The Maghreb Union for me doesn’t really exist. In name it does and there is an institution called Maghreb Union, but for me it is useless and a hassle.
All the Maghreb countries are still little children fighting over their toys and pulling each others hair out. Just like your normal dysfunctional family.
The Union will do nothing to solve that.

Let us first grow up before we decide to marry into an union. Seriously, that union came way too quick and was actually more part of this low self-esteem of our elites who desperately tried to model everything to European standards. In the mean time they forgot that an union needs basic things like a working judiciary, healthy economies, good democracies etc.

Anyhow, the fact that Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria have a lot in common is hard to deny. (I’m skipping the other 2 members, Libya and Mauretania, because of my lack of knowledge)
All 3 countries are immigrant countries with a schizophrenic identity (the latter not so in Tunisia but still)
Are we Moroccans/Algerians/Tunisians first? Or maybe muslim or perhaps north-african? But maybe Berber, Arabs, Arabized or Europeanized?
It is hard to decide for the ones still looking to decide. Especially for the Maghrebis in Europe. Millions of people from the Maghreb live in Europe and other parts of the world, and most of them have an almost holy ritual of taking their summer-holiday in the Maghreb.

We know that we have Raï in common. And amazigh-music. And don’t forget the marabouts either!
Algerian and Moroccan-Arabic (and Tunisian a bit) are both alien languages for most of the people in the Arabic world. So there you go, another thing we have in common.
If you come to think of it, we have more in common than we think. We are more alike than we think. Unfortunately, personal vendettas between our “leaders” prevent us from sharing and celebrating that.

But we need to realize that there are factors that separate us. History, borders and political ties. We have to cherish those factors as well in order to cooperate together.
Cooperation isn’t only based on things we have in common, it would be a delusional cooperation. Cooperation is succesfull if we consider our divides and treat each other in a mature way (and not the bitch-fights we often see between Algeria and Morocco)

To conclude my rantings, here are 4 videos from Youtube. All 4 of them are traditional music from North Africa, and for me that’s the second best thing that has come out of that region (Cheikha Rimitti, Aicha Tachinouite, couscous and Moroccan kaftans share the 1st spot)
the first 2 are Moroccan.

Morocco: (Aicha Tachinouite rocks! Seriously, she’s one fierce lady who knows how to shake it!)

Dakka Marrakchia in Holland. There should be an universal law that every wedding should have one of these of bands:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b12-1J27TIA

Algeria:

Tunisia. Thats always a bit strange. I always associate Tunisia with the beautiful movie of Satin Rouge where a Tunisian widow takes up bellydancing. So therefore this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMqaYbKlEus

(I looooove the accent)

PS: This post was cross-posted on my blog Maghrebism because of the Maghreb Union Blogging Day.
If you want to read more Maghreb Union Blogging Day-posts, go visit these aggregators:
Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia

As of today, all customers of Maroc Telecom gained back access to Youtube.
Why? Because the Moroccan blogosphere finally woke up and protested the ban.
We collectively started screaming and joined hands in letting the world know how Maroc Telecom treats freedom of speech.
That it treats freedom of speech even worse than the government.

It is not an all-out victory though. Google Earth and Livejournal are still blocked.
But we at least overturned the Youtube-bock, with our own voices and actions.
Nearly all active Moroccan bloggers protested and helped out. Male, female, black, white, Moroccan or expat.
And that is something to be applauded.

And for all you Mideast Youth-readers, thanks for signing, digging and your support!

The reaction from the Moroccan blogosphere is growing slowly.
More and more bloggers are posting about the ban

In the meantime I started a petition here
And you can also Digg the story here

The Moroccan government is usually very sensitive to media-attention. They are often very afraid that their image of a moderate, safe and open muslim country will be damaged.
Not realizing that they damage that image themselves.
So please sign and digg away because that is the only way to make them realize that what they did is wrong.

If you want to stay updated on everything you can visit this new blog
At the moment there are 3 posts about what exactly happened, who is blogging about what and how you can help.
But I will post more content.

This story is now also covered by Mashable, one of the biggest blogs on the web.

