Agadir - If you happen to make it to New York, make sure you visit to the great museum on 5^th Avenue which is nothing other but the great world renowned Metropolitan Museum of Art.

It is one of the great American museums that impact their visitors for a life time. I happened to have visited the Metropolitan or the Met as New Yorkers wish to call it some thirty five years ago.

I have always liked to visit these specific places of culture, knowledge and vision that are museums. They truly are three- dimensional encyclopedias illustrating interesting phases of recorded human history and creation. What actually refreshed my mind about this particular world of human endeavors in the fields of culture and civilization displayed in the Metropolitan Museum was the piece of news about the showcasing of the newly introduced Moroccan medieval court.

The court that a number of experts both American and Moroccan managed to create using fifteen-century knowledge and know-how is considered an architectural jewel within the Islamic art collection. In 2011, the Metropolitan Museum of Art opened new galleries devoted to art in Arab and Islamic lands. This great addition comes within the scope of an ongoing policy of adding new world class treasures and works of art to the greater ones that have already fallen into place within the framework of this great world culture and civilization jigsaw-puzzle that the Metropolitan museum hosts.

When you visit this New York architectural gem for the first time, you get impressed by its great beaux arts façade that thoroughly whets your appetite to learn more the works of art and treasures inside. Later when you escalate the stairs and make it into the main gallery and start your journey through other galleries you get the feeling that you are travelling through the entire history of human creation.  You are moved from a historical era to another just as you may turn pages of a history book.

In this manner you get a chance to see great Egyptian art, sculptures of kings and queens (Pharaohs) and other government dignitaries or simply those of ordinary people rowing on a boat or doing other daily chores. You get a chance to see beautifully preserved mummies and coffins ornamented with paint that did not fade a bit after four thousand long years. As you continue your journey and progress towards other galleries, you find yourself in either a Greek or Roman art gallery. The Greek art gallery hosts treasures of terra cotta with beautifully illustrated figures and designs along with sculptured figures from that era.

The Roman civilization was one that glorified power and domination. The gallery of Roman art features carefully and elegantly sculptured figures that demonstrate beauty and power. Some artifacts from the Roman era feature parade helmets and armor that go along those same lines of power, strength and thirst for domination. I can’t recall all the details about the art collections that the metropolitan hosted but what I remember for sure is that the last thing I managed to see during my visit was a painting by Picasso.

Lots of painting collections have of course been acquired and added to the ones the museum already owned. Great names in the field of painting from Europe and the US are represented through collections of works and paintings.  This museum has been operating for approximately a hundred and forty years. It was founded in 1870 and owes much of its success to the donations and contributions of the powerful New York financier JP Morgan. Much of the Egyptian art was donated by this man who organized and financed excavating trips to Egypt.

Later other powerful capitalist Americans contributed to the expansion and magnificence of this great New York institution through generous donations both in cash and in art collections. When I visited the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art, I was an eighteen year old American Field Service exchange student. Now after so many years, I still would love to catch a glimpse of its splendid treasures and great collections of human creation and get that feel for the valueless contributions that peoples from the four corners of the world have added to human civilization.

In 2011, The Metropolitan Museum of Art opened the New Galleries for the Art of the Arab Lands, Turkey, Iran, Central Asia, and Later South Asia, which house the Museum’s renowned collection of Islamic art. A vital part of the installation is the Patti Cadby Birch Court, a Moroccan court built by a team of experts—from curators and historians to designers and craftsmen—over many months. Complementing the works on view, which span the past fourteen hundred years, the Moroccan Court provides an experience of space and architecture, and demonstrates artistic traditions that still thrive in the Islamic world. This video documents a marvelous journey from Fez to New York, and the creation of a twenty-first-century court using traditional, fifteenth-century methods.

By Yahya Bouhafa - Fez- The American language center in Fes is becoming one of the most well-known educational sites in the city.

It is not just because of its diverse array of language learning services, which it provides to both Moroccan and foreign students, but also for the different cultural and social activities it organizes.

The number of the Fez population who are benefiting from the English language courses given by the American Language Center is growing each year. This year, the number of students taking English courses reached 3000 students. The students prefer studying English in the American Language center despite the existence of different other language centers in the same city for different reasons. One reason, as Reda Aldrissi, a university student in the English department states, is the organized way in which courses can be taken. The ALC provides a regular study system that takes into consideration crucial elements like the student’s previous English level and the language skills that certain students should develop in relation to his/her own English level. Also, it employs the latest techniques and books in relation to teaching and developing the English language. For Reda being a student in the American Language Center is a wonderful experience that is based on a combination of knowledge and fun.

The American Language center in Fez in known for the wonderful staff it has. The teachers in the center are a mixture between Moroccan professors who master the English language, and teachers from other different nationalities mainly British and American ones.

Kole Bowman is a recently hired Professor at the American Language Center. For him, teaching in the ALC is the best opportunity to work with different students from different places, and on different projects. He likes the fact that the ALC combines teaching Moroccan and foreign students, and how it supports language and cultural exchange between them. He also appreciates the different resources that the center provides like the library, and the language lab, and the big English bookshop that is the first and only English bookshop in the city. For Kole, the experience of being a teacher in the ALC is just a wonderful experience especially in the city of Fez, which he appreciates most.

In fact, in the last decade, the American Language Center has also become a famous destination for foreign students who want to learn Standard Arabic, Moroccan Arabic, or even both. As Mr David Amster, the director of the center describes it, it is becoming like a small college that many students are heading to it in order to learn Arabic. Last year it reached 600 foreign students from all over the world. Also, the American Language Institute in Fes is gaining a good reputation for the different partnerships it is making with many different universities around the world like the University of Denmark and the University of Leeds.. The center reached this year more than 16 partnership programs. Besides teaching Standard and Moroccan Arabic, the institute is providing different courses like the history of Morocco, gender issues, and contemporary Moroccan literature.

The ALC/ALIF is providing a good learning experience that combines learning the Arabic language and experiencing the rich Moroccan culture that is for most students the best learning combination they can have. Ethan Meffold is a student from the United States of America who is learning Moroccan Arabic to help his Phd research project in Morocco. He describes how he really appreciates the Arabic Darija and Moroccan cultural courses. He also valued the different activities that represent the Moroccan culture through different seminars given by different professors and experts in the field.

Beside teaching languages, the American Language Center in Fes is becoming popular for the different cultural, educational, and even social activities it provides. First of all it is becoming very popular among university students and Fassi youth in general for the clubs it organizes. First the movie club, the idea of this club is to enrich the students’ vocabulary and their language capacity through the insightful discussion and language practice that are related to the movies shown each week. Also, the ALC organizes a book club. This book club is organized each week and it is meant to encourage reading among Moroccan youth as well as developing their language and literary awareness. Also, the ALC organizes many cultural activities. It organizes many trips and excursions to different parts of Morocco. For example, the trip to Merzouga and surrounding cities is becoming a tradition related to the ALIF. Also, the different lessons it provides, like Moroccan cooking lessons,  is very useful to introduce foreign students to the Moroccan cuisine, as well as Arabic calligraphy lessons.

The ALC of Fez gives a prior interest to social and community service. The ALC’s “Community Service Club” is the best example how this center contributes to social work. The club organizes many activities that encourage Moroccan and foreign students to be part in social work. This club organizes many activities to support women and homeless people shelters in the city by conducting regular visits, tutoring children in the center’s languages and different subjects, as well as spreading the spirit of social work among youth. Besides its contribution in social work through its “community service club”, the ALC also supports many students and public sector teachers to develop their English language skills. The ALC gives many scholarships to take available courses in the center for free, with the condition of academic excellence and social need. It also gives a special course for public sector teachers to develop their language skills.

