Fez - The prophet of Islam, Mohammed (Peace Be Upon Him), is a sanctified figure in the eyes of Muslims. He is revered because of the revolutionary changes he made to eliminate horrendous practices such as infanticide, slavery, and human trafficking. Such barbarities were engendered in the pre-Islamic era, when women were treated like possessions. The divine revelation he received advocates peace and compassion in a society that was fraught with hate and rancor.

He faced implacable resistance from some people, and underwent severe crises, but he never gave up or resorted to violence, even though Arab tribes committed massacres and retaliations, raiding each other for material gain. Early Muslims were decapitated and subjected to abject and excruciating torture. The Prophet was dubbed “Al Amine,” the trustworthy, and God chose him to shoulder the responsibility of preaching Islam using convincing evidence to attract his followers and pacify his opponents. His peaceful attitude toward conflicts and his enemies astounded his rivals and earned him much respect.

The recent terrorist attacks in Paris that left seventeen dead were a blatant breach of freedom of speech, regardless of the double standards adopted concerning the issue. The cartoonists had the wrong idea about the Prophet, similar to conceptions that prevailed during the Prophet’s own life. While the Prophet worked shrewdly to discredit those ideas by alleviating much of the peoples’ misfortunes and improving his nation, many modern Muslims have failed to do the same.

Some radicals even misappropriate Islam and use it to justify reactionary violence, destroying the religion’s reputation.  Muslims are required to follow the path of the prophet to change misconceptions about Islam, employing communication to clarify ambiguity and dispel equivocations. Violence contravenes Islamic values and the impetuous terrorists are naught but worthless fools. Their deplorable acts only instigate others to take revenge and ruin the lives of millions of Muslims throughout the world.

Back to the recent Paris attacks: certainly, I am not Charlie, since my morals and conscience do not allow me to approve of the defamation of the Prophet. However, I do condemn the attacks, as killing people is not excusable under any circumstances whatsoever.

Islam is being targeted, and its opponents look for loopholes that they can use to strengthen stereotypes about the religion and taint its image. Indeed, terrorism is damaging our unity and integrity. No matter how hard Muslims try to improve their status through sermons and speeches, the world will turn a deaf ear, because actions speak louder than words.

First, we should be steadfast in condemning terrorism, and teach our children that violence is not part of Islam, and diversity is God’s will on earth. These principles should be ingrained from early childhood, so that children do not fall prey to the extremists.

Second, Muslims should display their noble intentions and refined souls. They have to work on positive social values and develop their nation in all domains, portraying a good image that can extend to international outreach. Real Islam is to show tolerance and work hard to advance the nation socially, economically, and politically, starting from the basics. If we boost our economy and adopt democracy, in addition to sharpening our values to create equality between people and guarantee rights for the poor and the destitute, we will not be obligated to defend ourselves from detractors. Our reputation will precede us.

I am sure that instead of cursing and blaming the West for disparaging Islam, we have to work hard to brighten its image by showing talents, tolerance, and co-existence. Those who espouse violence help anti-Islamic sentiments and contribute to stereotypes, and they do not represent us.

Photo by Jack Stanovsek/MWN

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

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

Rabat - Every winter, Chellah in Morocco’s capital city of Rabat attracts dozens of storks. The former Roman settlement is worth a visit – not only for tourists.

“Clack-clack-clack-clack-clack,” is heard from afar. And again, “Clack-clack-clack.” We have not yet reached the reddish-brown walls and imposing gates, but already know who’s in charge here: a stork is perched at the very top of a battlement. He proudly extends his feathers, stretches his long neck and clatters his beak. Here, at the edge of Rabat where the gentle hill of the city drops to the river, stretches Chellah. It was an ancient Roman settlement, later an Islamic necropolis that has long been taken over by nature and is now one of the favourite places of many storks. Once you have walked through the gates you can see all the way to the banks of the Bou Regreg. The river separates Rabat from the neighbouring city of Salé. Its hills, covered with colourful buildings, stretches on the horizon. Between them is dark green pastureland. A few sheep graze on a slope; their bleating can be heard all the way to Chellah.

“Clack-clack-clack.” Again, the storks announce themselves. Their numbers cannot be guessed at first glance. They perch in the trees, spread out with their nests in the ancient necropolis, gaze down from the mosaic-covered minaret of the mosque. When it gets cold in Europe, the birds move to Chellah. Not singly or in pairs, but as a large group. “I haven’t seen this many storks in Germany for twenty years,” a German visitor marvels. A few tourists stroll through the ancient complex, but since Rabat is rarely mentioned in the guidebooks, Chellah is never crowded. Moroccans bring their families here at weekends; some bring along a picnic. Young couples walk through the overgrown ruins. The capital city seems very far away.

Today a peaceful place, it was once a bustling town. The first traces of a settlement go back about 2,000 years. The Phoenicians were probably the first to build here. When the Romans took over the helm in around 40 BCE, it grew to become a larger city. Remains of pillars, streets and some walls testify to it still. Later, Sala Colonia, as the Roman settlement was called, was given up in favour of the pirate haven of Salé. When the Merinid dynasty conquered Morocco in the 13th century, Sultan Yakub established a cemetery here. Mausoleums and a mosque were added. Sultan Abu I-Hassan converted Chellah to a necropolis in the 14th century. Its ruins lend the place a mysterious air today.

More has been preserved of the Islamic complex than from Roman times. The walls of the small mosque still stand and its minaret overlooks the entire site. Behind the mosque, steps lead to a sort of botanical garden. Bamboo, snakewood and orange trees grow here and a few benches invite visitors to linger. The walls surrounding Chellah are the same as the city walls of Rabat, but here we encounter no hustle and bustle, no traffic, but only peaceful silence. It gets noisy here only once a year, when musicians from Morocco and Europe perform at the Jazz au Chellah festival. For one week they attract hundreds of fans each evening to extraordinary concerts in a very special ambience. Now, in the winter, nothing hints at the spectacle. A stork glides through the air almost noiselessly, wings outstretched, red feet elegantly extended. With a few stalks in his beak, he effortlessly lands on his nest. The holiday has begun.

