CAIRO — ‘Freedom to the Dream’ gallery founder aims to maintain her friends’ presence outside the prison cell using a paintbrush and a sketch 

As soon as the masses flocked inside the huge, colorful marquee located in the beating heart of downtown to attend the monthly public festival of Al-fann midan, she started stringing up her drawings at one of its corners. Those colorful drawings share the same colors, background and theme but feature different faces.

Ranwa Youssef, an old hand fine artist and political activist, who is based in Alexandria, launched a gallery under the title “freedom to the dream” to feature her friends who were detained following the recently issued protest law.

The protest law was issued back in November 2013 by interim president Adly Mansour, at a time of weekly bloody clashes between the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) supporters and the security forces. The law obliges any rally coordinator to submit a written notice to the interior ministry at least three working days in advance, the fact that provoked political activists from various affiliations to organize more protests, against the law.

91 Egyptians are currently detained under the protest law, out of 40,000 others who are detained since MB regime ouster, according to AMNESTY international reports.

Mahienour El-Massry, an Egyptian lawyer and political activist from Alexandria, often dubbed as the “voice of revolution” has been sentenced to six months for protesting last May.

In the following interview, Youssef who is a close friend of Mahienour, explains how the different security hurdles in Egypt over four regimes have impacted her experience as an artist and active politician.

MWN: When did you start drawing?

Ranwa Youssef: I started drawing since I was studying fine arts in college. However, I haven’t used arts in any form of political expression until the death of our friend Khaled Saeed in 2010.

At that time I started getting the stencils and pictures to draw graffiti for the first time, and as I started witnessing an increasing number of people on the streets few months before the revolution, I felt encouraged to draw more graffiti.

MWN: How did the people and the police in Alexandria respond to that?

Ranwa Youssef: The people welcomed the idea, during the 2011 revolution and through the transitional period afterwards. The security situation was also very loose, we continued doing graffiti even under Morsi’s rule. Now, whenever we start drawing a new graffiti, it gets removed by the police. Which sounds very weird to me, because I believe if a graffiti has some mistakes, it’s part of the people’s culture and part of a historical era that should be reserved, just like the graffiti on Berlin Wall.

MWN: Why did you launch “Freedom to the dream”?

Ranwa Youssef: After the June 30 uprising I started creating my own work and also many people I know got arrested. I chose the name ‘freedom to the dream” to launch a series of portraits for them, because nothing can stop a dream, not even a prison cell. The series of portraits was first published online, but then I felt the necessity to take it to offline galleries, as it helps maintain the detainees presence outside the cells; passersby would start asking about their stories when they see their pictures.

MWN: How do you know Mahienour El-Massry?

Ranwa Youssef: Mahienour is one of my closest friends, we are both members of the Revolution Socialist group, and we have been actively engaged in many political events since 2008. In 2009, we also joined a protest during the attack against Gaza, and then took part in many protests against Khaled Saeed’s death, until the revolution started in 2011.

MWN: What are the most significant changes you have witnessed before and after the revolution during those rallies?

Ranwa Youssef: The number of people. Before the revolution we used to jubilate if the rally was joined by only 300 person. Now millions of people take the the streets fearlessly, without instructions from anyone.

MWN: What happened on the day Mahienour got arrested?

Ranwa Youssef: During the fourth hearing session of the policeman charged with killing Khaled Saeed, Mahienour along with 6 others stood peacefully outside the court in May 2013. We did this countless times before, but on that day there was an order for Mahienour’s arrest.

Mahienour and I believed she should show up, because she is not guilty and we are all against this law, and fleeing will not be the best option.

Usually, after you go to the police station a report is filed, until the they arrange a hearing session for you, but what happened on that day was very shocking.

She got transferred to another district, where another judge sentenced her to two years in jail without investigations, without listening to the lawyers, and without giving her a chance to defend herself.

It does not really matter if the verdict was then reduced to six months because it is based on an unjust law. Mahienour paid a really high price more than anyone could possibly imagine.

MWN: What would you say to those who label the current political detainees as “terrorists”?

Ranwa Youssef: Mahienour always stands up against any form of violence. No doubt that there are many other people who took advantage of our peaceful revolution, on top of them the MB group who collaborated with the old regime and tried to restore their old policies.

But that does not justify the protest law. I believe the only way to “terminate” this law, is to peacefully express our concerns towards it.

This is my second contribution to Al-Fann Midan, I’ve increased the number of portraits. Some of the people I featured earlier have just been released.

By Asmae Nasri

Rabat- Maroc Telecom, a pioneering telecommunications company, paid tribute to 150 baccalaureate students on September 8th.

Sixty-six of the beneficiaries were sons and daughters of its employees. The celebration was held in the company’s social center in Hay Riad in Rabat.

The head of the company’s administrative council, Abdslam Ahizoun, gave the opening remarks for the ceremony. “By giving these scholarships, our company wants to encourage the young students who are thirsty for knowledge to embrace the values of perseverance and diligence,” he said.

Ahizoun reminded the audience that since the inauguration of this “Imtiyaz” initiative in 2005, Maroc Telecom has given 1200 scholarships to Moroccan baccalaureate students from all sixteen regions.

