[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 roundup to maghreb@jadaliyya.com]
Algeria
Algérie. Cheb Hasni, le soliloque de l’amoureux Faisal Sahbi, for OrientXXI, looks back on the last days of Cheb Hasni.
Algérie. Une Constitution pour en finir avec le Hirak Ilhem Rachidi poses a question about whether the 1 November public constitutional referendum will be a game-changer for the Hirak protest movement or will it end it.
Algeria’s New Constitution: The System’s Last Gasp? An overview from the Middle East Economic Survey on the current challenges facing Algeria’s oil and gas sector and, consequently, the country’s economy as a whole.
الجزائر: تضاعف طرق الحرقة و أعداد المهاجرين السريين Fueled by the country's current political and economic situation, the number of Algerian harragas rose alarmingly this year, compared to last year, despite the COVID-19 pandemic.
Hundreds take to Algiers streets despite ban on protests Commemorating the 5 October 1988 protests, hundreds of Algerians take to the streets a few days ahead of the start of the 1 November referendum campaign.
تيزي وزو: وجوه من الحراك Twala, a newfound Algerian news website, portrays ordinary figures from the Hirak protests in Tizi-Ouzou.
Algerians back constitutional reforms amid low voter turnout According to the National Independent Elections Authority (A.N.I.E.), 66.8 percent of voters were in favor of passing the constitutional reforms, with a turnout of just 23.7 percent.
Libya
Ceasefire sees Libya’s NOC end all closures of oilfields & ports after 8-month blockade Following a ceasefire agreement, Libya re-opens the last of its major oil fields after nearly eight months of blockade.
برعاية الأمم المتحدة.. اتفاق دائم لوقف إطلاق النار في ليبيا Libya’s two factions agree to a ceasefire, signing an agreement at the United Nations in Geneva on 23 October 2020.
Nicolas Sarkozy mis en examen pour la quatrième fois dans l’affaire du financement libyen de sa campagne France's ex-president, Nicolas Sarkozy, is facing a fourth legal charge over illegal financing of his failed re-election campaign in 2012. The charges came after an earlier Mediapart investigation.
Libya timeline: Haftar’s offensive to a ceasefireAl Jazeera sets a timeline of the major events shaping Khalifa Haftar’s offensive on Tripoli from April 2019 to the latest ceasefire reached in October 2020.
وليامز: محادثات السلام المقبلة يمكن أن تحدد موعد إجراء الانتخابات العامة في ليبيا The United Nations' Libya envoy, Stephanie Williams, says the upcoming political talks would set a date for national elections. Libya’s two factions agreed on a ceasefire a week earlier.
Libye: comment Haftar prépare ses fils à la succession Despite an unsuccessful offensive on Tripoli and possible national elections, the Libya National Army’s Khalifa Haftar is preparing his sons for succession.
Factbox: What does Libya's ceasefire deal contain? Reuters examines the key points in Libya’s last ceasefire agreement.
Mauritania
موريتانيا وتركيا تبحثان تعزيز التعاون الثنائي Mauritania's Foreign Minister Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed receives Turkey’s Ambassador to Mauritania Cem Kahyaoglu in the capital, Nouakchott, to discuss strengthening bilateral relations between the two countries.
After 20 Years in the US, I Was Suddenly Deported to a Country That Still Has Slavery A Mauritanian tells his story of deportation after his life was suddenly upended by the Trump administration’s immigration policies. He lived in the United States for twenty years after he was stripped of Mauritanian citizenship.
موريتانيا: أطلقوا سراح النشطاء المسجونين بتهمة الزندقة Human Rights Watch calls on Mauritanian authorities to free individuals detained without trial on blasphemy charges.
Une militante mauritanienne distinguée par un prix pour les droits humains Mekfoula Mint Brahim, a Mauritanian women's and minority rights activist, receives a prize awarded by the international NGO Front Line Defenders.
Mauritania: Critic of former president returns from exile: Moustapha Ould Limam Chafi, a critic of Mauritania's former president who fled the country after facing terrorism charges, returns from exile.
Un climat glacial s'installe entre Bamako et NouakchottAlakhbar examines the ties between Mali's new presidency and Mauritania. The two governments have been at odds since the transitional authorities in Mali refused the deployment of Mauritanian troops on the border between the two countries.
Morocco
Morocco reopens some mosques, even as infections grow For the first time since March, Morocco reopens thousands of mosques as it lifts restrictions that were aimed at containing the virus. However, some forty thousand mosques remain closed.