*Morocco World News is participating in the journalistic exchange project “Close-Up” of Goethe-Institut, in which journalists from Germany and Arab countries swap their workplaces for two to four weeks. The editorial journalist Anne Allmeling from Deutsche Welle in Germany is our guest journalist for three weeks. In return, our editor Tarik Elbarakah will be the guest of Deutsche Welle in February 2015. You can find more information at www.goethe.de/close-up

Marrakech - The so-called Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has posted graphic photographs showing the brutal execution of four men and one woman on charges of homosexuality, theft, and infidelity to Islam.

Photographs posted on the ISIS website show two allegedly homosexual men in Iraq being thrown off a tall building as a large crowd of onlookers watches their bodies plummet and shatter as they hit the ground.

The two men are seen with blindfolds at the top of a building being held by two ISIS members before being thrown off the building, after having been “convicted" of being homosexual. The “sentence” was imposed under a provision of the law that requires “execution of prescribed penalties against all those who commit an act against Lot’s nation,” according to the ISIS website.

Beside the pictures is the following commentary by the ISIS official website managers: “Execution of the legitimate verdict on those who have committed the Great Corruption.”

Another photograph posted on ISIS’s official website shows two men being crucified on charges of being thieves.

An ISIS member reads the charges against the two alleged thieves out loud before they are then shot by other ISIS militants in the head.

ISIS also published a photo showing a woman draped in an all-black niqab standing in front of an ISIS member, about to be stoned to death on an accusation of infidelity.

Since ISIS proclaimed itself the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, it has committed numerous crimes and human rights abuses which have been condemned by the world, precipitating a military response against the self-proclaimed state by several countries including the United States and Morocco.

New York - I am firmly convinced Islam is the best medicine for any human affliction. It is the ultimate source of psychological, emotional, spiritual, physical and even financial well-being. Islam reconnects us with our true essence and with all that is good, honorable and pure. It is the natural answer to a human being’s instinctive quest for truth, justice, and beauty and teaches us the path to prosperity.

Its powerful message rescues us from the self-destructive perils of egoism and protects us from our modern society’s reduction of humans to the material. The Quran invites us to seek knowledge and reflect so we may appreciate truth and derive our power from it. Islam serves as an infallible vaccine against the disease of greed, bottomless lust for material acquisition, and unquenchable thirst for pleasure and instant gratification. Our religion’s wisdom is the doorway to values that fortify the spirit, such as love, unity, respect and peace. The teachings of Islam, when consistently applied to our lives, make us remarkably strong individuals.

It is our duty as Muslims to utilize this wisdom to strengthen our inner selves, excel in every area of our lives, and make a great contribution to the world. The following teachings can help us do that:

The Innate Dignity and Value of a Human Being

Dr. Sultan Abdulhameed explains that this aya “points to an important spiritual reality: the intrinsic worth of man because of his great potential. Everyone knows this truth instinctively. For this reason, the most important need of a human being is to feel valued, to be respected and to be honored.”

We don’t need to earn our self-worth by accomplishing anything; it was given to us by God. However, when we internalize this truth, great achievement is inevitable. We must first become conscious of the fact that we were made by the Most Magnificent God and that we have a degree of His magnificence within us. If we reflect on this idea regularly until it becomes a conviction, we begin making favorable choices in every situation and, eventually, these accumulate, resulting in a spectacularly successful life.

In contrast, when we have high self-esteems, we treasure our lives and spend our time wisely. We take care of our minds by constantly learning, of our souls by reflecting and praying, and of our health and bodies by eating well and exercising. Our bodies and our souls were given to us by God as a trust; they do not belong to us. We are accountable for them and must take excellent care of them. If we follow this path, the path of Islam, we manifest an inner and outer beauty so radiant and powerful that no superficial approach could ever match it.

The Quran and the Life of Excellence teaches us that in order to benefit from this knowledge: “we should act in ways that recognize our self-esteem, irrespective of our circumstances. Train yourself to behave with poise, to walk like a dignified person, and to talk like a noble person. Do not use words of inferior meanings and never use foul language. You create your self-esteem by how you conduct yourself when you are alone. Always be aware that the way you dress, sit, stand, talk or eat, even when you are by yourself, makes a statement about the value you place on yourself.”

Hope, Optimism and Faith

“And who but those who have gone astray despair and abandon hope of their Lord’s Mercy?” (15:56)

If we have strong faith, we do not despair and we do not succumb to hopelessness or pessimism. If we are having difficulty with this, we can follow Prophet Muhammad’s example and regularly pray for God to increase our faith. The Prophet (PBUH) said: “Faith wears out in the heart of anyone of you just as clothes wear out, so ask Allah to renew the faith in your hearts.”

As Muslims, we believe in the Most Merciful and Most Compassionate God who is also the Most Powerful. Pessimism and hopelessness are a denial of these truths and, therefore, of our faith. If we have tried and failed repeatedly, our efforts are not wasted. We have earned countless gains through them. We should not feel disappointed or pessimistic and we must never give up. God’s promises are true and will happen if we stay strong in our faith, regardless of the external circumstances. Being optimistic, hopeful and perseverant are real ways to express our faith in action. Stating we believe in God and in Islam while acting in self-defeating pessimistic ways is a form of falsehood. Faith and action always go together.

Hope and optimism are, therefore, the very essence of our faith.

Avoiding the Obsession for More and More

The following sura has strongly impacted me and become ingrained in my mind:

“The obsession for more and more diverts you until you go to the graves. But you will soon know, and again, you will soon get to know. If you but knew it with certain knowledge you would be seeing a blaze. Surely you will then see it with certainty of sight. Then on that day you will be questioned about your indulgences.” (Surat At-Takathur)

We live in a society obsessed with the accumulation of material wealth. We pursue it at any cost, even the oppression and destruction of human lives. But we know deep down that life has a higher purpose. The Quran warns us of the dangers of wasting our lives infatuated with material acquisitions. This sura “teaches us to become conscious of the value of life now so we can use our time for better purposes.”