Encouraging youth is one of Maroc Telecom’s priorities. Ahizoun said, “Investing in human capital in order to build a better Morocco is one of our priorities, it is a crucial element in our policy”.

Edited by Jessica Rohan

Rabat - A draft agreement to train 500 Guinean imams (religious leaders) in Morocco was signed on Wednesday in Rabat, in the presence of Guinea's PM Mohamed Said Fofana.

Signed by minister of endowments and Islamic Affairs Ahmed Toufiq and secretary general of Guinea's religious affairs ministry Hadj Abdellah Jassi, the agreement touches on the training, in the first place, of 100 imams currently working in the different Guinean mosques, divided into three groups. Each group will benefit form a three-month training.

The agreement will also benefit 400 imams divided into 4 groups. Every group will benefit from a basic training spanning two years.

In a press statement, Toufiq said that the signing of this agreement is an implementation of the instructions by King Mohammed VI, Commander of the Faithful, to respond positively to the request of Guinea to train its imams in the Kingdom.

Taroudant, Morocco - A Tunisian woman based in Paris has received a massive flood of accusations because she has allegedly "burned a page of the Quran with her cigarette."

The Tunisian website Bouyafar published photos of a woman who desecrated the pages of Holy Quran by her cigarette.

The same source said that Khadija Ben Ayed, a Tunisian living in Paris, burned and desecrated the Quran and posted the photos on her Facebook wall.

However, the Moroccan French website Telquel said that “these photos that circulated for a while on Facebook do not belong to the Tunisian question in question.

“These are screenshots taken from a video posted on YouTube in 2012 of a completely different person, speaking in English, and affiliated with an Islamophobic forum,” the same source said.

Agadir - Violence erupted in the commune of Tamazzouzt in morocco (a town near Marrakech), as Amazighs (Berbers call themselves "Amazighs," or free men) refuse to participate in the national census, protesting against discrimination.

The boycott of the national census is the result of many years of ignoring the existence of Amazighs in their homeland.

Today over half of Moroccans are Berber speakers, and it is more language and culture that differentiate Berbers from Arabs.

They choose to push for the recognition of their language and identity not only in the new constitution, but also in everyday life.

After King Mohammed VI addressed some of those grievances in the amended constitution, by enacting a reform on March 9/2011, in a major speech to the nation, the Amazigh demands are still not fully satisfied.

What are the Amazighs demands?

The amended constitution of 2011 was considered as a big achievement to demarcate the Amazigh language alongside Arabic, after a long time of rejection and ignorance.

Despite of founding the royal institute of the Amazigh culture(IRCAM), and including the language in the Moroccan educational system, in addition to establishing a Tamazight TV station to set up a solid contact with the Berber audience, the Amazigh movement is still not pleased with these steps the state has taken so far.

Activists have also called for a complete involvement of the state in the discussion about teaching Tamazight in schools.

Today, Tamazight is taught in the majority of schools in the Moroccan kingdom, but other demands related to language struggle to find their way to activation.

Quite to the contrary says El Hamzaoui Tijani, a Member of the Executive Office of the Amazigh Network for Citizenship (Azetta Amazigh): “The government is going in the opposite direction of the democratic management of the multilingualism and the cultural diversity of Morocco”. He said

Azetta Amazigh has proposed a bill to the government and parliamentary actors to implement the legislation of Amazigh demands, but they haven’t received any response yet.

“We find it very offensive to prevent us as berbers of using Amazigh names for our newborns.” Said Tijani El Hamzaoui.

Rachid Raha, the President in charge of International Affairs of the Amazigh world Assembly believes that the coexistence between arabs and amazigh citizens in morocco is highly recommended, and racism and discrimination could eventually tear apart the Moroccan society, and threaten the stability in this country.

Raha accuses the government of being an obstacle in the path of the activation of the demarcation of Tamazight, instead of giving priority to the implementation of the constitutional reform.

“Any procrastinating in the implementation of our rights may have negative effects on the future of Morocco.” Said Rachid Raha.

“Arabs and Amazighs to live together has become a supreme national interest that must be taken seriously.” He added

Other activists said that they are stronger more than ever, and they will keep fighting to undergo an intense integration into social and political life.

The activists believe that there is still a long way to go to achieve their rights; they want not only to have a comprehensive recognition of their identity, but also to live this victory of a country without any inferiority complex.

Activists claim that the demarcation of their identity in Morocco can be a nightmare for all those with ideologies and narrow nationalism, which could be a barrier in the development of their country as they said.

The Amazigh cultural movement in Morocco is a transnational cultural identity campaign that defends the importance of culture in promoting their identity.

Rachid Bouksim, is an Amazigh activist and the director of the international festival of the Amazigh Film “ISSNI N’ourgh” based in Agadir, refuses to accept any financial support of his festival from the state.

“I will continue in supporting the Amazigh cinema in my festival, only to prove to the government that our existence alongside Arabs is for the cohesion of this country” He said

Some accuse the Amazigh of attempting to dominate the country culturally and politically, their answer is quite the contrary, their priorities are promoting their culture by artistic production.

Activists from the community in Morocco are now quietly campaigning for the Amazigh New Year, Yanayer, to be recognized as a national holiday.

