Peaceful Co-existence between Divine Religions

Interreligious Dialogue in Morocco

• Deutsch
• عربي

Before the founding of the state of Israel in 1948, about a quarter of a million Jews lived in Morocco. In the 1950s and 1960s, many emigrated to the new Jewish state, leaving a diminished Jewish community behind. Hind Al-Subai Al-Idrisi takes a closer look at interreligious dialogue in Morocco, a predominantly Muslim country that is now ruled by a moderate Islamist party

Like several countries in the Middle East, Morocco witnessed a popular movement that fell short of a revolution. But citizen demand for government reform did lead to a number of changes. These changes included a referendum on a new constitution, limiting the Moroccan monarch's authority, as well as elections, which led to a victory for the Justice and Development Party, an Islamic political party.

While many people feared an Islamic political party might not respect the faiths of non-Muslim nationals, Morocco is showing its commitment to the promotion of co-existence between Moroccans of different faiths under the Justice and Development Party.

Morocco is considered one of the most stable countries of the region, with more or less peaceful co-existence between the various religions and cultures that make up the Moroccan social fabric. As a testament to this, the city of Fez, classified by UNESCO as part of the global human heritage, held a significant event on 13 February 2013: the inauguration of the newly renovated Fez Prayer Synagogue.

Looking into the Medina in Fez: the restored Slat-al-Fassiyene synagogue in Fez is situated in the Mellah, the Jewish quarter of the Medina, the old quarter of Fez

​​

The celebration was headed by Morocco's prime minister and leader of the Justice and Development Party, Abdelilah Benkirane. He pointed out that: "The event underscores the identity of Morocco as a land for peace, tolerance and peaceful co-existence between followers of all divine religions and is a lesson for the 21st century, which Morocco sends to all the world."

Historical and religious landmark

The Fez Prayer Synagogue is one of the oldest Jewish synagogues in the city. It was built in the seventeenth Century in the Mallah district of the Old City and is considered a historical landmark for Jewish Moroccan culture. The synagogue has played an important role in the religious life of the Jewish community, whose members were once 30,000 strong and are today estimated to be between 3,000 and 7,000.

While most Jews left Morocco after the state of Israel was established, the Moroccan monarch gave a message during the inauguration ceremony of the Fez Prayer Synagogue to remaining rabbis and representatives of the Jewish community in Morocco in which he called for the renovation of other synagogues in Moroccan cities. Not only is this effort re-establishing these building as places of worship, it also creates spaces for intercultural dialogue.

Within this context, Morocco is also witnessing other interfaith events encouraged by the King and the Justice and Development party. The latest example was an event called "Interfaith Co-existence and Dialogue in Morocco," which was a meeting of three religious leaders from three separate religious communities: the head of the Moroccan Catholic Church, the Jewish community leader in Morocco and the chief of the local Scientific Council of Anfa, a district in Casablanca. It took place on 31 January in Casablanca's Siqala Square.

Answering young people's questions

The celebration marking the opening of the restored synagogue, which has in the past been used as a carpet workshop and a gym, was led by Morocco's prime minister and leader of the Justice and Development Party, Abdelilah Benkirane, who read out a message from King Mohammed VI

​​

The leaders sat at the same table to talk about interfaith co-existence in the country and took questions on the subject. They were joined by a number of young Moroccans of various religious orientations. The young people asked them many questions about the three Abrahamic religions, which were answered in a respectful climate of tolerance.

Many people asked about the freedom of religion in Morocco. While it is illegal for Muslims to renounce Islam, the three religious leaders stressed the importance of accepting all faiths and granting permission for all of them to practice their traditions. The Muslim leader explained that there is "no coercion in religion (Koran 2:256)," and that this should be lived out in daily life by embracing diversity.

Young people are considered among the most important elements of a society. Making them familiar with dialogue, co-existence and acceptance of the other, despite religious, ideological and cultural differences is an important step for any society that strives for positive change.

Through events like these, Morocco is preparing a new generation, one that is even more capable of co-existing with members of other religions.

