Global Voices » Anas Alaoui

Morocco: Another Blogger Imprisoned

Anas Alaoui — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 19:08:22 +0000

A solidarity banner from the freebashir.org site

On Monday, December 14th, Blogger Bashir Hazzam and Internet cafe owner Abdullah Boukhou were sentenced to four months and one year, respectively plus a fine of MAD 500 (USD 63) each, in a Goulmim court. Hazzam was sentenced for “spreading false information harmful to the kingdom's image on human rights,” while Boukhou's sentence was for similar reasons and likely included a charge for providing a space for spreading those information. Three other students have been sentenced to six months and given a fine of MAD 5000 (USD 632) along with Bashir and Abdullah for an un-authorized sit-in in the city of Taghjijt.

Bashir Hazzam has been accused of “spreading false information harmful to the kingdom's image on human rights” after being arrested on December 8th, reported the Committee to Protect Bloggers, stating:

Moroccan blogger Bashir Hazem was arrested on December 8, 2009 following a protest in Tarjijt, during which students clashed with security forces, after posting a press release about the clash on his blog. He has been interrogated about his blogging, specifically his most recent post, which contained the signatures of a committee of arrested students.

ANHRI, The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information, denounced the arrest of the blogger Bashir Hazzam. Reporters without Borders (RSF) denounced and questioned why the sentence was given at a time when the Moroccan government is putting in place a program to promote internet access, information society and digital economy:

Alors que le gouvernement marocain a présenté, en octobre dernier, un plan visant à améliorer l’accès à Internet afin de mieux intégrer le royaume à la société de l’information et à l’économie numérique, ces condamnations marquent un retour en arrière et montrent que la liberté d’expression sur Internet ne s’applique pas aux critiques des autorités. La multiplication d’arrestations de blogueurs ces deux dernières années nous inquiète profondément.

While the Moroccan government put last October a plan to improve access to the Internet in order to better integrate the country into the information society and digital economy, these sentencings represent a step backwards and show that freedom of expression on the Internet do not apply to criticism of the authorities. The proliferation of bloggers arrests in the last two years are worrying.

Many reactions have been published on the Blogoma after this new case of imprisoned blogger. Blogger Larbi [FR] published a statement by RSF adding:

Voici donc où nous en sommes : dans un pays qui jette en prison des citoyens pour le seul crime d’avoir exercé pacifiquement leur droit à la liberté d’expression, à la manifestation … Un drôle de pays qui, aussitôt la page des années de plomb tournée, en a ouvert une autre avec son lot d’exactions, de condamnations arbitraires, de violences policières et d’atteinte aux droits humains.

Here we are: in a country that throws people in jail for the crime of peacefully exercising their right to freedom of expression and demonstration … A strange country that, once the page of the years of lead has been turned, has opened another [page] with its share of abuses, arbitrary sentencing, police violence and human rights violation.

Blogger and human rights activist Samira Kinani reported on a demonstration in solidarity with Bashir Hazzam and other opinion detainees in front of the Moroccan parliament in Rabat on December 15th. The demonstration was broken up by police. Ibn Kafka [fr], blogger and lawyer, published photos from Samira's blog and commented:

… les compagnies mobiles d’intervention (CMI) tabassent de paisibles femmes quadra- ou quinquagénaires, sans aucune gêne – imaginez ce que ça peut être avec de jeunes hommes à Taghjijt.

… mobile intervention companies (CMI) beat peaceful women in their forties or fifties, with no discomfort - just imagine what it could be with young men of Taghjijt.

Other bloggers are expressing their solidarity with Bashir Hazzam. Kacem El-Ghazali [Ar] who blogs at bahmut, writes:

نتضامن مع المدون البشير حزام ورفاقه…. مستنكرين ما طالهم من اعتقال تعسفي تحكمي ومطالبين باطلاق سراحهم والاستجابة لمطالبهم… في مغرب العهد الجديد، عهد الحريات والديموقراطية، مغرب الخطابات الرسمية التي ما تلبث أن يماط اللثام عن حقيقتها، لتبقى مجرد تهافت يتهافته كل من له مصلحة في ذلك، ومنفعة في استمرار واقع الظلم والاستبداد والتدجين

In solidarity with the blogger Bashir and his comrades, deploring what affected them from arbitrary arrest, demanding their release and respond to their demands, in the Morocco of the new era, the era of freedom and democracy, as state the official mottos. Those mottos appear on their real aspect, to be just empty mottos to anyone who has interest, and benefit from the continued reality of injustice, oppression and intimidation.

