eatbees blog

After the death of Hassan II, the new king Mohammed VI took power at a time when there were no longer political opponents against the system, and Moroccans were inspired to have a young king who proclaimed a new era for his people… but now ten years after the arrival of Mohammed VI, why is change not more visible for everyone?

Today I hit the road, first to visit friends in New York, then on to Paris, and finally Morocco before the end of the month. Watch this space as eatbees blog “goes live” from Morocco and around the world!

I’ll be back in Morocco in a few weeks — this video makes me impatient.

Is the future of democracy under Islamist movements a positive one? I think we should first of all give these movements a chance, while insisting on reforms able to protect the citizens against all abuses of power.

“This is the form or spiritual style that makes tolerable any misery that may occur in a city such as Fez…. If this form should ever be destroyed…all that would be left in the alleyways and streets of the old city would be the misery and ugliness of the masses struggling for their daily bread.”

It’s never a sign of strength if a state needs to put its young people in prison for saying what they think. Rather, it is a sign of insecurity and weakness. Let’s hope the Moroccan government corrects this error before it becomes yet another stain on their international reputation.

There are a lot of Moroccans that feel that they need the king, like it or not. Whatever disagreement they have with the political system as it is, they don’t want it overturned because there would be some kind of civil war like in Algeria. And they respect him for giving stability.

I was interviewed last spring by blogger Reb (Rebecca Robinson) for her graduate school project, and I got an award from Homeyra, who blogs about culture and politics from Tehran.

I’d like to have olive trees outside my front door.

Saying “Democratic Transition” without mentioning the need for constitutional reforms, or saying “The Just State” without mentioning the need for an independent judiciary, does nothing but give the empty impression that things are better now than they once were.