Hind Al-Subai Al-Idrisi

© Common Ground News 2013

Editor: Aingeal Flanagan/Qantara.de

Out of the spotlight, Moroccan Islamic party promotes interfaith dialogue

by Hind Al-Subai Al-Idrisi 12 March 2013

Print Email

Rabat – Like other countries in the Middle East, Morocco witnessed a popular movement that fell short of a revolution. But citizen demand for government reform did lead to a number of changes. These changes included a referendum over a new constitution, limiting the Moroccan monarch's authority, as well as elections, which led to a victory for the Justice and Development Party, an Islamic political party.

While many people feared an Islamic political party might not respect the faiths of non-Muslim nationals, Morocco is showing its commitment to promote coexistence between Moroccans of different faiths under the Justice and Development Party.

Morocco is considered one of the most stable countries of the region, with more or less peaceful coexistence among the various religions and cultures comprising the Moroccan social fabric. As a testament to this, the city of Fez, classified by UNESCO as part of the global human heritage, held a significant event on 13 February 2013: the inauguration of the newly renovated Fez Prayer Synagogue.

The celebration was headed by Morocco’s Prime Minister and leader of the Justice and Development Party, Abdelilah Bin Kiran. He pointed out that, "The event underscores the identity of Morocco as a land for peace, tolerance, and peaceful coexistence among followers of all divine religions, and a lesson for the 21st century, which Morocco sends to all the world."

The Fez Prayer Synagogue is one of the oldest Jewish synagogues in Fez. It was built in the 17th Century in the Mallah district of the Old City, and is considered a historical landmark for Jewish Moroccan culture. The synagogue has played an important role in the religious life of the Jewish community, whose members were once 30,000 strong and are today estimated to be between 3,000 to 7,000.

While most Jews left Morocco after the state of Israel was established, the Moroccan monarch gave a message during the inauguration ceremony of the Fez Prayer Synagogue to remaining rabbis and representatives of the Jewish community in Morocco in which he called for the renovation of other synagogues in Moroccan cities. Not only is this effort re-establishing these places of worship, but also spaces for intercultural dialogue.

Within this context, Morocco is also witnessing other interfaith events encouraged by the King and the Justice and Development party. The latest example was an event called "Interfaith Coexistence and Dialogue in Morocco," which was a meeting of three religious leaders from three separate religious communities – the head of the Moroccan Catholic Church, the Jewish community leader in Morocco, and the chief of the local Scientific Council of Anfa, a district in Casablanca – on 31 January in Casablanca’s Siqala Square.

The leaders sat at the same table to talk about interfaith coexistence in the country and took questions on the subject. The leaders were joined by a number of Moroccan youth of various religious orientations. The youth asked them many questions about the three Abrahamic religions, which were answered in a respectful climate of tolerance.

Many people asked about the freedom of religion in Morocco. While it is illegal for Muslims to renounce Islam, the three religious leaders stressed the importance of accepting all faiths and granting permission for all of them to practice their traditions. The Muslim leader explained that there is “no coercion in religion (Qur’an 2:256),” and that this should be lived out in daily life by embracing diversity.

Young people are considered among the most important elements of a society. Making them familiar with dialogue, coexistence and acceptance of the other, despite religious, ideological and cultural differences is an important step for any society that strives for positive change.

Through events like these, Morocco is preparing a new generation – one that is even more capable of coexisting with the other.

###

* Hind Al-Subai Al-Idrisi is a Moroccan journalist and blogger (hindapress.wordpress.com). This article was written for the Common Ground News Service (CGNews).

Source: Common Ground News Service (CGNews), 12 March 2013,www.commongroundnews.org
Copyright permission is granted for publication.

---

Article available in:

English

|  عربي

|  Français

|  Indonesia

|  اردو

The Curse of Moroccan Bureaucracy

Hind points at some of the most controversial aspects of Moroccan bureaucracy and contends that all Moroccans are not equal in face of it.