What are the Amazigh women’s aspirations?

They fight to uncover the unseen about them in a community that doesn't distinguish their specificity of being amazigh.

To be an Amazigh woman is not as easy as we think, that’s what we extract from the statements of Meryam Demnati, an Activist and Researcher at the Amazigh Observatory of Rights and Freedoms.

Meryem thinks that Amazigh women are assaulted in their identity, and she believes that they are sidelined in a country of multiple discrimination.

They must fight twice as hard, to have their legitimate rights as the rest of Moroccan women and for their rights as Amazigh.

“Our situation will not change until it is de-linked from any religion, this question of women must be included in human rights and we refuse the segregation according to sex ” she added.

Meryem as a militant for the amazigh women’s rights will continue to work in this direction, and she strongly believes that one day Amazigh woman will regain her rights and dignity.

Despite the fact that amazigh women have reached high positions such as parliamentary deputy, their existence is still linked to their identity as amazigh and not to the quality of their work.

Amazigh women activists find themselves deprived of real participation in the political and the cultural life in morocco.

The few rights they have are not even understood by them because they are not written or expressed in their native language.

“I am optimistic because of one reason, Amazigh women have an incomparable energy even if illiteracy and the workload still exist in rural areas.” said Meryam Demnati

Today as Amazigh women are more into politics, they are not sufficiently encouraged by men who often overshadow them.

“We need to contribute in the management of regional affairs in particular, in this respect, the law should support equal access by women and men to elected offices” added Meryem

Women, who have seats in the parliament, do not represent their aspirations, they only represent political parties.

Meryem as a Long-winded activist refuses to reduce the Amazigh cause in just intellectual preoccupation; she describes it as an existential question of identity in the forefront.

“Our rights are deeply linked to the rights of the Amazigh movement, and by achieving the amazigh movement demands we will eventually achieve ours too” said Meryem.

Considering the achievements in the field of promoting democracy, Morocco is in a position today to start establishing an advanced regionalization in managing the different parts of the country, and by respecting the particularity of each area, Morocco will definitely manage its diversity.

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

London - Poor housing rights for aboriginal people in Canada have come to a head with over 200 people fighting eviction from land they claim to own.

Oppenheimer Park, in Vancouver, Canada has been host to a number of protests recently as the indigenous population of Vancouver fight for ownership of the land.

The aboriginal people of the city have been fighting against poor housing for a number of years now; this led to the creation of a tent city in Oppenheimer Park, where they have started to protest against the poor quality of living and the housing that the city is providing the indigenous people.

Vancouver police served an eviction notice to the protestors but where in turn hit with some paper work of their own. According to CBC News, the protestors fought the polices eviction notice stating that Oppenheimer Park was on unceded aboriginal land and that no one could make them leave.

Audrey Siegl, supporter of the protest said in a recent interview, that the land had always belonged to the aboriginal people. “We have been here, we never sold this land, we never gave any of it up and this land belongs to us.”

Niki, a park protestor, spends her evenings at the park due to the conditions of her current housing. The placards from the protestors read, “Housing is a basic human right.”

Niki lives in a single person occupation house claims her home is infested with mice and the living situation is unbearable, hence why she spends her evenings in Oppenheimer park, protesting with the other 200 indigenous people.

Niki said, “My home is infested with cockroaches, mice and bedbugs.”

However many of these protestors, unlike Niki, have nowhere else to go.

There is little discussion also that the city of Vancouver sits on aboriginal land.

The Vancouver City Council acknowledged in June that the “Modern city of Vancouver was founded on the traditional territories of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tslei-Waututh First nations…these territories were never ceded through a treaty, war or surrender.” As a result a motion was passed by the council which formally acknowledged this.

However some people from the Musequem and Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh first nations have started to distance themselves from the protestors.

The elected chief of Musqueam, Wayne Sparrow, said to CBC News. "If there are issues with land disputes, we'll be handling them with the federal and provincial governments and the City of Vancouver."

Ed John of the First Nations Summit said it should be no surprise groups of First Nations people are asserting aboriginal title. He said “People are impatient. People want to move and protect lands, whether it's a park or a pipeline,”

Meanwhile the park protestors will continue to meet with the city council to reach an agreement on better housing for their people.

London - Lack of orgasm for Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) may now be a thing of the past thanks to new surgery

Women who have undergone Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) may be able to regain the ability to experience an orgasm through a reconstructive surgery offered by a surgeon in France.

Female genital mutilation (FGM), also known as female circumcision or female genital cutting, is defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) as partial or total removal of the external female genitalia for non-medical reasons.

WHO have separated FGM into three categories; category one is the most common, the clitoris is held between the thumb and index finger, pulled and amputated with a blade. Category two the clitoris is removed but the vaginal lips may also be partially or totally removed. Category one and two are the most common types of FGM. The final category, category three is the most extensive; it involves complete removal of the clitoris, vaginal lips, also the two rounded outer folds that lie on either side of the vaginal opening are removed. The remaining raw edges of the vaginal opening are brought together with stitching. The healed skin covers most of the vagina, and acts as a barrier to sexual intercourse. The only opening is at the back of the vagina, which allows for urine and menstrual flow. The opening can be as small as the head of a pin.