Les premiers touristes étrangers reviennent au Maroc Morocco welcomes tourists for the first time since March.
UN establishes counterterrorism office in Morocco Morocco signs an agreement with the United Nations' Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT) to open their first program office in Africa.
في طريق "الحلم الأوروبي".. أفارقة يعيشون واقعا جديدا بالمغرب Sky News Arabia reports on the daily life of a group of Sub-Saharan Africans, who had made it to Morocco in hopes of reaching Europe but somehow got stuck there with the need to improvise a living.
Les Marocains craignent un nouveau confinement As COVID-19 cases surge nationwide again, Moroccans brace themselves for a second wave of the pandemic and new lockdown restrictions.
Comment le Maroc va « doper » le Made in Morocco Faced with economic difficulty mostly aggravated by the COVID-19 pandemic, Morocco sets to replace significant imports with local and national production.
Tunisia
Traces esclavagistes : Un Tunisien de 81 ans gagne son procès et élimine le mot « Atig » de son nom An eighty-one-year-old Tunisian man wins a case to have the word Atig, which means "freed by" (in reference to slavery in Tunisia), removed from his name.
Tunisia approves reopening of Libya land border to passengers Tunisia grants authorities the permission to re-open the Ras Jedir border crossing with Libya. The move will also expand trade between the two countries.
احتجاجات عنيفة ببلدة تونسية بعد مقتل رجل في كشك هدمته الشرطة Residents in Sbeitla, in the province of Kasserine, take to the streets after a street vendor died when authorities bulldozed his kiosk while he was sleeping inside.
Il y a 57 ans, l’évacuation de Bizerte, une histoire et un peuple! Tunisia celebrates the fifty-seventh anniversary of Evacuation Day (the evacuation of Bizerte in 1963) and the day the last French soldier left Tunisian soil, marking the end of French colonialism in the country.
Tunisians call for prosecution of lawmaker who condoned French teacher’s murder Dozens of Tunisians sign a petition calling for the prosecution of a lawmaker who justified the killing of Samuel Paty.
نقابة الصحفيين تعلن تعليق « مفاوضاتها » مع رئاسة الحكومة The Tunisian journalists’ union says its delegation has withdrawn from negotiating with the government, disapproving of its negotiation approach and accusing it of procrastination and lack of seriousness.
Tunisian unemployment soars amid economic crisis Tunisia, which was already battling high unemployment before the start of the pandemic, sees record shrinking levels of its economy. Unemployment rates rose to eighteen percent, with predictions it could reach twenty percent by the end of the year.
Western Sahara
نزاع الصحراء الغربية: ما وراء فتح الإمارات قنصلية في العيون؟ Commentators on France 24 discuss the timing and aims behind the United Arab Emirates’ decision to open a consulate in Laayoune as part of its diplomatic mission to Morocco.
Western Sahara Rebels Shutter Border Crossing, Demand UN Add Human Rights Mission Demonstrators in south Western Sahara shut down El Guerguerat, a border crossing with Mauritania opened by Morocco, in a bid to draw attention ahead of the UN Security Council's renewal of its mission in Western Sahara.
Maroc et Sahara occidental. Les droits humains doivent être un élément essentiel de la mission des Nations unies pour l’organisation d’un référendum au Sahara occidental Amnesty International calls on the UN peacekeeping mission in the Western Sahara to include human rights monitoring.
قرار مجلس الأمن يتجاهل الوضع على الأرض ويمدد مهمة بعثة “مينورسو” عاما آخر The United Nations Security Council adopts Resolution 2548 and extends the mandate of its peacekeeping mission in Western Sahara (MINURSO) for one more year.
Maroc : pourquoi le Polisario bloque El Guerguerate Jeune Afrique explains the cause behind the recent protests in El Guerguerat, at the border between Western Sahara and Mauritania.
الرئيس الجزائري: قضية الصحراء الغربية قضية استعمار Algeria's President Abdelmadjid Tebboune states that the issue of Western Sahara is an issue of colonialism, reiterating Algeria’s long-standing position and stressing that a popular referendum among the Sahrawi people still prevails as the only solution.
In Jadaliyya
Intimate Histories - From Algeria to Bahrain: A Conversation on Losing Fathers to Politics and Finding Solace through Photography Two photographers, Algerian and Bahraini, share their deceased fathers' resembling stories and the broader historical/political contexts in which they had lost them.
The Algerian Family Abdo Shanan and Bruno Boudjelal revisit via their photography the journey of Franz Fanon and traces of his memory.