By Hind Soubaï Idrissi

Writer, blogger and journalist • 3 comments

Sunday, August 29th, 2010

Translated by Hisham from لسنا بحاجة إلى إعلان لتغيير البطاقة الوطنية نحتاج إلى تبسيط المساطر الإدارية

Biometric cards; websites for updating your electronic passport…
For an outsider this might look like we in Morocco have made important steps towards progress. And indeed the people here, the king, all aspire to progress. Unfortunately, these things are not readily available to every citizen in Morocco and not even a prospect for some of them. Think about it: some Moroccans can not even manage to have a regular national identity card, mostly because of the intricacies of Moroccan bureaucracy.

These days, they are broadcasting an advert on national TV channels urging people to hurry up and substitute their old regular national ID cards with the new electronic ”biometric” ones. Why the hurry? I want to tell our officials in case they missed it, that our people are overwhelmingly young, technologically aware and in no need for TV adverts to show them the benefits of new tech gadgets. All they’re ask is for administrative rules and regulations to be eased.

The most absurd in this, is that most Moroccans will end up not having the much praised biometric card. So I’m asking: what is the point of forcing everybody to prepare loads of documents including the passport, the driving license and every bit of paper to prove that you were born on this land? Let me explain more about this ridiculous situation because this might not be understood by all.

In order to get the biometric identity card, you need to collect a certain number of documents, among which, a birth-certificate, which is not hard to get from any office close to where you live or in any other place in any city or town in Morocco. So far so good. But the shocking thing is when they ask you to bring the birth “record.” You know, the one with the green paper not the white paper. I think I need to explain more about this because it’s kind of puzzling for those of you not familiar with the delights of Moroccan bureaucracy. In Morocco you have two kinds of documents for a birth-certificate: the white paper that you can get anywhere -proof that the government wants to bring the administration close to the citizens. And then you have the green paper, an ingenious Moroccan invention, that you can only obtain from the one office, in the province, in the city, where your parents registered your birth the day you were born. The green paper is essential. Without it you just can’t have a national identity card.

People keep moving from place to place. Some of us have nothing to do anymore with our places of birth, apart maybe for some who still carry the name of the city as a patronym. Others don’t even know where they were born, having grown up in a different region. I’ll give you an example: a person born in the city of Dakhla in the south, moved north to the city of Tangier for work, and ended up living there and may no longer have any link with his native Dakhla other than the fact that the father registered his birth there. And what about someone born in the city of Oujda in the east, now moved to Agadir in the southern part of the Atlantic coast and who’s health, professional conditions, or financial situation prevent him from going back to his native Oujda?

To extract the birth-certificate (green paper that is) it will cost you just about two dirhams. But how much a travel all the way from northern Morocco to the deep south, or from east to west will cost you. This is something barely mentioned. Is this what they call “bringing the administration close the citizen”? And if this green piece of paper is so important, why the hell do we have to carry the documents we are asked to carry today: what is the point of the so-called “civil status” containing the date and place of birth? What about the passport? The regular identity card? Having carried those for years, I thought they were enough proof of my citizenship. Now I’m told these documents have no legal bearing. What are all those local districts for? Aren’t they supposed to facilitate the withdrawal of our documents? And what is this so-called “electronic government” they keep boasting about? I just don’t know. What baffles me more than anything is the behavior of politicians and parliamentarians. Aren’t they supposed to speak up for the people? All they keep doing is defending their own interests.

One additional condition they came up with when it has first been decided that all Moroccans should have an electronic ID card, is that women who wear the veil, should show their ears in their photos in order for the face and its features to be completely apparent (the photo also has to have specific characteristics to fit into the biometric card). When the condition was first proposed, [Islamist] parties in parliament went mad and created a huge fuss about it. They called it the “visible ears” issue. They succeeded in forcing the government to cancel the requirement. But nobody gave a damn about the issue of the birth record. You know, the green piece of paper remember? They just don’t care because they are a world apart from what the ordinary citizen who can’t afford to pay a bus ticket worries about. How on earth is this citizen, who struggles for his daily bread, will afford to travel to the city of his birth, if it happens to be located far away from where he lives today? This is a very legitimate question. This is the one reason why many Moroccans will not be able to change their old card into brand new e-cards. Nothing will change as long as the bureaucratic conditions stay as prohibitive and stifling as they are today. In this era of “war against terrorism”, the biometric card is aimed primarily at strenghtnning the “national security” of the state. It doesn’t address the real concerns of the citizen. So who’s the real beneficiary of all this?

