"Here's your change."

Morocco.
One day a few years ago, I was leaving a family lunch with my uncle, in his car. We stop at a red light and a very old and shabby-looking beggar woman comes up to us, begging for money.

We hand the woman a few coins, and she starts counting them. She then looks inside her pockets and finds a few coins of her own, hands us the coins, and says:

"Here's your change. Thank you." And she leaves.
Morocco.

The Rich Man and the Poor Man

One day, an old rich man was enjoying the sea on his beautiful yacht when he passed by a poor Moroccan man tanning under the sun on a drifting heap of wood, with a fishing line dangling from the edge.

"Hey you. What's your name?"
"Hamed."
"Hamed, you should work."
"Why should I work?"
"To make money."
"Why make money?"
"To make more money."
"Why make more money?"
"To contribute to society, do something with your life, and live in better conditions."
"Why all that?"
"So that when you grow old you can feel good with yourself and enjoy life with your money and rest your old days under the sun, like me."

Then Hamed looked around himself, the sun, and the fish he caught, and said,"Perhaps, but that's already what I'm doing now, isn't it?"

Morocco. Maroc. Marruecos. Marroko. Al Mamlaka al Maghribi (in arabic).

I'm not here to speak to you about my country; countless authors, musicians, artists, philosophers have already done so before me, and in ways better than any I could articulate. No, I'm here to speak to you not of Morocco per se, but in the spirit of Morocco. My adventure is to comment on happenings in the world, Morocco, Philadelphia, UPenn, or my brain, so long as the comments are from what I consider to be a Moroccan perspective.

Naturally, I do not pretend to speak in the name of all Moroccans, nor do I pretend to be an accurate representative of what the average Abdou Rashid (the Moroccan John Doe) is. However, the first identity I give when asked who I am is "a Moroccan", and that in itself gives me a measure of legitimacy. Further, I have lived in my country for 18 odd years and have been exposed to the different cultures and social classes that compose this highly heterogeneous country. In any case, I love my country, and for reasons unexplicable I would do anything for it and its people. Therefore, I should never have to explain my words for I know they are marred of only the best intentions and the purest feelings.

I must also explain to you the reasons why I chose the title "Sahara Gazette". You see, a large part of my country is made of the Sahara Desert, one of the world's most humbling locations. It is in that spirit of humility that I wish to convey my thoughts and feelings. Also, the desert is inevitable in many ways, forcing you to discipline, restriction, reflection, wisdom, humility, and the questions of life and death. When surrounded by the mercilessness of its elements and its deafening silence, everything is understood differently, up until the immutable concepts of honour, love, or God (if there is such a thing). The Sahara is simplicity in its simplest form and beauty devoid of the unnecessary. It is with this spirit that I wish to tackle the subjects that pass my mind.

Anyways, enough said about nothing at all. Whatever happens, whatever you read, please know that I do not pretend to hold a truth, nor do I ever seek to insult, disrespect, or humiliate (except for a certain specific group we'll see later). This is an intellectual and emotional experience, for a Moroccan to speak to the world, and the world to hear a Moroccan.

Fundamentalists, Extremist Islamists: A Progressist View

My country is a beautiful country, but it is currently experiencing a rather agitated tempest in the form of extremist Islamists. Yes, those people who hijacked four planes on September 11th, exploded bombs in Madrid and London; those are who I am referring to when I speak of extremist Islamists.

A lot of Westerners (and mostly Americans amongst them) do not know that these extremists also attacked my wholly muslim city of Casablanca on Friday May 16, 2003. At 23:45 (1 2 3:4 5 6 ...) to be exact. Yes, a group of five kamikaze fighters committed suicide in five different locations around my city of Casablanca, killing 45 people (and wounding many others). Understand that these people aren't true Muslims, and certainly not true Moroccans, because we don't kill ourselves, or other people who don't attack us.

(Just for the anecdote, I was watching the Godfather part 2, at the specific scene when a communist kamikaze explodes himself in Havana. At that precise moment my father entered the room, I pressed pause, and he told that Casablanca had been attacked.)

America, via its Bush mouthpiece, has claimed that the lack of democracy contributed to this new wave of religious extremism. Likewise, muslim moderates hold that America's foreign policy, coupled with Israel's treatment of the Palestinians, contribute to this sudden wave of extremism. I hold a different view.

In my humble opinion, all the reasons mentionned in the media (lack of democracy, Israel's treatment of the Palestinians) are not so much the true reasons behind the rise of religious fundamentalism, but just sparks for a much deeper problem.

Recall Karl Marx's statement: "Religion is the opiate of the peoples."

What is 'opiate'? Without going to the dictionary, we know opiate is a drug with sedative properties that induces relaxation. Therefore, it is a drug people would take when they are under intense stress, pressure, or in crisis, in order to be relieved from pain.

"Religion is the opiate of the peoples". This therefore suggests that religion sedates, relaxes, or relieves the masses ("peoples") when they are in a situation of long term and intense (social?) stress. Therefore, the masses seemingly turn to religion for an answer and for comfort when they feel that a society's values are corrupt or ill.

Now, back to those extremists who committed suicide in Casablanca. Why did they commit suicide, in the name of Islam, when they could have continued to live? What motivation is so big that it could convince a bunch of youngsters to blow themselves up? And more importantly, is there a link between their rationale and Marx's statement?