Since yesterday Maroc Telecom has blocked all access to Youtube.
The Moroccan blogosphere (blogoma) is totally surprised by the move and angered.

There were no reasons given why Youtube was blocked. But the speculations are that it might have to do something with the presence of Polisario-clips (Polisario being the Western Sahara independence movement) or because of some videos that were criticized the king.

The block by Maroc Telecom means that the majority of the population has no access to Youtube. The majority that is. The other 2 internet-providers, Wana and Meditel, do provide access to Youtube.
The reason for this is that Morocco is blessed with commercial, private providers (not state-owned).
The Moroccan state is a major shareholder of Maroc Telecom and can do what it want with it.

Youtube is the 3rd example of how Morocco blocks access to major sites. Google Earth and Livejournal being the other 2 examples. Also blocked without a reason.
Clearly Maroc Telecom and the government have no idea how the internet works and that these kind of moves only hurts them.

A sad, sad day.

First of all, I have a firm believe that religion and politics should be separated. That no religion or religious community should gather and form a political party. Hence my allergic reactions when somebody mentions the CDA, CU or SGP or confesses to be a member of it. (CDA, CU and SGP are the Christian parties in the Netherlands. Combined they have 49 parliamentary seats out of 150)
Those parties have an ideology based on the Bible. They strife to implement their ideology and policies on a national level. Thereby, indirectly, enforcing a (moderate) religious lifestyle on the rest of the population.
And I don’t digg that. I want abortion, condoms, prostitution, blasphemy, homosexuality, premarital sex, divorce and euthanasia for all.
If you have moral objections to it, fine, but as a mature individual you are perfectly able to follow your religious lifestyle without needing laws to help you with it.
Of course, a religious party isn’t per se repressive on all those subjects. The CDA has homosexual MP’s, showing that there are gradations in religiosity between religious parties. And not all non-religious parties are in favor of a free lifestyle.

Now, let me get back to the PJD. In my opinion the PJD is a party that is heavily and totally influenced by religion. It’s a wolf in sheep’s clothing.
The party really tries to give itself a moderate image. Some members even try to compare the party to the Turkish PJD and claim that we shouldn’t be afraid.

But are they really that moderate? I don’t think so.
Let me give you some examples of some radical, xenophobic, homophobic and fanatic rants of the PJD. And then you can decide if you want to call them “moderate”

* 2000: Abdellilah Benkiran verbally abuses a female journalist who dared to wear a t-shirt with short sleeves in parliament.
* Editor-in-chief Lhassan Sarrat of the Attajdid newspaper, close to the PJD and considered as a mouhtpiece of that same party, sees the Asian tsunami as Gods punishment for homosexuality, sex tourism and child trafficking
* In 2005, MP’s of the PJD claim that a music festival held in Marrakech is used as a pretext to convert people to Christianity
* March 2003, the PJD, its mouthpieces and other islamist nutjobs launch a witch-hunt against everyone who wears heavy-metal shirts and listen to heavy metal music. They are considered to be devil-worshippers
* 2006: PJD asks the government to ban the movie Marock because of obscenity (Marock depicts the on-the-ground reality of upper-class Moroccan youth)
* 2003: The PJD wants the government to control foreign cultural centres so that they can not spread “immoral values” (later this statement is changed into: “we want the cultural centres to implement islamic principles”.)
* In 2004 PJD hotshot Ahmed Raissouni claims that music festivals are “sites of debauch and homosexuality”

And we can go on and on and on…..
But still, they call themselves moderate. I wonder what moderate means to them? Does it mean to enforce their lifestyle on the rest of the population? Does it mean that everyone who doesn’t want to wear a headscarf or wishes to listen to Slipknot is a homosexual, immoral, unislamic, convert and an outlaw free to be prosecuted by them?

