Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Women are making gains throughout Moroccan society. Until recently,
a woman here couldn't open a bank account. Today the general director of
the stock exchange in Casablanca is a woman. Out of 21 ministers voted
into oi ce in a recent election, seven are female.
The Moroccans I encountered didn't emulate or even seem to care
about the USA. Al-Jazeera blared on teahouse TVs, with stirring images of
American atrocities inl icted on fellow Muslims. But people appeared numb
to the propaganda, and the TV seemed to be on that channel for lack of an
alternative. I felt no animosity directed toward me as an American. h
ere
was no political edge to any grai ti or posters.
When I tried to ai rm my observations with my guide, Aziz, he explained
to me the fundamental dif erence between “Islamic” and “Islamist”: Islamists
are expansionist and are threatened by the very existence of Israel. He
explained how Al-Jazeera appeals to Islamists. Its reporting is as “fair and
balanced” as we'd i nd on Fox News in the USA. And then Aziz made it
clear that Morocco is Islamic, not Islamist.
Wandering in Tangier—especially after dark—is entertaining. It's a rare
place where signs are in three languages (Arabic, French, and Spanish)...
and English doesn't make the cut. Sometimes, when I'm frustrated with
the impact of American foreign policy on the developing world, I have this
feeling that an impotent America is better for the world than an America
whose power isn't always used for good. Seeing a country where the signs
are in three languages, but still ignore English, reminds me that there's a
world that's managing just i ne without us.
The market scene was a wonderland—of everything but pork:
Mountains of glistening olives, a full palate of spices, children with knives
happy to perform for my camera.
Aziz explained that each animal is slaughtered in accordance with
Islamic law, or Halal. I asked him to explain. He took me to a table with
a pile of chickens and hollered “Muhammad!” to catch the attention of a
knife-wielding boy. (That confused me until Aziz explained that when
he wants someone's attention, he says, “Hey, Muhammad!” It's like our
“Hey, you”...but very respectful. For a woman, you'd holler, “Hey, Fatima.”)
He asked the boy to demonstrate the proper way to slaughter an ani-
mal, and I was given a graphic demonstration: in the name of Allah,
with a sharp knife, animal's head pointing to Mecca, body drained of
its blood.