The American language center in Fez was best described by  Mr David Amster when he answered a question about his idea of a successful language center:

“It is a center that welcomes everyone, that is not based only on teaching a certain language. It is a center that organizes many activities and provides many services that would make the student benefit the maximum from the learning journey here.”

Edited by Anna Jacobs

To read Part 1

New York - Now I had nothing but to appreciate the occurrence of that Big Fat Wedding that was in the making, not only because of the beauty of Lalah Meriyem herself but also because of the Baraka that her Fat Wedding has bestowed upon me. From a poor wretched lad, within the course of three weeks, I began to feel like a rich bastard. And though some wealthy friends of mine made fun of me when they told me that what I made in three weeks they blew in one night in some club in Casablanca, I paid no heed to their arrogance. I was more than happy with my life.

So there I had money in my pockets and felt like I was on the top of the world. The world was mine because of 400 MAD, and all because of the Baraka of the Big Fat Wedding of our beloved  Princess Lalah Meriyem. What a joy!

Now the first thing I did when I got done scraping the boards for good, when all the work was done and the wedding was on the doors, was to go and reward myself for the hard work I had done. I went to the Medina and bought a nice fake polo tee-shirt with a green alligator opening his jaws wide open on its front, then I purchased a Casablanca-made fake Levis 501 that would outlive the original American Levis by years because of its knock-off material. And the whole thing looked good on me. I was proud of the way I looked. I felt that way because my principle was that it is self-confidence that counts in life and not what you wear or own.

Yet to make some money without sharing it would seem quiet odd if not selfish, especially for a poor chap like myself who needed it.  So the first thing that came to mind when I wanted to have some fun was my secret girl-friend Zoulikha, who I dated secretly for fear that her family would know that she was dating a poor lad from a poor area and perhaps stop her at once from going to high-school with me. Well one has to admit that when it came to dating, the whole issue was a serious matter then, mostly for girls. On was not to mess around in those days. Needless to say, Zoulikha came from a very prominent and wealthy family in the city of Fez. I was not sure that she loved me, but I knew that she liked the adventurous aspect of the relationship..Although Zoulikha cam from a rich family, she never benefited from their wealth.

Her prosperous father ran their big villa like Kim Jong Ill had run North Korea. And though beautiful, she always lamented to me how her father would not give her money to buy new dresses or shoes. She was the type who loved colorful dresses. And she told me that though her father looked as though he were a successful businessman, in reality, he was but a thief and a ghoulish gatherer of stolen possessions. His secret of being rich, she confided in me, was due solely to the fact that he stole fat sums of money from all his brothers and his sisters when his wealthy father died. He falsified ownership documents by bribing some crooked Adouls (certified notary), a sinister deed, which put all his brothers and sisters far below the poverty line.

Nevertheless, on the day of the Biggest Fat wedding, I dressed-up well and went to pick up Zoulikha in a secret spot near Moulay Slimane, Le Lycee Maaloum. We strolled the whole evening in the back roads of the city and messed around behind a patch of giant bamboo and remained there until darkness fell and the voices of drunkards and thieves began to get near.

On the main boulevard of Mohammed Six and the avenue that leads to the King’s palace, there was not a spot where you could wiggle your feet. Crowds of men, women, and children were all anxiously awaiting a sight of the bride. As for the groom, well, nobody really gave a damn about who he was. People jostled and croaked like bullfrogs. The excited atmosphere was overwhelming and the lights were sparkling colorfully. But my attention was directed to the boards I worked on. They were now everywhere, and by each one there was a makhezni standing in his big boots. It was wonderful a scene, a fairy-tale-like scene.

We dashed, Zoulikha and me, into the crowd and blended into the sea of people. Suddenly, I knew where to take her. We went and bought a chocolate gelato with a huge red minaret on top, and then I took her to a little toy store around the corner at the heart of Mohammed V Boulevard. I also bought her a Monkey clown that played drums with the bottom of a pig when you turn a key behind his back. She seemed to like the toy, as I saw that she shed tears over it. “My father never bought me a monkey clown that dances like this,” she lamented in a choking voice that invited compassion. Then she leaned on my ear and whispered, “I will kiss you when we get into the shadows.”

Meanwhile, as the world outside became crowded, we chose an alternate route in order to enjoy the breeze and follow the wedding of our princess. I knew of a backdoor that would take us to the rooftop of a high building in La Ville Nouvelle. Soon enough, we found ourselves high above the crowds with nobody to see or judge us. We could see the big doors of the king’s palace wide open and the whole plaza where the wedding would soon take place looked small and golden. There was too much noise blaring from sirens speeding cars, I heard that Queen Sofia of Spain and the son of the Shah of Iran were in town. The black cars were the ones carrying well-known guests and diplomats. When Zoulikha realized that nobody was up there to give us hard time, she climbed to the highest part of the terrace.

I followed her to the top and we laid down there in each other’s arms. Soon the breeze started to blow, and without thinking, she stood up and let her long silken golden hair loose over her bony shoulders. She then took off her zebra-striped dress. I wasn’t surprised. She stood naked against the bleary lights and exposed herself to the full moon. I could see her tiny breasts blazing like two giant raspberries against the background light. It was foolish what she was doing, but I must say, it was agreeably foolish. As soon as we began to hear the drumbeats and the Ghittas filling up the sky, Zoulikha soon started to dance like a snake that was shedding its skin. Her feet followed the cacophonous rhythms. She moved freely in a way that I thought would never be possible for her to move. When I asked her why she was like Eve in Eden and urged her at least to try out one of the candy-colored panties I bought her she refused. “I prefer to be like this!” she announced.

The crowd must have doubled in size from when I last looked. There was not enough time left for Zoulikha to wander the crowded streets with me. Her father would punish her severely if she violated the curfew. So before I sent her home, I had to show her my contribution to Lalah Meryiem’s wedding. I brought her to one of my signs, but as I placed my hand on the pink facade of the sign-pole, something smashed my hand. The pain was so cruel that I saw sparkly flashes and misshapen stars.

The giant boot of a mad Makhazni who guarded the sign pole was what hit me. I cursed him and wished him to rot in hell The man had hit the hand that scraped and rubbed , the same hand that picked the candy-colored panties, and the same hand that bought the monkey that played drums with the butt of a pig. “What a cruel world we live in!” I thought. The only thought that came to my mind at that moment was but these verses of the great wise man Abdel Rahmane El Majdoub:

Hit him, yes he deserves the hitting

That’s the reward of one who makes people happy

And to his soul he applies but pressure and strain

Rabat – Casa Del Arte Society will open its doors for visitors and design lovers on Saturday, 26 October in Casablanca, to discuss the nature of innovation and creativity in the international arts industry, and to expose Fabrikàmode projects which, reflect the innovation and creativity of young Moroccans fashion designers.

The Fabrikàmode competition aims to discover young fashion designers in Morocco, who will be overseen by a group of fashion experts from the University of Brighton, in the UK, accompanied by Lilia Yip, an independent fashion designer and owner of the mark Lilia Yip.

The project will support young Moroccan designers through providing advanced training for 35 students and young designers from the Academy of Casa Moda and the Graduate School of textile and clothing industry in Casablanca.

