June 2007 Archives
While others (whom I respect) have described as heartwarming the New York Times' recent article on Assilah and the role of the community oven (ferrane) as a foundation of Moroccan cooking and a center of community life, I found the article rather poignant. Unlike many places in the world, in Morocco it is still possible to find communities that bake their bread (Khubz) — a staple of Moroccan cuisine — in a community oven, an institution which &mdash like communal steam baths (hammam) knits communities together. In addition, farmers sell fresh produce in the souks, and chickens are bought freshly slaughtered from the butcher. As a friend of mine put it, in Morocco, it's all organic food. The Times, however, notes an ominous trend toward factory farming, mass production of food, and supermarkets, at least in the larger cities. In light of our soil-exhausting monocultures and the cruel overcrowding and massive doses of hormones and antibiotics to which we subject our livestock in the United States, I am seriously skeptical that Morocco will gain by following our example. Would anyone say that Americans eat better than Moroccans? Thought not.
A recent briefing by the United States Institute of Peace reaches the depressing conclusion that nothing is likely to change in the conflict over the Western Sahara in the foreseeable future. The briefing suggests that the Baker Plan, with its plan for a referendum, was the last best hope, and that since then, the parties have become too locked into opposing, and incompatible, positions to be able to reach a deal. In light of the United Nations' passivity, little is likely to change the positions of the parties.
Xoussef's comment on Hind's "Give me a sign" — that the song is "banal" but the video is "wonderful," seems to me to be right on. Several other points struck me. One was that I don't see that many Moroccan (or Moroccan inspired) songs in English; pace Marrakesh Express. The other is the degree to which the video is orientalized, from Hind's dress to the images of her mysterious hooded lover to the dance scene at the end. I would be very curious to know how this song speaks to Moroccans — to me it seemed to play very much to a European/American fantasy of Morocco, but perhaps my own view is too crude and stereotyped.
I was also very struck by Xoussef's reasons that he won't blog for a Maghreb Union: to me, the proposed Union seems a noble aspiration but not a political possibility.
