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Samia Errazzouki
The Facade of Political Crises in Morocco
![[King Mohammed VI receives the Istiqlal Party's leader, Hamid Chabat, following his election as the head of the party. Image from Lakome.]](/content_images/3/sm_photochabatm6640.jpg "[King Mohammed VI receives the Istiqlal Party's leader, Hamid Chabat, following his election as the head of the party. Image from Lakome.]")
This weekend, the conservative nationalist Istiqlal Party announced it will be withdrawing from the government coalition, led by the Party of Justice and Development (PJD), and will take its place in parliament's opposition. Its reason, according to the party's press release, was to "avoid being complicit in the scheme against the Moroccan people." Additionally, the party will maintain its cabinet positions until further notice, and the party has written ...
Keep Reading »Beyond the Western Saharan Debate
![[Image of Sahrawi women protesting against Moroccan policies in the Western Sahara. Image from Saharauiak/Flickr.]](/content_images/3/sm_ScreenShot2013-04-18at11.19.42AM.png "[Image of Sahrawi women protesting against Moroccan policies in the Western Sahara. Image from Saharauiak/Flickr.]")
Following the French military intervention in Mali earlier this year in January, and the hostage crisis in Algeria that soon followed, major world powers briefly oriented their regional focus towards the Maghreb and Sahel regions. In the midst of the escalating conflict in Mali, pundits pointed to Morocco’s geopolitical position as an ally of France and the United States for a source of stability in the Maghreb and its neighboring regions. For example, in an op-ed in the New ...
Keep Reading »Morocco's 20 February Movement: Two Years Later
![[Members of the 20 February Movement gather in front of the Parliament building in Rabat to commemorate the second year anniversary of the movement's beginning. Image taken by author.]](/content_images/3/sm_ScreenShot2013-03-07at8.41.51AM.png "[Members of the 20 February Movement gather in front of the Parliament building in Rabat to commemorate the second year anniversary of the movement's beginning. Image taken by author.]")
Two major protests were planned within the period between 20 and 24 February. On 20 February 2013, members of the 20 February Movement planned to commemorate their two year anniversary with a march in front of the Parliament building in Rabat. Unaffiliated with the movement and less than a block away in front of the Rabat Ville train station was a separate protest that a group of unemployed college graduates organized. Despite the similarity in chants, riot police had a ...
Keep Reading »Positioning Gender Fluidity in Francophone Maghrebi Literature
![[A screenshot from Tahar Ben Jelloun's film, La nuit sacrée. Image from Universcine.]](/content_images/3/sm_ScreenShot2013-02-17at10.44.15AM.png "[A screenshot from Tahar Ben Jelloun's film, La nuit sacrée. Image from Universcine.]")
The journey of self-discovery is a recurring theme in Francophone Maghrebi literature and film. Authors and directors place characters in a struggle against forces in both French and Maghrebi society, evoking various themes through which characters define themselves. While these characters embark on different paths in terms of their search for self-discovery, they prove that identities are not rigid. A multitude of factors contribute to the formation of these identities, ...
Keep Reading »Raped, Without Justice, and Without Hope
![[Nasma Naqash cracks a faint smile during her video testimony with Febrayer. Image taken from screenshot of Youtube video.]](/content_images/3/sm_ScreenShot2013-01-16at12.12.56PM.png "[Nasma Naqash cracks a faint smile during her video testimony with Febrayer. Image taken from screenshot of Youtube video.]")
Last year, Moroccan civil society was highly mobilized around the case of Amina Filali—the young Moroccan girl who committed suicide after having been forced to marry her rapist. Ten months later, article 475—the article that absolves a rapist of his crimes if he marries his victim—remains in place, despite the fact that calls for its removal were a central part of the mobilizations. Today, the tragic story of another Moroccan girl—who in 2010 was raped by a stranger during ...
