Photo and writing by Jessica Blough
I had a dream about running just a few days before everything changed. I’m not a big runner — my chest usually tightens up long before I want to stop, and I have to slow to catch my breath. But in that dream, we were all there, and I was running laps on this small track, and I kept waiting for the pain in my chest to pull me down — but it never came, and I kept going and circling and running, even long after everyone else had stopped.
Photo Credit: Reuters.
March 23, 2020.
Three stories you need to read today. Compiled and broken down for you by Reporting Morocco student journalists — every day. Brought to you from the School for International Training’s journalism program, Rabat.
Video contradicts Morocco’s justification of a brutal beating in Western SaharaSource: The Washington Post
Lede/Introduction: The Fact Checker video team launched a three-part miniseries focused on stories from around the world where information online affected communities and people in real life.
Our final installment brings us to the disputed African territory of Western Sahara, where a video contradicts the Moroccan government’s justification for a brutal beating of two men.
Photo Credit: Rachel Berets.
The following article was written by Rachel Berets, an alumna of the SIT: Field Studies in Journalism and New Media fall 2019 semester. Her piece was published in Al-Fanar Media on March 2, 2020.
RABAT—For three years as a young public-school teacher in Morocco, Abdelghani Erraki taught physics and chemistry in French without a hitch. But in 1983, following a wave of Arab nationalism, the Moroccan government decided to change the language of instruction in science, math, and technical classes from French to Arabic.
Erraki was given two weeks of training from the Ministry of Education and was expected to begin teaching completely in Arabic at the start of the school year.
Photo Credit: Koen Broos.
February 24, 2020. Three stories you need to read today. Compiled and broken down for you by Reporting Morocco student journalists — every day. Brought to you from the School for International Training’s journalism program, Rabat.
Morocco to Boost Anti-Smuggling Measures amid Frustration from Ceuta, MelillaSource: Morocco World News
Lede: General director of Moroccan customs Nabyl Lakhdar confirmed that Morocco will continue to strengthen anti-smuggling regulations amid deep concerns from Spanish enclaves of Melilla and Ceuta.
Key Background: In an interview with EFE, Lakhdar said the decision was due to complaints that the customs office continues to receive from the trade operators in the country due to “unfair competitions” caused by products from Ceuta and Melilla.
Photo Credit DR/Yabilada
EU: Exports from Western Sahara Remain Under Morocco Umbrella
Morocco World News
Lede: The European Union (EU) has denied rumors that it will ban Morocco from exporting products from the southern region of Western Sahara to European states.
Key Background: The union will apply the same standards to all imports into the European market from all countries and territories, including Morocco’s Western Sahara.
Why this is newsworthy: The question of how products exported from the Western Sahara will be labeled has been a recent point of focus. This latest statement by the EU reaffirms not only Moroccan sovereignty over Western Saharan exports, but also over the territory itself.
