· May, 2007

Stories about Morocco from May, 2007

Morocco: Bono in Fez

  31 May 2007

“The View from Fez has its ear to the ground and can confirm a rumour that has been floating around the Medina (city) for the last two days. Bono is in Fez. Why? Well according to one source he is recording here with U2 – another is that he has...

Morocco: Punish YouTube Blockers

  31 May 2007

“People behind the blocking of Youtube in Morocco have to be reprimanded in proportion with the damage caused from ban. The news has made its way to BBC,New York times, Washington Post and a plethora of other news outlets in the world causing an unwanted negative advertising of a Kingdom...

Morocco: ban on YouTube lifted

  30 May 2007

The block on the video-sharing Web site YouTube has been lifted yesterday and the Moroccan blogsphere is celebrating its victory and planning to continue the struggle to unblock Google Earth and Livejournal. “Najib Omrani, a spokesman for the state-controlled telecommunications company Maroc Telecom, said Moroccans were unable to access YouTube...

Morocco: YouTube is Back; Maroc Telecom Subscribers are Elated

  29 May 2007

MidEastYouth broke the news this evening that YouTube, which had been blocked by Maroc Telecom, Morocco's leading internet provider, has been restored to subscribers. It seems that the blogging community, with the help of bigger sites like this one, helped to get the story noticed by majors like Reporters Without...

Update on YouTube in Morocco

  28 May 2007

Although no cause for the blocking of YouTube by service provider Maroc Telecom has been ascertained, the current speculation is, as Moonlight mentions, is: La raison de cette censure serait la publication par ce site de 2 vidéos d'un islmaiste malade mental qui (en cachant bien son visage bien sur)...

Francophone Morocco: Politics, Power, and Money

  28 May 2007

"If you don’t do politics, politics will do what it wants with you." Or, do politics make any sense in Morocco? Hamza Daoui checks in on this week's blogging to see what the Francophone Moroccan bloggers have to say.

Block of Youtube: the Moroccan blogosphere react

  28 May 2007

A petition has been launched by Maghrebism to protest the block of the video-sharing site Youtube by Maroc Telecom (Vivendi International). “We demand that Maroc Telecom and Vivendi Universal immediately stop the current online censorship on YouTube and all other services being censored, which is a violation of the right...

Morocco blocks access to YouTube

  26 May 2007

Yesterday, May 25, 2007, it has been reported by numerous Moroccan blogger that Morocco has blocked access to YouTube video sharing website. There have been many ongoing speculations that the ban followed the broadcasting of material critical of the country's king and pro-Western Sahara. This is the third major sites...

Morocco blocks popular video site YouTube

  26 May 2007

Early this morning, the news broke across the blogosphere that Morocco has joined the ranks of countries like Iran and Tunisia, which already block YouTube. A Moroccan in Washington D.C. posted: “According to postings online and friends in Morocco, access to Youtube is blocked. Nobody knows the reason for this....

Morocco's UN Refugee Office Closes its Doors

  24 May 2007

Cat in Rabat reports that The United Nations Refugee Office in Morocco has closed its doors after African migrants stormed the building on Saturday. “They were demanding financial assistance for accommodation and food, as well as residency papers, access to healthcare, and the right to work,” she says, adding: “There...

Morocco: Restoring Fez

  24 May 2007

Moroccan blogger Samir updates us about the latest restoration projects in Fez. “While many people are busy restoring old houses in the Fez Medina, there are other projects going on that are making an important contribution to the life of the people in the Medina,” he explains.

Morocco: Muslims Making Headlines

  24 May 2007

“Muslims are making headlines yet again. The Pew Research Center has found that one in four American Muslims under the age of 30 think that suicide bombings can sometimes be justified as a means to defend Islam,” writes Christine Benlafquih in Arabisto. “With headlines focusing on this one aspect of...

Arabeyes: The Middle East in Pictures

  21 May 2007

Today's Middle East in Pictures tour takes us to Dubai's lovely beaches, Doha at night, a picture of a flower in Bahrain, the blooming flower gardens of Syria this spring and finally on a Viagra buying spree in the bazaars of Fez, in Morocco.

Morocco: The Week of Firsts

  21 May 2007

It was a week of firsts in Morocco - with the first French Minister of Moroccan descent, the first newspaper and the first wine store. Jillian York has more in this report.

Morocco: Fighting ignorance, injustice, and irrationality

  18 May 2007

Giving one's child a special first name should be an inalienable right, not a lengthy bureaucratic process. Hamza Daoui covers a debate stirring up over this very issue, as well as the upcoming Moroccan elections and the timeless subject of ignorance.

Morocco: Free Haleh Estandiari

  18 May 2007

Moroccan blogger Laila Lalami calls for the signing of a petition to free Iranian-American scholar Haleh Esfandiari, the director of the Middle East Programme at the Woodrow Wilson International Centre for Scholars, was detained in Iran on December 30.

Jordan: Arab Media Watchdog

  17 May 2007

Jordanian blogger Lina links to a news article which says that journalists from five Arab countries are to launch a media watchdog group in reaction to what they call increased restrictions on press workers in the region. According to the article, 20 reporters from Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Morocco and...

Morocco's first English-language newspaper

  17 May 2007

The View from Fez was the bearer of good news this morning, informing us that Morocco has finally released its first English-language print newspaper. Although international papers are available in Morocco, and Magharebia.com and Maghreb Arabe Presse provide anglophones with news on the internet, there's nothing better than settling into...