Every person knows at some level that buying more things, and accumulating more wealth, does not bring meaning to our lives. We get caught in a sort of unconscious collective madness and we imagine that money is the most important thing in life. Some people make it their god and do anything for it. This is a sad and a wasted life because deep meaning and fulfillment are only obtained “by working toward a purpose that is larger than yourself, something that creates goodness beyond our personal needs.” A clear understanding of our religion and application of its wisdom helps us avoid this insanity and stay focused on worthwhile pursuits throughout our lives.

We must also remember that wealth and possessions do not belong to us, but are blessings from God and belong to Him. We will not be taking them with us when we die, but we surely forget and act as if we will. Wealth can be of great benefit if we know how to use it wisely and for the sake of God. That is, to help alleviate the suffering of others, build things of value that help the community, and live life fully but without ostentation or wastefulness. However, we must never become attached to money or make it the main goal in our lives: “Do not covet this world, and Allah will love you; do not cover what people possess, and people will love you.” (Sahih Bukhari).

The Power of Mindful Prayer

Prayer is magical and can help us achieve miraculous results we would never be able to attain on our own. Prayer is our conversation with God and what we ask Him, He will give us. If we want expansion, or we want purpose, we should ask God. Dr. Sultan states that “very little is accomplished with will power alone. Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) achieved so much success in his life through prayer. Prayer was the source of his power.”

Prayer has tremendous power and it must be done attentively for “there is calamity for those who pray, who are unmindful in their prayer.” (107:4-5). The Quran and the Life of Excellence teaches us that praying mindlessly “damages a person’s spirit and produces chaos in his or her life. It is because of a lack of understanding of this fact that so many people who pray regularly live failed lives. Others see them and conclude that it is better to stay away from religion.”

But obviously this is not the answer. The solution is to realize that the main purpose of prayer is to connect with God and, through this communication, move to a better and more purposeful life. The quality of our prayers is enormously important and should not be overlooked. The warning of the Quran is a pretty serious one: disaster is a consequence of heedless prayer.

On the other hand, mindful prayer works miraculously. What we focus our attention on a systematic basis expands and we will find in our lives. This is the purpose of prayer, explains Dr. Sultan. The words people use, he elaborates, are means of invoking the corresponding feelings. The words are just a way to express our feelings. We pray with what is in our hearts. And if our hearts are absent from the prayer, our life will become similarly empty or chaotic.

It is of utmost importance to understand the words we use in prayer and to make praying a meaningful experience. Repeating things we don’t understand and praying distractedly have very dire consequences. You can pray all day in this fashion and never find meaning.

To avoid this, Dr. Sultan recommends that we learn the meaning and feeling associated with each sentence we use in our prayer. For example, take one sentence of Al-Fatiha, think about it, learn about it, reflect on how it relates to your life, and what it means to you. Then go to the next one, and continue this way until you have connected deeply with each of Al-Fatiha’s seven sentences. You can also pray in your own language because the central point is that “your innermost thoughts and feelings are the essence of prayer.”

If we follow this advice, over time and with practice, our prayer will evolve and we will notice positive changes: The results of mindful prayer will be manifested in our lives.

Abundance

In order to obtain abundance, I strongly recommend that you study The Quran and the Life of Excellence. It will cause you to grow exponentially. This book is a treasure that I cannot stop being in awe of every time I open it. I am obsessed with this book and can read it forever. In a few months it has enormously increased the level of abundance in every area of my life. This magical book teaches us that:

God infused us with His divine spirit and therefore, it is in our nature to create and we will create. It is inevitable. We create just by being alive because of our capacity to think: our thoughts create our reality. What we focus on continuously manifests in our lives. Therefore, it is a matter of what we want to create, a matter of learning to focus our thoughts and energy. If we don’t learn to consciously select our thoughts and concentrate our attention, the consequences will be quite disturbing:

We need to reflect regularly, determine what we want, pray for it, and focus on it often with all our energy because the capacity for abundance is part of our nature:

 “Behold, We have granted you abundance. So pray to your Lord who nurtures, and sacrifice. Verily, the opposition to you will be cut off.” (Surat Al-Kawthar).

Dr. Sultan explains that “in order to obtain abundance, we have to sacrifice by living a life of discipline. You have to give up distractions and concentrate your energy on your objective. Idle talk, gossip and laziness have no room in the life of a person seeking something worthwhile. You have to make time daily to remember the nurture of your Lord.”

However, there is a catch: We must let go of our tendency to be selfish. We will only succeed in attaining true abundance if our objective “is a source of good to the world and…we seek it to help others.”

* All quotations that are not properly cited (for readability purposes) refer to “The Quran and the Life of Excellence” by Dr. Sultan Abdulhameed. The majority of the ideas discussed also come from this book and from Dr. Sultan’s Quran Discussions and teachings.

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By Joshua Kohen

Washington D.C - Last May, I had an interesting encounter on a train ride from Marrakesh to Rabat. It was my fourth visit to Morocco as an American Jew, visiting a land my paternal ancestors had left many generations ago.

As usual in Morocco, people are friendly on train rides, especially within the small confines of a cabin. Several Moroccan passengers began talking to me in Arabic out of curiosity. Where are you from? What brings you to Morocco? Where did you learn to speak Arabic? As our discussion grew deeper, I began telling them how much I loved visiting Morocco and the pride I hold in my Moroccan roots. They listened and wanted to know more. I told them that I attended a rally for King Mohammed VI the previous November in Washington and that I was on the TV channel 2M shouting “I love you Morocco.”

They were impressed by my abundant knowledge of Moroccan history since the days of Moulay Idriss I. They were amazed that an American boy could feel such a deep connection to their country, our country!  I remember this conversation like it was yesterday. A man sat across from me who was originally from Rabat. A mother and a small child were sitting next to him returning to Tangier. And beside me were two young ladies returning to Casablanca from a weekend in Marrakesh.