Students who are about to graduate and enter the business world need the skills and the approaches that will lead them to success in the global market.

The Fabrikàmode competition includes design workshops where students can discuss their problems and learn how to deal with them. The workshops will cover everything related to fashion design and trademark research, and include practical sessions on the management of fashion companies.

In December 2013, teams of designers will compete against each other during a fashion show at the Casa Moda Academy for a chance to become the best new label in Morocco. The jury will be composed of a team of professional designers and leaders in the Moroccan apparel industry.

 Edited by Elisabeth Myers

Bordeaux - Two New York Times’ journalist, Melena Ryzik and Ben Sklar, made a four-day trip to Fez last may. The newspaper's journalists were astonished by the city's architecture, culture and warm welcome.

The two journalists travelled to Fez last May, where they met with locals in the medina and were surprised by the way they were welcomed. Indeed, they observed how quickly cultural obstacles were overcome, even though walking through the magnificent city is like “stepping back in time.”

After having lunch with the family of a vendor they had met in the medina, they visited the oldest university in the world, University of Al-Karaouine, founded in 859.

“Once the capital of Morocco, Fez remains a cultural and spiritual locus; the medina, named a Unesco World Heritage site in 1981, is said to be one of the largest car-free urban zones in the world,” say the American journalists.

Among other sites and traditions, they discovered the Place Seffarine, Moroccan mint tea and tanneries where they admired world famous babouches.

They enjoyed the medina’s small guesthouses and riads, where the service was particularly courteous and traditional Moroccan breakfast delicious.

During their 4 day trip, both journalists fell in love with the former capital of Morocco, which to them “remains a cultural and spiritual locus.” They appreciated the absence of cars and hope that becoming a Unesco World Heritage site in 1981 will preserve the city's splendid architecture.

From this expedition, the two American journalists will most definitely remember the citizen's generosity and the authentic and intimate moments they shared with them.

The end of the article is dedicated to recommendations to travelers.

© Morocco World News. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, rewritten or redistributed

Inezegan, Morocco- Thanksgiving is a feast that is by far North American. It was first celebrated in 1621 by the Pilgrim who inhabited the Plymouth colony in what is now known as the State of Massachusetts.

Historically, Puritan residents of North America observed religious teachings and strictly adhered to them. They also valued hard work and believed that “The devil has work for idle hands”. They, attributed success in earthly deeds to God’s favors and blessings. After they settled in the newly created colony in the eastern seaboard of what is now the US, they started tilling the land and working hard to grow their own crops after the great crossing of the Atlantic. They soon reaped the benefits of their efforts and succeeded to have a first good harvest. That could ensure the provision of the Pilgrims’ daily bread and sustain them for quite some time ahead.

 As a sign of gratitude to the divine endowment bestowed on them, they celebrated this landmark event in their lives and invited members of the Massasoit Indians to attend the celebration. The Massasoits were the original inhabitants of this north eastern part of the US. These Indians whom the State of Massachusetts was named after, were peace-loving and friendly people. They were also good neighbors to the inhabitants of the Plymouth colony who equally were motivated by the sacred and wise statement “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”.

As a token of recognition of the Massasoit Indian tribe’s help and assistance with the harvest, the Pilgrims invited members of the tribe to attend their celebration. It is said that the first thanksgiving feast the Pilgrims shared with their Indian friends was constituted of turkey and wild rice.

 Long ago, in Albuquerque, New Mexico I had a chance to attend Thanksgiving with my American host family. For the feast, we had the traditional oven roasted turkey with wild rice along with the customary pumpkin pie that most Americans, I would say, serve on such occasion. Was it tasty? Remain assured; it was rather an excellent culinary experience from a guest’s perspective and very delicious.

 Thanksgiving Day was not institutionalized as a feast and national holiday in the US until 1674. It is traditionally celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November. This year, it is going to be celebrated on Thursday, November 28^th. In French-speaking Canada, Thanksgiving is known as Jour de Grace.  

This particularly North American feast is an occasion in which family members gather and enjoy substantial meals that can go on for quite some time. Family gatherings do somewhat curb the frantic American pace of life and make it slow down to a more comfortable and enjoyable tempo.

Thanksgiving, in my opinion, generates solidarity between North American family members and in sum reminds whoever is willing to take the lesson that no success is exclusively guaranteed through a hundred per cent planning, calculations and sustained inhuman hard work.   

 © Morocco World News. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, rewritten or redistributed

Kenitra - Just moved to Kenitra? No worries at all. It is a magic place where you will start feeling at home day by day. Ambiance is a matter of environment and it affects new comers! You develop your own style and you “melt in.”  

Everything is conveniently near: shopping, hospitals, colleges. The hospitals and colleges are not the best, but they're not the worst in the nation. It has a high crime rate and lots of beggars for a city of its size, but you can still find nice neighborhoods with good places to see and great hospitality of people. Indeed, the social makeup of the entire city is captivating to those who dare interact with its denizens.

Kenitra has much to offer. There are many good restaurants, and retail stores with somewhat reasonable prices. There is a gorgeous beach and an awesome lake. It has four seasons with hot summers and cold winters. It is surrounded by farms with organic and local vegetables and fruits. It has beautiful fountains along Mohamed V Avenue, the principal road, and some parks, but still lacks open spaces for children to play. Except for rush hour traffic, which is just as bad as other areas, you can get from point A to point B within a reasonable amount of time.

Even with all its faults, its weaknesses, its malodorous days, Kenitra is [still a wonderful city to live in].  The real estate market in tKenitra is strong, with affordable housing. If you were to buy, you can own a home cheaply. Renting is also an option and the cost varies from one neighborhood to another. In almost every neighborhood, you can find newly constructed apartments really worth renting and living in. Unfortunately, there is a lack of local recreation and park services available to the community for free that would help to keep children off the streets, occupied, and give them some enjoyment. There is a need also for recreational places to go for adults, such as an affordable place for exercise, fitness and conditioning, as an alterntive to sitting in cafés and chatting for hours.

Still with children in mind, a question pops up in my mind: Why are families with very limited income opting for private schools and struggling hard to devote a large part of their budget to paying the tuition? This may be driven by the fact that the public school system in Kenitra, as in the rest of Morocco, is sinking deeper into crisis. Why? Teacher absenteeism, lack of infrastructure, drug abuse and crime are singled out as causes of the failure of the public schools. Only the poorest parents still send their children to public schools,not only in Kenitra, but everywhere in Morocco. This reality contributes significantly to widening the social gap and increasing the exclusion of the lower socio-economic  segment of society and deprives children of low-income families of opportunities for social development. The educational system in Morocco does not just need restructuring, but rather a profound change.

Certainly, Kenitra is in need of free libraries to engage children in reading and give them access to a wide range of books. While there is one library in the La City neighborhood and another one in Saknia neighborhood, they are not enough. The two libraries are in fact empty most of the time because they do not offer any extra activities or programs in which children can engage in exploring their country and their culture through books and discovering new skills.

With respect to higher education, Kenitra still does not have any private university. Ibn Tufail University is the only one in this city, founded in 1989, consists of the following institutions: Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Faculty of Sciences, Faculty of Law, Economics and Social Sciences, National School of Business and Management, and National School of Applied Sciences. it’s the university campus consists of University City and the Maâmora university residence. The harsh reality is that Ibn Tufail University, like others in the country, is also in deep crisis. It has become frozen in time, producing nothing but unemployable and ignorant graduates. In fact, for many, going to the university is simply a waste of time! Others have sought a more successful alternative, opting for vocational and professional training appropriate to the labor market.

