Monday, September 16, 2019

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News of the Day: September 16, 2019

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By Ella Feldman

Moroccan Journalist on Trial for an Abortion She Says She Never Had

by Aida Alami for the New York Times

Lede: This weekend was supposed to have been a celebration of love. The invitations had been sent, the flowers and cake ordered. Family and friends were getting ready to witness the wedding of a young Moroccan political reporter and a Sudanese university professor she met at a human-rights conference.

Nut Graph: “Instead, Hajar Raissouni and Rifaat al-Amin were arrested on Aug. 31 as they were leaving a gynecologist’s office in the Moroccan capital Rabat.

Next generation of Moroccan golfers breaks stereotypes

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Above: Young golfers competing in Morocco Srixon Junior Tour championships practice on the putting green at Mogador Golf Course. By 2020, half of all licensed golfers are expected to be juniors. (Photo by Katie Koontz)

by Katie Koontz

ESSAOUIRA, Morocco – One dusty dirt road separates the small village of Diabat from Mogador Golf Course. Diabat is made up of a string of homes where everyone knows each other. Kids in white uniforms run down the hill to the schoolhouse, goats wander between buildings, and dogs chase the occasional car down the unpaved road.

A Young Woman’s Mission to Integrate Creativity into Schools

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By Zoe Buchli

Marya Joudani, 24, is enthusiastic about integrating art into education This stems mainly from her time at Connect Institute, where she was a student for two years and currently works as a coordinator.

“It’s only when I joined Connect Institute that I started to notice the differences between the way school is today and the way it should be,” she said.  

Nestled in a growing housing development in Agadir, a beach town in southern Morocco, Connect is housed in a large, modern building. The school provides “alternative higher education” and admits students based on their abilities, not their degrees or grades so far.

Covering social protests, a new red line for journalism

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By Sam Metivier

CASABLANCA — In July 2017, Omar Radi traveled to al-Hoceima to film a documentary on al-Hirak al-Shaabi (The Popular Movement), but he never got that chance. Like dozens of journalists, the 32-year-old freelancer was arrested for attempting to cover the story that had captured the attention of all Morocco.

Radi was arrested for ‘public intoxication’ after drinking a beer at a restaurant after his eight-hour drive from Casablanca. Radi says he wasn’t drunk but that the police had monitored him waiting for him to do anything vaguely illegal, per their orders from state authorities.

Footloose but not fancy free: Dancing in Morocco

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By Alexis Miller. Photos by Alexandria Saurman

Rabat — “I don’t get paid for this and I don’t think I would want to be…,” Hajar Regragui says while unlocking the door to the dance studio at International University of Rabat (UIR). She’s about to teach 60 college students choreographed dance routines in various styles: Hip-hop, African inspired dance, and Salsa. The course lasts three hours and is completely a labor of love. She seems to look happiest when drenched in sweat.

Hajar Regragui is a 21-year-old political science and international relations student at UIR, but she introduced herself to me first and foremost as a dancer and told me about her favorite spots in Casablanca for dancing.

Being a (Secret) Atheist in a Country Full of Faith

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RABAT–A café on the hem of Rabat’s medina basks in its atmosphere of quiet anonymity. This suits Mohamed Abdallah, a 27-year-old translator born and raised a few short alley twists away. He shifts a bit uneasily in his sun-drenched seat by the window, his sharp brown eyes scanning the space for possible eavesdroppers.

“I hope no one here speaks English,” Abdallah  says apprehensively. Though the small cafe is sparsely populated, its patrons preoccupied and noises soft, the conversation that is about to ensue makes him uneasy. Abdallah is an atheist, a belief that carries heavy implications in a country built on Islam.

SIT Alumna Writes About the Homestay Experience

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Alumna Anna Bongardino (Spring 2018) published this essay on the homestay experience in the PittNews. She is featured above with her homestay brother and sister.

I could hear the rhythmic chant of the afternoon adhan — the Islamic call to worship — ring out from the tinny rooftop speakers of nearby mosques from my second story bedroom in the city center of Rabat, Morocco. After the call to prayer subsided, a Moroccan woman who looked to be a few years younger than my mother walked through the door of my new bedroom and wrapped me in an affectionate embrace.

‘Hey, sexy’: Long road ahead to combat sexual harassment in Morocco

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By Olivia Lewis

This article was published in Middle East Eye. See it here: https://www.middleeasteye.net/in-depth/features/morocco-sexual-harassment-2007805324

CASABLANCA, Morocco – Book bag in tow, Wissale Elhaial, 20, pins her eyes straight ahead as she strides past cafes where men congregate in Casablanca’s downtown area.

Vendors entice customers to their halal stands; some call out for her, but not to tempt her with the spiced aroma of falafel.

“Hey, sexy.”

“Praise God! You’re so beautiful!”

“Come here! I would just like to talk to you!”

Elhaial tries to ignore them, but finds herself glaring, and says she sometimes wishes she wore a headscarf, though she doesn’t really think it would make much difference.

Out in the Cold: Development Transforms Moroccan City But Doesn’t Address Most Difficult Problems

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This article was published in U.S. News and World Report. Find it here: “Out in the Cold”

By Olivia Fore

RABAT, MOROCCO – AT night under the orange light of new street lamps, residents stroll along the Bouregreg River. Vendors sell toys and kites; children ride miniature cars on the pavement and musicians entertain a friendly audience.

A new Grand Theater, still under construction, looms in the shadows. A new bridge extends tram service to commuters from the city of Salé, across the river.

The five-year “Rabat City of Lights” program launched in 2014 aims to put Morocco‘s administrative capital on equal footing with other major world cities by “promoting its cultural heritage, preserving green space, improving the economy, access to social services, governance and road infrastructure,” according to the country’s Ministry of Culture and Communication.

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