By Colin Kilkelly

Morocco News Tribune

Marrakech, Morocco|The Tunisian government took the decision to ban the Ansar Sharia conference which the Al Qaeda linked organization had announced would be held today in Kairouan. The decision was taken by the Interior Ministry on Friday 17 May on the basis that the event ,which was billed as attracting 40,000 Salafists was “a threat to security and public order.”

The Enhadda led government has been accused of being soft on Salafists who took to the streets armed with swords and sticks to enforce their version of extreme Islamic dogma by attacking women not wearing the veil, smashing shops selling alcohol and breaking up art exhibitions and music festivals they deemed unislamic. Salafists have waged an extensive campaign to take over mosques throughout Tunisia. They attacked police stations and finally the police shot back when their barracks were attacked in Jendouba.

 Then the American Embassy was attacked by Salafists and Ansar Sharia’s leader went into hiding.

This was a key turning point because Tunisia’s political leaders realised that attacks like this could not go on. Leaders including President Moncef Marzouki and the leader of Ennhada Rachid Ghannouchi both condemned the attack on the US embassy. Then the assassination of left wing Chokri Belaid caused shock waves around the world and forced a change of government under a new Prime Minister Ali Larradeyh ,with independents taking over key ministries rather than Ennhada politicians, although Ennhada remains the leading political party in the National Constituent Assembly.

It was Rachid Ghannouchi who blamed Salafists for the death of a police inspector whose mutilated body was found in May. It was becoming clear that there was a threat to undermine and even take over the state. He announced that the government would ban the Ansar Sharia conference and the Minister of the Interior confirmed that no official request to hold the conference had been received.

 Ennahdha long accused of laxity for tolerating the jihadist factions, has significantly hardened its position since 16 soldiers and police were injured between late April and early May by mines laid by armed groups close to the border with Algeria in the area of Jebel Chaambi. The security forces have been engaging jihadists in the area between Le Klef and Jendouba and despite early official denials

a terrorist training camp was found and there are probably others in the Jebel Chaambi reserve which has many caves where Jihadis can hide.The use of mines is especially worrying and the Jihadis said to be linked to the Okba Ibn Nafaa Katiba are affiliated to AQIM according to Jeune Afrique which reports dissatisfaction amongst the security services with the control and leadership of anti terrorist operations. Police earlier went on strike caught between violent salafist attacks and what they claimed was indecisive government support for the police.

It is now apparent just how dangerous and pervasive these groups of Salafists and Jihadi’s linked to AQIM are. The head of the Salafi jihadist movement Ansar al-Sharia, Abu Iyadh, threatened to wage war on the government led by the Islamist party Ennahdha, which it accuses of conducting a policy contrary to Islam.

 “We are not asking permission from the government to preach the word of God and we warn against any police intervention to prevent the congress from taking place,” spokesman for Ansar Sharia Seifeddine Rais said on Thursday. He was reported to have been arrested later.

 The government on Friday said it was banning Ansar al-Sharia from gathering in Kairouan because it had “shown disdain for state institutions, incited violence against them and poses a threat to public security”.

 Hundreds of supporters of Tunisia’s Ansar al-Sharia clashed with police in Kairouan and on the outskirts of the capital today, Sunday (May 19th), AFP reported.

 More than 11,000 security officers were deployed to the holy city of Kairouan, according to Shems FM.Ansar Sharia , blocked from holding its event in Kairouan called on their followers on its official Facebook page to demonstrate in the Ettadhamen district of Tunis where reports said some 500 salafists clashed with police setting fire to tyres in the road and hurled rocks at police. The police fired tear gas and shots in the air. “During the protests, eleven security personnel were injured, one seriously, and three protesters, including one seriously injured,” the Interior Ministry said, which refers refers to “more than 700 (…) Islamic extremists” equipped with “incendiary mixtures, projectiles and knives.” TAP reported.

 Calm returned to Kairouan about 4pm, no details of arrests of Ansar Sharia have been released as yet.

The leader of Ansar al-Sharia, Saif Allah Bin Hussein alias Abu Iyadh is an Afghanistan veteran who fought with Al-Qaeda. Reports from Tunisia and Syria have highlighted the large number of young Tunisians fighting with the Syrian rebels who have also been joined by Al Quaeda linked

organizations. After the Afghan war large numbers of Al Qaeda trained fighters returned to Saudi Arabia and other countries and then began a struggle against governments using terrorist techniques they had learnt in the fighting. The same phenomenon is likely to occur following the Syrian conflict.

Tunisia is not in finding attempts to establish terrorist training camps on its territory. Morocco earlier this week reported the dismantlement of two terrorist groups near Nador in the north which were apparently seeking to set up a base in nearby mountains reported the Ministry of Interior according to MAP.

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By Ece Koç*

Morocco News Tribune

Ankara, Turkey | On March 22^nd, Prime Minister Netanyahu apologized to Turkey for the killing of nine Turkish citizens and one dual American citizen on the Mavi Marmara flotilla three years ago. The Turkish Prime Minister accepted this apology.

Thus the three year-story that put a strain on the friendship of two good old friends came to a happy ending. This was great news not only for these two countries, but it was a historical moment for the region as well. Both countries are allies of the United States and they surely will play a key role in the stability of the Middle East. No one can deny the importance of the alliance between these two strong and stable countries in the region in terms of ending the various conflicts in the region and bringing democracy. Turkey is a great Muslim country with its democracy, contemporary lifestyle, and its interpretation of Islam. These qualities make it a very strong and important ally for USA, Europe and Israel in the region as it can be a bridge between Muslims and the rest of the world. Israel on the other hand is a democratic country that has the right to live in their fathers’ lands and they need a strong, reliable, sensible and peaceful friend such as Turkey to ensure their security and peace in the region.