PJD prides itself on the fact that it believes in democracy. That it wants to participate in a democracy. Well, we have to applaud that.
But I’m afraid that the PJD doesn’t fully understand the concept of democracy and all what comes with it.
Democracy rests on 2 pillars: majority rule and minority rights
Democracy doesn’t mean that one can oppress others, simply because they gained a majority or they believe they represent a majority. Democracy doesn’t mean that 1 victorious party should enforce its principles on the country’s minorities.
No, democracy means that a majority can rule a country but that it has to respect and protect the civil liberties of the different minorities.
The PJD seems to forget that in its campaigning and image-editing.

I fear that once the PJD wins the upcoming elections, they will ignore those parts of democracy that aren’t suitable for them (even if they are in a coalition government)
They showed us that they really don’t care that much about the civil liberties of others. They showed us that when they weren’t “in charge”. How will they act when they are “in charge”?

I also fear the reaction of the king and his royal cabinet when the PJD comes to power and starts to implement their ridiculous policies.
The king, who wishes to create an image of Morocco that is liberal/open/tolerant, will surely react in a non-democratic way. Of course, the king’s reaction won’t be something new. Moroccan kings have always reacted strangely and pushed the “democratic” government to the sideline, to implement their own policies. Couscous-democracy, is what I like to call it.
But until now, this happened with (nominal) secular parties in power.
Surely, the reaction of the king will be different when it comes to having an Islamist party in power?

I only hope that when the PJD wins the elections (and this is likely to happen), the king and other parties will react in a normal, civilized way.
It’s not likely that the PJD will govern alone, they have to seek a coalition. I hope that the other major parties will have some sense and guts to confront the PJD when it comes to their “social policies”

An electoral PJD-victory makes the future of Morocco look a bit darker. A bit of courage, opposition and vigilance is all we need to make that future look bright again.

The surprising results of the poll shows us that the supposed clash of cultures between Muslims and non-Muslims isn’t really that big and that it revolves around minor issues (if you can call the veil-issue a minor issue of course).
The violent, little minority of extremists (the right-wing BNP and self-exploding Muslims) are an exception

Beyond the Veil-poll

Head over to “The View from Fez” for a superb 2-part photo-diary of the Sidi Ali ben Hamdush moussem (festival held in honour of a Moroccan saint)

The photos show a part of Morocco which you usually don’t see in non-moroccan newspapers or holiday-brochures.
This is, for me, one of the unique cultural aspects of Morocco. (even though these kind of events take place in other parts of North Africa as well)
The joy and praise of religion through trance, djin-worship and ecstatic dance.

Part 1 and Part 2 of the photo-diary

Copyright photo: Suzanna Clarke

I read the interview you had with Esra’a from Mideast Youth a couple of times. And every time I read it, I had mixed feelings.
First of all, I want to say “well done!” and I admire you. It takes a lot of courage and strength to come out as an Arab homosexual. Especially when you still live in the Arab world.
You risked your (social) life to be yourself and free. I can only applaud that.

But as I said, I had mixed feelings when I read your interview. Disappointment, sadness and confusion were those other feelings. Don’t take the following as an attack. You can say and believe whatever you want. But I just want to show you some contradicting comments/remarks you made.

You seem to take a very harsh stance towards other gays who encounter the same prejudices you encounter in your daily life.
You say you don’t agree with homosexuals who like to cross-dress and you even qualify it as “not very normal”
You clearly still fight against the concept of “normal” that is enforced by religious and conservative maniacs but in the meantime you, the “victim” of prejudice, turned into an aggressor by stating that there are limits of what is to be considered normal for gays!
Can’t you see that you’re making the same basic mistake as those religious/conservative maniacs? You’re, in a way, siding with them by saying that what cross-dressers/feminine gays do is not normal. Those maniacs want to enforce their own limits of normal, which they base on their own irrelevant feelings and fairy tales, to create an atmosphere where people are the same without room for any diversity.
You’re trying to do that as well. You’re trying to use your own concept of what you consider to be “a normal gay” to decide what is “good” and what is “bad” gay-activism.
You say that you “want to see people to open their minds and accept humans in all their colors, preferences and forms.”
Shouldn’t start with opening your own mind and accept other kind of gays?
We will never see a less homophobic Middle East if we keep on battling amongst ourselves on what is normal and what not.