***

There’s a phenomenon that is very prevalent in our society. It is the fact that the very existence of many children is not recognized by the state when for one reason or another, the father did not register his offspring in the civil status register. I do not think a father wouldn’t register his son or daughter intentionally. It mainly has to do with the fact this is a difficult procedure to go through, particularly for low-income families. The main cause being the complexity of the conditions set by Moroccan law and administration to basically spoil the lives of citizens. The non-use of technology is also a factor at play. Just go visit some government offices. You would think you are still at the beginning of the twentieth century and that time has frozen there forever.

Morocco is well known for the mobility of its population inside the country itself. Many of those born in the north may well move to the south and vice versa. But bureaucracy is causing a lot of trouble in our society. If some parents are blessed with their first newborn, the father will have to travel to the city or the region where he, the father, was born. Otherwise his offspring is in legal limbo. The son or daughter, in case the parents divorce, can well find themselves rejected by their father with little legal recourse. Can you believe this is possible in our day and age? What’s even more outrageous is that this wasn’t the case in the past when newborns could be registered by their parents in any city in the country. Does the government and the officials only know that most Moroccans are poor? That traveling from place to place requires a lot of money, time and effort? That extracting a single certificate may take more than one day? How can the citizen afford to pay for transport, accommodation and food, and how much time can he afford to waste in order to get these documents?

The same goes for marriage. The traditional al-Fatiha mariage (a form of religious ceremonial marriage) is spreading in the country, at the expense of women’s and children’s rights, precisely because of bureaucratic obstacles. Moroccan courts are full of cases where women battle to prove their undocumented marriages and to defend the rights of their children. Things are getting worse and harder to deal with. Where does the government think we are going with this: undocumented marriages, children and future citizens without identity? Is this the progress they are talking about? If nothing changes, we are heading for a national disaster by all measures. Again, I can’t believe this things can happen in this day and age.

Despite all the benefits brought about by the new Family Code, women are still considered minors. Just take a look at the Family Record Book where only the man’s (husband’s) name appears upfront, while the woman’s name is put in a seperate box along with the children, invariably referred to as “mother.” There’s only the husband’s photo in it. If God forbid the husband passes away, the widow is left in administrative limbo, unable to register her own children.

In more advanced societies, photos of both the husband and wife appear on opposite pages and on equal footing on the Family Record Book. This document should serve as a proof for Marriage and should be provided to the couple soon after the wedding. Children should be able to be registered by either one of their parents, in an office near where they live. The way the government currently conducts the affairs of the citizens and their lives is simply ludicrous. We live in the age of the Internet and computers, and there are hundreds of technicians and specialists in computers from both sexes who are unemployed. Can’t we employ them to reform the administration and replace the current inefficient civil servants? The current laws encourage corruption. By just reforming the administration we can create millions of jobs because we live in a very large society. We can find solutions if only we can work seriously.

The bureaucratic aspects of Morocco are numerous and complex. To address them all one needs to write volumes upon volumes of books and not get to the bottom of it. Morocco has to get rid of bureaucracy because it hinders its progress.

The Importance of Online Media is Denied in Morocco

In this piece, Hind defends the interests of bloggers in Morocco, arguing their importance as part of the media landscape and advocating for their freedom to blog as they wish.

By Hind Soubaï Idrissi

Writer, blogger and journalist • 5 comments

Tuesday, June 15th, 2010

Translated by Hisham from الإعلام الالكتروني ورفض الواقع في المغرب

Experts seem to agree that online media, including blogging (or citizen media), has become an important component in the body of the global media. This almost makes the traditional printed press look like a thing of the past. This has been made evident by the major losses suffered by international newspapers and their subsequent transformation, relying more and more on the Internet. One example among many others is that of the century old The Christian Science Monitor, which took the bold step back in 2008 to focus its attention primarily on its online edition. An then of course there are media organizations present exclusively online like major technology magazines PC World and Info World whose editor Patrick McGovern once declared: “paper editions have become yesterday’s news. Now people want to learn about the news as soon as they happen.”