And that’s not all; Turkey also has the potential to be a role model for other Islamic countries with the peaceful and democratic structure it has. Furthermore, it can be a leading light in the democratization of the region and its tradition of love and protection for others and take the lead in making the region the beautiful, peaceful and safe place it deserves to be.

The apology might have come after a long wait by the people on the both sides; nevertheless the events that unraveled could not impair the deep-seeded love the two sides had for each other. Indeed, the two people never really lost the love they had for each other. The friendship and history was too strong to be smothered by one incident.

That’s why when I first heard about this, although I wasn’t completely surprised, I still felt great joy and hope and I immediately shared the news with my friends. Everyone was very happy to hear it, because the simple truth is the Israelis and the Turks wanted to move on and leave that artificial political problem behind a long time ago. My joy was shared by my Jewish friends as they kept flooding my inbox with good messages of hope and congratulations.

It wasn’t only us; the people of both sides had waited for this good news. World leaders, the rest of the world wanted it too and not just that, they most likely could tell it was coming too. And it was the right decision, the sensible one, because no sensible leader would allow this untoward incident to impair and sever the ties we have had for such a long time, especially when the region very much needs our solid friendship, for its security and stability.

So what about some news on the mainstream media about the alleged alienation between the two peoples? Is there any truth to that? I personally think that the affect was minimal and only in the beginning. The truth is Turks never hated Israelis nor did the Israelis hate the Turks. On the contrary, throughout their history , they always loved one another and considered each other as brothers.

Indeed, contrary to the misconceptions prevalent in the media, Muslims always had great love, respect and compassion for the People of the Book, due to the commands of the Qur’an ordering love and respect for them. For instance, in the time of the Prophet Mohammed, he once had Jewish guests and he took off his cloak and laid it on the floor so his Jewish guests could sit on it before they started their conversation. And obviously the Prophet Mohammed is, and should be, the role model for every Muslim. Furthermore, he had both a Jewish and a Christian wife. During the time of the Caliphate of Umar, Jews, Muslims and Christians lived side by side peacefully.

In 638, when Jerusalem was surrendered to the Muslims, Umar (the first caliph), requested to be led to the Temple Mount, an acknowledgment of Islam’s acceptance of the Hebraic prophetic tradition. After reaching the Temple Mount, the caliph found himself disgusted on seeing that some people had heaped garbage in the sacred enclosure to express their contempt for the Judaic faith. Umar, out of respect for the Jews, ordered the area to be cleansed, an act which also prepared the sacred Jewish site for Muslim worship. And from time to time, he personally helped clean the area. Umar fulfilled the hopes of Jews by refusing the church’s request to continue the ban against Jewish residence and invited them back into the city. After approximately 500 years Jerusalem again included a Jewish community. Jews, long banned from living in Jerusalem by Christian rulers, were permitted to return, live, and worship in the city of Solomon and David.

Another example of Muslims’ respect for People of the Book, was when Umar was given a tour of the city, including the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. When the time for prayer came, Sophronius invited Umar to pray inside the Church, but Umar refused. He insisted that if he prayed there, later Muslims would use it as an excuse to convert it into a mosque – thereby depriving Christendom of one of its holiest sites. Instead, Umar prayed outside the Church, where a mosque (called Masjid Umar – the Mosque of Umar) was later built.

During the Spanish inquisition, when the Jews were persecuted, the Ottoman Empire opened their doors to them and hosted them in the most decent and beloved part of their lands; the beautiful city of Istanbul. Turks offered a hand of friendship and brotherhood to the Jews, and Jews returned the favor with loyal love and friendship. Turkey was also the first Muslim country to recognize state of Israel in 1948. nNo one should overlook the fact that in May 2010, Turkish President Abdullah Gul called upon Hamas to recognize the State of Israel. So no matter who says what, the love of Turks for the Jews is a fact. This is a tradition for us. The love, compassion and protection we felt and showed for Jews is an undeniable historical fact, and it will not stop because of one regrettable incident .

The same thing goes for the Jewish people. I know very well that Israelis have a profound love and respect for the Turkish nation. One of my guests on my show ‘Building Bridges’ said that Jews’ love for Turks is very warm and deep and he even saw one shop in Jerusalem which found a way of boosting its sales by promoting its bakery as the ‘Turkish borek’. The two people even have similar characters, traits, tastes. This could be put to a test with a poll; I am sure that such a poll would clearly prove to the whole world, the real love felt by the people on both sides, despite any seeming rifts between the leaders.

Indeed, although diplomatic relations suffered after the incident, the trade between the two countries increased .In 2011, Israel exported $4 billion U.S. dollars worth of commodities to Turkey, which exceeded what Israel exported to Canada. In 2013, it is forecasted to be $5 billion U.S. dollars. Turkey has exported $2.3 billion U.S. dollars worth of commodities to Israel, making Israel the sixth largest customer of Turkey. With the recently discovered Tamar natural gas fields in the Mediterranean Sea, Turkey has requested being a customer for this Israeli natural gas.

All these facts make it clear that we have a very strong friendship that won’t be overshadowed or impaired by one incident that no one wanted in the first place. We should not be stuck in the past; we must forgive and leave the mistakes behind to start a new page. We must do this for the sake of peace in the Middle East and the freedom of future generations. This friendship will play a great role in ending the oppression in Syria, bringing democracy to it, ensuring Israeli-Palestine peace and accelerating democratization of key Middle East countries such as Egypt. By standing shoulder-to-shoulder as friends, we can make a better tomorrow for us all. 

