Marrakech - The Moroccan Association for the Fight Against AIDS (Association Marocaine de Lutte contre le Sida, or ALCS), one of Morocco's leading NGOs addressing HIV/AIDS, opened its 8^th Annual National Testing Day event for AIDS on Nov. 3, which runs through World AIDS Day on Dec. 1.

31,000 people in Morocco are infected with AIDS each year, and the majority of them are unaware of it, according to an ACLS news release.

60 percent of patients have no access to treatment until they reach an advanced stage of the disease.

All of the studies and public health guidance to date show that early treatment and regular monitoring of the AIDS infection weakens the virus and makes it non-transmittable to others.

During National Day event, ALCS is targeting 38,500 testing sessions in 40 Moroccan cities and villages. The event will be covered by 50 volunteer doctors, and about 200 assistants belonging to the association.

For more details check the association website: www.alcs.ma/?CIDAG

New York - Moroccan American Nadine Hanafi was honored last week at the United Nations headquarters in New York among the most successful young entrepreneurs in the United States.

The event was organized by Empact Showcase, an organization that celebrates the impact and diversity of young entrepreneurs.

Nadine was chosen for being the founder and CEO of We Are Visual, a creative agency dedicated to eradicating mediocre presentations and empowering people to turn PowerPoint into a powerful communication tool that enhances their message rather than a design liability that puts their audience to sleep.

We Are Visual specializes in creating highly visual and engaging presentations that help their clients tell a compelling story. Based in Miami, FL., We Are Visual serves an international clientele (5 languages spoken) and works with professional speakers, entrepreneurs and Fortune 100 companies.

Empact Showcase recognized Nadine Hanafi’s company as being among the United States’ “Best Companies Started & Run by Young Entrepreneurs.”

“Being honored at the United Nations and having my logo featured on the Nasdaq billboard in Times Square were major highlights in my entrepreneurial career. I am proud to be part of such an energetic group of young entrepreneurs who are each changing the world in their own way,” Nadine told Morocco World News.

"I hope this will inspire fellow Moroccans to start their businesses and make a name for themselves and honor Morocco," she added.

Originally from Morocco, Nadine Hanafi started her presentation design agency out of her living room in August 2013. Using only her personal savings, she embarked on a risky entrepreneurial journey with no business plan: she had a dream of building a successful business, a vision for the company and a gut feeling that people could use her PowerPoint skills to improve their presentation content. Within 14 months, Nadine single-handedly grew the business to six-figure revenue with no external capital.

Nadine first made a name for herself in the presentation design niche market by publishing SlideShare presentations that became viral and landed her a spot in the top 1% most viewed content on SlideShare in 2013. After designing visuals for several speakers at TEDxMiami and TEDxCoconutGrove, Nadine was interviewed by Fast Company in a feature article called The Startup That Wants to Change the Way We Do Presentations.

Within a few months, Nadine’s client list grew more than tenfold as she got to work with entrepreneurs and speakers in 12 countries as well as several Fortune 100 companies. Today, Nadine is expanding her team in Miami and developing more strategic and global partnerships. Her new goal for the company is to design 1500 presentations, in 15 languages, in 2015.

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Rabat- A picture of Mohammed Idammar, a member of the Party of Justice and Development (PJD) and the head of the urban municipality of Tetouan, giving a chicken to an elderly woman went viral on social networks.

In the picture, Mohammed Idammar perhaps inadvertently joined a trend that Moroccan FaceBook users call "chufuni,” or "watch me giving charity.” The trend features politicians who exploit poor people for political interests.

Several artists and celebrities have already published their own pictures providing assistance to the poor. For example, last July a member of the Socialist Union Party posted a picture of herself giving yogurt to a poor woman.

Moroccan FaceBook users condemn such behavior, as they find it unacceptable to take advantage of poor people for political campaigns.

But unlike other politicians who posted their charity pictures on their Facebook accounts, it is unclear whether the picture was posted by the PJD member himself or was taken by someone else without his knowledge.

Last summer, pictures of Hamid Chabat, the Secretary General of the Istiqlal Party, praying at his house, and pictures of the Parliamentary Councilor Latifa Ziouani posing for the camera as she handed food to a beggar caused controversy on Moroccan social media.

As pointed out at the time by Moroccan Magazine Telquel, Chabat and Ziouani posted pictures of themselves on their public social media profiles, “in a bid to exploit social media in order to gain more popularity.”

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Rabat - A French wife of an ISIS suspect, was granted Wednesday at the Court of First Instance in the city of El Jadida the custody of her two girls aged 4 and 2, judicial sources said according to Maghreb Arab Press (MAP).

The two girls were in the company of their father Nabil Rhaba when he was arrested on October15 at the Casablanca airport as he was trying to board to join terrorist organization ISIS.

The 4 and 2 year old girls were handed to their mother in the presence of a representative of the Consulate of France in Casablanca, local authorities and the public prosecutor at the Court of First Instance of El Jadida.

King Mohammed VI  had given his instructions to the Moroccan diplomatic and consular services in France to take necessary measures to facilitate access to Moroccan justice to Valérie Rhaba.

The Moroccan consulate in Toulouse was contacted by Valérie Rhaba, spouse of Nabil Rhaba.

The woman also made an appeal to King Mohammed VI to help her recover the custody of her two daughters and provided documents proving her Muslim faith, French nationality and the vital need for one of her daughters to see a physician in France.

MWN with MAP

Casablanca - The Casablanca first instance court sentenced, on Wednesday, the assailant of two Moroccan Jews to ten months imprisonment.

The court also fined the convict MAD 1000 for premeditated assault and battery and acquitted him of the charge of discrimination based on origin or faith.

