When our peaceful protesters go to jail.. Morocco will help to decide about Libya...

http://hespress.com/politique/37204.html

Ain't this a kicker!

Morocco will take part in the meeting in Paris to seek ways to 'help' Libya in rebuilding their country and is looking for ways to co operate with the new Libyan authorities.

And on the 22nd of August Morocco recognized the Transitional National Assembly as representative of the Libyan people.

 But our own peaceful demonstrators end up in jail, corruption is law, poor women give birth in the waiting room of hospitals, Marrakech is a wonderful place for pedophiles, women in villages get beat up if they speak up, journalists disappear, my dear friend got beaten up for attending a protest.. do I need to continue??

Don't get me wrong.. I am very proud of the Libyans and they fill my North African heart with pride! And I have a sticker of the flag in my room which I kiss every night before I go to bed. And I really hope Libya will prosper and rebuild itself.

Don't get me wrong once again.. I love Morocco and it's people but I see 30 million people are being oppressed and wanting what they achieved in Libya. To claim their rights and have their dignity, their freedom back..

So that's why I wonder what Morocco will do to 'help' the new Libya when Morocco is turning into the old Libya?

Brutal attack on village women 200 km from Agadir, Morocco

Police forces attacked the humble village Ighrem 200 km from Agadir, Morocco. This violence came after the residents asked for jobs and the end of their villages isolation. The police attacked women and old people.  The first video shows scars of women beaten severely.

 The young people of this villages have no jobs opportunities and leave to go work in the big city Agadir and demanded their right for education and a bright future. The tribes gathered also to demand the release of four prisoners who were transferred to the city of Meknes.

The second video is of a woman who lives in the villages and explain the situation in the village of Ighrem.
The water pollution in the villages is a serious problem caused by a nearby company. The woman in the video says that they can't drink the water or wash their clothes with it. And even the cattle get ill from this water. The Makhzen tried to convince the youngster that they will take care of it but it wasn't the first time they demanded their rights. The people were persisted and then the attack followed. They have been complaining for a long time and the Makhzens answer were beatings.

Source Goud.ma
http://bit.ly/p61JL7

Photo's and video of the Solidarity March on August 28th March in Morocco

To celebrate the fall of the tyranny in Libya the February 20th Movement in Morocco held a solidarity march. he March took place in different big cities in Morocco. Here is a video and some photos of this march.

Source: Februaryi 20th in Casablanca

List of interesting articles on #Morocco

Morocco's King is destroying hope for democracy
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/jun/30/morocco-king-destroy-democracy

The Never Ending story: Morocco Constitutions in Morocco

http://www.jadaliyya.com/pages/index/2365/the-never-ending-story_protests-and-constitutions

Do we need reforms in Morocco, or is it radical change we are seeking? by Moorishwanderer

http://moorishwanderer.wordpress.com/2011/08/21/reform-or-radical-change-a-false-debate/

The Moroccan exception by Laila Lalami

http://www.thenation.com/article/162967/moroccan-exception

Jordan goes Morocco

http://mideast.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2011/08/19/jordan_goes_morocco#.Tlpmrz5Pois.twitter

Morocco’s youth movement, Fev20, will inevitably splinter, but will this mean leaving Morocco’s banned extremist party holding the megaphone?

http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/07/08/156622.html

Interview with me

“Brood en concerten houden een volk niet stil”

Geplaatst op 23 augustus 2011

INTERVIEW – Mariam El Maslouhi, een studente Toegepaste Psychologie, hield zich in het begin van de Marokkaanse opstand bezig met het vertalen van Arabischtalige video‘s naar het Engels. Daarnaast voorzag ze internationale media als AlJazeera en de Britse Guardian van updates door in het Engels te twitteren over het verloop van de demonstraties.

Waarom vind je het belangrijk om je in te zetten voor de situatie in Marokko terwijl je in Nederland woont en leeft?
Bij mij gaat het er niet zozeer om dat het protest zich in Marokko afspeelt. Ik ben ook actief als het gaat om Palestina, Irak of Tibet. Het gaat er om dat ik voor democratie en gelijkheid ben en geloof dat iedereen dat verdient. Het feit dat de protesten zich nu in Marokko afspelen is wel persoonlijker omdat ik veel familie daar heb en er zelf heb gewoond. Ik heb de corruptie en ongelijke behandeling van dichtbij kunnen meemaken en dat maakt de strijd persoonlijk en belangrijk.

Speelt jouw familie een rol in jouw engagement?
Mijn oudste zus is altijd erg activistisch geweest en mijn ouders hebben het altijd belangrijk gevonden om bewust te zijn van wat er zich in de wereld afspeelt. Zo heb ik geleerd te waarderen wat ik heb omdat sommige mensen elders erg weinig hebben. Mijn ouders maakten mij ook van jongs af aan heel duidelijk wat het verschil was tussen een zionist en een jood, omdat dat mij soms wat onduidelijk was als je beelden van de Palestijnse intifada zag op televisie.

“Mijn vader vond het in het begin wel eng.”

Hoe wordt op jouw inzet gereageerd?
Over het algemeen positief. Mijn vader vond het in het begin eng. Vooral omdat ik in april naar Marokko ging en erg actief was met het bloggen en twitteren en omdat ik de mensen van de 20-februaribeweging persoonlijk had ontmoet.