My everyday experience [as a journalist], in accordance with the findings of the most recent studies, points to the increasing importance of online media: journalism, blogging, podcasts, social networking. It is a new media populated by a new breed of reporters, or so called citizen journalists or bloggers who deliver the kind of news the traditional channels of information tend to ignore. In several occasions those bloggers played a crucial role in the coverage of major world events during which videos were taken by personal cell phone cameras and then viewed by thousands of spectators on television channels and distributed by news agencies across the world. Even at the political level, now demonstrations and protests are initiated mainly on social forums instead of the streets. Even election campaigns are now waged largely online, as we have seen with President Barack Obama adopting Internet and blogging as a major part of his presidential campaign. That’s why developed countries today pay a lot of attention to the Internet and allocate resources to educate bloggers, online journalists and online media professionals. There is also an increasing number of global blogging contests and more professionals who follow this field very closely and promote the Internet for the freedom it offers bloggers especially in developing countries.

But unfortunately we find that all this is absent in Morocco. The majority of the official parties involved deny that those realities are even taking place, and some still consider that blogging and online reporting are the work of reckless teenagers. There are also those who are convinced that printed media will survive as long as life continues on Earth and that blogging and online journalism are passing phenomena that will burst like a bubble. This is depressing especially when you hear those comments from people supposed to promote Internet in this country. This shows primarily a lack of culture and knowledge from officials who are having trouble keeping up with all that is happening in the world of technology. This ignorance should ring an alarm bell about the future of online media in this country and should accelerate the fight against electronic illiteracy. Otherwise this will constitute a major problem in the near future. Training programs should be proposed as a matter of urgency. Officials on the highest level of government do not have e-mail accounts and some do not know how to use a computer or when they know they are mostly incapable of dealing with the online world. By contrast, we find in other countries that the political elite has blogs and uses Twitter and social networking websites like Facebook to get its messages across and try to influence the public opinion. But here, we only see officials during election time to give redundant speeches.

Bloggers were jailed recently in Morocco. Those issuing the arrest warrants most probably do not know the importance of the Internet or the blogosphere and can not distinguish a journalist who has a regional or even a national audience from a blogger who writes for the rest of the world and who might have thousands, perhaps millions of followers and readers. Conversely, there are some bloggers who do not realize the importance or potential impact of the words they use or the topics they chose to deal with. I think they also need training and education to be able to make the difference between slander or libel and constructive criticism. The huge gap existing today between bloggers and citizen journalists in general on the one hand, and the officials on the other, generates fear and mistrust, but both have to work together to keep up with the pace of progress. This is especially true in the case of Morocco who wants to use its position as a privileged partner of the European Union. It’s a disgrace to see bloggers dragged to tribunals in Morocco only because they have expressed their opinions. Officials must understand that the time of censorship and harassment should be gone for good. We live in an era awash with new technology and we represent a new generation with different ideas and lifestyles.

It is in the country’s interest that officials (especially at the Ministry of Communication) draw more attention to the importance of the community of bloggers and work to ensure that everybody can express their views freely. Citizen journalists ought to be considered a fundamental part of the media of today. They are becoming the voices of the country abroad, acting more and more like ambassadors, whether we like it or not.

Ups and Downs of the Moroccan Family Code

In this interesting essay, Hind reviews the achievements and analyses the failures of the Moroccan family code, six years after its implementation.

By Hind Soubaï Idrissi

Writer, blogger and journalist • 19 comments

Monday, March 29th, 2010

Translated by Hisham from غياب وثغرات قانونية بمدونة الأسرة المغربية

The most important changes brought by the Moroccan new Family Code or Moudawana, are the protection of women’s rights, its support for gender equality and children’s rights. However, although it has been implemented for several years now, the Family Code in Morocco is still being violated and contravened. The existence of legal loopholes still allows some practices to persist, such as the marriages under the legal age of 18. This particular practice has several social and cultural roots, the most important of which is the Al-Fatiha Marriage (or the traditional religious marriage, attended only by the male members of both families and witnesses, without the provision of a formal contract, and where the recitation of the first chapter of the Quran, the Al-Fatiha, suffices for the union to be considered legitimate) which is spread in the rural areas of Morocco.

