There are many wonderful posts around the world today for International Blog Day.  You should definitely check Maroc Blogs for posts from other Maroc bloggers, and Global Voices Online for a worldwide picture of what’s going on today.

Following the guidelines of this “holiday,” bloggers are supposed to post about 5 international blogs they enjoy reading…so without further ado, here are 5 blogs from around the world that you shouldn’t miss:

1. Probably my favorite blogger, the cat formerly known as Cat in Rabat, has moved over to La Gatita Gringa and still cracks me up.  Hers are probably the only posts I consistently read all the way through.

2. Maysaloon, from the UK but originally Syrian, is another blog I truly enjoy.  I discovered it while temporarily covering Palestine for Global Voices and still go back now and again.

3. Silly Bahraini Girl, the blog of my lovely GV editor Amira, is an always enjoyable read as well (and that’s all I can say without sounding like a suck-up!)

4. Wanderlust Sha is a beautiful blog with beautiful pictures which I discovered - you know what, I don’t remember but I don’t care - it’s gorgeous.

5. Mykal Cave is a close friend of mine whose blog is about anything, everything and nothing, but nearly always makes me laugh.  Plus, he’s doing my new site, so I should give him some publicity :)  Love you Myke!

There you go - whose blog will you recommend today?

…Will you be blogging?

Because I am not there, I’m not following the elections as closely as I ought to, however Ibn Kafka has written an excellent, detailed three-part piece over at ‘Aqoul which I highly recommend to anyone interested:

Part I
Part II
Part III

A Moroccan Jewish woman, Maggie Cacoun, is to “head the women’s list of the Al-Wast Al-Aghtama’i party,” according to The Memri Blog.  Cacoun calls herself a “nationalist Moroccan” and states that she doesn’t want her religion to play a role in her candidacy.

Former Moroccan Interior Minister Driss Basri (better known as “Butcher Basri”), died in Paris after a long illness.  He had been under self-imposed exile from Morocco for the past eight years, since being relieved of his position by King Mohammed VI, who ascended to the throne in 1999.

Basri, who was head of security and intelligence forces, was responsible for the torture and deaths of many during the reign of Hassan II and a period known as the “Years of Lead.”

Basri is survived by his wife, three sons, and a daughter.

For more reading on Basri or the “Years of Lead:”

Stolen Lives: Twenty Years in a Desert Jail by Malika Oufkir, with Michele Fitoussi
Tazmamart: Cellule 10 by Ahmed Marzouki
Cette aveuglante absence de lumière (This Blinding Absence of Light) by Tahar Ben Jelloun

I am, admittedly, 100% against polygamy.  If you didn’t already know, so are many Muslims, including my husband.  Although the Qur’an does permit polygamy, it does so under strict circumstances, and is not meant to allow any man to take any number of wives.

First of all, a man can have just four wives.  He must love and care for them equally, a statement which many see as a warning against the practice, since it is virtually impossible.  As one particular Muslim marriage website states, “Providing a fatherly figure for orphans is the only specific circumstance in support of polygamy mentioned in the Quran (4:3).”  I’ve heard many Muslims say that polygamy is not for our time - that when the Qur’an was revealed, during times of battle women would be left alone with children and needed to marry again, therefore a man was permitted to marry up to four wives in order to care for them.  Regardless, the aforementioned website has detailed information for anyone interested.

Still, the most clear case I’ve found against polygamy is in this article from the New York Times.  Myra Morton shot her husband in his sleep hours before he was set to board a flight to Morocco, where his younger wife, Zahra Toural, awaited him.  The couple planned to try for a baby during the visit.

Seems to me like an abuse of the system.  The dead husband, Jereleigh “Sadik” Morton, inherits a lot of money, meets a Moroccan woman online, flies to Morocco to marry her (illegal as it is in his own country to have two wives, he does it elsewhere), then tries to split his $6m inheritance (which, from my understanding, belonged to both Myra and Jereleigh, as it came from a malpractice suit involving their daughter’s death) with the new wife. 

I am not saying that Mrs. Myra Morton was justified in what she did - certainly not - but neither was her husband.

Long Way Home recently posted about the American Foundouk, something I had heard of but up until seeing the website had thought of as myth.

Started in 1927, the Foundouk, which is located in Fez, Morocco, provides charitable veterinary care to a wide range of animals.  They treat 50 to 100 animals each day, all for free.

Donations can be made online via the website, or by check sent to:

The American Fondouk
c/o MSPCA
Attention: B. Zeledon
350 South Huntington Avenue
Boston, MA 02130

A typical Fez donkey (photo is my own)

The Chinese government recently added Morocco to its approved list of countries for Chinese citizens to visit.  132 countries are now approved for the approximately 34 million Chinese who travel abroad each year.

Wafin: Moroccan Connections in America is a site that allows Moroccan Americans (and friends of Morocco) to connect virtually.  The site also assists with various other aspects of life such as jobs, real estate and networking.

Today I came across an article entitled Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Came to the U.S.  My immediate reaction was “what a great idea.”  Too often in Morocco did I hear America being glorified as “the best country in the world” with little regard to the problems that plague the United States.  Sure, Moroccans are certainly aware of possible discrimination in this post-9/11 environment, and most realize that they’ll have to start at the bottom, but the lure of opportunity is strong.

Although the article is short, reading through the comments demonstrates what Moroccans really feel after residing in the U.S. for some time.  Whether it’s the unspoken rules (don’t pick up and kiss random children) or the seemingly obvious (hot dogs almost always have pork), this article and its comments are a great resource for Moroccans living in or considering immigration to the United States.

The Casablanca Analyst, Morocco’s new and currently only English newspaper, has just released its second issue, with my article inside.  If you are currently in Morocco, please pick up a copy - if not to support my writing then to support this wonderful independent venture.

Most exciting for me was seeing the letters to the editor - one was from a student of mine, but many others praised the newspaper, particularly for using English as its medium.  So much for the argument that there aren’t enough readers out there.