"What a society deems important is enshrined in its art," Harry Broudy, prominent American philosopher and educator,stated.  Art is such a large part of our everyday lives, and "art is something that makes us more thoughtful and well-rounded humans." It is really sad to see people in Kenitra so engaged in everyday activities and completely ignore so many aspects of art in their lives. What I mean is that this city has great minds and talented youth, but unfortunately lacks the resources and guidance to allow them develop their skills and ideas. There are two youth centers in the city.  One is in Saknia, the other in Ouled Oujih. Though they contribute to many youth learning experiences, they still both lack design, structure and organization. While there is a school for music in Kenitra, I know of no school that offers art classes, drawing or craft courses for kids.

Theaters, cinemas, and movies are special places for families to go and have a good time. Kenitra used to have three cinemas, however, two of them have gone dark and are now closed. The significance of the arts to a community and to the individual cannot be underestimated.  Everybody knows that music, dramatic and literary exposure help children grow and develop into interesting adults. But Kenitra lacks such programs. Most of Kenitra’s children have never seen a theater or been to the movies in their lives.

Yet, still on the subject of art, the region surrounding Kenitra has a rich and varied popular folklore that has been passed down orally from generation to generation.  Over time, it is being lost little by little, as it is reduced to folklore exhibitions which lose the context and original meaning reflecting all aspects of traditional local culture: the beliefs, customs, crafts and traditions of the people. Folklore, dance and music were associated with family celebrations, social or religious, but over time they are replaced by other kinds of modern music. Currently, in major celebrations such as engagements or weddings, there is traditional music mixed with modern music from other parts of the Arab world. Kenitra’s traditional music or popular music has been influenced by music from other regions of the country, including Berber-style music and Andalusian music.

Now what about sport in Kenitra? There are many famous names in sports who have come from Kenitra.  There is Said Aouita,.a former world record holder and the only athlete in history to combine medals at both 800m and 5000m sprints. Youssef Chippo, the international soccer player, is also from Kenitra. Amina Ait Hammou, famous as an olympic athlete, was also from this city. The Kenitra Athletic Club (KAC) has been prominent. Kenitrians love it and are proud of it. The club is popular for earning the fifth best record in winning the Moroccan Soccer League, four times, as well as for players like Mohamed Boussati who holds the record scorer in the Moroccan Soccer League, after he scored 25 goals during the season 1981/1982. Again, Kenitra, and the region as a whole, have produced youth with good potential, but they are not equipped or organized to motivate them and move forward. The Municipal Stadium, the only one in this region, is also too tiny compared to the size of this region.

Kenitra is indeed a small town, with great history, culture, and an active, young population. There are so many things that are unique and special in this city. That is the reason why I want to go deeper in talking about it. So, let’s dig further into its profile.

The city is located on the south bank of one of the largest Moroccan Rivers, “Oued Sebou,” 12 km (or roughly 7 miles) inland from the Atlantic Ocean, at the level of Mehdya beach. This is a newer city, unlike the imperial cities of the Kingdom, since its creation dates back only 120 years. However, many historians relate it to the Kasbah of Mehdya, a temple built by Hanoun in the sixth century and was used by the Phoenicians.

It was founded by the French General Louis Hubert Lyautey in 1912, named Port Lyautey after him.  It opened for trade and became the best river port in Morocco. In 1956, with the independence of Morocco, the name changed to Kenitra. In 1970, a major US Naval Air Station was established and shared by the Moroccan military till 1991.

Kenitra is now the capital of the Gharb–Chrarda–Beni Hssen region, one of the richest in Morocco, situated in the Northwest of the Morocco, on the Sebou River. Its population is approximately 400 thousand inhabitants, and its surface area is 103,55 km 2 (approximately 39  square miles). Its climate is mild and humid during winter and hot and dry in the summer.

It has a diversified transportation network connecting it to other cities of Morocco. This network is boosted by the motorway linking Kenitra to Tangier, Casablanca and Fes. It is half an hour far from Rabat: the administrative capital of Morocco, and one hour from Casablanca, the economic capital of Morocco. It is two hours from Fez: the spiritual capital of Morocco, and four hours from Marrakech: the touristic capital of Morocco. The TGV (High-Speed Train) line now connects Kenitra to Tangier in just 1 hour. Rabat Airport is located in just 25 km (about 15 miles) from Kenitra. The Kenitra port on the Sebou River is the first and only river port of Morocco.

This city has natural resources that add to its assets. Maamora forest, the largest in Morocco, extends over 125,000 ha (482.63 mi²), with the dominant species of Cork oak and eucalyptus.  The lake at Sidi Boughaba, 10 km away from the city, constitutes a very important biological and natural reserve.

It also has significant water resources, estimated at 6.75 billion m3 (238.37400036 cubic feet), about half of it -- 3.5 billion m3 (123.60133352 cubic feet) -- reserved for irrigation.

This city represents an area of dominant influence over markets in different sectors. This influence varies from one industry to another, but also from one period of time to another.

Agriculture is the most active sector in the region, employing half of the population, though still not totally developed and mainly depending on irrigation. It supplies the Moroccan market with not only the agricultural produce (especially citrus fruits, vegetables, and cereals, primarily wheat), but also a significant amount of livestock composed of cattle, sheep and goat.

Fisheries: Kenitra has a very important potential in this sector, though still in need of improvement in its whole structure. It employs just about 2,377 people and the quantity of seafood caught is not yet enough to satisfy the market.

Industry: The food industry is the dominant industry in this region, mainly in transformation and conditioning of seafood and agricultural produce. Other sectors that play a significant role as well in the economy of this region are the chemical and para-chemical industry, the metal and mechanical industry, the textile and leather industry, and the electric and electronic industry.

Tourism: This region has all the potential of a beautiful tourist site, with 140 Km (86.992  miles) of coastline with beautiful beaches of Mehdia, Moulay Bouselham, Bikmeur, large dunes and plains of cork oak, the biological sites(nature reserves) of Merja Zerga and Sidi Boughaba as well as the historic sites built by the Romans of Thamusida and Banasa. The Kasbah of Mehdia, which looks like a big square one hundred meters wide, marked by towers at the four corners and in the middle of each side, looking up to the sea and the river, is a big attraction to all visitors of Mehdia.  Khabbazat in the old medina, as well as all the neighborhoods around the city (Ville Haute, Ouled Oujih, Fewarat, Maghrib Arabi, Berrami, Ismailia, Seyad, La Cigogne, Saknia, Assam, La City), are also a point of interest for visitors, especially after the creation of many big shopping malls and centers like Asswak Assalam, Marjane, and others.

Kenitra has also a good hotel infrastructure, Maamora Hotel (3 stars), Safir Hotel, and Assam Hotel, as well as several other smaller hotels, welcoming every year more and more tourists.

During this decade, additional attention is given to Kenitra and the region as a whole. Many projects have been launched recently and will make Kenitra a major hub of economic and social development, which could have a positive effect on other communities in the region.

The Municipal Council, its local team, headed by the Secretary-General and under the supervision of the Mayor, are all aware of the importance of an effective infrastructure that will contribute to economic prosperity and improve quality of lives. They all know that Kenitrians need clean air, potable water, as well as security. They need efficient buildings, a reliable power grid and capable mobility solutions.