This case goes back to July 14 when the police arrested a person who assaulted a Moroccan citizen of Jewish faith, Rabbi Moshe Ohayon, and stoned another Moroccan Jew in Al-Khawarizmi Avenue, Casablanca.

Rabat - In response to the call of King Mohammed VI, the Moroccans people will perform on Friday Morning at 9:30 a.m. Salat-ul-Istisqa (Prayer for Rain) to implore God to shower on them His bounty of rain.

In line with the teachings of the prophet Mohamed (PBUH), the Ministry of Endowment and Islamic Affairs called on Muslims all over the country to perform the Salat-ul-Istisqa on Friday morning in different mosques and prayer areas of the Kingdom.

In an atmosphere of piety and devotion, the worshipers, led by the imam, will beg the Almighty to spread bounteous rain on earth and have mercy on His creatures.

The Prophet (PBUH) made it a custom for the people to invoke this occasional prayer whenever affected by drought and seek the mercy and grace of God to send abundant rain.

The Jewish community of the Kingdom responded to king’s last call for Salat-ul-Istisqa on January this year and performed the prayer in all the synagogues all over the country.

Rabat - Over 20 French female students of Moroccan origin have reportedly joined the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS). The new female jihadists have already married ISIS fighters, according to ISIS sources.

The Moroccan daily newspaper Akhbar Alyaoum quoted sources from ISIS saying that ‘’over 20 French girls of Moroccan origin have recently left the universities where they were completing their studies and joined the Islamic State’s ranks in Iraq and Syria.’’

In most cases, the girls who were lured to the ISIS’s ranks appear to have left their countries to marry ISIS fighters, drawn to the idea of supporting their ‘’brother jihadis’’ and giving birth to new Jihadist children, who would then fight for the cause of Islam, supposedly giving their lives meaning.

Several Moroccan-French students have joined ISIS for the same purpose. According to the same source, the new female jihadists have already married ISIS fighters, ‘’while some of them were recruited as the office staff by virtue of their high academic level.’’

Counter-terrorism experts in France believe that France has the most female jihadist in the region. Last month, new French intelligence reports estimate the number of French female jihadists at 100 women. 25 percent of them are of Moroccan origin.

France’s Minister of the Interior Bernard Cazeneuve confirmed that hundreds of French civilians have fled to Iraq via the Turkish border and are now fighting with ISIS’s military ranks in Iraq.

Edited by Timothy Filla

Casablanca - On November 4th, Moroccan NGO Forum Anfa, launched its first awareness raising campaign called “I am Moroccan, I am African” dedicated to combat hate speech and racism against sub-Saharan Africans.

El Mehdi Ezzouate, president of the forum, told a press conference that “this initiative came as a response to a series of unpleasant incidents of racism and hate crimes perpetrated against our African brothers.” “We are united here, civil society actors, artists, journalists, students and academia to openly say we are against any type of racism or discrimination not only towards our brothers coming from Sub-Saharan Africa, but towards any type of hate speech that might touch the dignity of Moroccan citizens and migrants alike,” stressed Ezzouate.

The forum president, who enthusiastically seeks to exemplify the fraternal inter-African relations between Moroccan citizens and sub-Saharan Africans, emphasized that “these acts of racism are everywhere in the world and racism has no nationality, color, religion, race or borders.” He pointed out that Moroccans firmly condemn these irresponsible acts, which according to him are “isolated and not deeply rooted in the Moroccan culture.”

Rayhane El Habto Mawahibi, a member of the forum executive board, highlighted five key principles that guide the actions of the organization: tolerance, brotherhood, peace, solidarity and co-existence. Rayhane said that the “#African_Selfie is “just the beginning before the launch of a larger scale campaign to combat racism and hate speech in Morocco”. When asked about the selfie campaign, the forum president announced his organization's intention to create a think tank committee made of Moroccans and sub-Saharan Africans to brainstorm effective mechanisms to inclusively develop practical and measurable programs to integrate sub-Saharan Africans in Moroccan society and raise awareness regarding any form of discrimination.

Abiola Hamid, president of the Nigerian Forum for Youth Policy and Development and Adeola Austin Oyinlade, lawyer and human rights activist from Nigeria sent a recorded message of solidarity to Forum Anfa in support of their efforts to combat racism. “From Nigeria, we express our solidarity to you our Moroccan brothers and sisters on your “NO TO DISCRIMINATION” campaign. Africa must unite against all types of racism and hate speech and promote tolerance, coexistence and unity. We are all Africans.”

Migration policy & integration

Bilaly Dicko from Mali and president of the “Union Pour la Prise de Conscience” told Morocco World News that “Moroccans today are conscious that racism exists in Morocco and such initiatives like “I am Moroccan, I am African” demonstrate the level of awareness and engagement of civil society here to combat such practices.” Dicko added that “It will be unfair not to mention the efforts made by Moroccan authorities to ensure a better integration of migrants from Sub-Saharan Africa.” “These efforts go in line with the migration policy launched by Morocco’s King Mohammed VI,” he added.

In September of 2013, Morocco launched a new migration and asylum system that would adhere to international standards, examine cases individually and offer legal status to some undocumented migrants estimated at about 20,000.

Education & Awareness

“To make the migration policy work on the ground, civil society should work hand in hand with policy makers to raise awareness through education and behavior change communication campaigns,” Dicko said. Badiane Moustapha, a Senegalese cultural animator in private Moroccan schools where he teaches African culture to Moroccan students, said that a strategy needs to be developed to expand African cultural education to public schools. “Tolerance and cultural coexistence doesn’t come solely by campaigning, it starts with education at school and home,” explained Moustapha.

