MOROCCO

BILL DONAHUE, “Outside” Magazine Contributing Editor, September 22, 2003
CZIKOWSKY: Do you have any idea what residents of Tangier think of Paul Bowles and Americans settling in Tangier in search of mysticism and coolness? After all, when a city to you is natural and you’ve known it all your life, it must seem strange to have people consider your city so unique. Were people appreciative of expatriates, cynical of them, or of mixed opinions? How did residents accept you?
DONAHUE: The Tanjawis I met—let’s take cab drivers, for example—were categorically against the U.S. as a political power. It’s a Muslim country, remember, and they were incensed about the war in Iraq and U.S. aid to Israel. But every one of them was quick to accept me as an individual. There was genuine warmth and also there was the undeniable fact that I had money and they didn’t. They are happy when tourists show up with money. That’s the overwhelming dynamic. Some of the more comfortable Tanjawis might be bemused by pilgrims in search of mysticism and coolness because they know that their city is, like any other place on the globe, “just a normal town where you buy groceries.”

GINI RETICKER, PBS Director, July 26, 2006
CZIKOWSKY: Considering that Islam is not a monolithic religion, what factors would not even accept the right of these women (who graduated from an imam academy in Morocco to serve as religious leaders) to serve even as much as they now can? In su, where will these women find acceptance, and where will they be shunned or worse?
RETICKER: In Morocco, the King is trying to re-assert his authority over the religion, essentially saying that there are no other factions that are truly Moroccan. This program is very much a part of that endeavor. The Sunni/Shiate split that exists in other areas does not exist in Morocco. All are Sunni.
People there, like Dr. Rajaa Naji El Mekkauoui, say that there is a difference between custom and religion. They attribute much of the oppression of women to customs that grew up rather than to Islam. It is through this lens that the family law was reformed, giving women equal status.
I think that the women will find the most problems are people come to the mosques with conflicts. I imagine that they will have to fight to have their authority recognized as woman have in the United States over the years.
That said, the conflicts in the region between moderate forces and jihadists threaten Morocco also. It is an Arab country that is very much of an ally of the U.S. It is a very tricky place to be.