At a certain point, one of the young ladies asked me “the question.”  A question I receive often in Morocco, especially after they discover I have Moroccan heritage. “Are you a Muslim?” Usually, I decide to be discreet and avoid answering these questions. Only my friends in Morocco know I am Jewish, I rarely announce it to strangers. Then I realized this is Morocco. None of us are strangers. We are one big family. After listening to them converse with me for 2 hours, I decided what do I have to hide? I could tell from the tone of our conversations that they were open-minded and tolerant individuals  so I replied to the young woman “no, I am not Muslim. I am Jewish.”

At that moment, my blood rushed and my face warmed as I awaited their responses. I felt nervous but there was no negativity. The man had a very proud look on his face and said “we are all brothers and you are one of us. Religion does not divide us.” The mother with the young child gave me candies as a gesture of warmth and kindness. And the two young ladies were surprised but also curious. Their reactions inspired me and empowered me to be proud of who I am.

They started asking if I can’t eat pork or how often must I pray? At this point, our conversation became more personal. One of the young women from Casablanca told me “I wish my father, may he rest in peace, was still alive.  He was a former politician and well-respected in Casablanca. He would have loved meeting somebody like you.” I remember pulling out the Moroccan flag from my small carry-on suitcase and kissing it. They were in awe and so proud to have met me.

As the train reached Casablanca, the two young ladies left after expressing pleasure in meeting me. The mother with the young children also departed to connect to a different train. As she exited, she told her child “give him a kiss on the cheek.” A Muslim woman told her child to kiss the cheek of a Jew they had just met. In this moment, I realized a common human identity really overrides all preconceived ideas and I asked myself “why can’t all Muslim-Jewish relations be just like this train ride?” By connecting with my Moroccan identity, I was able to become closer with Muslim people as a Jew.

I am Jewish and I love Muslims. I love Muslims because half of my friends are Muslims.  I love Muslims because every time I visit Morocco, my Muslim friends are ready to embrace me and tell me “welcome to your second home.” I eat with them. I go out with them. I sing and dance with them. I laugh with them. I cry with them. I sleep in their homes. Whenever I have a problem, they are at my side immediately. When I was 16 years old, a Muslim Palestinian woman helped me obtain my first job and I am the grandson of Israeli immigrants who came to the United States in the 1960s.  We became close as she was my boss. One day, my Israeli grandmother came to my work and my Palestinian boss told her “I love your grandson.”

My maternal grandparents saw tragedy with their own eyes and endured persecution in their lifetimes so they taught me to respect all people and to never hate. My maternal grandmother especially inspired me to always get along with people regardless of their differences. Hundreds of members of her family were murdered in the Holocaust so she understood how hatred and indoctrination could drive people to do the most wicked things to humankind.

A few years ago, my grandmother’s Liberian Muslim friend had a family emergency at the beginning of Ramadan. Her friend was supposed to prepare the entire meal for all her relatives the first night of Ramadan. My grandma felt sorry for her and immediately went to the supermarket and bought a ton of food and began cooking without her friend’s knowledge. All day my grandma cooked her specialties before she called her friend to come over to surprise her.

These examples of human compassion should inspire all of us to reach out and never perceive each other as enemies. We are all brothers and sisters. Religious affiliations and political persuasions should never keep Jews and Muslims divided especially in the face of extremism and media incitement. The rise of anti-Semitism and Islamophobia in certain countries should bring us together against hatred, not drive us apart.

Let’s hope that my experience on the train ride from Marrakesh will one day become a broader reality for Muslims and Jews all over the world. May we all have our children kiss the cheek of the other as brothers. I will never succumb to Islamophobia and I will never accept those who label Muslims as terrorists. I will always respect and cherish my Muslim friends and I will never show hostility toward any Muslim.

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Rabat- In an attempt to combat corruption among Morocco's law enforcement apparatus, the General Administration for National Security has promoted two policemen who refused to accept bribes.

The two policemen, who are working in Hay Hassani district in Casablanca, have been promoted to the rank of officers after declining a MAD 100,000 bribe from a drug dealer.

According to police, the drug dealer was about to be arrested on charges of possession of 19 kilograms of Hashish when he offered the two policemen MAD 100,000 to let him off without any charges.

The two policemen refused the drug dealer's offer and escorted the suspect to the police station for legal procedure.

The rise in bribery cases involving police officers has prompted the General Directorate of National Security to circulate a memo urging security forces to crack down on all practices that harm the credibility of the law enforcement officials.

According to media sources, the memo aims to entrench a culture of transparency and professional integrity among security forces and to strengthen governance values.

A statement by the General Directorate of National Security stated that citizens are also contributing to the spread of bribery, adding that some people are trying to tarnish the image of the security apparatus by luring members of security forces in order to photograph them receiving bribes.

Chicago – A Moroccan-American, Hicham Zerhouni, has been selected as a fellow of the New Leaders Council (NLC), a U.S. non-profit organization that promotes progressive political entrepreneurs — trendsetters, elected officials and civically-engaged leaders in business and industry — who will shape the future landscape. 

Zerhouni, who is the Managing Principal of TransCultures, is one of 24 fellows selected from hundreds of qualified candidates to become a fellow of the NLC’s Chicago chapter. The NLC was founded in 2005 to create a progressive leadership development infrastructure for young professionals who already have some initial career experience. The NLC selects fellows from outside traditional power structures and trains and equips them with the skills necessary to be civic leaders in their communities and workplaces. The NLC’s mission is realized primarily through the NLC Institute.

Zerhouni, now only 34 years old, was born in Fez, Morocco, and moved to Chicago when he was 19. He graduated from Northeastern Illinois University in Chicago in 2006 with a BA in Political Science and in 2009 received an MA in Political Science with a focus on International Relations. While working in banking as an International Analyst, he taught foreign languages to executives and government officials seeking to understand global markets and political diversity.

In 2006, he launched Argan Oils, a socially conscious cosmetics company that markets Argan oil from Morocco while supporting women’s cooperatives. He went on to work as a Global Media Analyst during the Arab Spring, and provided insights regarding turmoil in the Middle East.