*Ece Koç is a graduate of the University of Istanbul, where she studied economics. She is Executive Director of the NGO “Building Bridges.” She organizes and interviews foreign delegations/guests for the program; she’s also a guest columnist and blogger. Additionally, she’s an International Affairs coordinator, and has organized and attended major interfaith conferences in her official capacity such as the Second Istanbul World Political Forum, the 21st Congress of the Union of Islamic Communities, The First International Balkan Conference, the Istanbul World Forum, and Science for Peace. 
www.ecekoc.com

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By Ece Koç*

Morocco News Tribune

The three Abrahamic religions share the same core values and principles as they were all sent to mankind by Allah. It is the requirement of these religions and the modern world we are living in today that people’s religious beliefs and choices are respected and protected. Indeed, many countries have laws in place to ensure that religious liberties are protected and no one intervenes with another person’s religious choices.

It must be noted that particularly in the United States, religious liberties are given great importance in the American Constitution. Clearly, such liberties do not give anyone the right to insult, or attack the religious values of another; on the contrary, they require and ensure that everybody is respected for their beliefs and choices, be it believers or atheists.

However, in recent years, some extremists have emerged with a sinister plan to deliberately insult Islam. The first attack in this wave of hatred was the Danish cartoon, followed by the alleged movie about our Prophet Mohammed (pbuh). Obviously, such attempts are futile and will not achieve their goals. On the contrary, they will only make people want to learn more about Islam. Many of these extremists have forgotten one of the lessons of early Christian history: The more the early Church was persecuted in Ancient Rome, the more adherents it drew. Persecution simply serves to increase interest in the object of persecution. Thus, the attempts to ridicule Islam and belittle Muslims have, in the long run, the entirely opposite effect.

Then recently, the Turkish pianist Fazıl Say committed the crime of “openly denigrating religious values” (Turkish Penal Code 216/3) and a criminal case against him was initiated in Istanbul’s Criminal Court of Peace No. 19. The case resulted in him being convicted. However, he recently appealed to the higher court. Thus, the case is still under evaluation.

This case has been and is still being covered widely in the mainstream media, with mostly misleading information. These newspapers and comments usually claim that the things he said which got him sentenced were actually quoted from the 11th Century Iranian poet Omar Khayyam and that Fazıl Say was merely repeating this poet’s statements. Although this is not true, as there is far more to it than that, the fact still remains that repeating an insult is still a crime according to the Turkish laws.

However, that is not the real reason why Fazil Say was convicted. He was convicted because he insulted believers with extremely offensive words. The court did not even refer to that poem, but only to the offensive statements he uttered in his tweets targeting faithful Muslims. This fact should be known by everyone, so that the media frenzy claiming that he is being prosecuted for no reason can finally come to an end.

There were also some attempts to downplay the actions of Fazil Say’s, suggesting that what he did was merely posting a few insignificant lines on his Twitter account, which cannot be further from the truth. The words that brought him to the courts are below. As anyone can see, they are far from trivial or unimportant. He admitted that he wrote those phrases, which I hold Allah and all the Islamic values beyond:

“Wherever there is jagoff, (a) cheap-jack, (a) thief, (a) jester, all are Allahist”, “Is Heaven a barrel house, is Heaven a whorehouse?” “God.. is it something for which you’ll become an animal and kill?”, “(The) Muezzin (person who calls for prayer) recited the azan (Islamic call for prayer) in 22 seconds… what’s the rush, dear? Is it the raki* table?

*raki: an anise-flavored alcoholic drink popular in Turkey

Another misleading piece of information frequently seen – both in the Western and Turkish Media – is that he shouldn’t be convicted because his words should be considered within the scope of the freedom of thought. That is also incorrect because mFazil Say was not convicted for his thought or ideas but for the stream of insults he made targeting believers. People should know that his conviction has nothing to do with freedom of speech: Freedom of speech is not the freedom to insult. He could have said, and has already said, that he doesn’t believe in Allah (Allah is beyond that), or that he doesn’t believe in religion. No one would object to that, nor would anyone would be offended by that as it is his choice and everybody is free to make their own choices. However hurling insults at someone is completely different and cannot be tolerated or allowed. This distinction must be made very clearly. Therefore the mainstream should stop misleading people with such notions trying to create the image that his actions weren’t such a big thing. In any event, the “freedom” to defame another person is banned not only by Turkish law but by international laws as well. Even though there has been attempts to show this case as a threat to freedom of thought in Turkey, those attempts failed as they didn’t have any truth to them. Firstly because, as I said above, insults cannot be considered freedom of thought and secondly, all the developed countries safeguard religious values from insults with strict codes. To cite some examples, the Article 261 of the Swiss Penal Code, Article 282 of the Russian Federation Penal Code, Articles 130 and 131 of the German Penal Code, Articles 510, 511, 512, 513, 514, 515, 516, 517, 518, 519 520 and 521 of the Spanish Penal Code are just a few of those. These articles quite explicitly prohibit people from defaming another person’s religious beliefs.

Furthermore, the European Court of Human Rights has in many cases convicted people for defaming religious values. In one of these rulings, the publication of complaint was a novel, and in the other a film. The novel included comments about Islam and our Prophet, while the film contained scenes and passages defaming the Prophet Jesus, and the ECHR approved the local court rulings in both cases.

Another ruling contained the following words:

“The freedom of thought and expression in Paragraph 2 of Article 10 entails “various duties and responsibilities;” among these are the need to avoid terms and behavior constituting disrespect by conduct or remark that might harm others when freedom of religion and belief is involved.”

“With the intervention in subject, the ECHR has concluded that the precautionary measures taken are “intended to protect various elements regarded as sacred by Muslims in the face of a ‘social need’.”

“The ECHR records that the national judicial authorities’ justifications were sufficient, that the measures they took regarding the appellant were appropriate and that the officials did not overstep their authority.”

