Bloggers from across the Middle East and North Africa are tipping their hats to Jordan's Queen Rania, and her visionary initiative on YouTube, after she was awarded YouTube's first-ever Visionary Award for launching an interactive online channel to combat stereotypes and misconceptions associated with Arabs and Muslims.
From Palestine, and in a post titled ‘Why I love Queen Rania?’, blogger Moey writes:
Margot the Marrakesh Mystic correlates the rise of hemlines in Morocco to the changes in the economy.
Allal El Alaoui reports that the Marrakesh International Film Festival ignores bloggers and freelance film critics, as well as, in some cases, Moroccans in general.
Allal El Alaoui remarks upon the recent ruling that required Moroccan magazine Al Massae's editor, Rachid Nini, to pay off a fine of 6 million dirhams.
The View from Fez clues us in to Morocco's Festival de l'Etrange (Festival of the Strange), happening in Essaouira in a few weeks.
Vagabondeuse writes of a German family denied entry into Australia because their son has Down's Syndrome.
From Warp to Weft writes some rules on how to drive in Morocco.
Cinema and Movies talks about female Moroccan film producer Habiba Belkacem.
Many bloggers were shocked last week to learn that a young Moroccan man had been sentenced to 18 months imprisonment for what seemed like such a minor “crime.” The young man, a Barça (FC Barcelona, a soccer team) fan, allegedly wrote “God, Nation, Barça” on the blackboard at his school. Morocco's motto is “God, Nation, King.”
Although FC Barcelona has already announced [es] they will support the young man and take whatever action is possible, precious little is known about his case.
Laila Lalami offers up information:
For the past few years, Morocco has been experiencing a significant drought. Unfortunately, recent rain storms have brought little relief, as Northern Morocco experiences massive flooding, claiming the lives of at least 13 people.
The View From Fez recently reported on the floods:
Thirteen people have been killed in northern Morocco after their homes collapsed in flash flooding caused by torrential rains.
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“The 8th Marrakech international film festival (FIFM) will pay tribute to two world-famous actresses, American Sigoureney Weaver and Asian Michelle Yeoh. The festival runs from November 14th to 22nd,” says The View from Fez, in Morocco.
Morocco has an active and healthy blogosphere. Bloggers write in Arabic, French, English, Spanish, and Amazigh, covering a wide range of topics and issues. The one negative about the Moroccan “blogoma,” however, is that the majority of its adherents are clustered within major cities (Casablanca, Rabat, Fez) and abroad; little is blogged about the rural areas.
That's where the Peace Corps and Fulbright bloggers come in; as many are stationed in remote areas of Morocco, they are able to paint a picture of the other side of life in the country. And although they are not native to Morocco, they interact daily with Moroccan people and often blog about the issues facing their neighborhoods and villages.
Myrtus, from Morocco, is reassessing her online presence. Click on the link to find out why.
From Morocco, Hassi Milli shares scenes from the Beni Znassen mountains.
Mickey Mouse must die, declared a Saudi cleric in a television interview. Or perhaps that is not exactly what he said. Regardless, the interview found its way to television screens and newspaper headlines around the world and bloggers are at loggerheads with the issue. Did the cleric literally mean that Mickey Mouse must die or was it just another ploy to sensationalise and poke fun of anything an Arab and a Muslim utters?
Here's the video:
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