Fez - In contrast to most Moroccan institutions and Moroccans who have expressed their solidarity with Palestinians amid the ongoing Israeli shelling of Gaza, the Morocco-based Taynzert Center for Development and Dialogue has sympathized with the Israeli people and accused Hamas of terrorism.

Just a few days after tens of thousands of Moroccans staged a demonstration in Rabat denouncing Israeli war crimes in Gaza, the Amazigh Center of Taynzert for Development and Dialogue, based in the city of Guelmim, Morocco, has expressed solidarity with Israelis and denounced the “terrorist attacks of Hamas on Israeli civilians.”

In a news release, the Center said, “The Taynzert Center for Development and Dialogue follows with great interest the hateful and despicable terrorist attacks that target our brothers, the Israeli people. This systematic violence is led by the Palestinian forces of terror (Hamas), which is backed by Qatar, Iran and Turkey.”

The news release attracted the attention of Israeli media outlets. The release was republished on the Israeli website Israel In Arabic.

While Israeli forces continue their bombing of Gaza, with more than 678 fatalities and 4,250 casualties to date, the center claims that Israelis are the victims, with Palestinians firing missiles and rockets on Israeli civilians.

“The Taynzert Center for Development and Dialogue strongly condemns the massacre which is being suffered by the Israeli people on the hands of the Palestinian forces of terror and treachery. The center also condemns firing missiles and rockets on the Israeli civilians,” according to the news release.

The Amazigh Center also asserted that “the terrorist movement (Hamas) uses the Palestinian civilians as human shields.”

The press release said that the Center “calls on the Palestinian terrorist movement to stop its murderous attack on Israelis. It also urges Moroccan NGOs to declare Hamas as a terrorist movement.”

Morocco World News attempted to contact Mohamed Boughlem who was elected earlier this year as the Center’s General Coordinator to verify the story, but he declined to comment.

Moroccans have expressed shock and disbelief at the posting of the Center’s news release on the Israeli website.

Some Amazigh Moroccans have stressed that the Center does not represent mainstream Amazigh views, and point out that the center brings shame upon the Amazigh people and Morocco. Edited by Elisabeth Myers

Fez- A Spanish tourist was stoned by several people on Monday in Marrakesh after allegedly being caught raping a child.

About 30 minutes before Iftar, several passersby in the Red City caught a Spanish man raping a child near the Court of Appeals in Chetoui district of Marrakesh.

A security patrol happened to come upon the incident. Policemen saw the man encircled by a group of people who were throwing stones at him, and immediately saved him from the angry citizens’ hands, according to Al-Massae.

According to the same source, the Spanish tourist denied abusing the child. However, after few hours of questioning, the suspect admitted to raping the child. The victim also confirmed the Spanish tourist’s admission.

The suspect was believed to have testified before the Solicitor General at the court of first instance on Wednesday in Marrakesh.

Recently, the number of pedophilia cases in Morocco has grown, especially in Marrakesh. Moroccan human rights organizations say that this increase could be explained by the light sentences handed down to convicted pedophiles. Many say these sentences seem to encourage pedophilia.

On July 17, the court of appeals in Marrakesh sentenced a 57-year-old pedophile to only two years in prison after he was caught sexually abusing a 10-year-old child.

Following this disappointing court ruling, Najia Adib, President of the Moroccan association Don’t Touch My Child said that the Moroccan courts should make penalties harsher for convicted pedophiles in order to stop the rise in the sexual exploitation of children.

Under Moroccan criminal law, sex offenders are punished by up to 30 years in prison.

Edited by Timothy Filla

Tinjedad, Morocco- Morocco and China signed Tuesday in Rabat a memorandum of understanding on the establishment of a unit of the Chinese group Shandong Shangang, a leader in the manufacture of steel products, in the free zone of Tangier Automotive City (TAC) located in the north of Morocco.