“With regard to the proportionality of the measures taken, the ECHR records the national judicial authorities did not decide to have all copies of the book in question seized and that the financial penalty imposed was reasonable in the light of the intended aims. Article 10 of the ECHR has not been violated.”

(ECHR “Forbidden Clauses” Ruling)

Clearly, the ECHR ratified local court rulings in such cases and makes it clear that they cannot be considered as a part of the freedom of expression, stating that Article 10 of the ECHR about freedom of expression has not been violated.

Furthermore, the Supreme Court of Appeals had many previous rulings to the effect that defamation and denigration is an offense.

The United States has also issued rulings to the effect that defamation and denigration of Islam is an offense. This has appeared in the press on many occasions.

Similar rulings on the subject of denigration of religious values and Muslims have also come from Europe and appeared in the press in recent times. For example, Austrian Deputy Susanne Winter made a speech denigrating religious values, as a result of which her Membership of Parliament was suspended, an inquiry was opened, followed by the bringing of criminal charges. She was found guilty and the verdict was confirmed by higher courts.

In the same way, Danish Deputy Jesper Langballe also insulted religion in a speech. His Membership of Parliament was also suspended and an inquiry was initiated. Criminal charges were brought, and he was convicted in the case.

Another very interesting side of the story is that Fazıl Say is well-known for the lawsuits he has filed against others who said anything that could even slightly offend him; he is quite litigious. He has sued many celebrities because he felt that their statements were disrespectful to him. Turkish singer Ercan Saatçi, singer Müslüm Gürses, singer Hülya Avşar, Ömür Kabak, who is the İzmir office chairman of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) are some of the well-known people whom Fazil Say has sued in the past, claiming that their words were violating his personal rights.

I should make it clear that I am a very fervent supporter of freedom of speech and freedom of thought. However, at the same time, I am completely against any offensive, derogatory remarks against any other human being on the basis of his choices of faith. The fact that this individual  is a musician does not give him the right to insult others. On the contrary, the artists, the musicians, the singers of a country should give messages of love, friendship, and peace and be role model for their fans and the public alike.

*Ece Koç is a graduate of the University of Istanbul, where she studied economics. She is Executive Director of the NGO “Building Bridges.” She organizes and interviews foreign delegations/guests for the program; she’s also a guest columnist and blogger. Additionally, she’s an International Affairs coordinator, and has organized and attended major interfaith conferences in her official capacity such as the Second Istanbul World Political Forum, the 21st Congress of the Union of Islamic Communities, The First International Balkan Conference, the Istanbul World Forum, and Science for Peace. 
www.ecekoc.com

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By Ece Koç*

Morocco News Tribune

Perhaps most of you have heard the name Tarek al-Tayep Mohamed Bouazizi by now. However, until January 4, 2011, he was an ordinary person selling fruit in the streets of Ben Arous, Tunisia. This street vendor set himself on fire as a reaction to the confiscation of his wares and the subsequent humiliation inflicted upon him by a municipal official. His self-immolation in protest against this injustice unleashed a tsunami of public indignation that led to then President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali – who had assumed the Presidency in 1987 in a coup d’etat – to step down.

The success of the Tunisian uprisings inspired revolutions in some other Arab countries. These revolutions attempted to bring down the ruling dictatorships in their own countries.

One of the countries that was affected by the so-called ‘Arab Spring’ is Syria. The Syrian conflict began as a secular revolt against autocracy. Revolutionaries aimed to prosecute Assad’s government and they are now trying to liberate this country from this ruthless regime that has exploited the country for 40 years.

As you are no doubt well aware, since March 2011 there has been a great deal of mass killings and suffering going on in Syria. The massacre committed by the Assad regime against the people of Syria have been continuing unabated; it is estimated that more than 60,000 to 70,000 people have lost their lives thus far. Due to the internal crisis raging in Syria, three million Syrians have been displaced internally and one million have fled to neighboring countries.

We cannot talk about any stability or security within Syria for the time being; the regime unleashed tens of thousands of ‘militia volunteers’. Aleppo was guarded initially by these gangsters. They were the ones who stopped any sort of demonstrations in the city. When Assad decided to pull most of his forces out of the city, these gangsters started looting, and stealing some of the items. This rampant  theft has taken place not only in Aleppo but in some of the other cities, as well. The city of Aleppo has been under siege for 40 days and at this point, four divisions consisting of over 12,000 men at arms  has surrounded the city; they have systematically looted stores as a way of obtaining food and stolen pretty much anything that wasn’t nailed down. It is an unfortunate fact that looting is common in situations of war or in examples of societal collapse, however, it can never be justified. We cannot defend looting or stealing or any kind of crimes or misbehavior.

 We should first consider the context of the situation in Syria. What made them do these unjust actions? Can these unlawful deeds be justified? It is a question everyone should ask themselves; I have also asked this question to myself. But before answering this question we must first consider what brought these people to this point. I think it can be safely said that the conditions in Syria now is beyond anyone’s imagination. Civilians are being tortured and ruthlessly and systematically killed before the eyes of their loved ones by the Assad regime. The regime is targeting everyone indiscriminately destroying cities wholesale and leaving the residents homeless . They have no food to eat, no water to drink or wash with , and no electricity in many parts of the city. They are desperate as is often the cases in severe social breakdown, looters typically are not after anything luxurious; they are simply trying to survive and help their children and elderly . They are not safe anywhere; they cannot even go to breadlines to feed their families because many have been killed while patiently waiting in line for food once the bombing and shelling begins.