His current venture, TransCultures, is a globalization services company that helps organizations overcome cultural barriers and achieve their global potential by customizing language and cultural services to help them grow in today’s global economy.

“I am so humbled to have this opportunity,” said Zerhouni. “This fellowship will allow me to advocate better for the communities I represent.” When asked whether there are similar programs in Morocco, he said “Leadership programs like these are much needed in Morocco. They would encourage young Moroccan men and women to participate more in the political process of Morocco.”

He added that “Morocco can play a key role in the globalization services industry due to its diverse languages.” TransCultures has been establishing a presence in Morocco for the last two years.

Zerhouni says that the globalization industry in Morocco shows great promise. “TransCultures through its expert management and diverse staff can play a significant role in shaping the business as Morocco becomes a hub destination that attract global companies,” he added.

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Agadir - CorpsAfrica has just finished training ten young Moroccan social activists. This is the second group of Moroccans that will be sworn in on January 26th to volunteer in rural areas across Morocco for one year of service.

CorpsAfrica is a nonprofit organization founded in 2011 by Liz Fanning to provide an opportunity for Africans to serve like Peace Corps Volunteers in their own countries.

Last year, the organization succeeded in training and placing seven Moroccan volunteers in different regions of Morocco including the High Atlas Mountains and Dakala Abdaa regions. This year the organization trained its first group of nine volunteers for 2014-2015, all of whom are already serving in their community.

The second group of trainees comes from many different regions of Morocco: Ouarzazate, Nador, Rabat, Casablanca, Fez, and Al Hoceima. They go through one month of training before beginning their service.

During the first week of training, the volunteers participated in Design-Thinking, facilitated by the trainer Garrett Mason at the Cultural Center of Sidi Moumen in Casablanca. There they were exposed to theoretical and practical aspects of problem solving and facilitation before being placed in their communities. During the Design-Thinking training, CorpsAfrica trainees were divided into three small groups and designed different projects to address the major issues that Sidi Moumen Cultural Center faces.

The trainees learned several skills to identify community needs, as well as used tools that will help them come up with an appropriate end of service project, which will be needed to address key needs of their community.

The Design-Thinking process includes the gathering of information, focusing (in which volunteers define the need of the community), prototyping (in which they create a visual image for a certain project), delivering the project and receiving feedback from the community.

During the training, CorpsAfrica trainees received first aid certification by the Red Crescent, met different active Moroccan organizations, and visited the sites of last year’s volunteers. They also had the chance to attend lectures at Al Akhawayn University in Ifrane.

CorpsAfrica has the eventual goal of having 250 volunteers in every African country by 2024. As part of a three-year pilot phase, CorpsAfrica plans to expand to Senegal and Ethiopia before scaling up to the rest of Africa.

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By Ferdaws Aharrar

Rabat - The British Council Morocco will organize a meeting on the topic "Employability of Marginalized Youth" on Tuesday at the General Confederation of Enterprises of Morocco (CGEM) in Casablanca.

The meeting aims at “building a collaborative international community focusing on the development of marginalized youth in Morocco and the United Kingdom” through a British Council program entitled “Skills for Employability,” which focuses on “skills development and vocational training”.

The program will be conducted in coordination with the CGEM and in partnership with, Moroccan organizations AIDA and Bayti, and British institutes Coleg Gwent, West Lothian College, and Coleg y Cymoedd.

According to a press release obtained by Morocco World News, “the meeting will raise awareness around the issue of employability of marginalized youth,” and aims “to strengthen dialogue and cooperation between the main private and state actors committed to the same issue in Morocco and the United Kingdom.”

The meeting will explain the details of a partnership that includes “elements of technical training, monitoring and educational support engagement with employers to ensure the care of the young beneficiaries in the development of their skills and build their future.”

This initiative was inspired by the vast number of youth facing many obstacles to employment. The program aims to provide skills and training for those in need, under the terms of a partnership between Morocco and the United Kingdom.

Young people from Cardiff and Edinburgh in the United Kingdom and Casablanca in Morocco will participate in the event. They will have the opportunity to exchange their experiences and knowledge overcoming their own difficulties in their access to employment. They aim to show those who are still trying that they can have a real chance to change their current situation.

By Sahar Amarir

Paris - Today the world commemorates the 70th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp from the Nazis.

It is a strange and cynical spectacle to watch how so many people talk about this tragedy on this day, but it speaks volumes about our ongoing delusional mindsets and our tragic ignorance as Westerners.

But it shouldn't come as a surprise, most people speak as they were taught, but mostly as they have understood — and I emphasize “understanding,” not “learning.” We, in France have all repeatedly learned extensively about World War II and the Holocaust in our curriculum. But learning about the Holocaust is not quite the same as understanding the lessons of the Holocaust, and this is where we all failed.

I remember being in middle school when we first learned about it in history classes. I was in a very mixed middle school with people from all backgrounds, with as many people living in fancy houses as people living in the projects. My classmates didn't seem particularly horrified by what our teacher was telling us, the first details of the horrors coming to us in history class. They did express their disgust at how inhumane it was, how they would be scared if it happened again and how they would all feel terrified.

I remember feeling completely alone in my much stronger reaction of utter shock. I thought back then as a justification for my oddness exactly what people used to tell me: maybe they are right, maybe I'm just too sensitive about this history class. But still, as far as I remember, since the day I learned about it, I became obsessed with politics and minorities and the history of the jewish people, and to the great dismay of some of my close ones, that obsession has never faded away and has only grown stronger as time has gone by.

A couple of years later, I ended up in a quite prestigious high school with a majority of students being from a typical upper class Parisian background. By that time we all knew why the war happened and how the genocide and systematic extermination of Jews, “gypsies,” disabled people, and political opponents was planned and carried out by the Nazis. And I remember very vividly being in history class while our teacher told us he'd show us a documentary with videos from various archives.

And as I psychologically braced myself for the horrible scenes I was about to watch, he repeated again this speech that all history teachers tell us about how we should learn a lesson from this genocide, how we should strive so that it never happens again, how we have to keep in mind this could have been any of us, and how we should never let fascism return.