A campaign to help free blogger Bashir and his comrades has been launched. A Facebook group [Ar] was created to support blogger Bashir Hazzam along with a website, Free Bashir, and a Twitter account. A Flickr photo campaign has been set up too; those photos can be sent via the Facebook group or to freebashirhazzem@gmail.com.

In a recent post, Naoufel [Ar] wonders if blogging is the first step to prison:

لابد أنك -في يوم ما- سألت عن التدوين.. و كيف تصبح مدونا.. و لا بد أنك وجدت عشرات الأجوبة المختلفة.. الغبية منها و المقنعة ..أمنحك الان جوابا غبيا اخر : التدوين هو أول خطوة الى السجن

You must have - one day - asked about Blogging .. And how to become a blogger .. And you must have found dozens of different answers .. convincing and stupid ones .. now I give you another stupid answer: Blogging is the first step to prison.

I hope this will never be the case in Morocco.

Morocco: Praise for Islamic Finance

Anas Alaoui — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 21:48:40 +0000

In a recent blog post, Paris-based Moroccan blogger Larbi (Fr) takes a closer look at Islamic finance. He writes: “While global finance has collapsed and the world was plunged into a financial crisis like no other, a little village still resists to this wave. It is called: “Islamic Finance”. Crisis? Do not Know! Consider that in 2008, the assets of the 100 largest Islamic banks have increased by over 66% reaching a figure of $580 billion.”

Morocco: Banking fees uncovered

Anas Alaoui — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 21:43:44 +0000

In a recent post, moroccan blogger Omar El-Hyani [Fr] explores banking fees in Morocco. He conducted a comparative review of major banks in Morocco based on the most common operations a bank customer is likely to perform.

Morocco: Blogoma participates in Blog Action Day

Anas Alaoui — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 21:40:30 +0000

Moroccan bloggers expressed their concern for the environment on Blog Action Day 2009, which focused on climate change this year.

The aim of the annual day, which falls on October 15, is to unite “the world’s bloggers in posting about the same issue on the same day with the aim of sparking discussion around an issue of global importance.”

The Blogma, as the Moroccan blogosphere is known, sprang into action with leading bloggers taking the podium to state their ideas on climate change and the environment.

Taha Balafrej [Fr], who writes about Moroccan environmental issues on Vues Du Maroc applauds the fact that a public institute such as the Moroccan Royal Institute for Strategic Studies is organizing an international conference about the effects of climate change on Morocco. He says:

C’est une initiative louable à plusieurs titres. D’abord parce que, de nos jours, il est inconcevable de prétendre parler d’avenir, de prospective, ou de stratégies des pouvoirs publics, sans affronter la problématique du climat. Et ensuite parce que l’initiative s’inscrit dans le cadre d’une réflexion soutenue visant à « suggérer des solutions adaptées aux défis que doit relever le pays en matière de sécurité hydraulique, alimentaire, sanitaire et environnementale ».

This is a praiseworthy initiative in several ways. First, because today it is inconceivable to argue about the future, forecasting, or strategies of government, without addressing the climate issue. And second because the initiative is part of a sustained reflection to “suggest solutions to challenges facing the country's water security, food, health and environment”.

In an other blog post, Balafrej warns about the danger of the authorities' lack of attention on climate change. He writes:

Le Maroc se trouve dans une région vulnérable aux effets néfastes du changement climatique. Bien que peu émetteur de Gaz à effet de serre, le Maroc est menacé dans son avancement vers le développement et le bien être de ses populations. Il doit par conséquent rester attentif à l’évolution de cette question au niveau mondial, tout en étant actif dans le processus de négociation mené sous l’égide de l’ONU …

Morocco lies in a region vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change. Although low in its greenhouse gas emissions, Morocco is threatened in its progress towards development and welfare of its people. It must therefore be attentive to the evolution of this issue globally, while active in the negotiation process conducted under the auspices of the UN …

Bloggers who have participated in Blog Action Day addressed mainly the issues of energy and water supply.

Le blog d'Annouss [Fr] praises for more cooperation and a transfer of technology from developed countries to developing countries like Morocco. Annouss writes:

One of the big issues for Morocco is its dependance on foreign oil for energy. Moroccan government should address this issue with great ambition in order to reduce our dependance on foreign oil and take all advantage from our sunny lands and windy coasts. In 2008 renewable energy met 24% of Spain’s electricity demand … Why not develop clean energy policy in Morocco at a very large scale in cooperation with this european country. The advanced status that Morocco got with the European Union sould not be just a question of trade, immigration and fishing, it should also be a question of technology transfer and multilateral cooperation.