Many have started to chop down trees despite the fact that it is actually illegal to cut down trees in Syria without a permit, but since they have run out of fuel and it is freezing cold, they are doing what they can just to survive. They are also digging trenches to protect their families from the constant shelling. They are in survival mode. They may loot or they may steal; after all, they need to eat. We are talking about people who are at the brink of starvation or freezing to death because they cannot find a loaf of bread or fuel for heat. Some say that it is a natural reaction or inevitable result to the disorder the Assad regime has caused since March 2011 for there is no presence of law and order in some areas.

All this violence is taking place before the eyes of the world. Yet so far, a real solution has not come from the initiatives or meetings of United Nations or NATO. Some neighboring countries are trying to help by opening refugee camps for them. Yet, these solutions are all temporary and do not constitute a real solution.

Then, what can be done to end all this misery? Would all return to normal if the Assad regime left? Surely, it would bring some relief, but is that a permanent solution? Look at Egypt or Tunisia. Have they really gotten what they were hoping for? Temporary solutions only work to an extent and the people are still poor, still suffer from lack of democracy, a lack of good living standards and still yearn for a better life. They still face attacks and exploitation because as a country they are still weak. They are weak because they are apart from their brothers and sisters and it is all too easy to attack small groups. They are weak because the underlying ideology is still there; the materialistic view that cares only about oneself, and no one else. The Islamic world is suffering greatly at the moment, because instead of coming together, they choose to stay apart; they revel in their own disputes and become easy targets for attacks.

The only real solution is for Muslims to unite together. All of the disasters that have befallen the Islamic world can be traced to a lack of unity. The ummah has split itself into countless sects, and allowed sectarian disputes to rise to the fore. Sectarian disputes and endless bickering over who is right and who is wrong is not only most unbecoming, it’s put the Islamic in peril through the rise of extremism and terrorism. And I must point out that it is not only unity between Muslims that must occur, it is also a unity with our Christian and Jewish brothers and sisters; it is only in this way that any real and long-lasting solutions to the immense problems facing the Islamic world can be found. God commands us to be united, and He also commands us to work together with the People of the Book. This is a necessity for us, and achieving this unity should be what we strive for the most.

This is the only solution that will work, because it is the divine solution, it is the order of God, revealed to His Messenger (pbuh). Almighty God says : Obey God and His Messenger and do not quarrel among yourselves lest you lose heart and your momentum disappear. And be steadfast. Allah is with the steadfast. (Koran 8:46)

*Ece Koç is a graduate of the University of Istanbul, where she studied economics. She is Executive Director of the NGO “Building Bridges.” She organizes and interviews foreign delegations/guests for the program; she’s also a guest columnist and blogger. Additionally, she’s an International Affairs coordinator, and has organized and attended major interfaith conferences in her official capacity such as the Second Istanbul World Political Forum, the 21st Congress of the Union of Islamic Communities, The First International Balkan Conference, the Istanbul World Forum, and Science for Peace.
www.ecekoc.com

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By Tracy Young

Morocco News Tribune

The old city of Fez can be very overwhelming and crowded (we were constantly getting touched and grabbed by strangers), so on our third day we left the city center and headed for the Merenid Tombs. This was only a twenty minute walk from our hotel, but it felt like a different world. If you visit Fez, don’t miss the opportunity to pack a picnic and spend a day in the hills. If you’re not physically active, you can also get a taxi to drive you to the top of the hill for about $10.

If you want to visit a city that has everything, go to Fez. The old city can be pretty overwhelming but it’s a fantastic place to take a seat at an outdoor cafe and people-watch. There are over 10,000 small shops in the medina, and they are all trying to get you inside, so it’s best to tour this city with a guide. The guide will keep store owners from pestering you and keep you from getting lost. After we walked for about two minutes I had no clue how to get back to our hotel. We had professor from the university give us a 6 hour tour for about $50 total.

The thing that I found most incredible about this building is that all the decorations are verses from the Koran. Could you imagine studying something for hours each day and then seeing it in the wallpaper of your house, and in the patterns on your carpets? Talk about full-immersion.

No trip to Fez is complete without a visit to the leather factory. They are still making leather the way they have for thousands of years. The men cover themselves in oil and jump right into the dyes with the leather. Since they use ingredients like pigeon poo, and donkey piss it smells pretty nasty.

It’s funny how even after you see how gross leather making is you still feel compelled to buy some leather.

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By Nora

Morocco News Tribune

Moroccan food has to be homecooked. For the most part, and tajine joints aside, restaurants around here just don’t do it right, which explains the fact that Moroccans rarely order their own national food when dining out. Instead they seem to have picked Italian food, or a version of it, as the national eat-out food. Pizzas, paninis, pasta are standard fare in many popular eateries. It makes sense, most people want a break from what they eat at home, something that is not spiced with cumin, ginger and paprika for a change, something you don’t sop up with bread.

Visitors to Morocco may surmise, from eating at restaurants that serve Moroccan food, that we Moroccans survive on a steady rotation of three different meals: Chicken Tajine with preserved Lemons, Beef Tajine with Prunes, and Couscous (on Friday). I don’t know how those three dishes became our national culinary representatives and ambassadors, given the variety of other superlative candidates.

Take for example, in no particular order:

1-Chicken Bastila:

This dish has it all, chicken stewed in saffron and spices then cleaned off the bone, eggs, almonds that have been peeled, deep fried and ground with cinnamon, sugar and rosewater, all wrapped in crunchy, buttery paper thin layered dough. It’s sweet, it’s savory, it’s soft, it’s crunchy. I could eat this every day. Realistically Moroccans will only eat this on a special occasion.

The downside is that it’s pricey and time-consuming. Not to mention the calories.

2-Fish Bastila:

For a long time I was a Chicken Bastila purist, until I finally got over my seafood phobia (someone once told me to be really careful when eating sardines, or the little bones would get stuck in my throat. I did not eat fish again til I was an adult). Even so this bastila is not super fishy tasting, it’s stuffed with shrimp, calamar and cubed white fish cooked with vermicelli and mushrooms.

