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Spanish Muslims at crossroads - integration or exclusion?
By DPA
Feb 13, 2008, 8:02 GMT

Madrid - Will Spain have a liberal or conservative type of Islam? Could fundamentalism soar? Will Muslims blend in, or will there be youth riots like in Paris in 2005? Can Spain find a third way between French-style assimilation of immigrants and British multiculturalism?

As the first modern generation of Spanish-born Muslims is coming of age, the country's Islamic communities stand at a crossroads.

The question of the integration of Muslims has come under a heated debate after the opposition conservatives announced they would ban Muslim headscarves in most schools if they win the March 9 elections.

The proposal sparked criticism from the governing Socialists and the far left, which slammed the conservatives as xenophobic racists.

'Immigrants should never become a cheap electoral merchandise,' Kamal Rahmouni, president of the Moroccan immigrants' association Atime, said in an interview with Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

Spain needs to develop 'solid elements' to deal with problems related to immigration when they arise, Rahmouni stressed, calling for a 'state pact' between the two main parties.

Spain is estimated to have more than a million Muslims, making Islam the country's second biggest religion after Roman Catholicism.

The Muslims are usually spoken of as a group, but in reality, they include a wide variety of nationalities ranging from up to 800,000 Moroccans - the largest group - to Pakistanis, people from the Middle East and West Africa.

The Muslims also include about 80,000 people living in the Spanish enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla on the Moroccan coast, and up to 25,000 converts.

The currents of Islam present in Spain range from traditional Moroccan Malekite Islam to orthodox Saudi Wahabism and even some marginal fundamentalist movements. A part of the Muslims, of course, practise their religion only occasionally or not at all.

In relations with the government, Muslims are represented by two federations.

The Spanish Federation of Islamic Religious Entities (Feeri) represents a liberal home-grown Islam embraced by many converts, while the bigger Union of Spanish Islamic Communities (Ucide) stands for a more conservative, social brand.

'Many Muslims do not feel represented by these organs, which were created in the late 1980s and early 1990s,' Rahmouni says.

Internal divisions and rivalries have prevented Muslims from having a visible leader and a single voice, he observes.

That contributed to governments ignoring a pioneering 1992 agreement, which theoretically gives Muslims the same rights as Catholics, according to observers.

Critics of the 1996-2004 conservative governments say they had little enthusiasm for promoting Muslim rights because of their closeness to the Catholic Church.

As the number of Muslims has grown, the current Socialist government has timidly started reactivating cooperation with Islamic associations in the framework of a new foundation.

Madrid boasts what is billed as Europe's biggest mosque, the construction of which was financed by Saudi Arabia. Yet the vast majority of Spain's 700 mosques continue operating in garages, basements, former factories or warehouses.

With no national rules on the training of imams and hardly any state subsidies to mosques, they are often left dependent on money coming in from countries such as Saudi Arabia, Libya or Egypt.

That increases the danger of outside interference and of fundamentalism, according to Muslim analysts.

Spain currently has only about 30 teachers of Islam for more than 70,000 potential pupils at state schools.

Questions such as that of the headscarf are sorted out on the regional level, the tendency being to regard a girl's right to education as more important than criticism of a symbol which some see as denigrating women.

The Islamic communities and the government need to arrange for Muslims to have democratically-elected representatives in order to regulate the practice of Islam, Rahmouni says.

'Spain needs to find its own model of integration,' based on the existence of 17 semi-autonomous regions some of which have their own languages alongside Spanish, he said.

'Spain's cultural diversity will facilitate the integration of immigrants,' Rahmouni believes.

Spain is unique in Western Europe in that it was partly under Muslim rule for eight centuries until 1492. Spanish culture has numerous Arab-Berber influences including more than 4,000 Spanish words that are derivative from Arabic.

Few Spaniards, however, spare a thought for such links, and there have been dozens of cases of local people opposing the construction of mosques in regions such as north-eastern Catalonia.

The 2004 Islamist train bombings, which killed 191 people in Madrid, were followed by a slight increase in neo-Nazi attacks and threats against mosques, but on the whole, Rahmouni describes the reaction of Spanish society as 'very mature' - at least so far.



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Submitted by Mudassir Rizwan on Tue, 02/12/2008 - 07:17.

* Muslim World News

By NNN-KUNA

Rabat : Kuwait and Morocco agreed on Monday to set up a joint cooperation agreement in the cultural field, particularly in books, translation and publication sector.