Indeed, this cooperation could see light as Omar El-Hyani [Fr] points out on his blog. In his contribution to Blog Action Day, Omar urges Moroccan authorities not to miss the green revolution - like it did with the industrial revolution and the numeric revolution. He states:

Le déclenchement pourrait probablement venir du projet Desertec qui a pour ambition d’investir 400 milliards d’euros dans la production d’énergie solaire à partir des déserts d’Afrique du Nord et d’Arabie, pour l’acheminer ensuite en Europe. Le projet est pour l’instant en cours d’étude, mais s’il viendrait à se concrétiser, ce serait un véritable tournant dans la production énergétique mondiale, jusque là très dépendante des énergies fossiles. Au Maroc, ce projet pourrait transformer la structure énergétique du pays. D’importateur d’énergie à 98% de ses besoins, le Maroc pourrait alors se transformer en exportateur.

The outbreak could probably come from Desertec project which aims to invest 400 billion euros in solar energy production from the deserts of North Africa and Arabia, for onward delivery to Europe. The project is currently under study, but should it see light, it would be a turning point in world energy production, until now heavily dependent on fossil fuels. In Morocco, this project could transform the country's energy structure. Importing energy to 98% of its needs, then Morocco could become exporters.

The second issue of water supply was addressed by Ibn Kafka [Fr], among others. The blogger focuses on the dependance of the Moroccan economy to agriculture and its need for water supply. Ibn Kafka writes:

L’enjeu pour le Maroc n’est pas seulement celui de la survie de son agriculture, mais également de son économie, tant l’agriculture – les agrumes plutôt – joue un rôle vital dans son commerce extérieur et ses rentrées de devises … De fait, le Maroc, aussi aride soit-il, exporte de l’eau: agrumes et tourisme, voilà les principaux consommateurs d’eau au Maroc. Le Maroc vend son eau contre des rentrées en devises, mais que fera-t-il quand son aridité sera telle qu’il ne pourra plus ni exporter des agrumes ni promettre piscines et golfs aux 10 millions de touristes ?

The challenge for Morocco is not only the survival of its agriculture, but also its economy, as agriculture - citrus rather - plays a vital role in external trade and foreign exchange … Indeed, Morocco, as arid as it is, exports of water: citrus and tourism are the main consumers of water in Morocco. The Morocco sells its water for foreign exchange earnings, but what will happen when its aridity is such that it can not export more citrus or promise pools and golf courses to the seeked 10 million tourists ?

The same concern was raised by Hisham on the Mirror Blog where he gave examples from his last visit to Morocco of the newest planned touristic projects, such as resorts and golf courses, that consume large quantities of water. Hisham wonders:

But the haunting question remains for developing countries like ours, on how we can hope for economic progress without damaging the environment or impacting on climate. It appears that the whole country took a pass on sustainability, obsessed as it is by economic growth, at any cost …
In the meanwhile, the sight of the Hawzi’ya forest being literally uprooted, left an enduring pain in my heart. No longer will I enjoy the reseeding scents of wild flowers, or the shades of an unacquired tree in a wild field, only a couple of miles north of home. Or maybe should I just resign to an inexorable reality?

Let's hope this will not be the case.

PS: For more information about climate change and its effects on Morocco, see Ibn Kafka's blog where he gives numerous references, documents and links.

Morocco: Next Earth Day to be held in Morocco

Anas Alaoui — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 21:23:50 +0000

The next Earth Day, which falls on the 22nd of April, will be held in Morocco, reports Dominique Lagarde on the blog Nomades Express.

Moroccan single moms situation ‘highlighted'

Anas Alaoui — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 07:47:19 +0000

Elisabeth Hague, a Washington University graduate and Rabat-based blogger links to what she called an “interesting New York Times article“. The article,she explains on her blog, focuses upon the Moudawana (the reformed Family Law), but I was heartened to see that it views the issue through the lens of single mothers”.

Morocco: Free Speech Call to the King

Anas Alaoui — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 13:49:27 +0000

Allal El Alaoui, a Moroccan blogger based in Rabat, reports and links [ar] to the open letter written by Khalid Jamai, 65 - a Moroccan veteran journalist known for his positions on freedom of speech. According to El Alaoui: “The main topic of his letter deals with coercive measures that are taken by the authorities against moroccan journalists in the name of the king himself.”

