The Moroccan bloggers covered most of the subjects that made the headlines of the news last week. They talked about the bird flu [1], and gave their opinions about the Dubai port [2] transaction.They also reacted to the bombings [3]that badly damaged Iraq's Golden Mosque in Samarra. But it wasn't only about politics, many talked also about some social issues as being gay in Morocco or about the dilema of being Muslim nowadays. As usual, Mchicha [4] is more into literature while Crucivore [5] applauds the decision of Reporters without borders [6] to, finally, remember Sami Al Hajj [7].
Globalization..Really?
Who else than Jawad [8] to post about the Dubai port transaction [9]. And he starts by expressing his disappointment at the Americans who are exercising their prejudice in opposition to a global free market transaction [10] .
Globalization is not the sole property of American enterprise. It is called ‘globalization’ for a reason – it is why a government-owned Spanish company (AENA) is managing several airports in Mexico; why private foreign companies control some 45% of Algeria's crude oil production; and why private Indian firms are competing for major stakes in the U.S. software industry.
Karim one of the authors of ARAB OBSERVERS [11] is writing about the horrific attack [12] that transformed the beautiful golden dome [13] that used to adorn Samerra [14]‘s skyline into shambles .
An image that will remain in my memory for a long time: the one of Abdulghafour Samarrai, a sunni sheikh, leading a protest in Samarra after the explosion, weeping. Thank you sheikh. Your tears came from the heart and gave a good example of how genuine solidarity between fellow muslims across the sectarian divide expresses itself during difficult times.
Samir [15] writes about The first case of bird flu death [16] that has been registered in Tindouf, south Algeria, where thousands of Moroccan Sahrawis are detained by the so-called Polisario movement.
No case of bird flu has been detected in Morocco so far. A preventive policy against bird flu started in early October, as the government worked out a national action plan to avert any potential risk of the disease, imposing stricter quarantine measures on poultry farms, border posts and slaughter houses.
To be or not to be!
Fonnou is a girl who tries to understand [17]. She also asks pretty philosophical questions. Her latest post is about the existence of humankind in the earth, and its title is Guilty of existing [18](French).
Supertimba is writing about what she calls “the identity crisis” of being Arab and/or Muslim. She feels stranger to this new mentality that only allows the black color or the white one to prevail [19](French), with no space for the grey .
I'm sick of this. When I was a college student, things were really different. We could all gather and discuss or decide about a sit-in, even though we were from different background, ideologywise.
Our colours are different, Hearts alike. We love all the human beings, says Bluesman in his latest post which refers [20] to the “Year`s Sportsmen” awards ceremony [21] which was organised by a Turkish daily [22], 27 February 2006, in downtown Istanbul.
Racism again reared its ugly head in Spanish football as Samuel Eto'o suffered sustained abuse at Real Zaragoza, 25 February.
Tribute to Elias Khoury [23]
Crucivore is writing about different subjects [24](French) in his latest post. One of them is about Reporters without borders that is finally asking for the release [25] of Sami Al hajj [26], the cameraman for the pan-Arab satellite TV station Al-Jazeera, who has been a prisoner in Guantanamo since 2002, after being arrested in Afghanistan in 2001.
The comments to the post are also very interesting and reflect different opinions about the crisis caused by the caricatures depicting the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) [27].
Mchicha is under the “intellectual charm” [28](French) of Pascal Quignard [29], the French writer, and she posts aboutVilla Amalia [30](French), his newest novel which has just hit the stores.
Najlae [31] is giving us a nice description of the way she felt when she met the Lebanese writer Elias Khoury [32]. What a delight for Najlae to realise that Writing is a way to listen, and that the writer is somebody who reads the lives of the others! [33](French).
We killed and destroyed the Palestinians. They were seen as potential trouble and were under pressure all the time from the Arab governments
coup de coeur
To all nostalgics of the old lullabies about the prince and the Sultan's daughter, Hajitk [34] is definitely the place to be. Its posts are all about cherished stories by many readers of Arabic or Islamic background, and I personally rememeber myself sitting on my late grand ma's knees, and listening to her stories whenever I pay a visit to this homey blog.
That's it for this week. See you next Wednesday, Inshallah.