Kenitra’s urban landscape had seen significant expansion in the last decade. The city’s boom has spurred a need for housing. Many real estate projects have been created by the property developers in collaboration with the banks and other financial institutions, benefiting from tax incentives, such as eliminating capital gains and inheritance tax on real property, designed to stimulate the sector. It is a push by the government to improve accommodation options for lower-income segments of the population and to encourage social housing which has dramatically increased. As a result, Kenitra has recently witnessed the highest increase in real estate prices as well as the most sales. Large industrial projects as well as commercial places and metropolitan facilities have been established and gradually changed the city’s way of life.

Now there is the challenging need to keep the balance of the character of neighborhoods, the preservation of open space and the capacity of an area's transportation networks to absorb more people. It is also high time to reform education, develop better school designs and accommodations, add recreation and community centers and entertainment facilities.

With all its faults and weaknesses, as John Ed Pearce once said about “home,” Kenitra is “a place you grow up wanting to leave, and grow old wanting to get back to.”

Rabat - There are trips made of simple things like a warm breath rocked by the natural heat of water.

Moulay Yacoub is a legendary pilgrimage town, located twenty miles from the imperial city of Fes near the cities of Meknes and Ifrane, as well as the ruins of Volubilis.

This region harbors both of Berber culture and the Fassie  (the inhabitants of Fes) culture.

Nestled in a landscape of hills, the village has a pleasant climate all year round and  a wonderful nature. It is most known for its warm spring, which flows naturally at 54°C, and rises from a depth of 1500 m.  Its mineralization, temperature and flow rate, make it one of the most important and most interesting baths of Morocco, especially for its therapeutic qualities. Though the smell of sulphur may be somewhat nauseating, the spring has hyper-thermal water.

Moulay Yacoub attracts 2,500 people per day, or nearly one million visitors annually. The prices are affordable and vary between MAD 7 and MAD 35. There is a wide variety between the old area and the most recent  Moulay Yacoub Spa. With its renowned medical teams,  Moulay Yacoub Spa is the most modern facility, receiving only 40,000 visits annually.  There is certainly a wide difference in terms of the spring’s use, services, prices, and type of customers received.

Here, it is recommended to immerse oneself in the baths. The warm and soothing waters of Moulay Yacoub relieve rheumatism, nose , throat, and skin diseases, and gynecological problems.

Small businesses, such as cafés, grocers, house rentals, and parking, have grown up all around the traditional baths.  The region has the potential to become a central economic hub if the authorities responsible for tourism enlarged sustainable projects.

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Taroudant- Moroccan caftan was honored at the fashion show “Sultans” devoted to ceremonial costumes, which held Saturday afternoon in a grand palace in Paris.

Under the evocative name of "Sultans", the Moroccan designer Albert Oiknine charmed the audience by the latest creations of his artistic articles of the Moroccan caftan, which reflects the long history of the traditions and culture of the Kingdom and the skill and creativity of Moroccan manufacturer.

 Albert Oiknine’s caftans are “above all, a hymn to the eternal feminine,” wrote Hasna Daoudi.

According to the Maghreb Agence Press (MAP), the Parisian public came in big numbers to discover the skills and dexterity of Moroccan artisans, was charmed by the latest haute couture collection of Albert Oiknine, showing oriental costumes, primarily Moroccan caftans.

“Fitting shapes, silky and transparent materials, all adorned with jewels and embroidery, have enhanced this collection in which originality rhymes with sensuality,” the agency wrote

Based 15 years ago in Casablanca, where he gained all skills in oriental design, Albert Oiknine has contributed to the modernization and diffusion of Moroccan Caftan.

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Monir Birouk- Agadir- Even today as we wade our way through the second decade of the twenty first century, there is still so much we can learn from the staggering account of Ab? Hamid al-Ghazali's life (1056-1111). Unfortunately, those illuminating moments that might be of use to us seem, paradoxically enough, to be eclipsed by the deep and wide scholarship about his life and thought, but also by the dense clouds of the ideologized philosophical battles that invoke his name every now and then.

At an age when our minds are threatened by standardization and by flattened modes of thinking, (critics like Adorno and Horkheimer did long ago set off alarm bells) al-Ghazali's intellectual life might still be seen as an advanced model of the quest for autonomy in its Kantian sense. When it comes to critical thinking, the battle cry of the pundits of education in the 21 century, he is surely one of its undisputed champions. Since his childhood, we are told in his semi-autobiography Deliverance from Error, al-Ghazali had grown inimical to the commonplace and the conventional. With an inherently innate, “thirst for grasping the real meaning of things”, al-Ghazali never ceded to a belief or practice unless it stood the test of epistemological certainty (Deliverance from Error, 3). For al-Ghazali, the path to truth necessarily passes by doubt, for “Who does not doubt fails to inquire. Who does not inquire fails to gain insight. Without insight, you remain blind and perplexed” (The Scale of Action, 40). It is more or less the same lesson Socrates before him, and the Enlightenment figures such as Kant and Emerson after him, were keen to deliver: sapere aude!

Although we do not have to take it as far as al-Ghazali and Descartes did when they doubted not only their senses but also their reasoning faculties, their self-scrutiny of the taken-for-granted beliefs and practices should be insightful to us. A skeptical frame of mind is not always coterminous with wholesale rejection of tradition as we learn from al-Ghazali himself. What it should lead to, rather, is the conscious revaluation of one's sources of knowledge, and the audacity to insulate oneself from conformity and the “slavish aping of parents and teachers” (Deliverance, 3). An inherited belief in tradition does not come anywhere close to that which is re-thought and re-examined.

The other lesson to be learnt from al-Ghazali, in addition to his inherent hostility to “servile conformism” and his restlessness with unchecked “inherited beliefs”, is pedagogical. For him, critique is inextricably associated with an a priori deep knowledge of the thing, which is to be approached critically. That was the stance the Proof of Islam took with regards to the main four intellectual strands with which he critically engaged in his time: theologians, philosophers, esoterists and Sufis. His scathing critique of metaphysical Greek philosophy in The Incoherence of Philosophers, to take just one famous example, was preceded by a two-years intensive study of philosophy, an endeavor which culminated in his book The Intentions of Philosophers where he succinctly reported in an objective way the thought of Plato, Aristotle and other philosophers to prove that he is well-qualified to engage with their thoughts later on. Out of intellectual integrity, al-Ghazali would apply himself hard to interiorize the beliefs and views of the epistemological “other” so that he “would never take leave of an interiorist without wanting to learn about his interiorism, or of a literalist without wanting to know the substance of his literalism, or of a philosopher without seeking to become acquainted with the essence of his philosophy . . . ” (Deliverance, 2). The moral, or say academic, obligation to uphold judgment until one puts his feet in the shoes of the other is a frame of mind that almost becomes a rare commodity in our times.

Finally, for al-Ghazali, skepticism is never a gratuitous epistemological exercise; it is crucially instigated by a relentless quest for balance. In a modern world that is obsessively preoccupied by outward manifestations of success, we tend to lose the sense of what constitutes the essence of our humanity. To the detriment of our inner peace, the spiritual tendencies of our souls are mostly submerged by the material density of our clay-ness. Al-Ghazali's career as a professor in the Niz?miyya School in Baghdad, his subsequent isolation and intensive spiritual devotion in a farther Khanqah [Sufi monastery] in the outskirts of Damascus, and his later return to Nishapur were three significant signposts in the life of Ab? Hamid al-Ghazali.