Moroccans Love/Hate Affair with Obama

Anas Alaoui — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 20:27:40 +0000

US President Barack Obama's Cairo address to the Muslim world sparked a blaze of reactions across the region and beyond; not least amongst bloggers from the Maghreb where a fiery of blog posts and instant tweets conveyed a whole spectrum of opinions ranging from outright, full endorsement to deep skepticism and even scorn and mistrust.

Even before Obama's inauguration, and well before he decided which Middle Eastern or North African country he would choose to deliver his so called foreign policy speech in, some Moroccan-Americans lobbied for President Obama to come to Rabat. Some others suggested Casablanca. A website, President Obama to Speak in Morocco, was even set up for that purpose:

[We invite] President Obama to make Morocco the home for his first foreign policy speech abroad.
Morocco is the ideal country to launch a message of peace to the Muslim world.
A peace loving country with a respected voice in the region, Morocco is a long time friend of the United States and would be proud to host President Barack Obama in this historical event.

Eventually, and to the big disappointment of many Moroccan Obama enthusiasts, the American President did not speak in Morocco but preferred - logically, some would argue - Cairo, Egypt.

The blogoma (acronym for Moroccan blogosphere) and many Moroccan Twitter users reacted differently to the Cairo speech. This is a run down of some of the reactions.

Eagerly Awaited

The Obama Cairo speech was quite anticipated. “What if I met Obama?” wonders Mohamed Malouk. Blogging on Elmafjoue [Ar], he says:

لو التقيت أوباما فسأطلب منه أن يقتطع من وقته الثمين جزءا يخصصه لحكامنا الميامين ليمحو عنهم أميتهم في فن التعامل مع الشعوب ، وليلقنهم بعضا من أبجديات اليموقراطية الواضحة ، وليعلمهم كيفية التخلص من عقدة التخوف من المواطنين .

If I met Obama, I would ask him to dedicate some of his precious time to our leaders so he could erase their ignorance when treating their people and teach them some basics of democracy and how to get rid of this fear they have of their own people.

Mohamed [Ar] continues:

لو التقيت أوباما لقلت له إن سلفكم ما ترك فينا إلا حقدا متصاعدا لأمريكا ، وما أنتج لنا إلا غضبا عليها ، وما صنع بيننا إلا كرها لها ، وانت جئت من كل فج عميق بأمل وأطلقت لكل فئة وعدا ، والعرب والمسلمون قوم تتحول عندهم بين لحظة وأخرى الآمال إلى آلام

If I met Obama, I would tell him that his predecessor left us with an ever growing hatred for America and that that only produced anger against it; a hatred cultivated amongst us; then you came out [President] with a deep hope and gave promises to every community whilst Arabs and Muslims usually see their hopes transform into pains.

Live-coverage

One of the innovations made by the Obama administration was the possibility for members of the public to follow the Cairo speech through quotes sent by SMS text messages. The speech was a hot topic on Twitter where many live reactions were reported.

Larbi_org [Fr] followed the event and he twittered:

Great and important speech of Obama in Cairo.

Although, Larbi later on, in a second tweet, wondered “What did Obama mean by ‘Muslim World’ ?”.

They were also some funny reactions when @annouss re-twitted @mbaa…

To all people inside Cairo university, Obama is not Husni Mubarak, you don't have to clap on each sentence.

Analysis

Citoyen Hmida has compared Cairo speech to the JFK's «Ich bin ein Berliner» speech. He stated [Fr]:

Le discours prononcé à l’Université du Caire a été ponctué par de nombreux applaudissements. En effet, le fait d’entendre un président américain dire « Assalamou 3alienkoum » peut redonner espoir. Cette formule rappelle le fameux « Ich ben ein Berliner » clamé par J.F.K. lors de sa visite à Berlin-Ouest en juin 1963.
Obama a eu également l’élégance intellectuelle de citer, fort à propos, certains versets du Coran.

The speech delivered at the University of Cairo was punctuated by much applause. The fact of hearing the American President saying «Assalamou Alaykoum» can give hope. This formula reminds the famous « Ich ben ein Berliner » stated by JFK when he visited Berlin in June 1963.
Obama had also the intellectual elegance to quote certain verses of the Quran.

Citoyen Hmida also wrote:

(…)ce discours tant attendu n’est en partie qu’un tissu de lieux communs sur la civilisation arabo-musulmane et sur les positions américaines contre « l’extrémisme violent ».

This long awaited speech has been, in part, a string of platitudes about the Islamic-Arabic civilization and about the American condemnations of “violent extremism.”

