Morocco may be the 100th country to abolish the death penalty, and the first country in the so-called Arab world to do so.  Although Morocco hasn’t used capital punishment since 1994, death sentences are still being handed down to terrorists.

The international association Ensemble pour l’abolition de la peine de mort (Together Against Capital Punishment) held a press conference today in Rabat, just weeks before the 3rd World Congress Against Death Penalty.

Maghreb Arab Presse, the country’s state-run news source, stated that “choosing Morocco to hold this press conference in preparation for the World Congress Against Death Penalty is a ‘political and strategic choice’ that supports Moroccan and Arab abolitionists.”

Capital punishement, however, is supported by the PJD (Justice and Development Party), a moderate Islamist political party, due to the fact that punishment by death is consistent with Islamic Shari’a law.

Insha’allah, Morocco will take this step; I will then feel safer here than I do in the United States, officially.

Debunking Morocco’s “Expert Advice”

I’ve got to say, I’m quite tired of Morocco “experts.” This is a class of people - some of whom are foreigners, others are Moroccans, most often with little grasp of English beyond “You are welcome in Morocco,” but all of whom think they know it all and most certainly do not.

Mind you, I dispense advice on Morocco like it’s going out of style. I’ve been known to hang around Yahoo Answers and the Lonely Planet Thorn Tree forum, but ever since I became aware of the expert phenomenon, I’ve been careful to state that anything coming out of my mouth (or IP address) is my opinion. I’m not passing anything off as universal truth, but I do believe that I often give correct answers.

So the individuals on those sites are of course subject to incorrect answers at times, and to be fair, both sites are forums, bound to get a variety of answers to every question asked. I understand, I sympathize.

What I do not sympathize with is when someone actually calls him or herself a travel expert and proceeds to answer a question incorrectly on a prominent news site, such as this example from the Times Online, web version of the UK’s best selling newspaper. Their Travel “Your Say” column is based upon questions sent in by readers, which are then answered by a travel “expert” (who actually remains nameless on my site - good for him/her, as my critique is nothing s/he’d want his/her name attached to). Here’s today’s Q&A:

We are visiting Marrakech in February, and arrive in late at night with British Airways. As it’s not possible to get any local currency before we get to Morocco, can we exchange money at the airport, as we need some straight away for a taxi? Name Withheld by The Morocco ReportA Sunday Times travel expert responds: The Moroccan Dirham isn’t available outside of the country, but don’t worry, even arriving late you have several options.

The bank in the arrivals hall at Marrakech’s airport closes at about 6pm, but there are several ATM machines that you can use. Alternatively, Euros are the best currency to take, either in the form of travellers cheques, or in cash. Taxi drivers at the airport, in common with many other shops and restaurants in the city, often accept Euro notes.

That being the case, you should be aware of the current exchange rate against the Euro (in January 2007, 1 Euro = about 11 Dirhams), and as the lowest fare you are likely to be offered from a Petit taxi is 50 Dirhams; that’s 5 Euros. For the larger taxi’s, you’ll should settle for about 100 Dirhams.

Now, the question is reasonable. It’s true that obtaining Moroccan currency outside of Morocco is illegal very difficult (thank you commenter!) without loads of money to exchange.  And there are no stupid questions, only stupid people answers.

So what’s wrong with the answer exactly? Here’s my line-by-line analysis:

Alternatively, Euros are the best currency to take, either in the form of travellers cheques, or in cash.

Hmm…okay. Now, Euros probably are the best currency to take, but the original question was from a Brit, and I can tell you that pounds are equally useful and acceptable in Morocco. As far as travellers cheques are concerned, well, I thought they were all but obsolete! And here in Morocco, the only place they’d be of any use is at the bank, where they can be exchanged for dirhams at a terrible rate. It’s much better to simply bring your ATM card and some cash in dollars, pounds, or euros (the latter being the most popular but not necessary if you’re coming from the States or the UK).

Taxi drivers at the airport, in common with many other shops and restaurants in the city, often accept Euro notes.