Je blogt en twittert in het Engels. Krijg je daarmee genoeg internationale media-aandacht voor Marokko?
Over het algemeen valt het zwaar tegen. Al biedt AlJazeera wel enkele artikels. Van de Nederlandse media was er wat aandacht voor het protest begon en tijdens het begin van de beweging, maar verder merkte ik weinig berichtgeving. Wel zie ik dat er steeds meer in het Engels wordt getwitterd als het om de 20-februaribeweging gaat en worden de Marokkanen in Amerika bijvoorbeeld steeds actiever.

“Als Marokkaanse met de Nederlandse nationaliteit heb ik weinig te vrezen.”

Wat verwacht je van het verloop van het protest?
De leden van de 20-februaribeweging hebben al veel bereikt en ze hebben gezien dat ze dat hebben gedaan op eigen kracht en dat geeft moed en vooral hoop. Brood en concerten houden het Marokkaanse volk niet meer stil. Marokkanen zien om zich heen regimes vallen die al decennia aan de macht zijn, dus waarom Marokko niet?

Je geeft vrij en duidelijk je mening. Je bent niet bang voor eventuele gevolgen hiervan in Marokko?
Toen het protest in februari van start ging, kreeg ik veel nare e-mails en andere berichten. Mijn Facebook haperde ook als ik iets probeerde te posten bij een pagina van de 20-februaribeweging. Dat schrikt af in het begin, maar na een tijdje raak je daar aan gewend. Ik was ook eens in Fez, in Marokko, met een paar leden van de 20-februaribeweging in de taxi terwijl we het over de beweging hadden. Toen werd ons door de chauffeur vriendelijk verzocht om over iets anders te praten. Dan voel je de spanning wel, maar als Marokkaanse met de Nederlandse nationaliteit heb ik toch weinig te vrezen, hoop ik.

© 2011 – Hasna Ankal

https://protestinmarokko.wordpress.com/2011/08/23/brood-en-concerten-kunnen-het-volk-niet-stil-houden/

A poem out of love for the #Arabspring

With this poem I tried to show the human side of a warrior..


When his waiting would continueBy Mariam El Maslouhi

He would ask for a kiss,
And she would die in her sanity

He would ask for a touch,
She would drown in her vanity

He would ask for a word again and again,
No one told him she was deaf,

He begged,
Begged for an answer of any kind,
Her tongue would ache

He asked her to walk,
To walk until they would reach the sea,
To walk slowly towards the horizon,
She would run and flee into the desert,
And join the desert sun

He asked her to listen,
To listen to his poems and hundreds of songs written in her name
He would ask very politely
She hurried, and speak a language he did not understand,
She would use signs he could not unraffle

He questioned his love,
Trapped in his own web with a black widow breathing down his neck,

With her head held tight between his head,
Anxious, petrified, horrified and to frightened to wink his eyes,
Scared that she will run away again,
Run away beyond the desert, beyond life.

He would hold her head and search for the eyes that once burned down every dream,
Searching for the eyes that once sang his name,
The eyes that once colored his world,
The only eyes that allowed him to see flowers,
The only eyes that would grant him rest,
The eyes that cradled him, read stories,
The eyes that gave him a scent.


We would see him standing there again,
What he wanted was already asked for,
Everything he wanted to see was already seen,

He would ask where she went,
When he would hold her map,

He would ask for his lover systematically,
In his breathing, in his look, with every step,

He would ask for his old lover,
When she would stand before him with her ancient love.

Solidarity sit-in in Rabat, Morocco for two detained union leaders

A sit-in was held in Rabat in front of the Parlement out of solidarity with the political prisoners Seddik Kabbouri and Abderrahim Chenou members of the CDT (Democratic Confederation of Labour) and the AMDH (Moroccan Association for Human Rights) .

 The protesters demanded their immediate and unconditional release, and expressed their total solidarity with the people of Bouarfa fighting peacefully for their legitimate rights.

Seddik Kabbouri and Abderrahim Chenou were arrested following protests on May 26th, 2011 in Bouarfa approximatly 300km South from the city Oujda. They are being held in the prison in Oujda.

The two millitants have been on  hunger strike since the 8th of September.

Source: lakome.com

Video of the Sit-in In Rabat, Morocco on Thursday 24th of August 2011

Video from Mamfakinch!

http://24.mamfakinch.com/

A poem for the #Arabspring

By Mariam El Maslouhi:
So he waited
So he waited,
Consciously and unconsciously,
Waited for a butterfly to greet him and for his mothers kiss,

So he sat and waited some more,
Nervous and calm,
He waited for a dariwshian poem maybe a beauty to smile upon his face,

So he sat and waited some more, maybe nights who shall say,
He waited for Qais laila’s diagnose, he waited for Laila herself to grant him madness

He sat homeless, eyeless and songless,
Waited with all his patience held tight between his arms and he would cradle it,
He waited with his ignorance held in both hands

He waited and read, he read about waiting and was delighted,
He read about love and felt his aching heart,

So he waited and sang some more
The songs the beetle learned him once,
Sang the song that the ants sang at dawn, and when the sun would reach her highest point he would sing the song of the wingless swans.

So yes he waited,
Maybe for Aphrodite or Isis and her son
Or God? Allah?

He waited as if the messiah would never return and as if the world had forgotten about the twelfth imam

He waited, maybe for his empty veins to fill up once again,

Chocking in his solitude,
Bathing in his memory without remembrance
Soaked in his own poison

So he waited they said

But when I saw him I knew
Why he was and still is waiting.

He waited for his country to come home.