3-Herbel:

it’s like oatmeal, only good. Moroccans eat this on Eid morning as a special breakfast. It’s cracked wheat boiled for hours until it softens, then you add condensed milk and butter. Some take it salty and others add honey. It’s very satisfying and addictive. Carbalicious.

4-My go-to Chicken and Rice recipe

You’re not likely to have this dish in anyone’s home, much less a restaurant. The reason? I got this recipe from my sister, who I believe got it from the Moroccan TV chef Choumisha. Since then it’s always come through for me (although I have a tendency to forget about it for months on end, and I feel a great sense of accomplishment every time I remember that I know how to make this). It’s distinctly Moroccan, yet the rice sets it apart from most Moroccan dishes. No bread! I don’t even know if my sister still makes this (do you sis?). If not I may be the only person in Morocco who presents this on a regular basis. And now I humbly pass it on to you.

You start with some old old North African standbys: garlic and onion, parsley and coriander, preserved lemon and sliced olives, turmeric, paprika, ginger and yellow stuff. A tea glass full of half olive oil, half regular. It makes this kind of salad that looks pretty remarkable as is.

But then you mix it with cooked rice, and use it a stuffing for chicken. The juice from the chicken runs down and cooks into the rice. I make plenty of the rice because that’s usually the best part. There’s crunchy part. If you come over to my house, I will probably serve you this (if I remember that I know how to make it).

5-The Big Salad

Every Moroccan family has their own version of the big salad. It’s great especially in this weather (guess how hot it is here). You just keep piling stuff on until voila, it’s a meal. My favorite versions include corn, boiled eggs, cheese, avocado.

You know, I am also writing a post about homeschooling. It’s a lot of work (the writing that is. The homeschooling is a whole other ball of wax). I don’t exactly know what I think about it, but writing is helping me sort that out. Some blog topics are a lot of work, so we end up with post after post about food and pictures. Fun, light, safe. To do it justice I’m going to have to write about homeschooling in installments, complete with flashbacks to my own school days, psychological forays into what motherhood means to me, issues of identity and belonging (mine and my kids’), and how my husband saved me from near breakdown. There’s a good book’s worth of material right there. Stay tuned…

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By Jamal Elabiad

Morocco News Tribune

The clock struck 2:00 p.m. Adnane was still asleep. The morning and a great part of the afternoon had been his bed time since 2005, the year when he began to sell marijuana from a small window in the house where he lived with his mother. He spent the whole night vending hashish to people from all walks of life, including children.

His father died six years ago of blood cancer. And his only 25-year-old sister immigrated clandestinely last year to Spain and married a Spanish man in his fifties. It was the only solution for her to obtain the residence certificates in Spain. In the neighborhood where he was living, he was not the only seller of that drug, but it’s rumored that his marijuana was the best, not only in the neighborhood, but in the whole city as well.

Adnane is ten years older than his sister. He has never been to school. He tried his hand at a number of part-time labors, but none of them enabled him to gather the money that would make his dream become true. He worked, for instance, as a vegetables vendor for five years without being able to put aside 10.000 dirhams, let alone 100.000 dirhams, the sum of money that Jawad, the person who helped his sister cross the sea illegally to Spain, demanded from him.

What encouraged Adnane most to try selling hashish is his friends: Rachid, Omar, and Hicham. Without trading in marijuana, the latter could not have been transported secretly to Spain on the board of a zodiac boat. For Adnane, if his friends managed to achieve their ‘future” through vending hashish, why can’t he?

Adnane decided to follow his friends’ path when he was twenty years old. There are many reasons why he made such a decision. The most important one is that people in Morocco work long hours a day with low wages, while in Spain the workers’ wages are high though the working hours are less than six a day.

He had never been happy as he was this week. His dream was about to become a reality due to the right choice he made. After only three years of selling marijuana, he managed to gather more than the required sum of money that would open the doors of Spain for him.

After Adnane handed Jawad the money, he told him that he would call him up after ten days, informing him of the time when he would start descending the stairs to his dream. Ten days were, for Adnane, like ten years. He was impatiently waiting for Jawad’s phone call.

It was eleven o’clock in the morning when Adane’s iPhone started to ring. As usual, he was dead to the world at that time. Shocked he was to know that it was Ayoub, a police inspector, who was calling him, not Jawad. “A group of well-trained anti-drug policemen are on the way to your house. You had better leave the house as soon as possible.” That’s was Ayoub’s secret news to Adnane.

Ayoub was one of the police inspectors that Adnane depended on to escape arrest through leaving the house before the coming of anti-drug police to the neighborhood where he was living. They did not do that for nothing, but for bribes.

But this time, Ayoub’s information was too late. Adnane was arrested soon after he stepped out of the door of his house. He was sentenced to two years in prison. However, he was happy, for he did not need to gather another 100.000 dirhams after the end of his prison term.

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By Mohamed El Hattach

Morocco News Tribune 

The concept of engagement, or Al-Khutbah in Arabic, has known many changes and development from time to time to meet the desires of people. In each society, the engagement is performed according to its custom and national laws. In Morocco, the engagement deems a necessary step. It is ruled by custom, which recognize by the Maliki doctrine as one source of Islamic legislation, and by the Family Code that most its article derives from Islamic law.

In 2006, Moroccan Parliament enacted the Family Code which subrogated the previous Personal Status Code. It was amended in order to meet the need of Moroccan society, especially for the issue that is pertaining to the right of child and the equality between spouses.

The issue of engagement witnessed some development in its legal adaptation. In the Article 5, the Family Code defines that “engagement is the reciprocal promise of marriage between a man and a woman. Engagement takes place through the expression by the two parties of a reciprocal promise to marry by any accepted means, including the reading of the Sura of Al Fatiha from the Holy Koran and the customary exchange of presents.” This definition demonstrates some religious and traditional features under which the engagement is done.

