Five Things You Did Not Know About Me

I am flattered to have been tagged by Foulla, who is one of the more insightful, albeit occasional, bloggers on Morocco. It is the first time I have been tagged, and I am supposed to come up with five things you do not know about me.


  1. I have always empathized with the legendarily short-sighted James Thurber, who crafted a number of memorable short stories based on the fact that without his glasses, he was blind as a bat. That has been my lot since about sixth grade. It is the reason that my memories of Disney World are mostly a haze, since my cousin accidentally knocked my glasses off in the haunted house, so that the amusement park was largely an aural experience thereafter. It was also a limitation in a number of athletic endeavors, not that my performance was not already rather limited. For example, ever take a header in soccer while wearing a pair of glasses? Fortunately, I was able to join the wrestling team in high school, where I did not need to see more than two feet in front of me.

  2. The thing I would most like try again that I have not done in years is riding a horse. I am inhibited by two things: (1) over the years I have developed terrible allergies to dust, mold, hay, and pollen, and (2) I really am not too sure that I would be much good at it anymore.

  3. I like classical music and jazz. In the car, however, I often like to listen to country. My toddlers like it, too.

  4. I agree with my late literature professor Frank Kinahan that the greatest poet, the greatest novelist, and the greatest playwright of the 20th century in English were all Irish. Walter Scott and Robert Burns aside, the Scots do not seem to have as much to show for themselves as far as contributions to English literature, despite their many other contributions to the world. (In some ways, I am prouder of being 1/16 Scot than 15/16 English.)

  5. My Jewish wife and in-laws, my Christian family, and my Muslim friends do not let me take anything about religion and politics for granted.

The Other Side of Muslims in America

American Islam - Paul M. Barrett - Book - Review - New York Times

The New York Times favorably reviews the new book of family friend Paul M. Barrett on Islam as practiced in America. Barrett profiles seven different moderate Muslims living in America for a variety of viewpoints that contrast with the frequent demonization of Islam in America, although the review notes that conservative and radical points of view are largely unrepresented. I am hoping to pick up a copy at Politics and Prose on January 29 at 7 p.m., where Barrett will be holding a book signing.

Happy New Year/Mabrouk El Eid

To paraphrase Hunter S. Thompson (or was it Garry Trudeau?), it's been a real kidney stone of a year. Here's looking forward to 2007!

Mabrouk El Eid to all my Moroccan friends!

Eatbees has an excellent post on the Eid.

PastTime to Repeal the Press Law

CPJ News Alert 2006

The Committee to Protect Journalists reports bad news all around for the Moroccan press. First, CPJ states that staff members at banned magazine Nichane have received death threats:

Benchemsi told CPJ that staff at Nichane had received death threats via phone and e-mail since the government made the charges against the publication. He said that the religious jokes involved God, angels and prophets as characters, but did not make fun of them. He added that Nichane staff did not write any of the jokes.

Second, CPJ also reports that Le Journal Hebdomadaire may close as a result of an unprecedented 3 million dirham damages award for alleged defamation in reporting on the Western Sahara. CPJ stated that Belgian journalist Claude Moniquet sued after Le Journal reported that his think tank's report on the Western Sahara was "guided by" the Moroccan government. Le Journal was denied the opportunity to introduce expert witnesses who would have testified that a report on the Western Sahara by Moniquet's think tank closely paralleled the government's position.

Sign the Petition to Save Nichane

Nichane - نيشان

Moroccan magazine Nichane was recently banned by the Moroccan government for publishing popular jokes about religion, sex, and politics, which the government claimed subverted public morale and morality. Stand up for freedom of expression and sign the petition to support Nichane today. Text of the petition follows:

Petition to support Nichane

We, the undersigned, strongly condemn the unlawful ban imposed on Nichane weekly and the legal proceedings started against the editor and a journalist working for the magazine after the publication of a special report on “jokes” in Morocco.

We maintain that the ban is illegal and, in view of its form and substance, reinforces the extra-judiciary repressive measures already in force. We further believe that the ban and the legal proceedings undermine the rights and liberties established by the international authorities and human rights principles.

While we express our full and wholehearted solidarity with Nichane and call for the annulment of the ban and the dropping of the charges against its journalists, we reiterate our plea for the amendment of liberticidal laws regarding freedom of the press and freedom of opinion and thought.

Thanks to Foulla for the link. (Foulla's post includes a very attractive picture of targeted journalist Sanaa Al Aji.)

Behind the Scenes Machinations from the Gulf?

nichane.jpg

Eatbees reports a disturbing rumor that the Moroccan government's surprise shutdown of the periodical "Nichane" was prompted by pressure from the Gulf states and may reflect Saudi interference with Moroccan internal affairs.

Larbi, however, on whose blog the rumor originally appeared (in a comment from nemo), points out in a comment to eatbees that this act of censorship is unusual because it appears to be supported by a majority of the Moroccan people. At the same time,Larbi paints a grim picture of the fight for civil liberties and free expression caught between the repression of the Monarchy on one side and the widely popular Islamist Party of Justice and Development (PJD) on the other.

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Blank Post is a protest against the suppression of blogs by the Tunisian government. Bloggers are asked to participate by posting a blank post and nothing else for 24 hours on December 25, 2006.

Merci a Mon Massir pour le lien.