While that’s not entirely untrue, it’s neither a good idea. First of all, few shops and restaurants in the city accept Euros (I have no personal experience using Euros in taxis, so I can’t really say), but more important, you will absolutely not get a good price if you’re using Euros! The currency of Morocco is the dirham, and Euros should only be used in an emergency! Flashing Euros to shopkeepers will do no good in the bargaining process, I can say that with an air of certainty.

That being the case, you should be aware of the current exchange rate against the Euro (in January 2007, 1 Euro = about 11 Dirhams), and as the lowest fare you are likely to be offered from a Petit taxi is 50 Dirhams; that’s 5 Euros.

The exchange rate is correct, but the taxi information is a huge thorn in my side! Now, all over Morocco, taxis are required by law to use meters. In practice, this doesn’t happen, therefore the taxi rate in Marrakech has rapidly increased over the past few years…but why? I’ll tell you - because tourists don’t bother to do their homework and don’t bargain with the taxi drivers, making it difficult on the rest of us foreigners who make dirhams! A petit taxi in most Moroccan cities should use their meter, which starts at 3.20dh during the day (with a minimum charge of 5dh), and increases by 50% at night.

That said, because of bad behavior on the part of tourists in Marrakech, some taxi drivers would rather drive away and find another unsuspecting foreigner than use their meter. But not all hope is lost - it is often possible to bargain the taxi driver down to around 20dh (it is true that most will start at 50dh), and with some Arabic, even 10dh.

To be clear, a metered petit taxi ride from the train station to the Djemaa al Fna should cost 10-12dh.

For the larger taxi’s, you’ll should settle for about 100 Dirhams.

Blatant spelling error (taxi’s, anyone?) aside, this is also ridiculous information. I have personally never paid more than 50dh for a grand taxi in Marrakech, and that was for just three people (grand taxis in Morocco are old Mercedes and can fit - albeit uncomfortably - six passengers, who pay by the seat). A full grand taxi at the Moroccan price, driving from the train station to a medina location should cost more like 60dh than 100dh. If you have less than the full amount but still want the taxi, 50dh is a reasonable price to settle on.

Next issue of Debunking? Let’s just say I’m looking for bad articles about visiting the hammam.

Avenue des FAR, Meknes.

The king is in Meknes! How do I know? Last night, while reading by the window, I heard a clanging noise. “The garbage truck,” Hamza said. I checked - it wasn’t picking up garbage, in fact, this truck was putting down…white fences, that is.

This morning, on my way to work, I figured out why exactly - King Mohammed VI had plans to visit Meknes’ psychiatric hospital, located down a narrow dead end street off the main drag of Avenue des FAR (aka the road to Fez), where I live. Those folks in the photograph braved the rain for hours awaiting His Majesty’s arrival, whilst I braved the ubiquitous police to take a few photographs. Residents of aforementioned narrow dead end street were required to close their shutters (two of my friends happen to live there - it’s convenient, as they can tell the taxi simply to take them to the dar al humuk, or crazy house).

Fortunately for students, public workers, and police, His Majesty King Mohammed VI has returned to his Meknes residence, as the rain is still coming down…Alhamdullilah.

The View from Fez just published a short article on the King’s new initiatives here in Meknes - namely, a treatment plant for used water and a new generator just for us (which makes me wonder where the current one is) - the latter is especially important considering how often the lights seem to go out, particularly in the medina.

As Samir wrote in his article, Meknes is a bit sensitive to being referred to as Fez’s little sister (and myriad other nomenclatures given to this diminutive city).  While it’s true that our medina is smaller, our people historically less prestigiously educated (though some might say less snobby!), and our ville nouvelle lacks the swank Meridien and other Fassi hotels, I believe I was a bit unfair in my last article when I said that Meknes lacks charm.