One obvious matter is that there is semi-contradiction between modernity and tradition in the performance of betrothal. It seems that the definition is very applicable to Moroccan society because it is to some extent conservative. However, the reality is something else. As soon as the betrothal is achieved by the family of couples, the latter begin the period of dating which lasts till the wedding.

Even the Moroccan legislature admitted the period of engagement; it does not guarantee any right for the wife because the betrothal is just a promise of marriage, it is not a marriage. Let’s go further and suppose that the wife get pregnant. In this case, the society becomes very traditional, and it looks at her pregnancy as a disgrace. Does the Law give her a right to register her child in the filing status documents ?

In addition, when the legislature says that “engagement is the reciprocal promise”, it means anyone of the couple can rescind the engagement when one wants. The Article 6 states that “… Each party has the right to break off the engagement.” The legislature acknowledges only the customary matters such as the presents and dowry that are mentioned in the article 5. If the couple gets disengaged before the marriage, in this case here the woman will find difficulty integrating in society. The popular explanation for a woman who splits up is that since she was rejected by her fiance, then she must be no good wife.

Finally, even if we consider the celebration of the wedding and the engagement from occasional perspectives, we will see the features of modernity and tradition. There are those who sill preserve the Moroccan traditions during their all familial occasions and ceremonies, while some families renounce all traditional customs during their betroth occasion and bridal ceremony. 

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By Majid Rafizadeh

Morocco News Tribune

A number of analysts and scholars of the Middle East have argued that the revolutions and uprisings taking place in Libya, Egypt, Tunisia, Yemen, and Syria are the first of their kind to take place in the region. However, a closer look at the history of the modern Middle East will reveal that these uprisings are not new to the region. In fact, the unrest is actually the third wave of revolutions to rock the modern Middle East.

The first waves of upheavals were the nationalist revolutions of the 20th century, such as the Algerian Independence Movement against French rule in the 1950s and 1960s. Widespread Algerian resistance movements led to Algerian independence in 1962. Algerians were not the only nation in the region fighting for their independence. Bahrain, a British protectorate since 1820, did not gain full sovereignty August 14, 1971. The Egyptian national resistance movement, led by Zaghlul Pasha and the Wafd Party, forced Great Britain to relinquish its hold over Egypt in 1922, when Egypt joined the community of sovereign nations. In the 1960s the Nationalist Liberation Front (NLF) in Yemen fought against British rule, which led to the establishment of the People’s Republic of Southern Yemen in November of 1967. The Iranian revolution led to the establishment of the Islamic republic of Iran in 1979. Although a multitude of different parties participated in the revolution, the Islamic Republic of Iran was formed by a majority vote.

What the world is currently witnessing in the Middle East is the third wave of revolutions in the region. This wave of uprisings emphasizes civil liberties, individualism, rule of law, democracy, and a more liberal interpretation of religion and economics. Undoubtedly, there are some who seek to impose their extremist views on the society. Nevertheless, economically speaking, while a small portion of the middle class has been able to accumulate capital, others have experienced a decreased in their quality of life as they have joined the ranks of the wage-earning classes who make up the majority of the population. Today a civil service employee or school teacher must work two or three jobs just to meet the basic needs of his or her family, which is likely to include some unemployed members. For example, he might teach by day and drive a taxi by night.

Resistance in Syria centers on the struggle against hunger, poverty, corruption and unemployment rather than general civil disobedience. According to UN figures and the study titled “Indicators of poverty and division of income in Syria,” approximately 34 percent of the Syrian people lived below the poverty line before the uprising. Currently, one from two live below the poverty line and millions of the refugees and those who are displaced live in “shameful” poverty condition. When the Baath Socialist Party rose to power, modes of production remained the same as they were under the rule of the previous party. Under the rule of Bashar al Assad, capital is accumulated in a few new sectors that are controlled by the bureaucratic bourgeoisie while the dominant modes of production remained intact. These policies fractured the middle class which led to a vast increase in the disparity between the rich and poor.

In December of 2010 mainly educated, middle class Tunisians initiated the third wave of revolutions currently raging in the Middle East and North Africa. Prior to the Tunisian revolution, the unemployment rate for college graduates was as high as 20 percent. The revolutions were sparked by the powerful act of self-immolation by a college graduate named Mohamed Bouazizi who was forced to peddle vegetables for a living until his license was revoked by the government. A common thread that links the revolutions taking place in Libya, Tunisia, Egypt, is the soul-crushing high rate of youth unemployment. Twenty-four percent of young people in the region cannot find jobs. Full of zeal and relatively free of responsibilities, the youth are traditionally the demographic that is most likely to challenge the status quo and question authority, which is clearly the case in Tunisia, Egypt and other nations in the Middle East.

 In addition to economic concerns, this third phase of revolutions emphasizes freedom of press, the protection of civil liberties, and the combining of both civil rights and religion. The objective, for many of the newest revolutionaries, is to find a way to merge rights and religiosity, freedom and faith, liberty and religion. Rather than over-emphasizing mandatory duties, these uprisings emphasize rights, rule of law, and pluralism as opposed to adherence to a singular authoritative voice. In addition, it aims to marry Islam with modern values such as individuality and democratic freedoms. The new generation does not oppose secularism but rather, strives to achieve secularism by struggling for liberation from rigid, authoritarian, and theocratic. A wide range of different people including students, women, and state employees, are calling for individual rights, tolerance, and gender equality. The daily resistance and struggles of ordinary people, that sparked the on-going demonstrations, has compelled political actors to initiate crucial paradigm shifts.

