Back to al akhbar... in English!

I was really glad to get the news: Morocco is again having an English language newspaper: The Casablanca Analyst.

Those of you who used to read the online newspaper Morocco Times (and those who didn’t as well) will be able to get news about Morocco in English, but in a different form this time: the newspaper is published on hard copy. The first issue (Year 1, No. 1, May 2007) is already available for sale.

It is probably too early to talk about the paper’s future plans, but I think it would be interesting to consider launching an online version sometime in the future. (During its less than two-year life, Morocco Times received Moroccan and non-Moroccan readers from over 20 countries).

The 16-page Casablanca Analyst is an independent weekly, but is temporarily published once a month. Written in good English (it is launched and managed by two university professors), the paper is made up of many sections: Nation, World, Interview, Opinion, Language and Communication, Literature, Culture and Arts, etc.

My reaction on the new paper might be subjective somehow, especially that I worked one challenging but enjoyable year as a journalist in Morocco Times, and that I sadly saw it agonizing last October. But I think the Casanalyst, as the editors call it on one of its pages, will be successful if it is provided with the needed resources and if it is taken seriously by its managers.

My sincere wishes of a long life and continued success for the new-born newspaper!

Between Essaouira and Sour ... new verses were born

" كصمت الياسمين"

This is the title my Palestinian friend Talaat Harb gave to his first poem collection. The birth of the collection coincided with a beautiful date: March 21, the first day of Spring, and just a few days before the Mothers’ Day and the Children’s Day.

Talaat’s poems slowly saw the day light during his journeys between the beautiful coasts of Essaouira in Morocco and Sour in Lebabnon.

The collection, of which I had the privilege of reading some poems, explores many themes including identity and love with different dimensions: love for the woman, for the mother, and for the home land.

Congratulations Talaat! We’ll be waiting for the book in Morocco… and certainly in other places of the world ;)

Read bellow some verses of one of Talaat Harb’s poems:


أحبّيني
دون تعقيداتِ السفر
أو رموز الكتابةِ اليومية
أحبّيني
دون أن تلتفتي
يمينا أو شمالاً
كلما أمسكتُ بيديك
دون أن تذكّريني
بيوم لقائنا
دون أن تحفري الأسماء
...على أشجار السنديان

أحبّيني ليومٍ واحدٍ
و بعدها انتحري
فلستُ أنا بفارسٍ للرومانسية
أو عازفاً لأسطوانةٍ شرقية
إنما أنا عاشقٌ
...يبحث عن هُوّية

A "Goud" idea

Dans son dernier numéro, TelQuel publie un supplément en langue arabe intitulé «Goud », synonyme de « Nichane », le titre de l’hebdomadaire interdit de publication il y a quelques jours par la justice marocaine.

Bien que je ne sois pas tout à fait d’accord avec la ligne éditoriale de TelQuel et de Nichane, je trouve que l’idée du supplément est bonne… et réussie. La preuve est que la majorité des gens (au moins ceux que je connais) ont couru lire l’annexe arabe avant même de lire le contenu français.

Nightmare!

I am disappointed and disgusted. All logics are being blown off and credibility is just a mirage. Everybody knows that institutions like the UN are no saints, but financial and administrative corruption is nothing compared to moral corruption. It all becomes chaotic when news reveal that supposed peacekeepers and social workers are establishing a sex-for-food policy in calamity-hit regions like Sudan… and the victims are 12 year old children!!

There's still an investigation to be launched by the UN. But is there smoke without fire??

It’s all getting stained and confused.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/01/03/wsudan03.xml

Away form the city's noise...

لا غد في الأمس
فلنتقدم إذن
قد يكون التقدم جسر الرجوع
إلى البربرية
Mahmud Darwish, "Edward Said".

A real present (thanks Morad): Darwish's website:

http://www.mahmouddarwish.com/

Listen to Darwish reading some of his poems:

http://www.mahmouddarwish.com/arabic/audio.htm

Enjoy :)

"Wa shahida shahidun min ahliha"

Today the New York Times published an article about a set of documents that were kept secret by the Israeli government. The documents (which include maps and figures) prove that 39% of the land where the Israeli settlements are located in the West Bank are private property originally owned by Palestinians. They also show, among other things, that 40% of the land that Israel intends to keep if any peace agreement is reached is private as well.

The documents were unveiled by "Peace Now, an Israeli group that advocates Palestinian self-determination in the West Bank and Gaza Strip."

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/21/world/middleeast/21land.html?th&emc=th