A statement from the Moroccan ministry of Culture said the agreement was based on mutual discussion between the Secretary General of the National Council for Culture, Arts and Letters (NCCAL) Bader al-Rifaei and Moroccan Minister of Culture Thouriya Jabrane.

Talks between the two sides included boosting bilateral cooperation derived from bilateral discussion during 14th Casablanca International Book Fair which opened last Friday here.

The statement also noted that the Secretary General invited Morocco to be part of the upcoming Arab Theater Festival which will be hosted by Kuwait next May.

The two sides also stressed importance on making their presence felt through joint activities and creativities from both countries, including joint cultural projects, the statement noted.

Independent.co.uk
Love bites: The naked truth about aphrodisiacs

This Thursday is Valentine’s Day – and if you’re planning a feast of amorous adventure, you’ll want your menu to push all the right buttons. But do aphrodisiacs actually work? Can fried lamb’s testicles really make the earth move? Christopher Hirst and his other half bravely find out

Lots of people celebrate St Valentine's Day by sticking in the knife. Purchasers may be succumbing to a long-standing delusion but it is a curious coincidence that the oyster happens to contain more zinc per serving than any other foodstuff. This element, as one authority delicately puts it, is "important to male organ function".

But the main reason why oysters formed the first course in my epic road-test of alleged aphrodisiacs, extending over several weeks, is that I love them above all other foods. My slightly reluctant Tasting Panel for this uplifting regime (well, very reluctant when it came to sheep's testicles) was my wife. "Mmm, aren't they terrific?" I said, slurping down a briny swirl of flesh from the half-shell. Tucking in with slightly less enthusiasm, the TP expressed doubts about the suitability of oysters for a St Valentine's supper. "With shellfish, you need to check beforehand with your dining partner," she said. "If I didn't know about oysters, I'd think, 'What are those slimy things?' and reach for my coat."

"But you do know about oysters."

"Only because I've been eating them for the past 24 years, ever since I met you."

She may have a point, damn it. As Dr Johnson pointed out, "It was a brave man who first ate an oyster." Moreover, it is a trifle unusual, at least in western culture, to eat animals that are still alive. It is debatable whether one's dining companion would enjoy learning the information imparted by Mark Kurlansky in his book The Big Oyster: "If the oyster is opened carefully, the diner is eating an animal with a working brain, a stomach, intestines, liver and a still-beating heart." Of course, a good chew puts paid to all that. The idea that oysters should be swallowed whole is one of the weirdest of all gastronomic canards. For those who don't find the whole idea of oysters repulsive, there can be something a little, well, stimulating about these saline treats. Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall gets quite steamed up about the topic: "A slippery, salty oyster, recumbent and ready inside its glistening, pearl-lined cavity is undeniably arousing."

But you need to know the culinary CV of your putative sweetheart before presenting him or her with anything of an outré nature. Unfortunately, many aphrodisiacs are of an outré nature. Like whelks. A chap in the fish trade once told me that the reason South Korea forms the largest export market for UK whelks is due, in part at least, to a belief that they act as an aphrodisiac, at least for chaps. Apparently, sales dipped when Viagra came on the market. "Er, quite tasty," said the TP, once she had steeled herself sufficiently to take on board a forkful of my whelk, bacon and laver bread ragout. "But they are a bit chewy. I've had a whelk in my mouth for a minute now." Though I polished off the lion's share of the whelky stew, I cannot report much in the way of nocturnal arousal, unless you include a slight case of indigestion. "Well, there wasn't much in it for me," complained my wife.

With the possible exception of chocolate, which is rarely utilised as a main-course ingredient, the most promising aphrodisiac for women is the truffle. In her book Truffles, Elizabeth Luard explains the appeal of the stratospherically priced fungi: "Not to put too fine a point on it, the truffle reeks of sex." A botanist at an Italian centre for trufficulture told her: "When women come to work here, we warn them they're taking a risk." The pheromones emitted by the truffle ("heavy, musky, thrilling") had an effect on Luard when she visited the laboratory. "I observe that the chief botanist – bearded, fortyish, handsome in a rugged kind of way – has a lovely smile. See? It works."