Seven babs (gates) grace the medina, we have a place that used to (and could still) rival the Djemaa al Fna of Marrakech, of which the walkways were recently renovated from shabby and broken concrete blocks to lovely brickwork, and our spice market is perhaps the best in Morocco.  We have a pool (Heri es-Souani or the “Agdal Basin”) not unlike Marrakech’s Menara, and the finest Moroccan horses are born and bred at the Haras, or stud farm.  We have all the necessary tourist amenities (Zaki Hotel rivals any fancy foreign chain, and my Meknes Bar Report will send you in the direction of drinks) and Meknassis are plenty hospitable - not to mention you won’t get a fraction of the hassle found in the medinas of other cities this size.

And if you’re lucky, you’ll get to see the festival of lights, which gives a new meaning to Samir’s post - set up for the king’s visit, the whole city is decked out with varieties of this:

And tonight, for the first time in November, we finally got some rain.

On Sunday (it should’ve been on Saturday, but we’re pretty sure that the man who determines the moon here is partly blind), Morocco celebrated the 1st of the Hijra (Islamic lunar) year, 1 Moharrem.  Had it been on Saturday, I would’ve had a day off work, but as it landed on what was already my day off, my houseguest Sarah and I decided to take a brief jaunt to two of my favorite Moroccan towns…Ifrane and Azrou.

We started the day in beautiful Ifrane where, as you can see, the sky was a clear blue.

They were raising flags in case the King came through.

Azrou was also full of color.

This crown rests atop a natural rock formation just outside the city center.

Photographing the photographer (Sarah)

Man in djellaba.

Azrou’s central mosque.

And delectable spice market.

A beautiful end to a beautiful day.

As all foreign bloggers living here surely do, I occasionally question my motivation and standpoint on blogging all things Moroccan.  When a story such as the recent Nichane case emerges, it’s hardly difficult for me to know where I stand, however, when there’s little of note in the news and on the streets, I must question why it is exactly that I write.

Part of it, of course, is the fact that I live in Meknes - a city not exactly known for its charm or excitement.  But surely, there’s something to do here, and I travel often enough that it couldn’t possibly be boredom that pushes me to my computer every night?

When I truly think about it, it’s more than that.  After all, they say “you’re only bored if you’re boring,” right?  I think what makes me write about Morocco is that feeling that I’m sure you all understand of being a part of something.  Not of something big, necessarily, and I certainly have no illusions of expertise, grandeur, or making it big time as a writer based on my blog alone; rather, it’s more like being part of the tiny seed taking root.

When I was a freshman in college, Livejournal was a fairly new site.  Since then, it’s grown and blossomed and become something I’m not as wholly interested in (and Morocco banned its access!) but back then, several years ago, when I joined and was assigned a membership number in the low thousands, I had no idea what it would feel like, awhile later, looking at the site’s several million “customers.”  It felt fantastic!  I’m sure the early MySpace and Friendster and Facebook users feel that way to some degree, and those who discovered YouTube at its inception.  Even back in the beginning of the internet, AOL and Prodigy users probably now feel some small twang at being the first.

And so, nearly two years ago when I started this blog, typing “Morocco” into Google brought up mostly tour sites and hotels; now, the myriad French, Arabic, and English blogs are the first links to pop up, sites like Global Voices Online and the fantastic news site Magharebia.com summarize and support our blogs, we’re linked in a circle (most of my visitors two months ago came from random internet searches, now other users like Cat in Rabat, The View from Fes, and My Marrakesh - as well as others - link in reciprocation to this blog and bring in the a good chunk of my 100 or so daily readers)

And that’s part of what I enjoy the most - this feeling of camaraderie with other people who have or are experiencing something just like what I am.  That ability to understand each other’s experiences, laugh at how similar things are all over the country, and also to find awareness in the differences.  I learn a lot from these others, all of whom have different backgrounds - some Moroccan, some European, others American like me.  All of us different ages, here for different reasons, but finding unity in being a part of a number of bloggers that’s still in the low hundreds, if that.

I salute you, fellow Moroccan bloggers!

Aboubakr Jamai, managing editor of Moroccan weekly Le Journal Hebdomadaire, is resigning in a move that signals the obvious decline of press freedom in Morocco.