And then I slowly realized something was wrong. It reminded me way too much of middle school. Something was off. My classmates watched the documentary, with blank eyes, occasionally yawning or checking their cellphones. Afterwards, they talked about it for five minutes and how horrible it was, and how they would feel terrified if it happened to them and then went back to normal.

And then it struck me: they don't get it. They learn about the Holocaust — in fact we all learn about it, but most of us simply don't understand.

This isn't about how our teachers do their job or how much we as students engage in our studies; this is about how the whole society programs us into one mindset. I realized that whether in middle school or in high school my classmates could only express feelings of horror by associating themselves with the victims: "If I were a jew…,” I realized that people were thinking history could never repeat itself, because we are part of the great western civilization and by virtue of that association we simply would not make any more mistakes such as letting Nazis rise to power again and plan another genocide.

The people who don't believe that history will repeat itself are right. Because we can never recreate the exact same conditions and situations we witnessed in the past. We will never have the exact political, economic and social context that we witnessed in Germany in the 30's. We will never see people murdered wholesale in gas chambers again.

But they're wrong in thinking we're not capable of committing atrocities or turning a blind eye to atrocities any more. They're wrong in thinking people will not be able to reinvent their past horrors. They're wrong in minimizing humanity's capacity to be creative in its cruelty.

And because history never repeats itself, they're wrong in thinking they are able to realize when things have gone too far the next time and be able to stop them. Because they are waiting for the past to happen again, they don't wake up. But it won't happen the way they're expecting it. And that is because they have learned about the holocaust, but don't understand it.

People who find It normal that our military does a parade to celebrate a national holiday have not understood one of the lessons of the Holocaust, which is that we should stop idealizing an amoral institution like the army which celebrates as its most important quality a soldier’s ability to be disciplined and particularly zealous in his unconditional obedience to the orders of his superior officers.

People who have allowed it to become normal for politicians and some fringes of the population to characterize all black people as “criminals,” all Latinos as “drug dealers,” all Muslims as “inherently violent,” and all “gypsies” as “genetically programmed” for theft have not understood that the Holocaust taught us that extrapolating from facts and generalizing is the sign of a sick society and that permitting those ideas to spread willy nilly out of political opportunism or lack of interest is as dangerous as believing in them.

People who have put security ideologies above humanist values have not understood that sometimes our fears are made up or greatly maximized by people who can take advantage of a frightened and thus easy to manipulate population.

People who claim that the benefits of human rights and the rule of law only apply to them and not to other people have not understood that it's precisely the idea that only some people deserve certain rights that have made dehumanization and the labeling of other people as "inferior races" possible and thus have ideologically enabled and justified their extermination.

People who excuse their demonizing and bigotry toward minorities by saying they are trying to invade us demographically, socially, culturally, politically, and economically have not understood that if we are letting our selfish interests and materialistic individual needs win over human rights and respect for fellow humans, we are already falling into the trap by recreating a hateful mindset.

People who think they are exempt from the notion of the sanctity of human life in the name of any nationalistic, religious, ethnic or political ideology have not understood one of the lessons of the Holocaust that no ideology merits the spilling of innocent blood.

People who think they need to imagine themselves as jews or gypsies, or as part of those people, to feel horrified have not understood that we shouldn't have to imagine ourselves as the ones being persecuted in order to feel empathy for fellow human beings. And that it's precisely because we are spreading the idea that we should or could only care about Jews if we're Jewish or about the Roma people only if we're Roma that we are creating a mindset in our societies where feeling empathy is only possible for "our" people, where the only death or suffering that counts is the one we can relate to as being a direct victim.

This is how we as Westerners end up with a temporary and selective indignation, where we only care when it's about us. And this is how we let the genocide in Cambodia happen, how we let the genocide in Bosnia happen, how we let the genocide in Rwanda happen, and how we are now allowing crimes against humanity in Syria to happen.

People who choose to conveniently live in this bubble of denial and keep on claiming we are so amazing, so civilized and have learned our lessons so well that nothing bad can ever come from us again or that we could never let anything bad happen again while standing still have understood nothing from the Holocaust.

We will have all understood its lessons the day we will be able to systematically question state authority, nationalistic and xenophobic rhetoric, and uphold the sanctity of human rights above any nation-state and above any political ideology. Until then, we will not have the right to congratulate ourselves with our "never again" mantra. Not until we are truly committed to it.

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

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

By Ferdaws Aharrar

Tangier - Immigrants now living in Morocco have embraced Morocco, a country that has welcomed them warmly, and become a part of Moroccan society.

Medi1 TV interviewed some immigrants as guests on its “Generation News” show. They shared their mostly positive experiences living in Morocco. Unfortunately, their experiences have also had a dark side.

Generation News’  host, Oussama Benjeloun,  recently interviewed four guests on his show, each with a different nationality, who have lived in Morocco long enough to acquire the Moroccan dialect of Arabic and have also become accustomed to Moroccan culture. They called Morocco their second country and discussed matters of belonging and integration.

Oscar, originally from Senegal, is an assistant manager of a restaurant in Tangier. He shared an account of an incident that he experienced with a Moroccan child in the town where he lives. “I got out of the taxi and stood by a shop and right above where I was standing I heard someone calling: ‘Ebola! Ebola!,’” he explained.

With a good sense of humor and a smile he added: “I started wondering to myself: 'Where is he? Who is Ebola?' When I looked up, I discovered it was a little child who was calling to me from the window of his house!”

Oscar replied with the simplest response: “He was just a child. He will grow up and one day he will understand. I have other important things to worry about rather than make a scene about it."

Immigrants like Oscar who have decided to settle in Morocco for various reasons admire the diversity of Moroccan culture and have found peace, belonging, and home in this country. They are living what they might call their "Moroccan Dream.” However, they understand that there might be situations where unpleasant incidents occur due to lack of understanding or awareness, but they have chosen the Moroccan life style, embraced it, and want to be assimilated into it in order to experience peace and harmony.

