The burning of the Ahmad Baba library in Timbuktu last week confirms what was already distressingly clear, the profound hostility of salafi-jihadi insurgents to culture of any form other than of the most primitive and supposedly proto-Islamic simplicity. The latter is of course a thoroughly modern construct, the self-referential elaboration of ideologically driven puritans; but … More Burning Old Books
In early December L’Economiste ran a front page editorial by Mohamed Benabid, which was bitter in its condemnation of Moroccan public schools. Everyone knows, he writes, that the public school system in Morocco is a disaster. This is so despite the hugely increased spending on public education in the country; and today the crisis of … More PIRLS and BOYS
One of the more important contributions to serious thinking about the deliberately misunderstood history of Muslims and Christians is a short, profound book by Richard Bulliet called The Case for Islamo-Christian Civilization (Columbia 2004). The book’s central observation is that the term ‘Judæo-Christian Civilisation,’ which trips so easily off the American and European tongue today as … More Islam, Bulliets and Braille
As Logan Pearsall Smith lugubriously remarked, “People say that life’s the thing, but I prefer reading.” Few would go quite that far, but I admit that my house is fuller of books than my wife would really like it to be, and in a mysterious way they keep arriving. I find it hard to keep … More Life’s the Thing
Early this year I attended an event in London which included a panel of young activists from countries across the MENA region. One of them was a vastly bearded, cheery and articulate Egyptian salafi from the al-Nour Party. Someone asked him from the back of the room, “Tell me honestly, did your party have any … More Putting the Bubbles Back in the Perrier
On my desk in front of me I have a copy of The Little Prince, or rather al-Amir al-saghir, translated into ‘Moroccan Arabic,’ by Abderrahim Youssi. I bought it a few weeks ago from a newspaper stall in Marrakech, more as a curiosity than anything else: I read Arabic only very slowly, and in ‘Moroccan … More Language Wars
I started the week in Tangier, where we ran a British Council seminar on graduate employability, with very interesting contributions from several Moroccan universities, some of which, like Tangier, Settat and UM5A are doing terrific work; and a couple of visitors from Liverpool John Moores, one of the leaders in the field in Great Britain. … More Jobs for the Boys and Girls
In TelQuel last week (no. 541, 26 October 2012) there was an interview with two outstanding Paris-based Moroccan novelists – Tahar Ben Jelloun and Abdellah Taïa. They met in Ben Jelloun’s Latin Quarter flat to discuss writing, Morocco and politics. I shan’t attempt to summarize a long and absorbing conversation; but there is one central … More L’abîme entre le Morocain et le livre
There has been an interesting ding-dong in the last few days over the supposed destruction of an ancient Amazigh rock-carving in the Toubkal National Park. The carving depicts the sun “as a divinity” and reports, which seem to come originally from Amazigh activists, imply that local Salafists have destroyed it. Except that they don’t seem to … More Hairy Sun Goddess
One of the loveliest urban views in the world is the panorama of Salé seen across the Bouregreg valley from Rabat. The two cities straddle the estuary, each a tumbled sugar-box of white houses, minarets and splashes of green tiled roof surrounded by dun, crenellated walls. From Rabat, across the bleak salt-flats, Salé is skirted … More Where Rabat Meets Salé
Martin Rose 