Role of Culture & Entertainment Education

Samba Soumbathe Soumbounou, another participant from Mauritania and a student on cultural mediation at the faculty of Mohammedia, called on the press conference attendees to be vigilant and aware of stereotypes, misconceptions and media influences on public perceptions of sub-Saharan Africans. He said that real integration is only possible through a mutual cultural rapprochement between Moroccans and sub-Saharan African migrants. “I myself make an effort to speak Darija (Moroccan Arabic) and understand the Moroccan culture; Moroccans also need to come to us and try to understand our culture, values, and way of thinking in order for us to find together a common ground for co-existence,” said Samba.

Commenting on the role of artists in combating racism, Moroccan singer Huda Saad told the audience that “the artist can play a crucial role in spreading messages of peace and tolerance through his/her work and can influence behavior since he/she is more close to the public.” For his part, Rachid Fekkak, a Moroccan actor and producer, highlighted the importance of entertainment education. He called for the promotion of African culture through arts and cinema, as well as including fusion works between Moroccan and African Musicians in major Moroccan festivals.

Inclusive representation and media diversity

Rachid El Idrissi, TV presenter and producer, stressed the importance of ensuring an inclusive representation of diversity in media. “Our Audiovisual media policy should also include migrants like other international channels who include Arabs, people of different faiths and color, etc. sub-Saharan Africans need to have a voice in the media; we need to get to know them better and not see them as a threat,” he said. El Idrissi called upon Africans living in Morocco “to stop grouping in isolated clans and try to integrate into our society and avoid falling in the same trap as some Moroccans who are living abroad who were unable to effectively integrate into their host societies.”

Kisito Ndour, a Senegalese journalist and editor in chief of AufaitMaroc.com, highlighted the importance of educating kids to reject stereotypical images about sub-Saharan Africans. Ndour recently published an article titled “You can call me black, Azzi, but don’t call me Ebola.” “Kids are the ones who will transmit tolerance values to the upcoming young generation. Parents need to explain to their kids that sub-Saharan Africans are also human beings and should not be seen as a threat as it is portrayed to them via biased media, especially after the outcry of the Ebola crisis,” emphasized Ndour.

Ndour believes “there are efforts made by the Moroccan media to raise awareness about racism in Morocco especially after the murder of a Senegalese migrant Charles Ndour, but more should be done to communicate the other image and success stories of sub-Saharan Africans who positively contribute to the Moroccan society.” On migration policy, Ndour “commended the efforts of offering legal status to migrants but acknowledged that Morocco could not host all those migrants, many whom are begging today in the streets of major capitals.” Ndour insists that “Morocco needs to control its incoming migration for the benefit of Moroccans and for the migrants themselves.”

Anti-Racism Legislation?

In 2013 the Authenticity and Modernity Party (known as PAM) presented an anti-racism draft law to parliament following a series of incidents including violent crimes and discrimination related to renting houses to sub-Saharan Africans. The law, which has not yet been discussed or passed by parliament, is an important step towards protecting the rights of migrants in Morocco, but needs to be accompanied by other measures to change people’s behavior and attitudes towards sub-Saharan Africans. As stated by Global Opus Prize winner, Moroccan activist and founder of the Women's Solidarity Association, Aicha Ech-Chenna “It is not enough to say I am Moroccan, I'm African. We have to accept Sub-Saharans as they are, with their religions, Christians or Muslims...We do not need to ask them to convert or change to accept them, we all have an African Identity”.

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Marrakech - Every Nov. 6, Moroccans celebrate the anniversary of the Green March, the largest, longest, and most peaceful march anywhere in the world. The day is a national holiday in Morocco, during which Moroccans recall the extraordinary events of the Green March.

In mid-October 1975, the International Court of Justice at The Hague declared that there existed legal ties of allegiance between the Moroccan throne and the Sahrawi people.

“The materials and information presented to the Court show the existence, at the time of Spanish colonization, of legal ties of allegiance between the Sultan of Morocco and some of the tribes living in the territory of Western Sahara.”

Following this ruling, the late Hassan II announced the organization of the Green March, on Oct. 16, 1975, to retrieve the Moroccan southern provinces from Spanish colonialism.

"Tomorrow, God willing, you will pierce the border. Tomorrow, God willing, the Green March will be launched. Tomorrow, God willing, you will step on a part of your territory, touch the sand of your Sahara, and kiss the soil of your beloved nation,” said the King in an address to Moroccans who had volunteered to participate in the march on November 5, 1975.

Afterward, about 350,000 Moroccans, women and men, headed toward the Sahara, and met in Tarfaia.

All the participants went in an atmosphere of celebration and belief in God and patriotic values. Along the way, People sang joyfully as they made a pilgrimage to a part of their country to show the world that all Moroccans are one when it comes to their country.

In God they trusted, as the Moroccans marched carrying Qurans and green flags, to show the world that all Moroccans were for peace, and that they would take back their rights peacefully, avoiding any damage or useless wars.

They sang the song “Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar… Ferhi y’a ard bladi ard’ak seb’hat hurra”or“God is the greatest, God is the Greatest …May you (Land of Morocco) be cheerful, you are free.”

Thus, Moroccans, with the belief in their national issue, could have what they were determined to realize, as they contributed successfully to the liberation of the Moroccan Sahara.

On November 14, 1975, just a few days after the launch of the Green March, Morocco, Spain and Mauritania, signed an agreement in Madrid, whereby Morocco regained its southern provinces.

The agreement was approved by -al jamaah- the only authentic representative of the Sahrawi people.

Al jamaah confirmed in a meeting on February 26, 1976, in Laâyoune, that the Sahara is Moroccan. Therefore, the agreement put an end to the Spanish presence in the Moroccan territories.

Organizing the Green March was not that difficult for Morocco, as the king, in an interview with the French journalist, Eric Laurent, said:“Sending Moroccans to the Green March was not the most difficult thing, how they would get back to their cities when they were asked to, systematically and in an organized way, believing that the triumph was in their side, was more challenging.”