No Jokes Please, We're Muslims

Le Monde.fr : Maroc: Diffusion interdite d'un hebdomadaire pour atteinte à l'islam

The Palace Crackdown

Le Monde reports that the Moroccan government has taken a step away from free speech by confiscating an issue of the magazine Nichane ("Straight") for having the temerity to print jokes about "religion, sex, and politics." Most particularly, the Palace deemed the publication to have launched an "attack against Islam" and to have published writings contrary to "public morale and morals." The royal prosecutor has launched an investigation into the publisher and the journalist Sanaa Al Aji.

The American Contrast

Regardless of what idiots like Newt Gingrich believe, the First Amendment is the essential linchpin of American Democracy. Central to the First Amendment are the ideas that the government will not restrict freedom of expression and that the government will not support one religion over another. Obviously, I have not seen the jokes in question, but even if they were of the most extreme and inflammatory sort, they could be published in America without prior restraint. (Even in this dark age, jokes in print are unlikely to be considered "incitement" outside of First Amendment protection.) In this sense, unlike so many others, alas, America is a beacon to the world, and Morocco will not be a true democracy until it adopts similar principles. After all that Islam has survived, it will survive a few jokes.

The Erosion of the American Example

Of course, in the Age of Bush, nothing is straightforward. Now that prosecutors are subpoenaing journalists in the Plame affair, threatening them with prosecution in the AIPAC scandal, and otherwise making noises about prosecuting journalists if they are in receipt of "state secrets, the bloom may be off the First Amendment rose even in America.

$250,000.00 Says Stop Daddy!

Go Daddy ordered to pay ex-employee $390,000

Youssef Bouamama, a Moroccan employee of Go Daddy, won an impressive victory in a case before the U.S. District Court in Arizona, the Arizona Republic Reports:

The jury said Go Daddy must pay Bouamama $250,000 in punitive damages, $135,000 in back pay and $5,000 for emotional pain and suffering.

While the award for emotional pain and suffering is minimal, the jury made a clear statement about the wrongfulness of the company's conduct in retaliating against Mr. Bouamama after he complained that he had been discriminated against because of his religion and national origin. The jury did not find that there was discrimination based on religion or national origin, the paper reports, but in general it is easier to prove a case of retaliation under the Civil Rights Act of 1964 than it is to prove discrimination. In addition, the fact that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission brought this case, rather than Mr. Bouamama on his own, suggests that maybe the government will take a stand against discrimination and retaliation toward Muslims and Arabs in this country.

Beliefs in Common

Islam & Religious Tolerance

Those who believe (in the Quran) and those who follow the Jewish (scriptures) and the Christians and the Sabaeans, any who believe in Allah, and the Last Day, and work righteousness, shall have their reward with their Lord, on them shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve. T.Q., Sura 2 of 114, The Cow, verse 62.

Nadia Lamlili has a very thoughtful post (in French) discussing the underlying similarities of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam and the potential for tolerance among them. Overall, she concludes that there is more room for tolerance than the adherents of the three religions are normally willing to admit.

Whistling Past the Graveyard

Interview With Condoleezza Rice - washingtonpost.com

Condoleezza Rice may be whistling past the graveyard, but she has encouraging words for reform and liberalization in Morocco.

But I think if you go to the Forum for the Future and you see these non-governmental organizations gathered together and being able to sit across the table from the most conservative Arab states like Saudi Arabia all the way out to reforming states like the states of the Gulf and Jordan, it's quite an achievement and I can list the achievements: they have women voting in Kuwait, the beginning of municipal elections in Saudi Arabia; but also if you look at places like Bahrain and Oman and Morocco and Jordan, the reform agenda is alive and well. And what will we say to those people who have staked their future on reform and democracy if somehow this word disappears from American foreign policy? And so to me this is at the core.

I actually agree that the United States should support democracy. I do not think we can do this through secret government, intimidation of the press, invasions, torture, clandestine imprisonments, suspension of habeas corpus, military show trials, and removing jurisdiction from courts. In addition, given the stark realities of the situation in Iraq, which Rice largely seems to play down, it seems hard to believe that the administration of which she is a part will somehow experience a revelation and begin to provide wise leadership on the Israeli-Palestinian issue or even on reform in Morocco.

Priceless Legacy Fetches Big Bucks

Painting by Winston Churchill fetches 612,800 pounds (US$1.2 million; €906,000) at auction - Culture - International Herald Tribune

A painting of Tinherir by Winston Churchill, which he gave to General George Marshall, fetched an unexpectedly high price on the auction block.

The late British prime minister, a respected amateur artist, painted "View of Tinherir" in 1951 during one of his frequent trips to Marrakech in Morocco. In 1953 he gave it to Marshall as a symbol of Anglo-American solidarity.

Frankly, I am astonished that Marshall's heirs would have parted with such a priceless inheritance, and disappointed that they sold it to a private bidder rather than giving it to a museum. Greatness is not necessarily inherited, however.

I have always thought it remarkable that Churchill found a refuge in Marrakesh from his cares during and after the War.

You Have a Long Way to Go, Baby

U.N. Cites Arab World's 'Empty Gestures' on Women - washingtonpost.com

A United Nations report cites progress on women's rights in Morocco and a few other countries, but finds that the status of women continues to be below that of much of the rest of the world:

[Amat al-Alim Alsoswa, director of the U.N. Development Program's Arab bureau,] also said that although women's participation in politics has grown in such countries as Morocco, Bahrain and Iraq, it is "still below what it is outside the Arab world."

The report cites Morocco as not simply secularizing the laws related to women, but also creatively reinterpreting Islamic law to afford women more rights.