Unfortunately, white truffles are out of season, while black Périgord truffles sell for £40-£80 apiece at London's Borough Market. The more affordable alternative of truffle oil certainly worked for Fergus Henderson, chef-patron of St John in Smithfield: "I cooked Margot pasta, cabbage and truffle oil and we've been married for 12 years." Less adventurously, we tried a salad of figs, prosciutto, goat's cheese and rocket (a vegetable banned in medieval monasteries due to its arousing properties) anointed with truffle oil. The penetrating aroma of truffles hung over the dish, which worked pretty well on the TP, at least gastronomically. "Mmm, figs and prosciutto," she sighed. "A marriage made in heaven."

Asparagus might be another possibility for female seduction, though the food writer Tamasin Day-Lewis complains it is "so obvious". It is also out of season in February. You can buy imported spears, but a protracted argument about the carbon footprint of Peruvian asparagus is unlikely to lead to bed. Eating the spears in the traditional style with fingers is not necessarily arousing either. The asparagus technique of a character in a PG Wodehouse novel is described as "Revolting. It alters one's whole conception of man as nature's last word." Then there is the aftermath of asparagus. The pong imparted to the urine of the asparagus-eater, akin to the mercaptans used as stenching agents in natural gas, is less than sexy.

Though chickpeas are a male aphrodisiac – according to the Kama Sutra, "If eaten every morning, you will be able to enjoy a hundred women" – my houmous went down very well with the TP. "I think any girl would be impressed if a man made houmous for her. Well, this one would." Another vegetable with unexpected erectile properties is the onion. In The Perfumed Garden, we are informed that when a certain Abu el Heiloukh ate onions "his member remained erect for 30 uninterrupted days". Though this is slightly excessive to requirements, the tasty allium seemed worth a bash, especially since Fergus Henderson's book Beyond Nose to Tail includes a recipe called Orbs of Joy for whole red onions braised in chicken stock. After six hours, the allium is transformed into a meltingly sweet, velvety sphere. "Like French onion soup without the soup," said the TP. "Yes, very seductive, but I think French onion soup is seductive as well."

For a topic that may not exist, there is a surprisingly voluminous library on aphrodisiacs. Marilyn Ekdahl Ravicz's work Erotic Cuisine: A Natural History of Aphrodisiac Cookery advocates such unexpected dishes as Coronation chicken, Indian curried eggs and bouillabaisse, but I went for squid sautéed in garlic. My rendition did not produce the required effect, possibly because I unwisely augmented the recipe with several home-grown chillies of previously untested potency. A Niagara of sweat and a beetroot-red face is not what women generally seek in a bed-mate. The best-known aphrodisiac book of modern times is Venus in the Kitchen edited by the author Norman Douglas, mentor of Elizabeth David, who had to leave Britain, in the well-worn phrase, "for the usual reason" (boys). Published in 1952, the 50-odd recipes accumulated during Douglas's exile in Capri range from the mundane (purée of celery) to the wildly exotic (simmered crane). It is a little difficult to lay your hands on sparrows' brains, skink and sow's vulva, though testicles of lamb can be obtained from Turkish supermarkets.

You get four little ones (ask the butcher to remove the membrane) for a little over £1. With a slight shiver, I sliced the testes in half and followed Douglas's recipe, which ironically came from the kitchen of a 16th-century pontiff: gently fry in butter with a pinch of saffron. Add a squeeze of lemon before serving. The unappetising, mousse-like result suggested that Douglas did not actually try out this dish, but the TP bravely had another go. Once they had been cut into strips and coated with breadcrumbs, fried lamb's testicles – a dish known in the US as Rocky Mountain oysters – proved most acceptable. "But not seductive," insisted the TP. "Especially when you know how much cholesterol they contain."

Almost any dish can have aphrodisiac properties in the right circumstances – the TP speaks highly of my Welsh rabbit or, if you prefer, rarebit – though erotic cuisine tends to be on the softish side. When top chefs were asked in the book Don't Try This at Home for "a dish that would seduce someone", the firm favourites were oozy. Tom Aikens suggests a homemade lasagne with "fresh pasta, a great sauce seasoned just right and a great béchamel with parmesan". Antonio Carluccio insists that "everyone would succumb to freshly made tagliolini served with a simple tomato sauce and basil". Diners should eat jointly from a single bowl "just like in The Lady and the Tramp". Rowley Leigh of Le Café Anglais proposes "scrambled eggs with truffles, caviar or sea urchin roe".