While a professor in the Niz?miyya School, the “most prestigious and most challenging . . . teaching position in his day”, al-Ghazali had everything that counts to a successful career: prestige, fame and official endorsement (Griffel, 34). Nevertheless, he was aware at the same time that he was far from being free; for him, such success is blemished by an inflated self-esteem and an egoistic indulgence in seeing thousands of students, high-profile scholars amongst them, sitting at his feet and listening to his lectures. As we are enthralled and magnetized by our success, we might as well be unconsciously enslaved by our base desires and selfish tendencies!

Torn between his success on the one hand, and his conscientious scruples on the other, al-Ghazali eventually pulled himself together, left Baghdad, renounced fame, prestige and worldly luxury, and wandered as a Sufi in the deserts of Syria and Palestine. After years of solitude, devotion and worship far away from the distractions of life, al-Ghazali returned to Nishapur and afterwards to his hometown Tus to preach, teach and benefit his community. Al-Ghazali's spiritual experience was profoundly transformative: “When Abu Hamid entered Baghdad [in 1091] we estimated the value of his clothing and mount to be 500 dinars. After he turned ascetic, traveled, and returned to Baghdad [in 1097], we valued his clothing to be worth fifteen qirat” (Griffel, 34). His return was that of a saint; that of a soul, which realized that “the happiness of the drop is to die in the river.” Material gain and worldly success are inherent to the calling of human beings in this life. Yet, the challenge is how, like al-Ghazali, St. Augustine and many others, to set the material within an overarching spiritual and moral framework; how to put material gain in one's hand and never let it into one's heart.

The life of al-Ghazali is there for those of us who look for balance and inner peace. First, methodical skepticism is not an epistemological luxury, especially when general frameworks of belief are involved. Second, human beings are ineluctably caught in the double-bind of the here-and-there, the inwardly and the outwardly, soul and reason, the transcendent and the immanent; breaking the binary would certainly tip the scales of one's life. Third, moral development and psychological well-being depends on how far one goes in self-checking his drives, inclinations and intentions. For al-Ghazali, the alchemy of happiness is simple and clear: the closer you are from God [the Absolute in today's academic jargon], the less enslaved, and therefore, the more autonomous you become.

Endnotes

Al-Ghazali,  Ab? Hamid. Deliverance from Error. Trans. Richard J. Mccarthy. Boston, Twayne, 1980. http://www.aub.edu.lb/fas/cvsp/Documents/reading_selections/CVSP%20202/Al-ghazali.pdf. Accessed: October 10, 2013.

---. The Scale of Action. http://www.al hakawati.net/arabic/civilizations/26.pdf. Accessed: October 10, 2013.

Griffel, Frank. Al-Ghazâlî's Philosophical Theology, New York: Oxford University Press, 2009.

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Canberra-  Australia's first gay marriages were celebrated Saturday in the national capital Canberra, despite the prospect of a High Court decision ruling against the unions later this week.

As soon as the clocked ticked past midnight, several couples tied the knot -- including Stephen Dawson, a Labor Party member of the Western Australian parliament, who married Dennis Liddelow on the lawns of the Federal Parliament.

"This is about us professing our love for each other... and at least for the moment our relationship will be legally recognised as a marriage," he told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

Another couple to marry at one minute past midnight, Alan Wright and Joel Player chose Canberra's National Carillon landmark on Lake Burley Griffin for their night marriage, saying they hoped it got the message out "that we are no different".

The Australian Capital Territory passed legislation in October which made it the only jurisdiction in the country to permit gay marriage, and couples arranged to wed there Saturday, the earliest opportunity to do so after a registration period.

The territory, home to the city of Canberra and the national parliament, pressed ahead with its legislation despite warnings it was inconsistent with federal laws which do not permit same-sex weddings.

Australia's Marriage Act defines marriage as between a man and a woman, so while same-sex civil unions are available in a majority of Australian states these couples are not formally recognised as married by the government.

The federal government is challenging the validity of the Australian Capital Territory legislation in the High Court and a ruling is due on December 12.

The ACT government has said it is confident its law is strong enough to prevail but has admitted the legal challenge could have implications for those couples who choose to wed in the small window of opportunity.

"Regardless of what happens in the High Court, the significance of this moment will remain and send a strong signal about what a contemporary 21st-century Australia should look like," ACT Attorney-General Simon Corbell said.

Ivan Hinton, who Saturday married his partner of 11 years Chris Teoh in the grounds of Old Parliament House, said the legislation meant that gay relationships were for the first time given the same respect as heterosexual ones.

"I understand that the High Court (challenge) is an issue and we will deal with that on Thursday but it can't overshadow that Chris and I woke up this morning knowing that our community respects us for who we are, has the same respect for our relationship and has the same hopes as we do for our future," he told AFP.

"What happens on Thursday and further on in the pursuit of marriage equality really comes second to that experience."

Gay marriage has recently been a high-profile political issue in Australia which hosts one of the world's largest annual gay and lesbian Mardi Gras celebrations in Sydney.

Federal parliament last year voted down laws allowing same-sex marriage when conservative members opposed the move as a block after leader Tony Abbott denied them a conscience vote on the sensitive issue.

The Australian Christian Lobby also spoke against gay marriages Saturday, warning they would have "big social consequences", particularly for the children of same-sex partners.

But Hinton, who had entered into a non-legally binding commitment ceremony in Australia five years ago with Teoh before they travelled to Canada to get married, said he believed that Australia will eventually approve gay marriage nationally.

"It's just a matter of time and political will," he said.

In April New Zealand became the first Asia-Pacific country to legalise gay marriage.

Inezgane, Morocco- A master of derring-do or daring to do in my opinion is Abbas Ibn Firnas. The man dared to have a great and out of the common dream that a multitude of Arabs and Muslims over the centuries failed to have let alone believe in and work for.

The man believed people could fly if given the appropriate apparatus or device to do so. Ibn Firnas had a vision that so many failed to have but above all he worked to put it into practice. He tried to meet his objective but unfortunately did not succeed. His error was a fatal one and with it the dream of flying in the Arab and Muslim world came to an end.

Trial and error was not a concept of the ancient times in the Arab and Muslim world. Unfortunately again, Ibn Firnas’s terrible death while he was trying to prove that flying was possible brought the dream to a halt and unluckily did not have any follow up. What is worse is the kind of discussion that the event of Ibn Firnas’s failure generated focused mainly on the man’s outcome in the hereafter.

The main question was whether Ibn Firnas’s action was an act of martyr-hood or else an act of suicide. Islam shuns suicide and looks down on people who commit it. Therefore, no risk taking was any further tried or allowed with flying. I may be wrong but to my knowledge no textbook used in the Arab world celebrates the memory, the vision, the audacity and the courage of Ibn Firnas.

May be in the West, the perception and the implications of such a vision, courage, daring and inventiveness were altogether different. In the Western World, different approaches to flying were tried over a long period of time. The mongolfiere was tried in France by the mongofier brothers. In the USA, the Wright brothers invented the flying machine called the bi-plane. Since those great successful inventions, great strides were made in the field of flying.

The dream of challenging gravity and feeling the freedom of flying in the air was at last made attainable and realistic. Soon, flying was introduced in warfare in the form of reconnaissance and intelligence gathering and later as fighter and bomber aircraft. The two world wars introduced air raids at a large scale and resulted in great destruction, devastation and killings.

The defeat of Nazi Germany and its allies brought the second world war to an end and a new world order was established. The climate of peace brought along with it the baby boom and new forms of entertainment and travel to rid people of the war atmosphere and sad memories.

