Maghreb Media Roundup (November 2)

[This is a roundup of news articles and other materials circulating on the Maghreb and reflects a wide variety of opinions. It does not reflect the views of the Maghreb Page Editors or of Jadaliyya. You may send your own recommendations for inclusion in each week's roundup to maghreb@jadaliyya.com by Wednesday night of every week.]

Algeria

Interview de @7our par @mounirbensalah Excerpt from Mounir Bensalah's Social Networks and Revolutions, featuring an interview with Algerian activist @7our.

New Papers on Algeria & Mali Kal reviews recent publications Algeria's seemingly eminent intervention in Mali, noting that most analysis fail to consider Algeria's potential actions in the context of the nation's wider foreign policy.

Algeria: From colonial to hegemonic cultural policy Amar Kessab posits the officially sanctioned fetishization of "Algerian culture."

Libya

Defence minister says army chief has “no control” over Bani Walid Departing Defense Minister's account of Bani Walid’s instability diverges from other official assurances.

Libya: A year after Gaddafi AJE dissects the obstacles to centralization faced by the GNC.

Sources of Strengths and Opportunities for Democracy in Libya Osama Matri challenges overly pessimistic assessments of Libya's political climate, arguing that popular headlines misrepresent Libya's largely apolitical population and ignore auspicious post-conflict realities.  

Mauritania

Nouakchott: Les partisans de la COD en meeting Mauritania's Coordination of Democratic Opposition calls for the President's resignation, rallying under the slogan "Mauritania First.”

Thousands Turnout for #Mauritania 1 Nov 2012 Protest March and Rally Anita Hunt briefly examines the coordination of politically unaffiliated activists with the COD in demanding the end of Aziz's "pseudo-military dictatorship."

Morocco

Vague d’arrestations contre les militants subsahariens, aussitôt transférés vers la frontière algérienne Mamafakinch editors monitor the arrest of thirty activists from the Association of Migrants.

Mais où sont donc passés nos intellectuels? A piece published anonymously in PanoraMaroc argues that intellectual leadership has declined, co-opted by opportunists and supplanted by populists and Islamists.

Singing Truth to Power: Morocco’s Complicated Relationship with International Superstars and Dissident Artists Bobby Gulshan examines the discrepancy in Morocco's ostensible support of international entertainers and the suppression of domestic musicians such as El Haqed, Si Simo, and and Fez City Clan.

Morocco’s Citizen Subjects Issandr El Amrani discusses King Mohammed's meretricious reforms and the increasing likelihood that recent economic protests will again evolve into political demands.

Tunisia

Exclusive: Shooting of Salafists Predicts More Confrontations Mischa Benoit-Lavelle discusses the rise of radicalized Salafists in Douar Hicher through the perspectives local security forces and residents.

The NYT Editorial Board Needs A Political Science Lesson Michael Koplow challenges media tropes of Islam's necessarily un-democratizing role in Tunisia by positing a nuanced interpretation of the nation's current predicament that is inclusive of all Tunisian citizens.

Bilan d’un an de “légitimité” : La Justice sous le gouvernement Jebali Lilia Weslaty illustrates the executive branch's imperious endeavors against the Judicial independence.

Tunisia must overturn journalists’ convictions Amnesty International urges Tunisia to reverse the convictions of Sofiene Chourabi and Mehdi Jlassi, who were arrested on charges of moral depravity following their criticism of government policies.

Arabic

القضاء بعد الثورة : هل حقق اهدافها ام عطل مسارها؟ Interview with participants of a Tunisian seminar organized by law professionals to deliberate the realization of the revolution's goals.

ولد داداه يدعو للبحث عن مخرج من الأزمة الدستورية | #موريتانيا أخبار Mauritania's democratic opposition leader reiterates calls to address the country's constitutional vacuum. More Arabic coverage of opposition protests here and here.

الخائفون من الإصلاح Al Aan Journalist condemns the government's attempts to circumscribe his criticism of official policies.

الجزائر في قلب معركة دبلوماسية لإرسال جيشها إلى مالي Opinions from current and former Algerian officials on the potential for intervention in Mali.


Recent Jadaliyya Articles on the Maghreb

Tunisian Unionists on Strike in Kasserine Province
Chomsky on the Western Sahara and the “Arab Spring”
New Texts Out Now: Rikke Hostrup Haugbolle and Francesco Cavatorta, Beyond Ghannouchi: Social Changes and Islamism in Tunisia
"Community is Based on Justice"
Des trucs, des machins et des choses
La Libye un an après
New Texts Out Now: Ali Abdullatif Ahmida, Libya, Social Origins of Dictatorship, and the Challenge for Democracy