According to the African agency Agence Ecofin, the Chinese Shandong Shangang group, a world leader in the manufacture of steel products, will invest 1.3 billion dirhams (approximately $150 million) in the installation of a modern manufacturing plant, covering an area of 14 hectares (34.5 acres), to produce steel pipelines in the Tangier Free Zone.

Signed by the Moroccan Minister of Industry, Trade, Investment and Digital Economy, Moulay Hafid Elalamy, and Vice-President of the Shangang Group, Qian Yong, the memorandum brings to the kingdom a modern steel production unit that will produce an estimated 250,000 tons of steel pipelines annually which will be destined for export to the European and African continents.

"The signing of this contract with the Chinese group, which has annual sales of $7 billion, is extremely important, said Minister Elalamy, according to the same source. “It reflects the determination of the strategy implemented in Morocco to bring a number of Chinese manufacturers who are looking for competitive alternatives,” he said.

The Moroccan minister added that "by setting up this unit in Morocco, the industrial group will export all of its production abroad, 70% to Europe and 30% to Africa.”

The Vice President of the Chinese group, Qian Yong, said that this development is expected to create more than 200 jobs in Morocco. He expressed the group’s willingness to extend its cooperation with Morocco to other areas. Edited by Elisabeth Myers

Fez- Moroccan lawyer Abdelaziz Nouidi, refused the French Legion of Honor award because of the support of President Hollande’s support for Israel.

It’s a very rare occurrence: a Moroccan lawyer flat out refuses the Legion of Honor award! In a letter to French Ambassador Charles Fries, Abdelaziz Nouidi justified his decision, saying it was because of France’s support of Israel.

His decision stems from the massacres that the Israeli army committed in Gaza on the 16 of July, when 4 children died after an Israeli bomb hit a fishing hut on a beach in Gaza City. The nearby harbor was destroyed, but there was a group of children sitting in the line of fire. What’s more, French President Francois Hollande called Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu to express his support for Israel in their onslaught against Palestinians in Gaza.

According to Yabiladi, “the French President declared his solidarity with the rockets aimed at Gaza, and that it is up to the Israeli government to take all the measures necessary to protect its population against threats”.

The Moroccan lawyer focused equally on how the French Republic is going against its value  and its commitments to the international community.

Abdelaziz added, “Righteous men whose principles are unalterable do not want your Legion of Honor, which has holds nothing more than the name”.

Fez- Moroccan Ministry of Civil Service and Modernization of the Administrations announced on Friday that the standard time of the Kingdom will be advanced sixty (60) minutes starting from Saturday, August 2, 2014 at two o’clock in the morning.

This decision is an implementation of decree 2.13.781 dated September 28, 2013, the ministry said in a statement.

On the occasion of Ramadan, the Moroccan authorities decided to return to Morocco’s standard time GMT on June 28th 3 a.m.

According to the Government, this decision aims to increase the competitiveness of the national economy by reducing the cost of the energy bill and to facilitate transactions with regional economic partners.

New York - In terms of sustainable human development, the story of Morocco - now celebrating the fifteenth anniversary of the accession of King Mohammed VI - is a highly compelling one.

It resonates for all developing nations that seek to chart a similar course of structuring their institutions to include an ingredient shown to be vital for success - that of popular participation.  It is this component that makes the story not just one to follow but one that is already having a real and positive effect.

As the head of a Moroccan-American NGO dedicated to the Kingdom’s sustainable human development through the application of community planning, I cannot help but feel admiration for its monarch, who travels the country ceaselessly, officiating at the opening of innumerable small projects, who speaks the language of development and displays deep knowledge of its subtleties and synergies. Further, his stark public expressions of profound frustration at mismanagement and missed opportunities are hardly ever spoken by a nation’s leader.

It is the case that Morocco is at the forefront of the nations of the Middle East and North Africa in building democracy through development so that both flourish, and also organizing institutions so that this may occur across the nation’s urban centers and eleven thousand villages. However, it is also true that the storybook outcome will not be achieved unless implementation is carried out more efficiently and to a much greater degree.