“That’s what happened,”the king added.

After this historical event, people returned home bringing with them their strong value of patriotism, and Moroccan flags. The new generations of Moroccans found those flags they brought which are still at every Moroccan’s house. Parents and grandparents always told us that they were the Green March flags.

They told us, also, that the people who could not participate in the March stayed by their radios as the March went on, following the news about the March, and standing beside the routes waiting for their families and relatives to come back. They stayed there the whole day celebrating and playing folk music, while they were waiting for them.

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Rabat - Canada’s conservative government is moving forward to ratify a new law that will ban the entry of migrants who practice polygamy with.  The law  aims to protect immigrant women from cultural and gender-based violence, according to Canadian media.

Announcing the new bill, Citizenship and Immigration Minister Chris Alexander said on Wednesday that Canada is strengthening its laws “to protect Canadians and newcomers to Canada from barbaric cultural practices.’’

The new bill, dubbed the Zero Tolerance for Barbaric Cultural Practices Act will also prohibit practices which are incompatible with Canadian values, such as forced or underage marriage.

If it becomes law, “the bill would eliminate early and forced marriages from Canada's immigration system and the country as a whole,’’ said Alexander.

The French Press Agency (AFP) quoted Chris Alexander as saying that Canada’s government “is sending a strong message to those in Canada and those who wish to come to Canada that we will not tolerate cultural traditions in Canada that deprive individuals of their human rights.”

This new bill comes at a time after which several men from the Middle East in Canada were involved in honor killing crimes. Chris Alexander referred to such cases as “nothing more than murders,” and said that the bill will ensure that perpetrators will not be able to justify such crimes based on cultural differences.

An internal government briefing note obtained by CBC news suggests, however, that the “Zero Tolerance for Barbaric Cultural Practices Act” might not go over so well in some Arab and African countries.

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Rabat- Fed up with the service provided by the ONCF, Morocco's national railway operator, a group of three people, regular commuters of the Rabat-Casablanca line, took notes on all their trips over a period of 45 days, between September 15 and October 30, 2014. Their conclusion: a public service that is more than deplorable.

Low-quality service is the ONCF's middle name. That's a given. But the findings of this group put into context the extent to which the service is unbearably 'bad'. Delays, congestion, problems with ventilation and air conditioning, cleanliness and hygiene, you name it, and it’s a problem.

42% of trains are late

ONCF is adopting a definition of what is considered a “late train”. Using a definition that has also been adopted by the French national railway company (SNFC), if a train making a one-hour trip, such as Rabat-Casablanca, arrives more than 5 minutes after its scheduled time, it is considered late. However, using this indicator, the 100 trains going between Morocco's administrative and economic capitals have a very high rate of lateness of 42%. 17% of delays are over 15 minutes, on a journey of one hour.

Research points to what causes these delays. The findings suggest that the delays are due mainly to problems of coordination and communication, poor organization, and equipment failures. Even worse, ONCF does not even bother to inform passengers of these delays. According to the study, several agents can be on a station platform but are unable to provide useful information on when a train will arrive or depart.

In this regard, the study used an example of one a train that completed the journey from Casablanca to Rabat in two hours and twenty minutes after a hardware failure in the middle of nowhere. The driver reportedly did not even have the courtesy to inform passengers why they were stopped for 30 minutes. The natural reaction of the passengers was to hold the track and block the traffic while they waited for ONCF officials and a train to bring them back home.

32% of trains lack air conditioning

The study blamed the ONCF for buying trains from an Italian manufacturer who perhaps 'forgot that Morocco is relatively a warm country and that it would be useful to have windows in the trains.'

The study also drew attention to the fact that, in addition to 'the tiny windows that are often condemned and impossible to open', the controller often forgets to turn on the air conditioning, turning the train into a 'real furnace'.

You will pay full price, you will remain standing

In 15% of cases, passengers cannot find a seat on the busiest line in Morocco. The study concludes that trains should be absolutely avoided on Monday morning and Friday night. The authors of the study blame the ONCF's lack of action towards increasing the number of trains at peak hours, especially between 7:00 and 10:00 AM and between 5:00 and 7:00 PM.

In case of trouble, the controller disappears

In 31% of cases, no ONCF controllers have been reported to be present, according to the study. In the case of a 'cattle train', (a train that is late, very crowded, and without air conditioning), ONCF controllers failed to appear in 100% of cases. The authors of the study explain this as an attempt by the controllers to avoid the wrath of passengers.

Your complaints will eventually end up in the trashcan One of the most 'shocking' findings of the study is that complaints from passengers are not being processed by the ONCF. Seven complaints were filed in a year, and none have received a response from ONCF. "Are they aware that negligence in the handling of customer complaints may become grounds for prosecution in Morocco?" asked the study.

Still…the Casablanca-Rabat line remains the best served by ONCF

The study suggested that despite the poor quality service provided to commuters of the Casablanca-Rabat line, there are other routes that are far more neglected, such as Marrakech, Oujda, and Tangier. These are routes that have even more deplorable conditions: delays, extreme congestion, air conditioning constantly out of order, and even vandalism and security problems in the so-called “first class”.

Fez- Have you ever asked yourself “what does it mean to be Moroccan?” Can you give a definite answer in simple words? How would you feel about such a question?

Is it the language you speak which tells people that you are Moroccan, which language or dialect you are supposed to speak so others can refer to you as Moroccan? Is it the land you belong to that builds your Moroccan identity or is it your original race or ethnicity? Does your birth name define your presence or your affiliation to a particular land that gives you your nationality? Are they the traditions, customs and principles that your parents, school, society taught you which make you Moroccan?