Keep Reading »Behind the Bahraini Revolution: An Interview with Maryam Al-Khawaja
![[Protesters in Bahrain stand on the ground they were evicted from just three days before. Image from Flickr.]](/content_images/3/sm_ScreenShot2012-12-28at12.33.20PM.png "[Protesters in Bahrain stand on the ground they were evicted from just three days before. Image from Flickr.]")
[The following is an interview conducted with Maryam Al-Khawaja, the acting president of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights and the deputy director of the Gulf Center for Human Rights. She is currently in self-imposed exile in Denmark due to safety and security reasons, but remains closely connected to events on the ground in Bahrain. She posts regular updates on her Twitter, @MARYAMALKHAWAJA.] Samia Errazzouki (SE): Can you give us a general overview of the current ...
Keep Reading »From Opposition to Puppet: Morocco’s Party of Justice and Development
![[PJD party leaders celebrate their win in Morocco's legislative elections. Image by Magharebia/Flickr.]](/content_images/3/sm_ScreenShot2012-11-23at9.35.12PM.png "[PJD party leaders celebrate their win in Morocco's legislative elections. Image by Magharebia/Flickr.]")
A protest repressed, a journalist beaten, an artist detained, a newspaper censored, and an activist tortured. Sixteen months after what was hailed as a “landmark” constitutional referendum, and exactly one year after a new government was elected, like a broken record, headlines from Morocco continue to repeat themselves. When the announcement for the 25 November 2011 parliamentary elections was made, the February 20th Movement and its supporters quickly agreed to ...
Keep Reading »Chomsky on the Western Sahara and the “Arab Spring”
![[An image of the aftermath of the October 2010 protests in Gdeim Izik. Image from Wikimedia Commons.]](/content_images/3/sm_ScreenShot2012-10-30at1.39.23PM.png "[An image of the aftermath of the October 2010 protests in Gdeim Izik. Image from Wikimedia Commons.]")
One of the most significant consequences of the term “Arab Spring” has been the evocation of a constructed timeline that placed the protests in the North Africa and the Middle East within a limited spectrum of time and space. The desire to enforce problematic nominal labels produces a narrative that shapes the way certain events are understood and discussed. The result is the acceptance of what is or is not considered legitimate dissent and the denial or reduction of ...
Keep Reading »The Tunisian Revolution Continues: An Interview with Lina Ben Mhenni
[On Tuesday, 9 October, Tunisian blogger and activist, Lina Ben Mhenni, was awarded the "Prix alsacien de l'engagement démocratique" for her activities and involvement during the Tunisian Revolution. She blogs at A Tunisian Girl and also contributes to Global Voices.] Samia Errazzouki (SE): Regarding the drafting of the new constitution, as a Tunisian woman, how do you respond to the proposed article 28 that defines women as complements of men? Lina Ben ...
Keep Reading »Yes, Morocco is a Regional Model
![[Goats on an Argan tree near Taroudannt, Morocco. Image from Wikimedia Commons.]](/content_images/3/sm_ScreenShot2012-10-15at10.40.13AM.png "[Goats on an Argan tree near Taroudannt, Morocco. Image from Wikimedia Commons.]")
Every month or so, mainstream commentators and analysts make the bold decision to publish an article on Morocco. The obscure nature of Morocco’s experience of the regional uprising has made it a difficult case to grasp for some. Unlike its neighbors, Morocco has slipped through the “Arab Spring” formula of popular protest movement > violence > dictator overthrown. To avoid steering away from binaries and into the sea of nuances, it is important to stick to basic ...
Keep Reading »Bio
Samia Errazzouki is a Moroccan-American writer based in Washington, DC. She has written for Al Akhbar, Mamfakinch, the Fair Observer, and others. Her academic research focuses on Morocco's political economy and reform. She is currently working on the Arab Studies Institute's Knowledge Production Project, with a focus on the Greater Maghreb. She is also a co-editor of Jadaliyya's Maghreb Page.
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