Moderation in Morocco

[Valin]

National Review:

Gradual reforms by Islamists and the monarchy show that there is hope for the Arab Spring.
John Fund
12/30-/11

(Snip)But the most promising model for encouraging moderation among Islamists as they enter government comes from Morocco, a nation of 32 million people that has long led the Arab world in adopting an outward-looking world view not mired in hostility to Israel. A month ago, the country held new parliamentary elections in which, for the first time, it was stipulated that King Mohammed VI would automatically name the head of the party with the most votes as prime minister.

(Snip)

I ask him what influences from other countries helped shape his party’s platform. He surprises me by telling me how much he learned about the U.S. while he interned on Capitol Hill in Washington for a Democratic congressman. Mustapha isn’t shy about saying that he freely borrowed from many sources. “We like many of the pro-family social policies of the U.S. Republicans, and many of the economic policies of the moderate U.S. Democrats,” he tells me. He also found things to like in the policies of Turkey’s ruling Islamist party, the AKP, which has presided over an economic boom in that country. He also had praise for the family-leave policies of Nicolas Sarkozy, the conservative French president.

(Snip)

But despite that, the election clearly represented a step forward for Moroccan civil society. “It shows reform can move forward, and the monarchy is aiding and opening up that process,” says Ahmed Charai, the publisher of the weekly Moroccan newspaper L’Observateur. Even critics of the regime have mixed reactions to the palace-led reforms. Driss Ksikes, a Moroccan playwright who was convicted of “defaming Islam” in 2007 for writing a book about Moroccan jokes, says he now expects the Islamist party to team up with other conservative forces to form a government. “That would mean somewhat less corruption and more budgetary discipline,” he says. However, accompanying that, he expects a slightly stricter interpretation of sharia law, which already forms the basis of Morocco’s legal system. But he predicts the February 20th movement will gradually grow in strength, and that liberal forces will rebuild their position and eventually provide a greater challenge to the Islamists.
(Snip)

[Argyle58]

It should be noted that Moroccans are not ethnically Arab, but are Berbers. They are probably, also, the most educated populous in the Islamic world. Upon graduating their equivalent of high school, a student must have mastered Moroccan, Arabic, French and English.

[Valin]

It should be noted that Moroccans are not ethnically Arab, but are Berbers. They are probably, also, the most educated populous in the Islamic world. Upon graduating their equivalent of high school, a student must have mastered Moroccan, Arabic, French and English.

 

 

Thanks, we learn something new every day.

thats why i gots so muchly smarts.

[Argyle58]

It should be noted that Moroccans are not ethnically Arab, but are Berbers. They are probably, also, the most educated populous in the Islamic world. Upon graduating their equivalent of high school, a student must have mastered Moroccan, Arabic, French and English.

 

 

Thanks, we learn something new every day.

thats why i gots so muchly smarts.

 

lol.....I only knew that because I have a couple of Moroccan friends. I can tell you, though, that because they were a French colony for so long, it is easy to tell a Moroccan from other middle eastern types by their accent.....their English is decidedly French in flavor. French is still the "official" language of government.

[Valin]

It should be noted that Moroccans are not ethnically Arab, but are Berbers. They are probably, also, the most educated populous in the Islamic world. Upon graduating their equivalent of high school, a student must have mastered Moroccan, Arabic, French and English.

 

 

Thanks, we learn something new every day.

thats why i gots so muchly smarts.

 

lol.....I only knew that because I have a couple of Moroccan friends. I can tell you, though, that because they were a French colony for so long, it is easy to tell a Moroccan from other middle eastern types by their accent.....their English is decidedly French in flavor. French is still the "official" language of government.

 

 

From my salad days

 

 

IMBD: Captain Gallant of the Foreign Legion Poster