Jamai, a former Yale World Fellow, has been with the magazine since its 1997 inception, stated to Reporters Without Borders that:  “Staying on as managing director and therefore as the person legally responsible for the ‘Journal Hebdomadaire’ would have endangered its survival. The threat is not hypothetical, as it already happened in 2004, when the authorities sold off some of the newspaper’s property and seized funds directly from the distribution company Sapress as a result of an earlier damages award.”

“For those who follow the Moroccan media closely, Jamaï’s departure is a significant loss and marks the end of an era in which, despite the difficulties, it seemed possible to increase freedom of expression,” Reporters Without Borders said. “Today this hope is becoming more and more tenuous, even if it has not completely disappeared.”

Although the magazine has experienced several massive monetary blows, Jamai’s resignation is a direct result of a $350,000 fine given to the magazine nine months ago in damages to Claude Moniquet, head of the Brussels-based security think tank European Strategic Intelligence and Security Center, for libel claims. By resigning, Jamai will free the magazine of their monetary burden.

Jamai has also been a regular on the Washingtonpost.com blog, publishing in English articles which, in Morocco, would be considered too outrageous or controversial.

Perhaps the saddest part of the story is a rumour that Jamai will be pressured to exile, and has plans to leave Morocco.

Links:

Committee to Protect Journalists

Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans Frontieres)

According to Magharebia.com, Meknes is soon to be the first of many Moroccan cities to succeed in the “Towns Without Shanties” program.

In 2004, Morocco began a project to get rid of the shanty towns or bidonvilles that had cropped up around the outskirts of major cities, mostly due to mass migration from the countryside of Moroccans looking for work.

[Photo: Sarah Touahri, Magharebia.com]

According to Social housing Director Mohamed Najib Halimi, nearly 230,000 Moroccan families reside in shanty towns in the largest cities of Morocco.  In Casablanca alone, there are 64,000.

Although progress in Meknes, a large but spread-out city very close to many smaller villages, has been swift, Casablanca’s deadline for ridding the city of shanties has been pushed back to 2012.

Mabrouk, Meknes!

A few nights ago, a co-worker and friend was over, having a few glasses of wine with us. My husband went to bed fairly early, but the friend and I stayed up late, talking. She left around 2:30.

The next day, she informed me that when she tried to leave through the front door of my secure apartment building, there was a drunk homeless man sleeping in the doorway, completely blocking the front door from opening. She tried to gently wake him, but after efforts fail, she pushed his legs to the side to exit. As she was squeezing through the front door, she noticed a tiny kitten perched on the man’s chest, mewing ever so gently.

So it was not much of a surprise when, the next day coming home from Label’Vie, that the same friend and I discovered a tiny kitten in front of my doorway. My suspicion is that the homeless man found her somewhere and carried her with him, as her mother remains to be seen.

I rarely post photographs of myself, but in this case will make an exception. Without further ado, I present to you LC (Little Cat):

And since I haven’t posted photos of Nus-Nus (our other Moroccan street cat) since his kittenhood last November, here’s a photo of both kitties for good measure:

I also feel compelled to say “Yes Mom, that’s my natural hair color.”  It just looks shiny because my half-Moroccan friend Youssef told me that putting flat beer in your hair will make it really pretty.  He was right, but I think my co-workers are starting to suspect I’m an alcoholic.

On Tuesday night, Moroccan Parliament approved a new law that will make the building of mosques much more difficult in the future, according to several international sources.

Partially constructed mosque in Meknes.

Since May 2003, when 33 people were killed in five bombing attacks aimed at mainly Jewish and Spanish targets, Morocco has been trying to crack down on terrorism.

Islamic affairs minister Ahmed Toufiq introduced the bill to Parliament, stating that now, “No one will now be able to use places of worship for other ends and there will be no more clandestine mosques.”

Opposition to the bill comes from those who claim that it will make the construction of mosques in rural areas more difficult.