Identity is a complex structure that cannot be defined in simplistic terms. It does rather raise more questions, such as whether a person is born with some innate features of his cultural identity or are they acquired and adopted through time.  It also leads us to ask whether a cultural identity is shared or not. Supposing it is shared, what would make a person’s cultural identity different from others since, as we know, everyone has their own identity that makes them different from others.

You can be a humble citizen and you can be a king and would still be referred to as a Moroccan. I still have the same question on my mind: what makes a person “Moroccan”? Why I’m not American or Lebanese or Spanish why I’m not Tunisian, why I’m not Somali? Is it possible to consider myself a citizen of the world, which is how a friend of mine always refers to himself?

I believe that one of the anxieties we all feel, whoever we are, is the fact of being interconnected to the whole world. Sometimes I think about it as a blessing and other times as a curse. We live in a world that has become globalized, which consequently affects our way of life, our thinking and lifestyles and more riskily our identities that are exposed to both the local and global environments.

I’m Moroccan not because of the land I live in, or the air I breath, nor the relatives and the friends I have. I’m Moroccan because of the love I carry in my heart to the land I belong to regardless of the place I might ever be in. I can never restrict or reduce my “Moroccanness” to the dialect I speak. I do only speak “darija” while not all Moroccan people speak it. There are different dialects spoken all over the country: Tamzight, Tachlhit, Tarifit, Hassaniya… Also, I can never refer to my “Moroccanness” by my religion though Islam is the official religion of the country but still there are some Moroccans who are Christians, Jews, and even atheists. I’m Moroccan because of the pride I have towards this land and the hope I will always possess of seeing my country continuously develop.

Morocco is a nation that is well-known by its multi races. There are different dialects spoken in various areas. Moroccans are not just Arabs but also Amazigh people, who are the original inhabitants of the country. We therefore can never speak of one specific fixed Moroccan identity but identities and our Moroccan identities are lived and experienced.

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Taroudant - The US health care system is costly. It is very difficult for the poorest and even the middle class to gain access to health care. However, many associations and groups of individuals are mobilizing to make it easier for needy people to receive health care.

Following the example of many health institutions in the US that treat poor patients for free, such “Rahma” Clinic in New York, the Red Crescent clinic in Alabama, and the Muslim clinic in Memphis (which has received an award), Miami Gardens clinic now offers free health care to those most in need.

Run by a Muslim medical team, the clinic provides health care for anyone who cannot afford the cos of treatment regardless of their origin or religion.

With a team of 32 volunteers, the clinic offers its services six days a week for those who have no health insurance or government assistance.

Because medicine is also very expensive in the US, the patients at Miami Gardens will also have access to drugs at a reduced rate.

Led by Dr. Zafar Qureshi, the clinic receives between 30 and 35 patients per day. Once a month, specialists in pediatrics, psychiatry, and cardiology offer free consultations to the poor patients.

It is with these kinds of initiatives that Muslims show the true image of Islam and its principles of generosity, tolerance, and self-giving.

Such generous services offered by Muslims communities abroad will surely correct the negative image of Islam that terrorists and the biased media promote of Islam and Muslims.

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Baku – Azerbaijan - Two Moroccan civil society and youth policy specialists, Karima Rhanem and Yassine Isbouia, recently took part as panelists at the first ever United Nations-backed Global Forum on Youth Policies. The forum, held in Baku, Azerbaijan from October 27 to 30, brought together over 700 participants from over 165 countries.

Youth Ministers, experts, advocates, civil society members, and representatives of the United Nations, as well as other international and regional bodies, participated in panel events, bilateral discussions, and informal meetings on how to renew commitment to a global youth policy framework.

Any policy for youth Leisure?

Yassine Isbouia, general coordinator of the Mediterranean Forum of Youth, spoke in a panel with UNESCO about leisure policies for youth.

He said that “free time is an important factor for the development of youth and children’s personality and for their social integration.” He added that “leisure and free time need to be institutionalized by a public policy. Yassine stressed that “during free time, the young person is ready to accept, learn and acquire any given knowledge, skill, and attitude that is given to him or her under non-formal education.”

“It is unfortunate that leisure has no importance in the educational system of many Arab countries. Extra curricular activities at school are limited, if not absent, and this may lead kids to choose the street as an alternative,” added Isbouia, raising concerns of youth falling into the trap of extremist ideologies or other kind of dangers, such as drugs, alcohol abuse, violence, crime, and terrorism.

Today, “there is a need more than ever for a coordinated effort of all education stakeholders to mobilize resources and funds to meet the needs of children and young people and prepare them for life,” he concluded.

Strategies for youth and stakeholders’ participation

From her part, Karima Rhanem participated in a panel with the UNDP under the theme “Governing youth policy frameworks – strategies for youth and stakeholders’ participation.

To ensure greater stakeholder participation; Rhanem told a panel “there is a need to improve the legal enabling environment allowing for more inclusive, transparent and equal participation of citizens including civil society and young people in public policy development, implementation and evaluation.”

Rhanem highlighted cases in the Arab world of an inclusive process of youth policy creation and the specific characteristics of participation strategies that made them successful. She also highlighted challenges and issues of practical implementation of policies.

“It is highly important to find out alternative ways to turn youth street protest into a meaningful constructive dialogue with stakeholders and empower youth led organizations to be an influential force of proposition impacting policies,” she said

For that to happen, there should be a political will from the state institutions, and a civic engagement from civil society and watchdog organizations to take part in a coordinated cross sectoral dialogue. A monitoring and evaluation system also needs to be put in place to ensure recommendations and proposals presented in the dialogue are implemented and felt by the general grassroots to whom it was originally designed.

Rhanem argued that “the main reasons leading civil movements in the Arab world to dissolute is their focus on toppling figures rather than presenting alternatives to change the system of governance.”