In addition to being representative, inclusive, transparent, and respectful of human dignity and gender equality, future governments of the Middle East must make job creation a top priority. Whatever new regimes take power, new models for anything ranging from finance to education to scientific research must be reinvented. The new regimes must find ways of engaging today’s youth, nurture their drive, passion and expertise, rather than increasing tuition fees and cut back on retraining . If these serious issues are not addressed, there is no doubt that the youth will organize a collective response against their governments, as they are doing today. New governments must assist youth by helping them take advantage of the web-based tools at their disposal rather than wait for the same web-based tools to be used against them.

This article first appeared on CNN.

 Majid Rafizadeh is president of the International American Council. Majid Rafizadeh is an Iranian-Syrian scholar, political analyst, Middle East expert, and human rights activist. He is the author of forthcoming book “U.S., Iran and the Arab world”. He served as ambassador for the National Iranian American Council. Currently he serves on the advisory board of Harvard International Review, an official publication of Harvard University and Harvard International Relations Council. Rafizadeh has previously taught at several universities including University of California Santa Barbara through Fulbright Teaching scholarship. He regularly commentates on national and international outlets including CNN, BBC, Aljazeera, Fox News, France 24 International, to name a few. His works have appeared on The New York Times, Foreign Policy, CNN, Fareed Zakaria GPS, The Nation, Yale Journal of International Affairs, The Jerusalem Post, The Huffington Post, and etc. He can be reached at Rafizadeh@fas.harvard.edu.

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By Mourad Anouar 

Morocco News Tribune

It takes nowadays a click on the net to find one targeted by bastions of hate and justifiable violence. Today, I opened my yahoo message box to a long bloody message from an unknown source enticing me; I’m the supposedly overzealous Muslim, to continue the holy war against the so-called infidels. After I was done with reading the message, I asked myself this question: Why do we have all this hate inside us?And if you are computer illiterate, don’t worry, hate speech will find a way to you via multiple ways ranging from TV, books, or even mosques. The sad part is that over time we, the silent majority, start to condone acts of violence and hate speech by simply not condemning them. We share some responsibility by standing unresponsive to heinous acts carried out under the name of a religion we all assume to adhere to.

This unfortunate position of being hateful and passive is powerfully expressed in the lines of a story entitled City of Wrong by Egyptian writer Mohammad Kamel Hussein when the latter commented on the last moment of Christianity’s Jesus as he was demeaningly dragged to the Cross in front of onlookers who showed no sympathy nor condemnation of what he endured. Known in Egypt as Father of Orthopedics, Dr. Hussein described this moment of hate and passiveness as” the individual’s conscience does not prevent the group from committing the greatest sin as long as it is committed on behalf of the group. And conscience alone is the one that distract people from evil, and since the groups do not have a conscience, it does not bother any individual of the group to what the group might commit no matter how serious is the sin”.

My article here, as we witness tragic consequences of hate, is meant to provide my own understanding of the problem in question-hate and passiveness- with a realistic alternative to those who emptied their hearts of love and filled it with hatred instead.

About three years ago, I took an International Law class with a gentleman named Luis Furmanski whose lectures were interesting and insightful, but one lecture that I will never forget was in fact a case study about Apartheid trials in South Africa. That day when we, students, were all engaged in showing the professor how we digested the class materials by putting into practice our understanding of the International Law articles, some of us even competed to come up with the harshest punishments for those white folks who were accused of crimes against humanity. After listening to all our interpretations of the law, the professor, standing behind the podium, said: All what you concluded is true as far as applying International Law, but listen to what Desmond Tutu had to say to those aggressors ” Our Lord would say that in the end the positive thing that can come is the spirit of forgiving. Not forgetting, but the spirit of saying, “God, this happened to us. We pray for those who made it happen, help us to forgive them and help us so that we in our turn will not make others suffer”

Tutu’s inspiring and powerful words still resonate within my heart and soul since then. His words should get us to realize the importance of forgiveness in our society. We, sadly, were brought up in an atmosphere where vengeance and hate are recommended weapons to deal with our daily challenges. We, parents, never cease to indoctrinate our little ones with the- eye- for-an-eye principle. Forgiveness in this hostile society has been synonymous with defeatism. But the fact is that having a heart eaten up by a raging hatred is another form of defeatism, for you let your heart be conquered by a foreign and destructive vice called hate.

The bottom line is the outcome of the two options: Forgiveness brings about a peaceful state of mind, emotional healing and a sensation of superiority to the inner state of conflict between good and evil. Hatred, on the other hand, breeds only more hate and violence. It not only impairs our vision to see the good things in life, but it places us no further from being beasts.

The pervasiveness of turmoil is so overwhelming that you cannot even comprehend or keep up with. Historically speaking, the moments of peace are longer than those of drums of war. Each time through our collectively human experience, moments of peace are seeds of a message based on love, tolerance and forgiveness delivered by exceptional people.

One name that stands out among many was the prophet Muhammad who was committed to bringing peace and forgiveness to a then warring region. His message of forgiveness was manifested in his famous statement as he returned to his beloved city Mecca after years of exile in the neighboring city of Medina. Entering Mecca victorious, he told his enemies” Go, for you are free” after they had cast him out.

Mourad Anouar is the founder of Morocco News Tribune. He is a Moroccan writer, novelist, poet and freelance translator. He received his bachelor’s in Journalism and two minors in German and political science from the University of Central Oklahoma. He was the president of UCO’s Moroccan student association in 2008-2009. He is the author of several Articles, poems and short stories both in English and Arabic. He speaks English, Arabic, some French and German. His main areas of interests are world and Middle East politics, mass communication, languages, religion, interfaith dialogue, and human rights. He is also a soccer fan. He can be reached at :.

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