Truffles and caviar were ruled out for financial reasons, but we did happen to have a tin of sea urchin roe or, to be precise, ovaries, purchased by some eerie coincidence in the Sicilian honeymoon capital of Taormina. Cooked very slowly by the TP, the scrambled eggs were delicious. "That's because I make the most fabulous scrambled eggs," she pointed out immodestly. To my palate, the tinned slurry was only OK, with about half the potency of the fresh stuff scraped from the spiny shell. The TP was far more taken by this maritime delicacy. "It does something to my head that truffle does," she said. "Quite a sensuous thing." At least it made up for the whelks.

In 1949, the esteemed American food writer MFK Fisher, who devoted much thought to the relationship of food to sex (she once made a male visitor sit for an hour on a sandwich she had made before announcing it was ready to eat), wrote that "one highly expert bachelor-cook in my immediate circle swears by a recipe for breasts of young chicken, poached that morning or the night before, and covered with a dramatic and very lemony sauce made at the last minute in a chafing dish". This looked a sure-fire babe-melter. The sauce sounded simple enough, except Fisher omitted to give a recipe. I guessed that lemon juice flared with brandy would fit the description. The explosion of alcohol fumes was dramatic enough to satisfy the need for showing-off that lurks in most male cooks, but the result was lacking in oomph. "The presentation is rather rough-hewn, like something served up by Desperate Dan," complained the TP. "It needs parsley and a few more itsy-bitsy things. The taste is OK, but I love lemon. Aphrodisiacs should sharpen the senses."

Kind of her to say, of course, but the dish was hopeless in its intended effect. I was after seduction not sympathy.

It was high time to spice things up. Black pepper has long been regarded as conducive to a grind. In the ever-encouraging Kama Sutra, gents are informed that a pepper and honey anointment on their organ will "utterly devastate your lady". Quite. Instead, I procured the legendary Moroccan mixture of spices known as ras-el-hanout ("top of the shop") since it often contains 20 or more spices. According to Paula Wolfert's book Moroccan Cuisine, "The aphrodisiacs (Spanish fly, ash berries, monk's pepper) that appear in most formulae appear to be the reason why the mere mention of this mixture will put a gleam in a Moroccan cook's eye." Fortunately, the sample I obtained from the online suppliers Maroque did not contain the tell-tale blue fragments of the notorious Spanish fly or cantharides. I say fortunately because, contrary to its reputation, Spanish fly is not an aphrodisiac but a potent irritant and poison. The lethal dose is 0.03 grams. A lamb casserole made with the user-friendly version of ras-el-hanout proved to be gently spicy, richly unctuous and wholly delicious, though not notably sexy.

So what dishes did work for us? Heading back through the mists of time, the first meal I made for my wife was a plate of smoked-salmon sandwiches. Though this item does not rate a mention in the library of aphrodisiacs, it did the job OK. Equally efficacious was her first effort for me. Just to check if it still worked, we had another Mongolian hot-pot. This meal has much to recommend it as a form of culinary foreplay. Because you use chop-sticks to fish for various items from a pot of simmering stock (we use a large, cast-iron fondue pot over a methylated spirit burner), there is plenty of scope for gastronomic intimacy. You might steer your companion towards a succulent piece of scallop, while she hands over a juicy prawn. There might be a certain amount of light-hearted competition for a tasty bit of pork or a sugar-snap pea pod. The meal is prolonged but relatively light on the stomach. And, yes, since you ask, the dish has retained its effectiveness.

For pud, I'd be tempted to go for crêpes Suzette, a dish that not only allows the host to indulge in another alcoholic explosion but also relate the (completely spurious) story that the Suzette honoured by this dish was a poule de luxe admired by the Prince of Wales. (The one that became Edward VII.) However, the TP reckons that the dish is too hefty for an amatory supper. I suppose a dessert involving the endorphin blast of chocolate will be close to obligatory for the culinary seduction of modern females, but would-be Lotharios should remember the wise words of Ogden Nash: "Candy is dandy but liquor is quicker." Moreover, a cocktail enables you to start the campaign of attack at a far earlier stage in the evening. Again, it is vital to avoid the obvious. A Knicker Dropper Glory will not get the evening off to a good start. Same goes for Between the Sheets, even though it dates back to the Twenties. Best stick to a Margarita, which also comes with a useful accretion of stories. Sadly, the suggestion that it was originally made for Rita Hayworth is as dubious as the Suzette yarn.