FGM is practiced in many countries across the globe. Somalia has a 98% prevalence rate with other hotspots including Egypt (91%) and Sudan (88%).  The Home Office, have said that there are 66,000 women in the UK who have had FGM and 24,000 young girls at risk.

This technique is the first large trial assessing the long-term effects of this new surgical technique. It included over 3,000 mutilated women and was published in the Lancet. The surgery pioneered by Pieere Foldès of Poissy Saint Germain Hospital in France could restore the womens ability to experience an orgasm during sex.

The technique works on reconstructing the clitoris, which is often damaged or removed when a person has FGM.

Mr Foldès said, “Our findings show that the clitoral reconstruction after FGM is feasible, it will improve the womans pleasure and lessen the pain during sexual intercourse.”

The study looked at almost 3,000 women who had undergone FGM and was conducted between 2008 and 2009.

The women were asked about their clitoral pain and pleasure before and after surgery. 5 per cent of the patients (155 women) had immediate complications, such as a fever. 98 per cent of the women who attended the one-year-follow up visit said they had seen improvement or the pain during sex decreased.

Mr Foldès said, “This technique could allow a mutilated woman to recover their identity.”

The study’s authors said that reconstructive surgery: “Needs to be made more readily available in developed countries by trained surgeons. In France only a limited number of surgeons have been trained on this technique.

Julie Christie-Webb, head of UK programmes at FORWARD, a London based charity that help women of the African community with reproductive and maternal healthcare issues said “Health provision that enables women affected by FGM to live in dignity and free of pain is welcomed”.

Picture courtesy of Jennifer McCall

Huston- Dr. Kristen Brustad is an imminent professor of Arabic at the department of Middle Eastern Studies at UT. Interviewing her about her experience with Arabic and the Arab world is an exercise which can be emotional for me.

Although we wrote email messages to each other in English, I never felt the need to speak to her except in Arabic. And what Arabic - plain Moroccan darija. She speaks it without accent, except for very sporadic interference from Egyptian or Levantine varieties. I was surprised to learn at the end of the interview that she had been to Morocco only for three months in the summer of 1988 while she was doing field work for her PhD degree. For me, she stands on this side of the fence.

Her first contact with Arabic, she says, was a mere coincidence. Apart from a very general idea about the Middle East as a region on the map, she lacked any idea whatsoever about Arabs or Arabic culture. At Harvard, she studied Russian, probably like many other students who were attracted by the job opportunities the knowledge of this language provided during the Cold War. But she was not the kind of person who would opt for a career in intelligence service. Then came a small grant from the Omani government to study Arabic during summer in the Sultanate. She accepted it mainly because she wanted to spend her holidays overseas.

While she was studying the Classical language basically through grammar rules, she became found of the grammatical and the morphological symmetry of the system. The grammar of Russian was much more complicated because of its many cases, compared with those of Arabic, but there were so many exceptions that rendered the knowledge of rules almost useless for the learner. So, although she didn’t learn how to communicate with people, she did love the language and probably became curious to know about the Arabic literary tradition.

Her real contact with Arabic culture, however, always according to her, started later on when she travelled to Egypt. There, she learnt to communicate with ordinary people through the colloquial variety. She spent three years there, working at the American University in Cairo until she was summoned, against her will, by the department at Harvard. She remembers those days with nostalgia. She found Egyptian Arabic to be a living language, much more useful to express the life she wanted than the Classical variety. The warmth of the Egyptian people and their way of life provided her with the alternative world she had been looking for.

Throughout the years, she became more and more involved with the Arabic language and literature, as well as other issues related to the Arab world. Now, she says has both an American and an Arab identity. When she comes back after short stays in the Middle East, she would experience some kind of cultural shock, probably not very different from the one an Arab would experience. I asked her if the sad events happening these days in some Arab countries had not disappointed her, but she answered in the negative. What attracted her most were the people and their culture. I felt, though, that her answer might have been motivated by tact. I was sure she was not happy about that, and that she wished the situation had been better.

Concerning Arabic teaching in the U.S, she considers that it has developed substantially. She could remember how at Harvard she was taught by a German Orientalist through a traditional method that focused exclusively on written texts. But no significant progress could be achieved, given a lack of a strong background in the language. When she started teaching Arabic some thirty years ago, only nineteen universities over the whole the country provided Arabic programs. The number of students was also very small, which often meant that there were no regular classes. A student of Arabic in those times had to rely almost exclusively on him/herself.

After the sad events of 9/11, the number of Arabic programs in American universities rose exponentially. Dr. Brustad believes that this is a good opportunity to strengthen the presence of Arabic in American higher education. Together with Mahmoud Al-Batal, she militated to create a department of Arabic studies that targeted, not only language teaching, but also post-graduate studies in Arabic linguistics and literature. She looks for the day when every respectable American university will have an Arabic department, just like French, Spanish, German or a host of other languages.