By Mohamed Mouad Chahbane

Rabat - McDonald’s fast food restaurants are becoming increasingly popular in Morocco. McDonald’s 35th restaurant in the country was opened recently in El Jadida City.

The construction required an investment of 30 million dirhams.

The investment, which will boost the city's economy, will directly create 65 jobs.

The new restaurant is a perfect mix of simplicity and joviality. It is built on an area of 4000 square meters, including a 500 square meter building with 356 seats; 248 seats of which are on terrace.

McDonald's, an active franchise in Morocco since 1992, seeks to have 70 restaurants in Morocco by the end of 2015.

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Taroudant - A group of people shared their old photos on the forum Dafina displaying the life style of some Moroccans living in Casablanca during the eighties.

The photos confirm that Casablanca was organizing Miss Bikini contest and other parties on the beach where men as well as women pose to photographs with bikinis and swimsuits.

The forum members engaged in very nostalgic conversations with their old friends, trying to recall the names and all those “beautiful days” of Tahiti beach club in Casablanca.

[caption id="attachment_150495" align="aligncenter" width="600"] Miss Tahiti 1982[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_150493" align="aligncenter" width="600"] Miss Tahiti 1981[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_150498" align="aligncenter" width="568"] Tahiti Miss Leg 1984[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_150492" align="aligncenter" width="510"] Photo from the Animation of Miss Tahiti in 1982. Khaki with Mr. Zellag, sound engineer, one of the major musical producers of the place.[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_150491" align="aligncenter" width="398"] Mr. Zellag[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_150490" align="aligncenter" width="360"] KAKI with Miss Tahiti 1981[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_150494" align="aligncenter" width="404"] Kaki with Miss Tahiti 1982[/caption]

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Taroudant - In response to the growing anti-Islamic movement led by Pegida "European Patriots against the Islamization of the West" in Germany, renowned artist Kurt Fleckenstein rolled on Monday evening 175 prayer rugs in Dresden Neumarkt to express support for Muslims.

The artist bought on the internet 175 prayer mats for $ 8.47 for each piece and rolled them on the scene of Pegida Dresden rally to symbolize "freedom of belief, openness and tolerance."

All the prayer rugs were carefully directed to Mecca, a place where all Muslims direct their faces during their five daily prayers.

In a video published on YouTube, Fleckenstein posed next to the carpets a message tat reads: Ich Glaube an Gott (I believe in God).

[video id="PwOSYOON1pc" type="youtube"]

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By Kristina Fried

Rabat - Craig Stephens Hicks, 46, was charged with the first-degree murders of three young Muslim students in North Carolina on Wednesday. He is currently being held in Durham County Jail, according to Newsobserver.

The victims were Deah Shaddy Barakat, a 23 year old doctoral student of dentistry at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, his 21 year old wife Yusor Abu-Salha, a student at North Carolina State University who was due to graduate this year with a degree in biological sciences, and her sister Razan Abu-Salha, 19, also a student of NCSU in the faculty of architecture and environmental design.

All three victims were found dead due to gunshot wounds in the apartment of the recently married couple, which is located in a neighborhood that sees little violent crime. According to local WRAL news, the victims had all been shot in the head. The bodies have been sent to the State Medical Examiner’s Office in Raleigh, the capital, for an autopsy, according to Newsobserver.

Although a motive has not yet been established, social media is linking the murders to Islamophobia, with people taking to Twitter to condemn the crime. Newsobserver reported that one Twitter user tweeted, “three Muslims murdered tonight in Chapel Hill, NC by a man because they were Muslim. What a sad night in America.” Others compared the shooting to the recent attacks on the Charlie Hebdo headquarters in Europe, with The Independent quoting Twitter user Zain Khan as saying, “RIP to the three #Muslims murdered. I’d like to see the same public uproar as the “CharlieHebdo aftermath.”

The link to Islamophobia is supported by the texts and images condemning all religions that have been linked to Hicks’ Facebook profile, in which he describes himself as an atheist, according to The Independent.

The victims are being remembered through a Facebook group called “Our Three Winners” as well as the continuation of a project spearheaded by Barakat, called “Project: Refugee Smiles”, which aims to provide Syrian refugees with dental attention as well as support local dental clinics in Turkey. Barakat had been planning on going to Turkey himself to participate in the project.

The post North Carolina: Three Muslim Students Killed in Alleged Hate Crime appeared first on Morocco World News.

Rabat - The police are reportedly investigating the two Swedish security guards who were filmed slamming a Moroccan nine-year-old boy’s head into a stone floor at the main station in Malmö, Sweden.

According to The Local, Linda Pleym, a spokesperson for Skåne police, told Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet that "they are suspected of assault and will be questioned on that matter."

The same source added that Anders Lönnebo, the CEO of the security company Svensk Bevakningstjänst, which employed the guards, admitted on Monday that the incident “didn’t look good on camera”.

Cecilia Granath, spokeswoman for the train station Jernhusen, told The Local on Monday that her company contacted the security guard to account for the incident.

“We have a zero-tolerance policy towards excessive violence,” she said.

In the video, published on YouTube, a security guard weighing approximately 90 kilos sat on the boy’s chest and pressed his gloved hand violently over the boy’s mouth and nose.

The guard slammed the boy’s head against the stone floor, while the child struggled to recite the Shahadah (declaration of faith).

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Rabat - A professor at the University of Paris 13 in Villetaneuse was reportedly dismissed from his duties on February 2 after refusing to give lessons before a veiled student in class.

After 28 years of lecturing at the university, the professor, who is in charge of a course in insurance law attended by fifteen students, refused to give the lesson in the presence of a veiled student in his class who was sitting in the front row.

Expressing his opposition "to the wearing of religious symbols in public spaces," the professor's action sparked controversy among the students in the university.

[caption id="attachment_151538" align="aligncenter" width="600"] the University of Paris 13 in Villetaneuse[/caption]

Speaking to AFP, a student who preferred to remain anonymous said that the professor “told us that he grew up in Sarcelles, and that he praised multiculturalism, but he could not bear displaying religious signs, which he did not expect after Charlie’s attack.”