The need for an alimony fund for the protection of the family:

The new Code allows, among other things, for an acceleration of the maintenance procedure or alimony in case of divorce. This is a positive and important point, for it guaranties the divorced wife and her children the right for a decent living. But for some reason, and 6 years after the implementation of the Moudawana, the law has not yet been backed by an alimony fund that is much needed. -a body that would have helped solve many of the social problems that aroused from the real-life implementation of the new law. Morocco can learn a lot from the experiences of other Arab countries such as Egypt,Tunisia and Palestine who have already put in place a fund-based alimony system.

There’s a flip side to this reform however. The divorce rates have been soaring recently, especially among the most empoverished and vulnerable communities in the society, most probably for economic reasons. Also, in case of divorce, the law states clearly that it is the husband’s responsability to provide for the maintenance of his former wife and children, and to do so whithin 30 days or face imprisonement. After two years of divorce, and even if the husband has been spending for the household whatever money he could afford, the former wife, especially when there is a child, would still be able to sue her former husband and force him into paying nearly 30 thousand dirhams, (3000 Euros, 4000 USD). There are plenty of intricate cases like these before the courts today. Although these amounts might sound fair and reasonable, they are unaffordable in most cases given the current unstable work environment and the high rates of unemployement in this country. Even the average civil servant wouldn’t dream of affording to pay such amounts. Even the ordinary, stable and happy family wouldn’t spend that amount of money in such a short time, as is the case of most of the Moroccan population. According to Anaruz [Ar, Fr], a Moroccan national center for listening and orientation for women victims of violence, the percentage of men who fail to willingly pay their maintenance duty is as high as 57.9%.

One story has attracted my attention recently. It was aired on national radio. It’s a story of a young man suffering from diabetes, with an amputated leg, so poor that he can’t afford the price of food, let alone to pay for his Insulin, who lived on charity and yet who has been sentenced by a court to pay thousands of Dirhams to his former wife or face imprisonment. Cases like these are becoming very common unfortunately.

The Moudawana has thus created new social problems and has led to the dispersion of the Moroccan family. For this reason it has become necessary to establish an alimony fund to put an end to the problems faced by so many families, especially the most impoverished, and to ensure the rights of divorced women and their children. The Moroccan society and family are not benefiting from the perpetuation of the current system whereby men who can’t pay the maintenance duties arel led to jail. It’s a system that generates hatred, violence and domestic crimes, not to mention delinquency and its devastating effects on children’s mental health.

The absence of a law to protect women from violence:

The phenomenon of violence against women has unfortunately increased in the Moroccan society in recent years. Frightening figures show that dozens of women commit suicide every year. Out of wedlock pregnancy forces women to undergo clandestine abortions from fear of retribution, while others live with permanent disabilities due to domestic violence. The Family Code did not touch on these problems and there are plenty of legal voids in this field. Domestic violence against women doesn’t come necessarily from the husband. It can be perpetrated by the father, the brother, the relative, the employer. Also, violence is not only physical or verbal or psychological or economic, it can be sexual. Because of the ravaging effects sexual violence has on women’s psychology, it is considered rape when carried out by the husband, as recognized by the laws in many developed democracies around the world. Any sexual relationship not based on mutual consent, that is against the wishes of the wife or forced under any form of threat is rape indeed. Something Moroccan women know little about. New laws must be introduced to halt such widespread practices. Most women don’t denounce their violent husbands however or report on sexual violence either for social reasons or because they consider those practices to be their partner’s right. There are, therefore, very few reliable statistics on that matter.

According to a report [Fr] by the National Network for Listening and Legal Assistance to WomenVictims of Violence (Anaruz), published on March this year, economic and physical violence are the most prevalent (37.6% and 32.7% respectively). Sexual violence comes in third place with 10.7%, followed by judicial (sic) and psychological violence with 10.1% and 8.8% respectively. This violence occurs mainly in a marital context (87%) and at home (83.9%). The remaining forms of violence against women cataloged by the report are social (5.5%), familial (4.1%) and violence outside of wedlock (3, 4%). Violence is often chronic (84.1%) and repeated (85.9%).