Many of these movements, according to Rhanem, are characterized by division, a lack of vision and leadership, the tendency to refuse dialogue with authorities, and choosing the street protests and boycotts as their main recourse.

She added that “many demanded the fall of institutions without thinking about an alternative transition and the availability of real political new elites to run the country.”

“Some of their demands were way too ambitious, unrealistic, and could not take effect immediately. Change needs time, inclusive dialogue, and realistic proposals. This doesn’t mean that some measures could not have been taken immediately, but real change needs a vision to make an impact,” said Rhanem.

In some countries, like Morocco, civil movements have been weakened by a series of reforms that the Kingdom has undertaken as a quick response to uprisings. These reforms caused the movements to gain little international attention and lose its ability to gain grassroots support.

Rhanem also provided examples on how youth protests, demonstrations, and riots can be transformed into constructive participation of young people in political processes and what reactions from both governmental actors and young people themselves are needed for such a successful transformation.

From Street Protest to Constructive Dialogue

Karima Rhanem also gave an overview of Morocco’s reforms following the Arab Spring and how civil society and youth were able to move from street protests into a real force for change that could influence the country policies, helping to pass constitutional reforms and formulate legislation related to youth, civil society, and citizenship in general.

Unlike other countries in the region, Rhanem said that Morocco has witnessed both street activism led mainly by the February 20th Movement and an institutional revolution led by the youth wings of political parties and civil society organizations.

The consultations on constitutional reforms included for the first time vast consultations with civil society organizations, which submitted over 200 Memorandums to the government, out of which 55 demanded the creation of consultative councils, including councils focused on youth.

Prior to the premature 2011 legislative elections, a coalition was formed composed of representatives of the youth wings of political parties and civil society organizations who have led a political communications and advocacy campaign to put pressure on the state and political parties to establish a quota for youth representation in parliament.

“Although the quota system is debated, and viewed by many as a non democratic system. Youth and institutions considered it as the ultimate solution within the current context. After several meetings, held with heads of political parties and the ministries of youth and interior, the new election code, voted by the parliament, allowed for the creation of a national list for youth. This has guaranteed 30 seats for youth in the parliament,” Rhanem explained.

She mentioned other initiatives at the local level, through the creation of ad hoc or temporary committees following Article 14 of the Communal Charter, allowing for greater participation of youth and civil society in the management of local affairs.

“The draft law on petitions and legislative motions should also move citizens from the culture of complaining to a culture of alternative proposals,” emphasized Rhanem.

A new culture of public consultation & dialogue

In relation to effective stakeholder participation, Rhanem outlined that Morocco launched a year and half national dialogue with civil society, reaching out to more than 10,000 participants and hundreds of civil society organizations (CSOs), diaspora groups, and stakeholders in Morocco’s sixteen regions to discuss key constitutional questions to develop specific proposals for the Parliament and to shape public policies. To lead the dialogue, a committee was formed consisting of over 60 appointed representatives from government, CSOs, universities, human rights councils, constitutional bodies, MPs, and political actors.

The dialogue aimed to produce several key outputs, including new CSO-related organic laws and a review of the 1958 Decree on the right to establish associations, a diagnosis of civil society in Morocco considering CSO capacity and governance issues, the laws on legislative motions and petitions, the law on public consultations, and a ‘Participatory Democracy Charter’, which is a road map for the implementation participatory democracy, as stipulated in the 2011 constitution.

Another parallel dialogue was conducted by civil society coalitions who were not pleased with the government dialogue. They issued their own recommendations and proposals. “This only shows the level of dynamism and maturity of civil society, which instead of just protesting conducted its own dialogue and make proposals and recommendations, while advocating for its implementation,” she added.

As for youth dialogue, Rhanem mentioned that “the Ministry of Youth and Sports also launched in 2012 a consultation with around 35,000 youth across the Kingdom with a new vision to have an inclusive process in developing a strategy for youth, which was finalized in 2014. The Ministry formed a committee to develop a youth law and a law on the Consultative Council of Youth and Community Work.”

Rhanem concluded that “there are a number of initiatives in the law concerning political parties, election code, communal charter, and other normal or organic laws that encourage civic and political participation of young people. Yet, there is still a problem in the implementation of these policies and involving youth in key political decisions.”

Birth of African Network of Youth Policy Experts

It is worth mentioning that Karima Rhanem was also among the most active African delegates at the forum who engaged in an intensive dialogue and mapping and analysis of youth policies on the African continent, which was followed by a concrete document that led to the emergence of the African Network of Youth Policy Experts.

The platform, which was openly announced at the closing session of the Global Forum, is designed to enhance advocacy for youth policy implementation among African countries by persuading Africa’s UN Member States to renew their commitments regarding youth policies.

Quoting the UN Secretary General’s Envoy on Youth, Mr. Ahmad Alhendawi, who received the African delegates that initiated the network, “we have seen young Africans come together to establish a network for researchers on youth policies. We have seen countries pledging support and commitment and resources to support the global initiative on youth policies. I’ve seen people debating issues around youth policies.”

The forum concluded with the launch of an outcome document pledging to support countries that are in the process of developing and “elevating” national youth policy.

The Baku Commitment on Youth Policies, which was agreed to by participants and co-conveners (the UNDP, UNESCO, the Council of Europe and the team of youthpolicy.org), highlights the principles to guide formulation, implementation, and evaluation of youth policy in the 21st century. It calls for greater youth involvement in youth policy monitoring and evaluation.

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Rabat- For three years, a butcher in Zurich, the largest city in Switzerland, deceived his Muslim customers by selling them pork falsely presented as calf.

The butcher has reportedly sold 3.1 tons of pork making his customers believe that the meat is Halal, according to the Swiss version of 20Minutes, which revealed this scandal.