The same source added that four students defended their veiled classmate, “accusing the professor of taking an ideological position, which has nothing to do with the subject of the course.”

On Friday, the head of the master program told the students that the teacher in question "will not finish his course of insurance law" and that a replacement would be found soon.

For his part, the president of the University, Jean-Loup Salzmann, told AFP that "the headscarf is allowed in the university,” adding that “if a professor, let alone a lawyer who knows the law, discriminates against students, the first thing to do is to suspend him or her.”

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Rabat - Muslims in France are guilty of everything until proven otherwise. At least that’s what the facts on the ground are suggesting nowadays. Since the attacks on the Paris offices of satirical weekly magazine Charlie Hebdo last month, the Muslim community in France has endured persecution, judgment and discrimination, and sometimes for the silliest of reasons.

An Al Jazeera network correspondent was apparently right when he said that tough times are awaiting Muslims in France in the wake of the attacks that claimed the lives of twelve people and left many others wounded.

After a small flag bearing the Islamic declaration of faith landed a French-Moroccan in prison in the French city of Lille, here is another case that proves that France has gone into a collective state of hysteria and Islamophobia since the terrorist attacks.

Sami, a 20-year-old Muslim man, has been sentenced to 3 years in prison after a fight with another man. He was a Jewish man.

In the French Val-d’Oise region, Sami had an argument with the Jewish man that quickly escalated into a fight. The man decided to press charges against Sami. Sami was later accused of carrying out an anti-Semitic attack, but he insisted that it was only a fight, nothing else.

According to his family, when Sami appeared before the court, the judge mentioned the Charlie Hebdo attacks and the hostage situation at a Jewish store. The judge reportedly said that he wished to ‘strike hard’ to condemn anti-Semitism and the incitement of hatred.

Sami’s family continues to deny the anti-Semitism accusations. According to media reports, many Jewish friends of young Sami were willing to testify on his behalf to prove the falsehood of the accusation, but none of them had the right to speak.

The family also launched a petition “Free imprisoned Sami, victim of Islamophobia.” They want to plead his case to the European Court of Human Rights.

“Thousands of fights take place every day in neighborhoods between young people and yet very few of them are rarely convicted,” they said in the petition. They added, “What difference is there between this case and the others, so fast and so “unjustly” fixed?”

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By Zahra El Alami

New York - In the wake of today’s tragic event, there seems to be distress on how to react to such a horrendous act. Should we be angry? Should we be silent? Should we speak up? Does it even matter? The murder of three innocent Muslim students sends waves of fear and grief across our community.

[video id="Kg1oW6hrx-0" type="youtube"]

Video of Deah Shaddy Barakat raising funds for the Syrian refugee trip

But today, we choose strength and love. Today, we are not going to fall victim to hate. We will not give in to the fact that we all walk in fear because of our Faith. Today, we will honor and celebrate the three incredible, loving and selfless lives that were taken away from our community way too soon. The young lives that spent their time and effort to serve their community and share pure joy and smiles across the world.

[caption id="attachment_151570" align="aligncenter" width="600"] ”Tonight we provided free dental supplies and food to over 75 homeless people in downtown Durham! DowntownSmiles” – Deah Shaddy Barakat post from January 29, 2015.[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_151571" align="aligncenter" width="600"] “Today we passed out dental supplies and food to over 65 homeless people in Raleigh! A big thank you to NC State MSA for sponsoring funds #DowntownSmiles.” - Deah Shaddy Barakat from October 2014.[/caption]

“I hope this ends very very soon,” Deah Shaddy Barakat’s September Facebook post said about a YouTube video on people’s perception of Islam vs. terrorism. A little over four months later, he fell victim to a hate crime.

Although he was your everyday 23-year-old student who was obsessed with basketball and funny YouTube videos, he was also an exemplary individual, son, brother, husband and friend. His concerns for the well-being of others were very clear across all of his social media pages. The UNC dental student served his community in any way he could.

[caption id="attachment_151572" align="aligncenter" width="500"] “Dancing with Daddy.” - Yussor Abu-Salha’s Facebook post of her wedding day in December 2014.[/caption]

As of yesterday, he helped raise over $44,000 for his trip to Turkey this summer to help Syrian refugees with their dental needs. His social media posts show pictures and posts of him constantly helping the homeless by passing out food and dental supplies.

Deah’s newly-wed was also one of the victims. Yusor Mohammad was a 21-year-old senior at North Carolina State University and future dental student. She and Deah had just gotten married a little over a month before this tragic incident took place. She was a loving daughter and big sister to the third victim, Razan Mohammed Abu-Salha who was only 19. While they both shared their experiences in NCSU as students, the sisters also shared the love of giving back to the community and being involved on campus.

Although we may never understand the motive behind this heinous act , today we can look back and celebrate the students’ lives and the good they have done in the short time they had here.

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By Kristina Fried

Rabat - Speaking about the situation of migrants in Morocco, Charki Draiss Minister Delegate to Moroccan Interior Minister, said in a speech on Monday that housing camps around both Melilla and the other Spanish enclave of Ceuta would be dismantled “very soon.”

His words came true on Tuesday morning when Moroccan authorities dismantled several camps outside of the Spanish enclave of Melilla in Morocco’s northeast following attempts made by migrants to illegally cross the border with Melilla. Spanish authorities claim that over 600 migrants attempted the crossing. But that only 35 people succeeded in their attempts, while 5 were injured.

Over 1,200 migrants were detained during the raid and are now on their way to camps elsewhere, according to human rights organization Caminando Fronteras. 

The problem arose as a result of migrants who use Morocco as a starting off point from which to enter Europe illegally. Due to a new immigration policy, Morocco is now cracking down on these migrants. In this regard, said that Morocco “gave them many opportunities, and now if they don’t want to stay, we will have to enforce the law for the sake of security.”

A similar problem occurred in the other enclave of Ceuta in Morocco’s north last year when 15 migrants died while attempting to swim to Ceuta. They were allegedly sprayed with teargas and rubber bullets by Spanish guards, 16 of whom are now on trial for the deaths.

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