And if romance does not blossom on St Valentine's night, you could bear in mind the advice of Nora Ephron, author of When Harry Met Sally, concerning the appropriate dish when love goes pfft: "In the end, I always want potatoes... Nothing like getting into bed with a bowl of hot mashed potatoes already loaded with butter and methodically adding a thin cold slice of butter to every forkful." If your pash ends in mash, you can start planning your next romantic meal. Forget music, the food of love is food.
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Magharebia
Published on Magharebia‎ (http://www.magharebia.com) ‎
http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/reportage/2008/02/08/reportage-01
Moroccan society unmoved by the plight of rape victims

08/02/2008

Rape victims in Morocco continue to face blame and rejection for their misfortune. Experts say Moroccan culture, not Islam, is at the source of this double standard.

By Sarah Touahri for Magharebia in Rabat -- 08/02/08

[Sarah Touahri] Fearing rejection and accusations from Moroccan society, most women who are raped never tell anyone what happened to them.

Rape remains a taboo subject within Moroccan society, despite increased media coverage in recent years. Instead of receiving moral support and encouragement from their families, rape victims are often rejected. Parents see the rape of a daughter as a dishonour which must be concealed at all costs.

Samira tells the story of her aunt Malika, who disappeared five years ago when she was just 16. Malika, raped by a stranger in the countryside near Khénifra, could not tell what had happened because she was afraid of her parents’ angry reaction. She was right to fear the response of her nearest and dearest. When her mother learned about the rape several weeks after it occurred, she beat Malika severely and threw her out of the house.

"Five years on, we're looking for her. My grandmother regrets what she did. But I think it's too late. What's become of my aunt? That's the question tormenting the whole family. We can't be at peace."

Malika's case is not unique. Many rape victims like Malika suffer in silence and cannot share their unhappiness because they know perfectly well the fate that Moroccan society has in store for them.

Hind was 18 when her best friend's father drugged and abused her. In her distraught state, she was unable to decide what to do. She preferred to keep quiet and not say a word to anyone. Now 36, she has been unable to find a husband. Each time she confesses her guilty secret to a fiancé, she never sees him again.

"Whenever someone asked for my hand in marriage, I couldn't hide the dreadful truth," she says, "because virginity is very important for Moroccan men." She continues, "None of the six people who asked for my hand understood. One of them even beat me," she exclaims with tears in her eyes. Her family still does not understand why men leave her after they have been engaged for a few weeks. After years of suffering, Hind has finally decided to consult a psychologist so that she can live her life without nightmares. She no longer dreams of setting up a home and living happily like any "normal" woman.

The exact number of women who have been raped in Morocco is unknown, for the simple reason that few of them tell anyone about their ordeal. "Counselling centres are there," says Amale Safi from the Women and Development association, "But those who dare to talk find it very difficult in front of social workers."

To help women who have been the victims of rape, more and more women's associations in Morocco are offering support, particularly legal and psychological services. Insaf director Nabila Tbeur explains that while her institution primarily assists unmarried mothers, rape victims also seek its assistance. "We point them in the direction of the counselling centre, which has been set up under the judicial code," she says.

However, Safi points out that when a woman dares to accuse a man of rape, judges and police officers regard the allegation with scepticism. "Moroccan society holds the woman who has been raped largely, if not completely, responsible for what has happened to her," she says.

[Sarah Touarhi] "I felt as if I was the guilty one," said one rape victim. "I had to take back my accusation so that I wouldn't endure any more hurtful comments or questions."

Safi speaks from first-hand experience. When she went to the local police station to report her own attack, officers asked her numerous, sometimes "provocative" questions. "I felt as if I was the guilty one. They wanted to be absolutely sure that I was telling the truth, but my state, both physically and psychologically, was an obvious sign. I needed support, and I was faced with a wall of ice," she remembers bitterly with a lump in her throat. Her life has never returned to what it was. The man who raped her was sentenced to a five-year prison sentence.

The Moroccan penal code defines rape as being "the act by which a man has sexual relations with a woman against her wishes". The crime is punishable by a custodial sentence of 5 to 10 years. If it is committed to a minor under 15, the sentence is imprisonment for 10 to 20 years. If the guilty party is a family member, guardian or servant of the woman who is raped or if they are a state official or religious leader, the offence is considered aggravated, and imprisonment is extended from 10 to 20 years in the first case and 20 to 30 in the second.