The new family code was meant to ensure the stability of the Moroccan family, while guarantying equality before the law so that both genders can enjoy full citizenship. But legal loopholes, aspects of the cultural heritage and the complexity of the legal procedures have pulled back the aspirations of Moroccan society for an advanced and democratic social system. That’s why the civil society and the government, should work together and figure out new laws to help accompany the changes occurring in the society and, more importantly, to raise awareness and educate citizens. This education should start at school. It can also be implemented through the creation of training courses for workers, employees, farmers and others, and though the use of different media outlets, so that every citizen knows her/his rights and duties. Laws alone won’t change the society. We need to spread knowledge and awareness and reach those living in the countryside and the rural areas and who are unaware of the existence of a new family code, which is afflicting. Also it is important to simplify laws and make them accessible to all people. This is the role of the legislators who must examine the social impacts of laws before they enact them. And, for the sake of democracy, why not take advantage of the Web to conduct informal polls and get feedback from the people who after all should have a say on laws that concern them.

Wikileaks or the New Frontline

Translated by Hisham from ويكيليكس..حروب جديدة من نوع أخر

By Hind Soubaï Idrissi

Writer, blogger and journalist 

Tuesday, December 28th, 2010

Information and communications technology and the publishing tools associated with it, are changing the face of the world. Arab regimes go on censoring and arresting people who were expressing an opinion or disseminating an information on the Internet. They still don’t get it. They think they live in some medieval ivory tower. But, as it turned out, this is not business as usual anymore.

The sheer ignorance among officials, in this part of the world, about the new media, beggars belief. That shadowy, overlaping zone where real and virtual meet is little known about. What they ignore is that we, the people, no more live in their “real” world anymore. We live in that grey area where virtual and real intertwine. No one epitomizes that better than Julian Assange and Wikileaks. The logo itself, ironically, is an esoteric document that needs to be decoded. It says it all: an hourglass and a transition from a dark and secretive world into a brighter one.

For me, the leaked documents have transformed the notions of sovereignty and borders. They have proved one new and undeniable reality: information is queen. How to master this information and turn it into one’s favor remains to be seen. I think we live in an exciting new era. One that calls for a re-arrangement of the old ideas and concepts taken for granted. Especially in those countries where information technology is still associated only with entairtainement and trivialities.

I was struck by a question in an article raised by a fellow blogger where he wondered: what if we had our own Moroccoleaks website where we would publish all the secrets and scandals? Of course such a project is a fantasy given the current state of affairs. Maybe in a hundred years from now. But for the time being, it seems impossible. There are at least two reasons for that. First, where on earth could one find confidential documents to prove corruption or any similar mischief when we know what we know about the way our administration is run? Most public ans semi-public administrations still work with pen and paper. The bulk of transactions and correspondence between banks and administrations are sent via traditional mail and public transport. One would have to go up and down the country to collect the documents before publishing them. That’s just an impossible task, provided of course you access them in the first place.

Second, let’s suppose you are indeed in possession of such compromising documents and want to publish them. How do you think you go about doing that and who the hell will support you? Is there any Law in Morocco to protect investigative journalists for example? The answer is no. The nature of the Moroccan society itself will not help you keep any secret no matter how hard you try to preserve it. At some point someone will report you to the authorities. Will they try to wait until they can fabricate a case against you as they did with Julian Assange? I’m not sure, because there is no need for such precautions here.

Another important issue raised lately was the fact most Arab bloggers didn’t seem to pay that much attention to the whole Wikileaks matter. The main reason in my view is that people already suspected these matters to be true and therefore were not surprised nor shocked. These are things we know but we don’t speak publicly about given the lack of freedom of expression.

Fear from government retribution has led both the press and citizen journalists to adopt a rather stupid modus operandi: each country published cables about rival countries, for obvious political reasons. Some countries have gone as far as inventing fake cables and attributed them to Wikileaks. To sweep one’s own scandals under the carpet and engage in actively damaging other’s reputation, is the height of hypocrisy! I disaprove of this method but the more I think about it the more I realize this is maybe the safest way of getting everything published and the conversation going.