Great world aviation companies built great traveler planes to transport people to faraway places, tourist resorts and business encounters worldwide. To celebrate flying and aviation, I am thrilled to relate two important instances in which I got very close to the enchanting world of flying. The first was in 1976 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The world famous Thunderbirds were in town for some acrobatic flights and display of courage, force, dexterity and precision.

The air show took place at Kirtland air force base in Albuquerque. I was quite astonished by the fact that everybody was welcomed and admitted into the base for the air show. I went with an American friend and noticed different types of aircraft were on display on the grounds at the air base. It was an exhibition for the public to see and experience in a first-hand manner. I was sure adrenaline was running high all through the different stages of the air show both for the pilots and the spectators.

What is so inspiring about the American way of doing things is that it relates the present moment to projection of time in the future. At the end of the show when “The fast and furious” pilots hit the ground, they soon started signing autographs and supplying the public with brochures for potential new recruits.

The second instance I came very close to the field of flying aside from being on board a jetliner is my visit in 2004 to the Space Museum in Washington, DC. The Museum is one of the world most renowned Smithsonian Museums in the capital city of the United States. It offers the visitor a large array of air exhibitions, different types of aircraft, rockets and space exploring devices and labs. The visit to the space museum is very enriching as it provides the visitor with an amazing chronology in advancements made in the field of flight and space exploration. If I may go back to the Albuquerque air exhibition, I can paint this picture of a B52 bomber for people who may not have had such a chance.

In the New Mexican desert the heat of the scorching sun was unbearable but as we went underneath the bulky mythical aircraft it started to get cooler and cooler. The great bomber that caused so much damage in Vietnam and was a very effective deterrent during the cold war was now retiring under the hot sun of New Mexico.  It is only in the US, I think that you would see huge for sale plane displays as well as plane cemeteries. This vibrant and innovative nation has decided that the time for action, Science and invention was now. The cost of success was very dear. It was made possible through blood and sweat but it is there for everyone to see.

Ibn Firnas tried to put Arabs and Muslims on the right track of flight and aviation but they preferred to wait and see. For those who still wish to wait and see, they can attend an air show in the West or visit a Space museum to believe they had missed a golden opportunity to contribute to modern world civilization. Before I wrap up this piece of writing I wish to salute the memory of the great precursor of flight and aviation Abbas Ibn Firnas and the memory of all the people of the world who endeavored to make such beautiful dream come true. “Fasten your seat belts!”...... Smooth touch down.

Articles written by Mohamed El Hassan Abou El Fadel in Morocco World News are taken from his Cultural Journals. The articles feature his reflections on an important part of his educational and cultural experiences in the US as an American Field Service exchange student, a Fulbright exchange teacher and a University of Delaware alumnus.

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New Delhi - India's Supreme Court Wednesday upheld a colonial-era law criminalising homosexuality in a landmark judgment that crushes activists' hopes for guarantees on sexual freedom in the world's biggest democracy.

A two-judge bench cancelled a Delhi High Court ruling in 2009 that section 377 of the Indian penal code prohibiting people from engaging in "carnal acts against the order of nature" infringed the fundamental rights of Indians.

"It is up to parliament to legislate on this issue," Judge G.S. Singhvi, the head of the two-man bench, said in the ruling which found the ban to be constitutionally valid.

The Delhi High Court decision was strongly opposed by religious groups, particularly leaders of India's Muslim and Christian communities, who appealed to the Supreme Court.

"Such a decision was totally unexpected from the top court. It is a black day for the community," Arvind Narayan, a lawyer of the Alternative Law Forum gay rights group, told reporters.

"We are very angry about this regressive decision of the court."

Protests were expected later Wednesday from the gay community that is still largely closeted but was emboldened by the 2009 ruling.

Though prosecutions under section 377 are rare, conviction carries a fine and a maximum 10-year jail sentence and it is used by police to harass gay couples, activists say.

"We will explore all options, probably look into the option of a review petition," T. Tandon, a lawyer appearing for Naz Foundation, a non-profit group that works with HIV-AIDS patients, said outside the court house.

"The movement of gay rights is so much stronger now. It is not 2001, it is 2013. You can't have a decision like this."

Dominic Emmanuel, spokesman of the Delhi Catholic Archdiocese, said before the verdict that the church was ready to accept any decision from the Supreme Court.

"Though we did not welcome the decision of the High Court, we did not object to it. If there is a decision like that from the Supreme Court, we will not object to it either," he told the NDTV network.

"The church has a very clear stand on people with different sexual orientations. Though they are different from ... normal people, they should be respected, accepted and there should ne no signs of discrimination against them."

Gay sex has long been a taboo subject in conservative India, where homophobic tendencies abound and many still regard homosexuality as a mental illness.

In recent years, however, the country's gay community has raised its profile, organising gay pride marches in major cities such as New Delhi and Mumbai which have created awareness and encouraged many to come out of the closet.

Jeffrey O'Malley, director of the United Nations Development Programme on HIV/AIDS, had argued in 2008 that decriminalising homosexuality would help India to combat the spread of HIV/AIDS.

India has an estimated 2.5 million people living with the virus.

By Maha Naami

Rabat - An exhibition, the first of its kind will be held in the heart of the Netherlands on the 28th and 29th of December under the name The Maroc Expo.

The Maroc Expo which will take place in Nieuwegein/Utrecht aims at highlighting the Moroccan Kingdom abroad.

“The best tool to promote your beloved country is to experience it, feel it, taste it and smell it, as if you’re in morocco,” Abdelbasset Zaghdoud, one of the managers, said passionately. He added, “Our slogan for this edition is: Experience Morocco. While it’s cold and snowy outside, we create an atmosphere in the exhibition halls, just like being in Djemaa El Fna, the main square in Marrakech, on a sultry hot afternoon.”

Mr. Abdelbasset Zaghdoud expects the Dutch and Belgians to be the predominant visitors, many of whom are going "to experience an authentic taste of Morocco's rich culture."

Maroc Expo will be an occasion for visitors to learn more about Moroccan culture and discover the investment opportunities and economic potential that Morocco has to offer.

Mr. Zaghdoud explained that Maroc Expo will highlight "all the facets which Morocco is famous for, from fashion and lifestyle to tourism."

It will be an occasion to learn more about the Moroccan culture, including "partying with top artists from Morocco, buying your (second) home, exploring the business potential at the business platform, letting your taste buds feast on Moroccan cuisine, or discovering your treasure sale at the bazaar," he added.

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Marrakech - The event by the Arab World Institute (IMA) "Morocco in thousand colors" will be held under the theme of Morocco's diversity and pluralism, IMA's president Jack Lang said on Thursday.

This event, which will promote contemporary Morocco in all its forms, will convey a message of openness and tolerance, Lang said in a statement to the press after the audience granted by King Mohammed VI on Thursday at the Royal Palace of Marrakech. Slated late September, the event, which will span three months, will coincide with another important event dedicated to medieval Morocco to be held at the "Musée du Louvre", said the president of the IMA, noting that event will be placed under the theme of the preamble of the Moroccan constitution.

Washington - As the gateway to Northern Africa, Morocco provides a rich and cultural backdrop, wrote on Thursday US magazine "The Huffington Post".

"As the gateway to Northern Africa, Morocco provides a rich and cultural backdrop. Along the coast you will see an African ambiance, Middle Eastern and Mediterranean sensibilities, a European aesthetic and that definitive French flair," said reporter Karen Loftus is an article entitled "Morocco's Majestic Coastal Road."