According to a number of women who have been raped, however, the problem does not reside with the law but rather with attitudes which must change.

Sociologist Jamil Gougani says that Moroccans, like all Arabs, still have an old-fashioned idea of women and sexuality, despite the way society has modernised in the Kingdom. "It's a question of education and culture. Certainly the difference in the levels of education between girls and boys is less obvious, but it still exists. Women are synonymous with honour which must be preserved. Women who have been raped come under attack because it's seen as dishonour for the family," he says.

In Islam, rape is severely condemned. A woman who has been raped is wholly considered to be a victim, while the rapist risks being stoned to death because the offence involves fornication and violence towards others.

"The victim is exempt from any punishment, and this is the unanimous view of Islamic legal experts, whether the rape was inflicted by force or backed by verbal threats," says Islamic studies teacher Ahmed Jouhari.

Islam honours women and accords them all their rights, Joahari adds. "It is the weight of culture, not religion," he says, which allows society to scorn victims of rape.

Statue of Berber Poet Matoub Lounes Decapitated In Berber Town

A statue of the Berber poet and activist Matoub Lounes in the Algerian town of Tizi n'Tleta has been found decapitated.

The vandalism comes at a time when organizations dedicated to perpetuating the memory of the poet had been raising funds to repair previous vandalism to the statue.

Lounes was murdered in 1998 by persons unknown. During his life he had been shot by Algerian security forces and kidnapped by Islamists.

Dalil Amazigh, head of a Lounes memorial association, said that the association would continue to protect and restore memorials to Lounes, "who continues to bother the enemies of liberty and democracy."

Source: www.kabyle.com, February 5, 2008

A book that is banned in its own country has become a leading contender for a new literary prize that aims to encourage wider reading of novels written in Arabic.

In Praise of Hate has been banned since it was published last year. By the award-winning Syrian scriptwriter and novelist Khaled Khalifa, it is set in Syria in 1982, and centres around the army's brutal shelling of Hama, where opposition groups were fighting the late President Hafez al-Assad.

It is one six titles shortlisted for the first “Arabic Booker Prize”. Khalifa describes himself as staunchly secular, and has said that the novel attacks political ideologies based on religion: “There is fierce and direct criticism of sectarianism which produces the culture of hatred.”

Another shortlisted title dealing with conflict in the Middle East is June Rain by Jabbour Douaihy, which explores the civil war in Lebanon.

The International Prize for Arabic Fiction is run in association with the Booker Prize foundation and is funded largely by the Abu Dhabi Emirates Foundation. None of the shortlist, announced this week, has been translated into another language, and Sigrid Rausing, owner of Granta, has agreed to fund an English translation of the winner.

The shortlist has touched other sensitive political nerves, with complaints that its geographical range is too narrow, with two authors from Lebanon, two from Egypt, a Syrian and a Jordanian, but none from the Gulf and Iraq.

There are also fears that encouraging authors to write with a Western audience in mind will undermine the authenticity of Arabic literature, and provoke authors to write belligerently or to hide social behaviour that may be controversial.

One judge, the Moroccan writer Mohammed Berrada agreed that this happened with some entries, but added: “Many of the novels deal with the position of women or sexuality. They seek to interrogate their own country.”

Some also feared that the novels' subjects will reinforce cultural stereotypes. But the judges see this as inevitable in the Middle East.

Another judge, the Palestinian author Feissal Darraj, said: “The themes may be pessimistic but the writing itself is a source of optimism: it is an act of resistance.”

The other shortlisted titles are The Land of Purgatory by Elias Farjouh, Walking in the Dust by May Menassa, Swan Song by Mekkaoui Said and Sunset Oasis by Baha Taher. The winner will be announced on March 10.

www.arabicfiction.org

Region :Middle East and North Africa
Country :Morocco
Topic :Investigative Reporting, Fellowships and Awards

01/02/2008
Journalists have the opportunity to enter a contest for the best investigative story of 2007, sponsored by Press Now. The deadline to apply is February 28.

The contest is open to Moroccan journalists. Winning journalists will receive prizes in the following cash amounts: first place 15000 Dirhams (approx. US$1,961), second place 8000 Dirhams (approx. US$1,046) and third place 6000 Dirhams (approx. US$784). Winning stories will be published in a Moroccan newspaper or magazine. Articles must be submitted in French, Arab or Amazigh and should deal with one of the themes posted on the website.
To learn more, click here.