In a routine control of food security, an inspector noticed that the meat presented for sale didn’t look like calf, as the tag claimed.

The manager of the butchery was sentenced to 6 months in jail and a fine 18,000 Swiss francs (about $18,680) "for fraud and misrepresentation."

“If customers had known it was pork, they would not have bought it because Islam forbids the consumption of this type of meat,” says the prosecutor handling the case.

The butcher was deceiving his customers double fold. On the one hand, Muslims who were buying meat at his shop did not know it was pork, which is forbidden according to the teachings of Islam. On the other hand, he made substantial profits, since pork is much cheaper than the calf on the meat market.

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Rabat- A seven-member gang was arrested in the northern city of Tangiers on grounds of kidnapping a minor. The gang has reportedly demanded the parents of the victim to pay a ransom of MAD 1 million to release him.

According to Al Ahdath Al Maghribiya daily newspaper, On October 30, a real estate developer in the city of Tangiers contacted the police in order to report the kidnapping of his son.

Preliminary investigation found that the minor was the victim of a gang comprised of seven members, including a woman.

Police said the kidnappers demanded at first MAD 1 million ransom, and then lowered their demands to 300,000 Dirhams.

The victim was found in the under-privileged neighborhood of Beni Mekada where he was held hostage by the kidnappers, police said.

Authorities said the female member of the gang used Facebook to persuade the 16-year-old teenager to meet her.

As soon as he met with the young woman, the teenager was confronted with the other members of the gang who forced him into their car.

The seven defendants, including the young woman will be brought to justice at the end of the preliminary investigation, according to security sources quoted by the newspaper.

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Austin - Who could imagine that I will find students learning Moroccan Arabic at the University of Texas? Here, as in other American universities, it is widely believed that the Arabic language is best associated with Egypt and, to a lesser extent, the Levant. It was mere coincidence that brought together some friends of Morocco who believed that Moroccan Arabic was as beautiful as any other Arabic variety.

Si Mike is one of these people. His story with Morocco started a few years ago when he decided to be a volunteer in Peace Corps. When he was a student at university, he started learning Arabic, but he was not very serious about it. It was probably part of the Arabic program that he travelled to Amman, Jordan, and Jerusalem. There, he managed to pick up the Levantine variety of Arabic. It was also an opportunity for him to develop a close relationship with the local population and, I guess, a keen interest in knowing their culture better. He says his short stay in the Middle East was not enough to achieve that end. Nor was it sufficient to master the language well.

After graduation, he thought of living an adventure first before settling down in America. I don’t know whether he found out about Peace Corps by mere coincidence or whether the Peace Corps was his only chance to live an exceptional experience. But he says that this organization enjoys a good reputation among Americans. Si Mike still believes that it is one of the best achievements of the American government in terms of establishing rapport between American youth and local populations around the world. But the rules of Peace Corps are a little harsh: once you accept to be a volunteer, you can’t choose the place you will go. Si Mike was ready to go to China, but he expressed his preference for the Middle East, especially that he had some knowledge of Arabic.

There were two options for the Middle East in the Peace Corps: Jordan and Morocco. Of course, Si Mike would have preferred Jordan, given that he had visited the country before. In comparison, his idea about Morocco was very slight, or he had no idea at all. He could remember a Moroccan administrator at university who spoke to them only in Classical Arabic and was rather reticent. There was an idea that Moroccan Arabic was difficult and, of most of the Arabic dialects, it was the most divergent from Classical Arabic. I don’t know who was behind the dissemination of this idea, but the fact that the Moroccan administrator spoke Classical Arabic only probably reinforced that belief among the American students who knew him.

After a period of six months, Si Mike received the answer: Morocco. He was not very happy, but he was not sad either: at least he didn’t have to go to China. In Rabat, they stayed at a hotel for a few days for training. The training was carried out by Moroccan instructors and it focused mainly on language. There were too many activities during that period, for they couldn’t leave the hotel for quite a few days. When Mike first went out to discover the city and try his linguistic skills with Moroccans, he got frustrated. He can still recall when he asked a shopkeeper for a drink but the shopkeeper responded in an informal way, which Mike could hardly understand. I can imagine how he complained to his instructor and how the instructor tried to encourage him saying that it was a matter of time and that he should be patient.

Part of the training was also to stay a couple of months in Azrou and Mrirt. At Azrou, they stayed in a reception center. Mike had to sleep with ten other young men in the same room, which was a shock to him then, but not now after all he had gone through. At Mrirt, he stayed with a local family and he continued working on his language skills. At the local youth house, he contacted many youngsters and got introduced to the local culture enough to start the next stage.

Then came the decisive moment when he would be sent to a village to spend the rest of his serving period. The volunteers received envelopes which enclosed a document in this connection. They were as much worried as Moroccan teachers usually are after their training. Si Mike found out that he would be staying in Taznaght, Ouarzazate. It is not hard for me to imagine his frustration at that time since I went through a similar experience some twenty years ago. As a young teacher of English, I was sent first to Errachidia, and there I was sent again to a small village 180 km east of the town. The only difference is that I was serving my country and my people while Si Mike was serving an abstract cause I can’t understand well, perhaps Mankind.

At Taznaght, he stayed with a local family. The father (Mike calls him “bba”) could speak Arabic but the mother spoke only Amazigh. So Mike had to to learn Tachlhyt too, if only to thank his host. He soon got introduced to most of the inhabitants. You could imagine him greeting everyone he met in the street or sitting in a café with friends, for he stayed there for two long years. Rarely did he go out of the village because he wanted to stay close and because he didn’t have enough money: he used to receive 2000 DHs a month! Perhaps the only occasions he travelled inside Morocco was when he accompanied a small group of children to summer camps in Imouzzare or El-Jadida. On those occasions, he discovered other aspects of the country which can be completely different from what he saw in mountain towns. He watched the children he accompanied experience some sort of cultural shock as they intermingled with peers from Casablanca or Rabat. Mike, like many other Americans, is astonished by the diversity of the country.