It so happens that these terrorists all came from a neighborhoud called Sidi Moumen at the periphery of Casablanca. They lived in miserable shanty-towns that can only be depicted as the most tragic of places. They obviously have no running water or electricity, but worst of all, they live in contempt of society. The police cares not of any crime that may occur in their midsts, the representatives do not find motives to represent them, and they watch in front of their eyes rich people, driving Mercedes' and owning the factories they work in for a ridiculous pay.

I put myself in their place and think: imagine living a life of humiliation, where not only are you robbed from the basic needs any human being needs to live, but you are robbed from your dignity and your person. You live in trash, you become social trash. They have been promised many promises by two different kings who haven't yet found the time to deliver. They have been disregarded, ignored, and put on hold for such a long time that to say "too long" would be too short. The cruelty of it all is...tragic.

Enter a group of radical clerics. They feed the hungry, cure the sick, educate the illiterate, house the homeless, and protect the weak. All the while providing an an answer to these lost and unsearched people's meaningless lives: "Commit suicide. Defend Islam. Destroy the symbols of Western decadence, of Judeo-Christian occupation, and you will earn your place into heaven. Listen to God, he said so in his own book (the Coran): die defending Islam and you'll enter heaven triumphant." Which is absolute bullshit; Islam is not a violent religion, not anymore than Christianity or Judaism. It is their mutant interpretation of Islam which creates a violent doctrine. Just like the Reconquista in Spain or the Witch Trials in Salem, all under the cloak of religion.

Simultaneously, there was the introduction of two new technological variables that forever changed the face of the planet: the satellite dish and internet. The satellite dish made it easier to hear what other extremist preachers had to say elsewhere in the arab world. Further, it became easier to air propaganda channels that sway the public opinion, almost as gracefully as the Western media have been doing for some decades now.

Internet also became affordable, and more communication, exchange of ideas, and scheming became possible. Terrorist groups could be formed and directed without the entire team being physically present somewhere. Formulas to make bombs out of household chemicals were at the mercy of anyone with a computer and a landline.

In parallel, the Moroccan government, in its infinite talent, completely failed to read the obvious signs and take measures in precaution. The entire world had been warned with 9/11, and Morocco had been explicitly warned by Oussama Ben Laden in one of his tapes (he specifically mentionned that Morocco would be punished), yet the government was in a state of atrophy, uncapable of movement. Moreover, too little was done too late on a social level to fight Islamists. Entire neighborhoods had been ceded to their control, where the police dared not enter even if it wanted. And there was no effort to boost the economy, create employment, improve education, build housing, or any of the myriad other vital needs my country needed. What is most alarming, however, is that this government (and by government I mean king and his advisors) was in such a state of coma, completely unaware of its surroundings, that until the attacks it refused to believe there was a threat. The government was essentially begging for attacks to happen, and quite on cue, they occurred on May 16th.

Those are, in my opinion, the seeds of hatred. From there it doesn't take much for them to grow tall and strong.

But calm down, my country is not blowing itself up, Islam is not a religion of violence, and there is an overwhelming majority of people who like me despise the air extremists breathe. In an act of bravery unprecendented in the world, just a day after the attacks a few thousand people met in a public place to defy the fear. Then a week after May 16th, one million people walked the streets of Casablanca, under 30°C (91°F) of sunny heat, to reclaim their city and society. Nowhere had that been done.

There is no definite answer to the question whose fault is it. I will tell you now that it is not the fault of the actual people who blew themselves up; they were condemned to die whatever the system they chose to live in. I'd say the manipulative and demagogue Extremists share the blame with the Moroccan government over the past decades. Our late king Hassan II, as intelligent and visionary as he was, left a country in poverty and misery, eaten by corruption and enslaved by indifference. The potential for rebellion was immense. It could have been a socialist-type rebellion of the classes. It just happened to be a religious rebellion.

At any rate, think of the Saharan metaphor again. The Sahara is dry; rain may wet it temporarily, but eventually it always returns to being dry. That is the nature of Morocco. Phoenicians, Romans, Vikings, Spanish, and French all came, but none ever stayed long. Moroccans will always be Moroccan. No regime, religion or national, can change that. You see, this is a proud country, older than most, more anchored in its traditions than a rock in the weary land. It is very difficult for a foreign power to effectively control the people of this country, and I believe that this wave of Extremist Fundamentalism is just another foreign power, waiting to die out and leave my country.

To conclude, let me count you the metaphor of the ping-pong ball in the ocean: a small, empty ping-pong ball was thrown into a stormy ocean. Whatever it did, the ball could never swallow the entire ocean. However, just like the ball, the ocean could swell and roar and storm, but it could never swallow the ball either. Morocco is this tiny ball, and the world is the ocean.

Anyways, after my different experiences in Philadelphia I realized that Americans (mis)understand Muslims and Moroccans more specifically because they see us through the unobjective and detestable eyes of CNN, FOX, or such bull**** media. I thought it might be helpful for me to provide genuine information about us, I being one of us. All those waged wars in Iraq are akin to spilling fuel on fire with the malicious intent of calming it. The only way to stop the attacks is to understand and solve the heart of the problem at hand. And what you have just read is my interpretation, (and it concerns me only), of why we are stricken by this new wave of radical, fundamentalist, extremist Islamism. And why I know it's not real, but just a fading fashion.