Another point of critique is about your last comment. You don’t encourage other Arab gays to come out because you lost your family and others lose their lives.
First, let me tell you that we kind of share the same story. I too got rejected and kicked out of my family house when I came out. I too found a caring family that treats me as their own.
They protected me from the harassment and threats from my own family. And now their funding my education in a foreign country.
But eventually I’m happy with how things went. I’m free and independent to explore and dictate my own course of life.
It is of course a horrible feeling to live without your own family but that is the price we pay.
I encourage other Arab gays to come out as well. We should realize that we will never get accepted if we stay in the closet because of fear.
Coming out is the first step in the whole process of being accepted by our society.
Our stories (of the ones who did have the guts to come out) should be an encouragement for others to come out.
We are the proof that it is possible to be gay, Arab, muslim and alive.

cross-posted on BO18

My answer was/is yes on both. You can be a practicing homosexual and a good Muslim. Because both are an individual choice, whether you like it or not. Her Holiness Madonna and God can’t force you to be something you don’t want to be and can’t force you not to be something you want to be.
But I know that this is an opinion that’s being attacked by both Islamic radicals and Cher-loving radical gays.

And yes there is a middle ground, although not very big at the moment. Heterosexuals Muslims and homosexuals can coexist without attacking each other. As I mentioned at Eatbees’ blog, the keyword here is respect. Its not acceptance/endorsement that leads to coexistence. Although acceptance would definitely help.
Respect has a far bigger role to play. People can live next to each other without accepting each others lifestyle.
Let me first explain what I actually mean with acceptance. Acceptance, in this case, means that the Muslims accept the gay lifestyle and homosexuality. Thus indirectly saying that Islam doesn’t forbid homosexual acts.
Respect in this case, means that Muslims don’t accept or condone homosexuality. They still think that Islam doesn’t allow homosexual acts but they at least respect the lifestyle. Meaning that they don’t go on a hunt for homosexuals and punish them for their lifestyles.

I think most (ex)-Muslim gays, including me, don’t ask for acceptance but just normal respect.
For example, I can live next to a dog-eating satanist without accepting his way of living. I won’t condone it but I will respect it because clearly that’s how he/she wants to live his/her life.
And that’s what I want when I live in a Muslim country next to a practicing heterosexual Muslim. Or when I lived in a predominantly muslim neighborhood of Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
The problem here is that most Muslims think that respect has to come with acceptance. That when they don’t punish a homosexual that it means that they condone the practice .
And this way of thinking is one of the main reasons why gays still face persecution and uncertainty in Muslim societies.

Eatbees asked me in the comments if I think that the gains made by muslim homosexuals in Europe (where a growing number of them dare to take a stance against the Islamic homophobia) can end up having a positive effect in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).

I thought about that question for some time. And I came to the conclusion that the gains of Muslim homosexuals in Europe won’t have any or little effect in their countries of origin.
Main reason for this is the fact that Muslim homosexuals in Europe fight another battle in another environment then their counterparts in the MENA-region.
We are already accepted and “protected” by our society and governments, we have no fear of being arrested for speaking out. We only fight against the prejudice and the violence within our families.
In the MENA-region homosexuals have to fight against both prejudice and violence coming both from their families as well as their own governments.
This difference in battle makes it difficult for European Muslim gays to help the ones in the MENA-region.
Actually, we just don’t have the experience in that field.

The gays in the MENA-region have their own battle to fight. They know their society and their government, they know how everything works.
The heavy burden is on them. Relying on gay Muslims from Europe would be disastrous.
Heterosexual (conservative) Muslims and their governments would perceive this as yet another intrusion of the “Western world”. Resulting in an even bigger denial of gay-rights.
The gay Muslims in Europe would be unable to take proper actions because of a lack of knowledge within and about the region.
We are the sons and daughters of immigrants. We may think we know the country of our parents but we only know the holiday-version.

We can provide basic help and financial, mental and logistical assistance. But we can’t solve the problems and a situation which we never experienced in its totality.
That is something the gays in MENA have to do themselves.

Crossposted from Moroccan Ramblings from London