Abdoukili reacts in a similar manner. He wrote:

The words Obama used like quotations from the Koran (to which he referred four times) and Islamic expression like “assalaamu alaykum” , “azaan ” and “Mohammed (peace be upon them) ” is a good public relation strategy to have more effect on the Muslim audience.

Wait and see

Some other bloggers, even when they appreciated the Obama speech have adopted a «wait and see» position. Laila Lalami, a Moroccan author based in the US wrote:

One important test of this new approach, to my mind, is the settlements. Obama has already told Netanyahu that he wants a complete stop to Israeli settlements and that he won’t accept “natural growth” exceptions. If he can do that, then this speech will be remembered as a turning point; if he can’t, then it will go the way of all the speeches by the previous five administrations: nowhere.

The Skeptic

But not everybody was impressed by Obama's words. Abdelhak al'Koush, blogging on Afinina [Ar], launched a strong attack on the American president and questioned his motives in a discourteous post. He wrote:

توفق الرئيس في شد أنفاس القطيع العربي بمن فيهم البلهى من المثقفين العرب، ثم لوح بيديه الكريمتين كما يفعل ملوكنا وجبابرتنا الطغاة في لحظات نفاقهم المتميزة ،ـ وصفق له الحاضرون بحرارة ، ولينتهي الفصل الأول من المسرحية

… جاء أوباما إذن ليقبل العالم العربي الميت ” قبلة الموت”

الحقيقة المرة هو أن أوباما يمنح الولايات المتحدة الأمريكية فرصة أن تلتقط أنفاسها بعد حروب متتالية، اٍذ لم يتردد بوش في [تعبير جارح] العربي البارد ثقافيا وسياسيا ودينيا وحضاريا ، والحقيقة الأمر هو أن العدوان الأمريكي سيشتد بعد مرحلة أوباما .

Obama came then to offer a kiss… “a kiss of death” to the already deceased Arab World[…]
The bitter truth is, Obama is offering the United States the opportunity to take a breather after successive wars against the Arabs who are cold culturally, politically and religiously. After Obama, the American aggression will heighten.
The American president succeeded in capturing the imagination of the Arabic herd (sic) including those Arab idiotic (sic) intellectuals, and then waved his hands mimicking our kings and titan despots in their distinct moments of hypocrisy; and the audience applauded warmly ending the first chapter of a comedy[…]

A Last Note of Hope

Many things have been said about the Obama Cairo speech. Among them, Abdoukili expressed a note of hope when he closed his post by saying

On the whole Obama has carefully chosen his words and said what the majority of Muslims want to hear from him. It remains to see how he can enact his dream of an ideal relationship with the Muslim world where there is so much to do to eradicate the negative views many Muslims have towards the USA

This post was written in collaboration with Hisham

The illustration used in this post was graciously given by Hamza Lahloumi Art Director of IMAGENCY

Morocco: The Blogoma's Journey Continues

Anas Alaoui — Thu, 28 May 2009 17:15:56 +0000

Blogging has come a long way in Morocco. I remember when I published my first blog post, I was the only Moroccan blogger in my college. A few years later, and we have a totally different scene - a blogosphere which has grown rapidly. Here's a review of the Blogoma - the bloggers' very own name for Morocco's thriving blogging scene.

Readership
According to the Moroccan National Telecom Agency ANRT, there are more than 800,000 Moroccans connected directly to the Internet. This number has been growing steadily due to the lower costs of computers and internet connections. Indeed, the community of internet users is estimated up to 4,000,000 people because of the numerous cyber cafés in the country.

Bloggers
There were not that many bloggers just a few years ago. Today, their number is estimated at about 30,000 to 40,000 bloggers according to Moroccan blogger Larbi. All topics are covered from politics to arts, to daily life and fashion, music and sports.

The Moroccan blogosphere also has its own name - the Blogoma. According to Le magazine des blogs et du web au Maroc:

a contraction de blogosphère marocaine. Le terme a été avancé pour la première fois en 2004, pour faire allusion à la naissante communauté de bloggeurs au Maroc.
La blogosphére marocaine est l'une des communautés les plus évolutives dans la région du Maghreb et a pu à plusieurs reprises afficher des positions fermes vis à vis de l'actualité nationale et internationale. Les bloggeurs marocains se réunissent réguliérement sous forme de blog meeting et blog days.