To tell the truth, I was amazed at what she teaches her post-graduate students. I attend her course regularly, as well as the weekly meetings of the research group on Arabic and its dialects. Among the readings assigned to students are Sibawahi’s Kitab, Farra?’s ma?ani l-qur?an, Ibn Kutayba’s m?arif, some Umayyad poetry, and of course the Holy Qur?an, which are rarely used as references at Arab universities. What is exciting is that her purpose is not to inculcate in her students the old ideas that Arab scholars have been propagating since times immemorial, but rather to train them to adopt a critical stance in order to develop a deeper understanding of the historical development of Arabic and of old texts.

When I asked her about her evaluation of the contribution of modern Arab scholars concerning these issues, she was rather skeptical of their work. She thought that there were many taboos that Arab scholars were unable to overcome and, consequently, these scholars could not raise pertinent questions or explore new areas of linguistic research. She was talking particularly of the Mashreq, which she said she understood better. Her opinion about Maghrebi researchers is rather favorable, given the quality of work done there, according to her. She believes that the Maghreb will contribute a lot to Arabic culture and thought in the future.

I addressed to her a final question about the role of Arabic departments in encouraging mutual relations and understanding between Americans and Arabs. She asserted that this was happening at the individual level, but probably not between institutions. Cooperation between institutions, such as universities, is particularly discouraged by lack of transparency in Arab countries. She gave the example of the University of Damascus, which proved a few years ago not to have a bank account when the University of Texas wanted to pay tuition fees for a group of American students who wanted to study Arabic there. As to explaining the Arab position concerning regional politics, she recalled her efforts after 9/11 to explain to the community why Arabs would be angry with America.

Mahmoud Al-Batal and herself were frequently invited to clubs, churches, and other sorts of associations to discuss the history and the culture of the Arab region. Dr. Brustad hasn’t experienced much of Morocco, but she keeps good memories of her short stay there. She feels a great need to travel extensively in different parts of the country in order to get closer to its people. We can only tell her: ?ahlan wa sahlan wa marhaba.

Taroudant, Morocco - American Comedian Joan Rivers Died on Thursday 6 September after she went into cardiac and respiratory arrest following a throat procedure a week earlier in a New York hospital.

But before her death, it seems that the controversial native said that she did not want First Lady Michelle Obama to attend her funeral. The list of people who were not welcome to the funeral ncluded also two more American celebrities.

In one of her last interviews to the U.K. Sunday Times Magazine, comedian Joan Rivers reportedly un-invited, the U.S.A.’s First Lady Michelle Obama, pop singer Adele and comedian Chelsea Handler from her own funeral.

The late comedian allegedly referred to the first lady as a "tranny," she called Adele "fat" and Handler a "drunk."

Few weeks before her sudden death in New York, River caused controversy by wishing death to the Palestinians.

Responding to a TMZ reporter’s question about Gaza, she said, “Good. Good. When you declare war, you declare war. … You deserve to be dead. You started it. Don’t you dare make me feel sad about that…you do not recognize them, they are terrorists … And at least the ones who were killed were the ones with low IQs.”

Following these statements, the late comedian reportedly received death threats and hired a body guard, according to the Jerusalem Post.

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

Rabat - Two Emirati officers sentenced to three years in prison for trying to blackmail a Moroccan woman into having sex

Two Emirati police officers were sentenced by the Dubai Criminal court to three years in prison after being accused of trying to blackmail a Moroccan woman into having sex with them in return for not arresting her, according to Emirati website The National.

The incident dates back to February 5 of this year when a Moroccan woman was asked by the two officers aged 22 and 26 respectively to have sex with them as payment for not taking her to a police station after it turned out that she is an illegal immigrant.

The 34-year-old Moroccan woman told prosecutors that a police patrol stopped her while she was in a taxi with a friend.

“They asked for our IDs so I handed him my passport, which he checked on the system. Then he asked me to accompany them to the patrol car because I was an illegal resident,” she was quoted by the National as saying.

The woman added that while in the police car one of the officers told her that he will let her go if she accepted joining him at a hotel and had sex with him.

According to the same source, she said during the court hearing: "I took his phone number and told him we can be friends, then the told his colleague that I agreed to have sex with him in the next day so they let me go."

However, the officers refused to return the passport to the Moroccan woman.

The next day she contacted the police about the matter and was given a phone to record further conversations with both men, according to the same source.

The woman received several phone calls from one of the officers. Most calls were about having sex in return for her passport. The officer was later arrested red handed after agreeing to meet the Moroccan woman.

One of the officers was charged in absentia after he did not appear at the Dubai criminal court. The court also ordered that both men be dismissed from their posts.

Marrakech - In an exclusive article The Daily Telegraph reported that the British government will curtail Muslim Brotherhood activities and visits to London by activists following a report by Sir John Jenkins, Britain’s Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, which was commissioned by Prime Minister David Cameron.

The report highlighted Muslim Brotherhood links with terrorists and armed groups in the Middle East. The Daily Telegraph said that Gulf-based governments put pressure on the UK government to curb the group’s operations in London. It added that the Muslim Brotherhood stands accused of divisive sectarian politics and jihadist links.

The action in London follows the departure of a number of Muslim Brotherhood leaders from Qatar recently, including Mahmoud Hussein, the secretary general of the Muslim Brotherhood, and other leaders. The article said that pressure has been applied in London, Doha, and Istanbul to crack down on the Muslim Brotherhood.

