The Music Scene

In the Arab World, Pop Stardom Can Be A Touchy Subject

Most Arab countries are far more culturally liberal than Saudi Arabia. In fact, the Arab world's pop industry superficially resembles our own, with the Arab Top 20 playing on the radio and in discotheques throughout the Middle East. A dozen or so major record labels dominate the scene, mostly based in Egypt and Lebanon. Arab television boasts more than half a dozen music channels, as well as several talent search programs propelled by viewer phone-in voting -- "Star Academy" is just one such program; another is "Superstar," from the same production company that created "American Idol."

Apart from Egypt and a brief mention of Rai, the Post's article gives North Africa short shrift. I do not know enough about either music or Arab music to confirm the details, but the article appears to address its topic in broad strokes. It is worth reading, I think, particularly for its background on the structural differences between Arab and European music, but also for its description of the Egyptian and Lebanese dominated world of popular music.

New Moroccan Art

Marja-Leena Rathje has written a review of Lalla Essaydi's photographs of women in henna dyed clothing. Rathje was immediately attracted to Lalla Essaydi's work owing to its similarity to some of her own.

Moroccan Textile Industry Hit Hard

World Trade Net - Home page

Since the expiration of global quotas in textiles, the surge in Chinese production of textiles has had a devastating impact on the Moroccan textile industry:

North African countries have also not been spared the consequences of Chinese competition. Following the expiration of the Agreement on Clothing and Textiles in January 2005, Morocco's textile exports fell by 33%. The sector is significant for Morocco's economy as the textile industry represents a third of its manufactured exports and employs 200,000 people.

Good Cause

The Morocco Foundation describes itself as an organization dedicated to sending donations of clothing, shoes, and toys to Moroccan children. It is hard to imagine a more worthwhile goal.

Our Legacy in North Africa

Rick Atkinson has a chilling description at page 462 of of how British and American troops in Tunisia shot North Africans for sport, made children dance by shooting at their feet, raped women, and burned houses with the women and children inside. Atkinson states that the atrocities were perpetrated by a small number of soldiers, but he concedes that in at least some cases they acted with impunity. Having visited this terrible war upon North Africa, Europeans and Americans should be pleasantly surprised and gratified any time they receive a friendly reception there.

A worthy cause

Joshua Haynes is planning a project to assist a local Moroccan orphanage. I have a little experience with orphanages in Morocco, so I know that anything that can be done to help will be needed and appreciated. Joshua is planning to post a website outlining the orphanage's needs.

Where our thoughts are needed . . .

Randa Jarrar of MoorishGirl is fighting the government's efforts to deport her brother. She is asking that our thoughts be with her and her brother this Tuesday, March 22, at 10:30 a.m. Eastern Time as the court decides his fate.

Speaking in Tongues

Joshua Haynes is working on preparing an Amazigh text book for the Tashelheet dialect spoken in the Middle Atlas Mountains of Morocco. Meanwhile, I have just received the text of a Peace Corps textbook on Moroccan Arabic that I hope to prepare for viewing on the web.

War and Remembrance

I have started reading Rick Atkinson's . It begins with the American and British invasion of Morocco and Algeria in Operation TORCH, which was perhaps the beginning of the end of French control in North Africa. The invasion of Morocco began with a fierce naval battle outside Casablanca, resulting in the obliteration of the French task force stationed there. Hindsight, and the perceptions of a few keen observers, concluded that the invasion only succeeded because the Allies faced the demoralized and poorly outfitted Vichy French, and that the real battle did not begin until the British and Americans encountered the Germans in Tunisia.

When he sticks to his military theme, Atkinson is perceptive, and he has vivid descriptions of the career beginnings of such legendary figures as George S. Patton and Dwight D. Eisenhower. In these early pages, however, Atkinson seems to have little appreciation for the people in whose country the war took place. Atkinson's tone toward the Arab and Berber population of North Africa is largely dismissive or pejorative: "natives" largely figure in the story as forced labor, and he tends to describe Arabs as dirty and the Arab quarters of major cities as foul smelling.

One statement that particularly brings home the brutality of the war, the disregard for the Arab and Berber population, and the misery visited upon them is the observation that as a result of the vast numbers of military vehicles clogging the roads: "[t]o deal with the inevitable traffic fatalities a sliding scale of reparations was established, paid in the oversize French currency the GIs called wallpaper: 25,000 francs ($500) for a dead camel; 15,000 for a dead boy; 10,000 for a dead donkey; 500 for a dead girl." Id. at 168.

In Prospect

Laila Lalami of MoorishGirl has completed revisions to her forthcoming novel, The Things That Death Will Buy, due in bookstores by October. Like Yto Barrada's photographic exhibit, the novel apparently focuses on the hardships of Moroccan immigrants trying to make their way to Europe. Morocco has always been located at the interstice between Europe and North Africa, but the current desperate efforts of Moroccans seeking a better life in Europe mark a new chapter in an old story.

Gay Tourism in Morocco

Out Traveler magazine has a provocative but somewhat superficial piece on gay tourism in Morocco. Framed by Paul Bowles' experience, the article describes a level of cultural tolerance that is rarely associated with Arab and Muslim cultures. At the same time, it perhaps overemphasizes the divide between Berber and Arab culture in Morocco.

21st Century Peace Corps

The Third Goal of the Peace Corps as enunciated in the Peace Corps Act is to create "a better understanding of other peoples on the part of the American people."

Today's Peace Corps Volunteers are doing this in a way that would have been unimaginable to me when I was in Outat El Haj in the late 80's. Joshua Haynes' Moroccan Emprise is but one example of the weblogs created by Volunteers currently serving in Morocco. Additional Volunteer sites listed by Haynes include Dougie's Daily, Due East of Augusta and "I could have sworn they said 'Monaco'". These sites offer compelling combinations of pictures and narrative that vividly evoke the American experience in Morocco. It is hard to imagine a more vital and heartening use of 21st century technology to promote knowledge and understanding.

On the Outside Looking In

Joshua Haynes feels frozen out on Eid el Kebir. I remember feeling a little bit the same way when it seemed everyone in town had been invited to a wedding except me. I did not have too much trouble getting over it, however, because people made such an effort to include me on so many other occasions.