Arab bloggers didn’t show enthusiasm about the cablegate because they are in a state of frustration. They already know that even if they do speak and address the issues raised by the leaked documents, nothing realy will happen. For my part, the leaks won’t have immediate effect on politicians and decision makers. Maybe the consequences will appear in the future. Many documents are still to be released. We’re told there are some very sensitive diplomatic cables in the pipeline. Let’s wait and see.

Media should get Islam right

by Hind Al-Subai Al-Idrisi 27 April 2010 Rabat - Given the amount of violence and instability in countries with Muslim majorities, such as Iraq and Afghanistan, some people mistakenly assume the violence stems from Islamic teachings, when in fact Islam does not condone such actions. The media does not help the matter, often focusing on the activities of terrorists who claim to be Muslims, instead of identifying these individuals as criminals and shedding light on the true essence of Islam. The media shows Muslim terrorists with guns performing prayers but rarely associates terms like terrorist, fanatic and fundamentalist with any other religious group. For instance, the phrase “Hindu fanatics” or “Jewish terrorists” are seldom used even though in each faith there are people that do not represent the larger group. The vast majority of Muslims are peace loving and coexist harmoniously with those around them; they would say that the core of Islam is tolerance, co-existence and respect for all religions. In fact, Prophet Muhammad was known for his superior manners, merciful demeanor and tolerance toward all people, regardless of their race or religion. Islam is a universal religion, for all times and places. It encourages tolerance and respect for differences. As our world becomes a global village, with technology bringing cultures together and increasing interaction among civilisations, we must embrace religious tolerance as one of the basic principles behind flourishing democratic societies. There are many verses in the Qur’an that support this message of peaceful coexistence and harmony. Among the basic features of Islam is freedom of religion and non-compulsion: “Let there be no compulsion in religion” (2:256) and “If it had been the Lord’s will, they would all have believed – all who are on earth. Wilt thou then compel mankind, against their will to believe?” (10:99). When the Prophet Muhammad established the first Muslim community in Mecca, he guaranteed freedom of religion, the sanctity of the human soul, and the right to security for non-Muslims, including Christians and Jews – the “People of the Book”, as they’re referred to in the Qur’an. They were privy to the same rights and subject to the same duties as Muslims, and were granted protection from outside threats. In addition to recognising the right of freedom of religion for non-Muslims, Islam calls for respecting Jews and Christians and their faiths, noting that faith is a personal matter between the individual and his or her Lord. Most Muslims respect the idea of religious freedom established in the Qur’an. I see this idea lived out in my own country, Morocco, a Muslim-majority country where Jews have lived for centuries and practiced their faith freely. The Moroccan Jewish community has its own judges for family law, covering things such as inheritance, marriage and divorce, and demonstrating one way that religious tolerance can be lived out. The Prophet was keen on establishing relations based on respect, equality and justice with non-Muslims, and recommended that they be treated well. He said: “He who hurts [non-Muslims] is my enemy until Judgment Day” and “He who killed a person under a treaty shall never go to heaven.” This respect is also reinforced in the hadith (sayings and actions of the Prophet Muhammad) by the Prophet’s companion Jaber Ibn Abdellah: “A funeral passed by, and the Prophet stood up in respect. We said to him, ‘It is a Jewish man’s funeral.’ He said: ‘If you see a funeral, you shall stand up. Is it not a soul?’” The teachings of Islam encourage acquaintance and communication among all people, as well as the blending among societies: “O mankind! Lo! We have created you male and female, and have made you nations and tribes that ye may know one another” (49:13). It is important today for everyone – and especially the media – to move away from discussing Islam only in association with terrorism, and toward spreading an understanding of Islam in all its diversity. ### * Hind Al-Subai Al-Idrisi is a Moroccan blogger (hindapress.canalblog.com) who participated in a Rabat-based workshop for bloggers organised by the international conflict transformation organisation Search for Common Ground. This article was written for the Common Ground News Service (CGNews). Source: Common Ground News Service (CGNews), 27 April 2010, www.commongroundnews.org Copyright permission is granted for publication.