The report by Sir John Jenkins, parts of which are said to be too sensitive to publish, contains submissions from high-level Gulf sources. An area of special concern is the Brotherhood’s charities and financial dealings which are now under scrutiny by the UK’s Charities Commission.

The British government’s action stops short of an outright ban on the Brotherhood. However, a close watch is being kept on the Brotherhood’s offices in Cricklewood in London. The Egyptian government, according to the article believes that much of the group’s activities shifted to London following the arrest of former president Mohamed Morsi. The Daily Telegraph quotes Egypt’s Ambassador to the UK, Ashraf Elkholy, as saying that care is needed to be taken to ensure that London does not become a base for Brotherhood activities in other countries.

London has often been accused of allowing revolutionary movements to flourish in the UK. While there have been legitimate instances such as the Tunisian opposition parties during the Ben Ali era, the current surge of Islamist terrorism with ISIL and other armed groups will make the British liberal approach more difficult to sustain. The fact that London is also an important global financial centre means that there must be vigilance with respect to global transfers of funds by terrorist organizations and those linked with them.

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

Taroudant, Morocco - Away from the fever of international “bucket challenge,” which has swept the world recently, Julie Twydell, from Bromley, London, has issued a challenge to climb Morocco’s highest peaks “in memory of her dad.”

According to Newsshopper, the 32-year-old graphic designer landed in Morocco on Friday, September 12, “to face the tough challenge of clambering up the Atlas Mountains.”

Since she was seventeen, when her father passed away because of cancer, the Bromley woman has been actively engaged in raising money for Macmillan Cancer Support.

"I’m just a normal girl tying to give something back to a great cause," she said.

"Most people have been affected by cancer in one way or another and with every step I will be dedicating it to my dad," the woman added.

Morocco is home to the three highest mountains in North Africa, all located in the long mountain range of High Atlas. The highest peak is Toubkal, with an elevation of 4,165 meters (13,665 ft) in southwestern Morocco.

These rugged mountains offer beautiful vistas and panoramas featuring valleys, adobe houses perched on steep slopes, and gorges that add beauty to the adventures of climbers, hikers, and skiers.

By Abdellatif Oudra

Ouarzazate - For us, it is unquestionably and indisputably real, but for an extraterrestrial it may seem to be a prehistoric tale, as fantastic as a story about dragons. For us, it’s undeniably true that 2,000 innocents were killed and 10,000 were wounded for no reason except that someone wanted to retaliate. For an extraterrestrial, it would be unbelievable that helpless old men, women, and children live in jeopardy, under the shells of barbarians. Why were hundreds of purely innocent children, with tiny eyes and delicate hands, buried under destruction, at their mothers’ bosoms and in their fathers’ strong arms, which in the end could not prevent an inevitable and painful death? Killers and their accomplices tore innocents to pieces, but not because there was no one to stop them. In fact, the victims had an abundance of allies in the vicinity, but the allies preferred to remain passive and let the predator have its prey. For us, it’s unquestionably real that shells were fired every minute at Gaza during the past several months. The outcome: the thorough destruction of a city, resulting in overwhelmingly harsh living circumstances for the survivors. Additionally, there were many deaths, and now the homeless outnumber those with homes, and the wounded outnumber the healthy. It’s not justifiable to kill someone simply because that person damaged your reputation. That is Israel’s conception of war. They fire to force Hamas, the Palestinian Islamic organization, to surrender and absorb the guilt for the dead and wounded. This demonstrates the character of the Israeli army. Barack Obama and Benjamin Netanyahu agreed on the preposterous statement, “Israel has the right to defend itself.” They were misleading. They should have made themselves clear and said, “Israel may kill as many Palestinians they desire, be it children or women.” They should have said, “Israel has the right to destroy Gaza and strip Gazans of their lands.” They should have said, “Israel is free to take youths hostage.” In other words, they should have said, “Gaza is Israel’s land and Palestinians are to go elsewhere.” However, they were not courageous enough to say these things, even if they implicitly meant them. They were not brave enough to be honest, for fear of other countries’ reactions. Yet, there is none to object, even the Arab leaders who have condemned every attempted genocide Israel has committed. The Arab leaders’ condemnation blew away with the wind and changed nothing. Their condemnation will never save those buried alive. It will never feed Gaza’s kids, heal Gaza’s patients, or cure Gazan’s pain and suffering. Gazans have always stayed alert, counting the last seconds of a bitter life that could end at anytime with their roofs crashing down upon their families. The arrogant, hypocritical, and selfish Arab leaders never care for their own people, and they will never lend a hand to the Gazans. Gaza was the focus of the media for a time, and the whole world witnessed the peoples’ suffering. Shortly after the momentary truce and ceasefire, all cameras turned to another political event of more paramount importance, according to the media, and the world forgot about Gaza and what had happened. Poor Gazans: alone they will struggle to dig graves for their siblings. Alone they will heal their sick and rebuild their derelict homes. They are alone because the world is busy with the so-called Islamists in Libya, Iraq, and Syria. However, the cameras will be back when Israel begins war again. We are heartbroken by the situation of our brothers and sisters in Gaza, but all that we have is a prayer asking God to help them. Our hats are off to those Gazans who keep their chins up, notwithstanding their embattled life, because Gaza has borne the unbearable.