After this two-year period in Morocco, he thought about graduate studies in Arabic. He was accepted at the University of Texas, where he is also teaching Moroccan Arabic. Except for Dr. Brustad, no one there could speak this Arabic variety. Mike managed also to write an M.A thesis about this variety. Immediately after that, he got a Fulbright scholarship to return back to Morocco. This time, he spent most of his time in Ouarzazate, but he also travelled extensively in the country. With his knowledge of Arabic and Tachlhyt, his objective is to study contact between the two languages and how it affected the structure of both of them. As a teacher, he is also developing material to use for various teaching activities. His knowledge of linguistics helps him a lot because there is no complete written grammar of Moroccan Arabic as yet.

Another activity that Si Mike runs weekly is the Moroccan Arabic table. I’ve always attended this activity since I was first invited to it. The idea is to bring together scholars who are interested in the Moroccan language and culture. They have a beautiful tea pot and a tray and, from time to time, they bring mint and mix it with tea. Topics of discussion are various and range from languages to traditions and society. But everyone has to express himself/herself in Moroccan Arabic.

Towards the end of the interview, Si Mike expressed an idea that sums his experience. He says he is very happy to have been in Morocco and that he now realizes that, no matter how different cultures may be, human beings remain basically similar. Having known some Americans in this short stay, I cannot agree more with him.

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Rabat - Africa has made history. During the closing session of the First Global Forum on Youth Policies, held in Baku, Azerbaijan that was held on October 28–30, the birth of the African Network of Youth Policy Experts (AfriNYPE) was announced, the goal of which is to advance the cause of youth policies in the region.

The network was announced at the closing plenary session attended by over 700 invited delegates constituting experts, researchers, professors, and government representatives from across the world, as well as the United Nations Secretary General's Envoy on Youth, Mr. Ahmad Alhendawi.

A member of the Steering Committee, Adeola Austin Oyinlade, a human rights lawyer and youth rights/policy expert from Nigeria described the unveiling as “good news from Africa.” According to Mr. Oyinlade, who is also a resource liaison to the African Union (Youth Division) on the implementation of the African Youth Charter, the network’s objectives include establishing a comprehensive research and studies unit in order to collect reliable data and analyze the current situation of youth policies. This will take place in order to advise key African stakeholders on concrete and practical ways to create a more inclusive development and implementation of current policies while improving the legal enabling environment of youth participation in decision making.

Ms. Karima Rhanem, a civil society and youth policy expert from Morocco, told the gathering that, prior to the global forum, young African delegates engaged in intensive dialogue through social media and desk research. Additionally, a situation analysis of youth policies in the region was enacted by the young researchers, as well as mappings and SWOT analyses, which subsequently produced a concrete strategic document that led to the emergence of AfriNYPE.

“AfriNYPE is a collective initiative of experts on youth policies in Africa who shared understanding of the urgent need for concrete development and implementations of youth policies in an African context,” said Ms. Rhanem.

Yvonne Akoth, a gender equality expert from Kenya and a panelist during the Forum, mentioned the need for young African voices to be heard in public and youth policy development processes in preparation for the post-2015 development goals. This would be one of the objectives of AfriNYPE, which Ms. Akoth described as “a network that would build the capacity of young people, by enabling them to understand the importance of policy implementation in addressing issues affecting their overall development.”

On the strategy to achieve its objective, Abiola Hamid, a youth leader and expert from Nigeria said the network will develop a common and workable understanding of youth policies with theoretical and practical key indicators. He added that the network intends to create a database and fact files as reference points for youth policy research in Africa and carry out assessments and evaluations of African youth policies, implementations and impacts on the lives of African youths.

Mr. Seleman Kitenge, Communication Office and Under Secretary General For Media-GIMUN from Tanzania responded, “I want to see young people have enough understanding of all matters related to policy, as well as being able to have a platform to voice out their views and being part of the problem solving, not being seen as a problem.”

Regarding membership in the Network, Michael Zinkanell from Austria, who is working with youth empowerment projects in Uganda, said, “our members consist of youth policy experts, who are directly working with youth empowerment and/or youth policies, targeting the youth in Africa.” He continued, “All members should commonly value a democratic, fair and gender-balanced approach on how to improve young Africans’ lives through policy development and implementation, regardless of ethnicity, religion, sexuality, or political orientation,” he added.

Lombe Tembo, an economist and a member of the Youth Governance and Accountability Task Team under Restless Development UK from Zambia, said the Network membership base is comprised of  “African youth activists, researchers, policy experts and members of civil society organizations who attended the just ended First Global Forum on Youth Policies.” He continued: “We are looking to widen our membership base and will be reaching out to African youth and youth-led organizations within Africa, as well as African youths in the Diaspora.”

During the AfriNYPE steering committee meeting with the United Nations Secretary-General's Envoy on Youth, Ahmad Alhendawi charged the young network to make ideas into actions. Mr. Alhendawi was quoted by the United Nations News Centre as saying: “We have seen young Africans come together to establish a network for researchers on youth policies. We have seen countries pledging support and commitment and resources to support the global initiative on youth policies. I’ve seen people debating issues around youth policies.”

Since the forum ended in Baku, delegates have returned to their various countries to renew their commitment, engagement and advocacy on youth policy matters. The First Global Forum on Youth Policies was hosted by the Government of Azerbaijan in Baku on 28-30th October, 2014 and was co-organised by the office of the UN Youth Envoy, Council of Europe, UNDP, and UNESCO with technical support of Youthpolicy.org.