It's a contraction between Blogosphere and Marocaine (Moroccan). This term has been introduced for the first time in 2004 to refer to the birth of bloggers community in Morocco.
The Moroccan blogosphere is one of the most evolving communities in the Maghreb region. It has shown firm and steady positions towards national and international current affairs. Moroccan bloggers meet regularly through blog meetings and blog days.

The aggregator Berberus, attempted a study about Maghrebi blogs with Google Page Ranks (PR) superior than PR = 4. The study, which was made last January and is available here, shows a good presence of Moroccan blogs. Among the top ranked blogs, it names are:

l’excellent blog du journaliste Algérien Allaoua Hadji au côté de Laila Lalami et des deux blogs tunisiens (censurés dans leurs pays) Nawaat.org et ReveilTunisien.org. Le blog de Lameen Souag ayant hélas perdu un point.

the excellent blog of Algerian journalist Allaoua Hadji next to Laila Lalami[a Moroccan author] and the two censored Tunisian blogs Nawaat.org and ReveilTunisien.org. The blog of [Algerian linguist] Lameen Souag has lost one rank.

Profile
As mentioned earlier, many topics are covered by the Blogoma. Its bloggers are of varied profiles too. You can read blogs written by bloggers of various ages. Citoyen Hmida, for example, is run by a retired bank employee; and Adamito by a young college student (high school student at the time he started it). This blogger has also started an innovative and collaborative education platform called 9rayti.com. The most known blog if not the most famous is undoubtedly Larbi, by a young consultant residing in France. He analyses actual news from Morocco and France and offers his opinion with much humor.

Many languages are used in the Moroccan blogs. If French was the most significant one used, there are now more blogs written in Arabic and in English. Indeed, some blogs are capitalizing on the lack of Moroccan Arabic-speaking blogs and have declared that their purpose is to promote the use of Arabic while blogging. For example, the blog named Bla faransiyya, Without French, goes even further and explains:

بلا فرنسية! مدونة مغربية جماعية تهدف إلى لفت الإنتباه إلى موضوع الإستقلال اللغوي الذي هو سبيل التنمية. بلا فرنسية! ليست شعارا عنصريا، و إنما مطالبة بتخلي ادارة وشركات وإعلام المغرب عن استعمال اللغة الأجنبية في خدمة ومخاطبة المواطن المغربي وتعميم استعمال اللغة الوطنية في الحياة العامة وفي التعليم

Without French is a Moroccan blog aimed at consciousness raising about linguistic independence. Without French is not a racist motto but a request towards public services, companies and media in Morocco to stop using foreign languages and use our national language in servicing and addressing Moroccan citizens in daily life and in education

Morocco's English-speaking blogs are growing too. Eatbees is one of the blogs writing regularly on Morocco while Al Miraat, which I discovered for the first time through a tasty post about Couscous, Tagine and Democracy, are bothe written in English. A recent project launched by some bloggers started the Maghreb politics Review which:

is a multi-author weblog about the politics of North Africa in an international relations context … The idea here is to shed brighter and broader light onto North Africa in English-speaking quarters, where the region is too often forgotten in conversation about the Muslim and Arab worlds, Mediterranean and broader Middle East. While the Maghreb figures more frequently into Francophone conversation, where there is much of value to be found, MPR hopes to serve to raise the quality of the discourse on and analysis of the region in English.

Impacts
The Blogoma is rich. It's a community which is growing rapidly and which has a wide range of profiles. But does it have any impact on Moroccans ? It is hard to say in a country where illiteracy is still high. Citizen media in general is not well developed, not as much as mainstream media such as television and newspapers. It had its moments of glory though when a video shooter who called himself, The hunter from Targuist, videotaped policemen getting bribed by drivers and truck drivers. The videos are available on YouTube here and here. Thanks to this video, six policemen were fired from their jobs.

For the moment, the Blogoma is more like an intimate journal. Citoyen Hmida says:

“On y réagit plus qu’on y réfléchit”

“We react more than we think.”

And a majority of bloggers seem to agree that the Blogoma needs some time to mature. Tarik Essaâdi, author of “E-Citizen” told the magazine Tel Quel:

La blogoma se porte bien en nombre, mais souffre d’une crise d’identité. On ne sait pas bien ce qu’on veut.

The Blogoma is well in numbers, but suffers from an identity crisis. We do not know what we want.

He also stated to the same magazine that the Blogoma needs more commitment as it's the case in Algeria and Tunisia. This is a statement which may have to be revised because of the mobilization shown by the Blogoma during latest cases of Fouad Mourtada, Erraji and the Barça fan.

Meanwhile, the Blogoma's journey continues.