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Morocco World News’ editorial policy

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Taroudant, Morocco - For the first time in Morocco, a study on erectile dysfunction, also known as ED or impotence, in men revealed shocking data,.

Conducted by the Endo-Urologie Maroc association, the survey, which analyzed data from 202 married women, ages 20 and older, who engaged in regular sexual activity, reveals that 45.05% of their male partners have erectile dysfunction, including 13% representing severe cases.

Erectile dysfunction is a persistent or repeated inability in men to achieve or maintain an erection sufficient to have a satisfying sexual relationship for both partners.

From the perspectives of the women, the survey attempted to shed light on the degree of sexual satisfaction of the women surveyed, the intensity of sexual desire, and the attitudes of men and women regarding difficulties in erectile function, and to consultation and medication to treat erectile dysfunction.

Out of 202 women surveyed, 54 were illiterate, 35 had received primary education, and 56 of them had studied in higher education.

Regarding the attitude of the men towards their wives, the study found that more than 28% avoided their partner and had given up sexual activity, over 14% had an aggressive character, and 12.87% had adapt and continued their sexual activity.

The survey indicated that only 5% of the men suffering from erectile dysfunction had seen a specialist, while over 26% had used orally administered medication.

Cigarettes, alcohol, and other drugs could be among the main causes of these sexual problems.

The women surveyed revealed that their husbands had addictions: 28% say that their partners are smokers and 2% say their husbands are alcoholics.

The authors of the study, Nadia Meziane, gynecologist; Rabii Redouane, urologic surgeon; Khadija Mchichi Alami, sexologist, and Rachid Aboutaiedb, urologic surgeon, expressed their concern over the widespread incidence of this health problem, calling for urgent medical attention. Erectile dysfunction "should now be considered a public health problem," they said.

Rabat - Mohamed Kotbi, the Moroccan banquet waiter at New York's Waldorf Astoria hotel who made headlines in 2011 after he said he was forced by the hotel management to change his name to keep him from "scaring guests," is reportedly planning to sue the luxury hotel owned by the Hilton company again, and this time for firing him, according to the New York Post.

Mohamed, 52, who had worked at the Waldorf Astoria since 1984, previously filed a complaint against the hotel management for religious and racial discrimination. The suit was then settled for $17,500 according to court records.

It all started on Sept.13, 2001. Two days after the attacks on the World Trade Center when he was asked by the hotel administration to wear different name tags at work suggesting that his name was "Edgar" and "Hector" in order to prevent guests from being frightened by being served by someone whose name is Mohamed.

The Moroccan waiter filed discrimination complaints with the Federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in 2005 and 2009, the newspaper added.

Kotbi said that he sued the hotel not only because of the name changes, but also because the administration did nothing to keep his work colleagues from calling him "terrorist," "al Qaeda boy," and other names.

“They really destroyed me,” Kotbi told the newspaper. “This was my life. It’s the only job I’ve ever had.”

Now, Mohamed Kotbi is planning to file another lawsuit in Manhattan Supreme Court this week for unlawful retaliation.

“If we can’t get justice for our client, we intend to take action in the community and protesting, picketing and rallying in front of the hotel,” Kotbi’s attorney Brad Gerstman was quoted as saying by the NY Post.

The Waldorf owners reportedly declined to comment on the issue.

Photo by Zandy Mangold

Marrakech - Last February, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia confirmed that Saudi citizens who fight in foreign conflicts could be jailed for up to 20 years, reported Middle East Eye.

A court in Saudi Arabia on Monday sentenced 13 defendants for up to 10 years in prison on charges that included joining an Islamist group and fighting overseas. The 13 were part of a larger group of 32 defendants and were convicted of "following the Takfiri doctrine," a term usually used to refer to al-Qaeda, the official SPA news agency said.

Ever since the conflict with Al Qaeda began, following the end of the war between the Soviets in Afghanistan and the return of Al Qaeda fighters to Saudi Arabia, the Kingdom has been afflicted with terrorist cells which it continues to combat. While some sources in the West blame private sources in the Kingdom for funding ISIL and resistance fighters against Bashar Al Assad’s government, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has taken an uncompromising stand against terrorism and has supported the U.S.-backed coalition against ISIL.

King Abdullah recently warned that ISIL “will reach Europe in a month and America in another month” if it is not urgently confronted by “the broadest possible coalition of nations.” Domestically, he has vowed not to “allow a handful of terrorists, using Islam for personal aims, to terrify Muslims or undermine our country and its inhabitants.”

In London, as late as August this year, ISIL was permitted to march in the streets of the capital with a police escort. Following the end of the cold war, the UK security services have taken a longtime to adjust to the rise of Islamist terrorists.

Washington D.C. - Controversy surrounded the opening of what is proclaimed to be South Africa’s first ‘open mosque’ Friday, when a small group of people protested outside the gates at the mosque’s inaugural prayer.  

The mosque, which welcomes people from all genders, religions and sexual orientations, was founded by Taj Hargey, a professor at the Muslim Educational Center of Oxford.

