February 2006 Archives
Keeping a Moroccan Tradition Alive, One Tale at a Time - New York Times
Mr. Jabiri is a storyteller, a profession he has practiced for more than 40 years. Every day, he conjures up a real or imagined past that is filled with ancient battles and populated with sinners and prophets, wise sultans and tricky thieves.
The New York Times profiles the storytellers of Jemaa El Fna, who are perhaps the last of their kind.
Three things I have learned so far reading Richard Fletcher's Moorish Spain:
1. The "Arab" conquest of Spain was mostly accomplished by Berbers.
2. Transportation in the ancient world between Morocco and Southern Spain was easier than within Spain, thus facilitating the conquest.
3. There was a significant population of Jews in Spain in the eighth century who were badly treated by the Visigothic regime that had succeeded the Roman Empire and who most likely welcomed the comparatively more tolerant Muslims.
The Yale Daily News interviewed me about my Peace Corps service in Morocco.
MoorishGirl on how the Bush administration pays lip service to free speech at home, but not in Arab allies in the "war on terror."
Thanks to the philosopher for the link.
Muslim Crowds Decry Cartoons, Violent Retort
Thousands of Muslims in London and other European cities rallied peacefully Saturday to condemn both published cartoons of the prophet Muhammad and the violent reactions to them.
But the Iranians are still fulminating.
THE VIEW FROM FEZ: Good article on Moroccan reaction to cartoons.
The View from Fez points to an excellent article in Salon on Moroccan reaction to the Danish cartoons: widely indignant but generally restrained.
Andrew Sullivan | The Daily Dish: Jesus on Fox
So Fox won't portray tame images of Muhammad, but they will broadcast "Passion of the Christ II: Crucify This."
Andrew Sullivan on cartoon double standards.
Cornell's central contrast is between inner holiness or spirituality (wilaya) and public authority and recognition (walaya), both of which he sees as essential to the identity of the Moroccan "saint." The development of spiritual perfection and supernatural power is concomitant with the obligation to succor the poor and to rebuke, or at least correct, the country's rulers. At the same time, the Sultans of Morocco variously regarded Sufi "saints" either as political allies lending spiritual authority to the regime or as political threats whose criticisms were given weight by large numbers of devoted followers.
Cornell sketches the lives and works of a number of Moroccan saints, including Abu Yizza, As Sabti, and Al Jazuli. In addition, he provides quite a bit of incidental insight into Moroccan history of the period, such as his analysis of the effect of the Portuguese takeover of Morocco's ports on the continued viability of Granada, which lost its supply base, and the focus of the Sufi brotherhoods on jihad in an effort to expel the Portuguese invader, which contributed to the rise of the S'adian dynasty.
Feud With King Tests Freedoms In Morocco
Since ascending the throne in 1999, Mohammed has transformed his country by approving parliamentary elections, a robust press and equal rights for women, giving Moroccans more freedom than most of their Arab neighbors in North Africa and the Middle East. Those changes have also given new life to long-suppressed opposition groups that are demanding more concessions from the king but do not necessarily believe in a Western-style democracy.
The Washington Post has run a major story on the challenge of Islamic radicals to the legitimacy of the monarchy, and the monarchy's subsequent prosecution of Islamist spokeswoman Nadia Yassine. Yassine's prosecution raises the question whether democratic reforms can survive Islamic radicalism, which poses the dual threat of provoking a backlash from the monarchy or taking power and extinguishing liberty.
refusenik: The Danish cartoons: a conscious provocation
Refusenik on the double standards of the Danish press.
I was disappointed to see that while Algeria is fielding a team at the winter Olympics, there is no team from Morocco.
Bush Shifts on Muslim Protests
A few hours earlier, at a White House ceremony with Jordan's King Abdullah, President Bush rejected the violence but not the cartoons that incited bloody protests from Afghanistan to Denmark, where the drawings first appeared. "We reject violence as a way to express discontent with what may be printed in a free press," Bush said.
Recipes : Steamed Couscous : Food Network
Alton Brown has recipes for couscous and couscous pudding.
Photographs from the exhibit by Sallam Chahdi.
Violent protests continue to sweep the Muslim world in reaction to a series of provocative cartoons in a Danish newspaper, one of which depicted the Prophet with a bomb for a turban. Commentary in the blogosphere includes statements by MoorishGirl, Andrew Sullivan, and the View from Fès.
Apparently, while the cartoons have inspired protests in Morocco, the reportage I have seen indicates that they have been happily nonviolent. This is clearly the appropriate response to offensive speech — more speech. However tasteless and offensive the cartoons, the best answer is reasoned criticism, even boycotts, but not death threats and arson.
Mark Twain once quipped that in America we are blessed with freedom of speech and the wisdom not to use it. I absolutely believe that the Danes have a free speech right to publish caricatures of religious figures, including the Prophet, just as the Arab press has a right to publish tasteless and offensive caricatures of Jews and Judaism. That they choose to do so does not necessarily speak well of them.
