fanfare, Egypt has been refurbishing dilapidated synagogues. Just last year, when asked in Parliament about the presence of Israeli books in the Alexandria Library, Farouk Hosni, its Minister of Culture replied: “Let’s burn these books. If there are any, I will burn them myself before you.” When Elie Wiesel, Claude Lanzmann and Bernard-Henri Lévy denounced him in an articles titled “The Shame of a Disaster Foretold” published by Le Monde and called for his candidacy to the UNESCO’s cultural conciliator-in-chief to be rejected, Mr. Hosni, humbled and contrite, publicly apologized for his opprobrious words against the Jewish culture and assumed a more conciliatory tone. He has shown a degree of openness when he invited Daniel Barenboim to conduct the Cairo Symphony Orchestra, and pledged to translate the works of Israeli writers Amos Oz and David Grossman into Arabic.

A. T. B. Copyright © 2009