“In South Africa 20 years ago, there was a peaceful revolution changing from apartheid to democracy and we need to have a similar development in the area of religion,” said Hargey in an interview with BBC.

Inside the mosque, media and mosque-goers outnumbered protesters. Women sat alongside men, while they listened to Hargey’s sermon, in which he condemned hatred between Muslims and Christians and blamed it on “warped theology,” according to the AFP news agency.

The Muslim Judicial Council, a non-profit religious advocacy group, told The Telegraph that it is “in the process of investigating the policy and objectives of the mosque.”

The deputy president of MJC, Sheikh Riad Fataar said they would not consider the open mosque a proper place of prayer.

“We see in the newspaper clipping and the messages that this is a place of worship, but we can’t call it a mosque,” he told The Voice of the Cape.

Hargey was born in South Africa under the apartheid regime and became the first South African Muslim to obtain a doctorate of philosophy at Oxford.

In both South Africa and Britain, Hargey has been surrounded by controversy. He is one of the few imams who will conduct marriage ceremonies between Muslim women and non-Muslim men and he is known for supporting a total ban on burqas in the UK.

While the idea of an open mosque may cause uproar among many Muslims, it’s an idea that has picked up momentum in the last couple of years. France opened its first gay-friendly mosque in 2012 and organizations such as Muslims for Progressive Values have gained popularity and membership, although they still represent a small minority within the Muslim world.

Taroudant, Morocco - With the growing threat posed by the Islamic State known as ISIS or ISIL, the whole world is coming together to face the danger imposed by the radical group that calls itself Islamic State.

German Muslims will rally together during the Jumuah prayers, a congregational prayer that Muslims hold every Friday, to protest against ISIS jihadists, and denounce the barbaric atrocities perpetrated by the group, which has nothing to do with Islam and Muslims.

The Germany Authorities called on imams in charge of some two thousand mosques across Germany to use their Friday rituals “to rally against the Islamic State and speak out against beheading in Syria and Iraq,” according to RT.

According to the same source, Aiman Mazyek, the chairman of the Central Council of Muslims in Germany, told the country’s Muslim population on Friday that” they shouldn’t stay quiet about the misuse of the Islamic faith,” describing the Islamic State as “in truth terrorists and murderers" who have dragged Islam “through the mud.”

RT said that the protest in the form of nine large rallies will be held in cities across Germany, including Berlin, Stuttgart, Hanover, and Mölln.

Following the murder of David Haines, the latest in a series of violent murders committed by the Islamic state, a group of young British Muslims launched a campaign to reject the Islamic state, whose acts of violence in recent weeks has sparked international outcry.

Earlier this month, a group of influential imams and scholars based in UK issued early Fatwa, religious edict, prohibiting British Muslims to fight alongside ISIS extremists in Iraq and Syria.

The Muslim imams and scholars condemned the “oppressive and tyrannical self-styled Caliphate,” IS, formerly known as Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, stressing that, in line with the Islamic teachings, it is Haram (prohibited) for British and European citizens to fight with any side in Syria.

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Rabat- What do you think of when you think of Morocco? The winding alleys of Fes, the dramatic peaks of Taza-Al Hoceima Taounate, or perhaps the bustle of Marrakech? Morocco is indeed a wonderful nation, though gambling would perhaps not spring to mind as an activity tolerated in our Islamic nation. The fact exists however; gambling is very much legal in Morocco, and despite being a small industry when compared to international gambling industries, gambling is an area poised for growth and prosperity.

Morocco’s first casino opened in 1952 in Marrakech. The Casino de Marrakech, located within the Es Saadi Hotel, is stately, stylish and exudes grandeur; this place is a must- visit for anyone unfamiliar with the casino’s host city. Following independence in 1956, the traditional brick and mortar casino took off in Morocco, with the Casino de Marrakech joined by premier casinos such as Le Grand Casino La Mamounia and the Mazagan Resort and Casino in Casablanca.

There has never been any true gambling legislation in Morocco, with the only restrictive laws being confined to reducing the number of events that can be bet upon by individuals. Casinos are completely legal, and even if they weren’t, these flashy and lucrative places are largely run as a form of entertainment for the seven and a half million foreign tourists that visit Morocco every year. As a result, gambling activities that cater for the population are largely confined to lotteries and betting on sports. Online gambling has begun to experience growth, however.

The nascent online gambling industry in Morocco is gradually picking up steam. Since 2009, when two internet based, state controlled, national sports lottery services were launched, online gambling has steadily grown. Sites such as VivaroBet and www.casinosagafans.com, which recently began accepting trade from Moroccans, have seen excellent increases in their profits and numbers of users, with aims to cater for a populace for whom the legalisation of commercial betting is likely to occur very soon.

At present, over 470 individual sports betting sites and online casino sites allow Moroccan players to indulge and kick back on their websites; if such activities were made legal by the government, perhaps these profits could ingratiate and bring added prosperity to entrepreneurial Moroccans? Though it is indeed true that many Islamic citizens would be uninterested in such a prospect, many secular or non-Islamic individuals would likely enjoy the prospect of legalisation.