Morocco has long been an exotic and adventurous oasis for savvy travelers and global thrill seekers.

If you have already explored the Sahara, climbed the Atlas Mountains and seen Morocco's many cities and medinas, it's time to dive deep into Morocco's coastal road, she said, adding that "you will easily be seduced by the sea and become immersed in to the authentic old world charm and elegance of Morocco that is seamlessly mixed with modern amenities and that global sense of sophistication by the sea."

Inezgane, Morocco - I did not get much of a holiday after having hit the books for all that long period of utmost readiness that preceded that great national Baccalaureat exam in 1976.

Almost after getting the diploma, I was soon getting busy this time round with administrative papers to get me a passport. Then I had to travel for the first time thousands of miles away from Morocco to the state of New Mexico to attend high school in the city of Albuquerque. I was fortunate to have stayed with an American host family that was very helpful and supportive.

Highland high school was not very far from where I lived, so I walked almost every school day to and from school. When talking of 1976-1977, one has to take into account that the US was very much advanced in plenty of scientific fields when compared to the greater majority of countries round the globe. Yet, students who were studying “computer” as a school subject back then had to make use of perforated papers to operate the computer. I am stating this for those who are now operating their machines with much ease and not even thinking of great efforts that made it possible for them to do so.

At the time, precursors of scientific evolution and futurologists such as Alvin Toffler were talking of “Future shock” and later of “The third wave”. I have read works by Toffler and have lived long enough to witness the accuracy of much of its forecasts. The civilization push-button we are witnessing nowadays was prepared way back early in the twentieth century. In 1976 use of some sort of internet for the wide public was unheard of although it might have been used at other higher governmental scientific spheres in the US.

The point I would like to make is that in the absence of such an instrumental technological tool, Americans were taking away the role of old Europe and considering the USA the center of the world and the rest of the world “satellites” that had to revolve round that powerful and influential center. With that perspective in mind, there was no urgent need for people in the U.S. to know about other countries other than their own. So, there you were telling Americans whose paths happened to cross yours that you were from MOROCCO and plenty of them would think you might have mispronounced it and would say, “You mean MONACO?” Others would say “are you from SOROCCO?”Apparently that was some weather forecasting locality in New Mexico. And there you would indulge in a long geography explanation about where Morocco is situated and so on.

What happened sometimes was that after having convinced your interlocutor in the field of geography, you end up getting another question, but this time the question is more related to history. They would ask “Are you from Spanish Morocco or French Morocco?” For me, who has spent countless sleepless nights drawing maps of the world while preparing the Baccalaureat, the question would yet mean another great effort to calmly and politely tell them that that is history and that modern day Morocco is one entity from Tangier to Lagouira and that the entity in question is called “The Kingdom of Morocco” or “Al Mamlaka Almaghribiya” in Arabic.

Another great challenge for me was when some school mate would open an Almanac and tell you, in a friendly manner of course, about American Nobel prize winners in different fields of science and technology, about American inventions and so on and challenge you to name one internationally acknowledged modern day Moroccan or Arab scientist or inventor.  The Almanac produces, among other things, names of internationally renowned scientists and inventors regardless of their nationalities but unfortunately I could not see any of our own.

The Almanac most often gives outstanding facts and records in a particular year but that is just one piece of the greater history jigsaw puzzle. World civilization has never been made in just one year, decade or century, besides ages of nations cannot in anyway be compared to those of individuals. On another plane, civilization has always been a matter of give and take. Some nations have produced knowledge and technology for centuries but at some point in history ended up receiving and vice versa.

Arabs, Muslims and Moroccans have enormously contributed to world civilization in plenty of fields in the past and have added their own piece or contribution to the great jigsaw puzzle of civilization. The impact of Arab contribution to world civilization will continue to be felt everywhere if only we consider Arabic numbers. Who is ready to do away with them now or any time soon?

 Almanac:  Origin: 1350–1400; Middle English almenak  < Medieval Latin almanach  < Spanish Arabic al  the + man?kh  calendar.

Articles written by Mohamed El Hassan Abou El Fadel in Morocco World News are taken from his Cultural Journals. The articles feature his reflections on an important part of his educational and cultural experiences in the US as an American Field Service exchange student, a Fulbright exchange teacher and a University of Delaware alumnus.

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Taroudant- Tonight, January 12, coincides with the Amazigh New Year, 2964, known as “Yennayer”.

Yennayer is the first day of the agrarian calendar year used since ancient times by Berbers throughout North Africa. Even though this day has not yet been recognized officially in Morocco as a national holiday, most of Moroccans never miss this occasion to celebrate and exchange wishes and prayers during this day, which marks the beginning of a new Amazigh year.

Although Amazigh New Year Event is celebrated by many Moroccans, every January 12, only few people do realize the symbolic and historical implications of this event. Under different names, Yennayer is celebrated by both Arab and Berber speaking communities. The Arab speaking community in old cities referred to this traditional event as “Haguza” or “Aam Alfilahi” (the Agrarian year). However, The Amazigh people, more precisely those dwelling in the south east of Morocco, call it “Id Suggas” (the night of the year). “Id Suggas” is a very traditional festivity on the Eve of the Amazigh New Year.

The history of this great event traces back to 950 BC, when the Amazigh nation defeated the pharaoh army and managed to enter Egypt, during the reign of Pharaohs. Under the leadership of “Chachanq” known also as “Cheshung”, the Amazighs were able to establish a new monarchy that ruled from Libya to Egypt. This glorious victory marked the beginning of the Amazigh date.

To celebrate this big event, people all over Morocco prepare various succulent dishes. Some prepare “Irkmen”, wheat with dry fava beans simmered in the form of soup. Others serve “Tagola”, a meal based on corn kernels cooked, and mixed with butter and accompanied with ghee. However, Couscous with seven vegetables remains the luxurious dish to be served on that special night.

There are also many amazing traditions and practices that accompany the food that the Amazigh prepare for this night of festivity. Apart from dancing and singing special songs of love, fertility and prosperity, welcoming a new agrarian year, the Amazigh people, in particular those in the country side, find in this occasion a better chance to socialize, exchange food and seek reconciliation with those with whom they had some misunderstandings.

In different parts of the south-east, people prepare a special dish for the occasion, usually, couscous with many vegetables and pulses. Back to the years of my childhood, I recall how my mother never missed this event. Having no Amazigh calendar at home, I appreciated too much, and wondered how my parents and other neighborhoods got to know the exact time of the Berber New Year.

One of the most symbolic and amazing practice in the south east, I still reminisce with joy and regret for their being less practiced, is explained by Mr. Lahcen Amokrane, an Amazigh activist and blogger, whom MWN interviewed on the occasion of the Amazigh New Year. “The Amazigh people of the south east prepare couscous for the night of Jan 12, every year, as a cultural ritual celebrating “Id Suggas”. Traditionally, they put “Ighs” a seed of dates or “alluz” a piece of almond, as some prefer to do recently, in couscous. The person who finds this seed of dates or piece of almonds is to be entrusted with the keys of “Lakhzin”, a room reserved for storing the family’s food, and that person is believed to be “blessed” throughout the whole year”, he told Morocco World News.

For these happy moments, I, as well as MWN, wish our dear readers a happy new year full of joy and prosperity. In the Amazigh language, I tell you, Assuggas Amaynu d Ameggaz, s Tudert Nek A winu!

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