Unity, inclusion and framework

This thoughtful and strategic process, the foundations of which Morocco's King started to set in place in 1999, incorporates numerous initiatives.

First, and rightfully, he dealt early on with the matter of political reconciliation. Implicit in the expression of regret for a difficult past was the understanding that unity was a precondition for shared development in the future.

Inclusion of all groups and viewpoints is also a prerequisite and here the revision of the family law (Moudawana), enhancing and protecting the status of Moroccan women within the family and in society, was critical. The preservation of Morocco’s multi-cultural heritage and its enduring balance of unity and diversity among people of all three Abrahamic faiths is another aspect of this principle’s application.

The amendment of laws governing civil society organizations simplified and made more accessible their formation process and enabled them to acquire domestic and international funding.

The stage was then set for the launch in 2005 of the National Initiative for Human Development (NIHD). This program provides the funding for local projects in the most marginalized urban and rural communities. Further, it encapsulated the King’s progressive understanding of sustainable development not merely as an environmentally-based issue but a wide-ranging process intertwined with a range of perspectives and factors – economic, social, political, cultural, technical and financial. Crucially, the King also understood that successful development had to be driven by the participatory planning method in order to incorporate all relevant viewpoints and respond directly to the needs of the people.

The INDH is an essential precondition for successful decentralization which, in the context of human development, would help address socio-economic, gender and other existing forms of stratification.

Finally, the King’s steadfast dedication to both the Maghreb Union and South-South cooperation is an important part the overall vision because it recognizes that within the context of globalization, regional ties and blocs are vital towards building human production and regulatory capacities that will enhance global ties and protect against more hegemonic powers.

Challenges

The challenge for Morocco lies in the implementation of these far-reaching and highly commendable initiatives, whose frustratingly poor execution is recognized by the King himself.

Of the forty to fifty thousand organizations created since 2002, the majority are unproductive. Rural girls not continuing their education beyond the primary level remains the norm. Communities will only be able to take full advantage of the NIHD and other initaitives if literacy and capacity building are made higher priorities. This extends to local officials who are without the knowledge and skills needed to facilitate people’s participatory planning. Decentralization must move beyond concepts to implementation as a working, fluid reality involving independence from rigid central control.

Therefore this 15th anniversary is both a moment to commend - and to push forward resolutely. This means providing experiential training programs to produce the large numbers of community facilitators necessary to catalyze local human development. It also requires the hastening of decentralization to transfer power to the people beginning, as Morocco has decided, in the Western Sahara, a region vital to the Kingdom as a matter of national continuity.

The King’s vision should be lauded for what it is - a unique template incorporating today’s best ideas for progressive social change. Its implementation should occur with the urgency, investment and efficiency that it deserves for the sake of the Moroccan people and to serve as an alternative pathway for other countries.

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Morocco World News’ editorial policy

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 Rabat- The Moroccan flag carrier Royal Air Maroc (RAM) has bagged for the second year in a row the International Five Star Diamond Award of the American Academy of Hospitality Sciences (AAHS).

Like 2013, this award recognizes the achievements made by RAM in the hospitality field while operating long-haul flights between Morocco and North America, the Casablanca-based airliner said in a statement.

The American Academy of Hospitality Sciences is the world’s premiere organization for awarding excellence in travel, cuisine, luxury products and services.

Each year, the Academy bestows its coveted International Star Diamond Award a recognition that many strive for but few achieve on superlative establishments that are deemed to be of pinnacle quality.

Rabat - On the occasion of the Feast of the Throne, King Mohammed VI pardoned 13,218 people, some of whom are still detained and others on parole, including 119 for humanitarian reasons, a statement from the Ministry of Justice and Freedoms said on Tuesday.

This number adds to the 277 people who were pardoned on the occasion of the Eid El Fitr, a Muslim holiday that marks the end the holy month of Ramadan.

The royal pardon is granted to a number of prisoners by King Mohammed VI on the occasion of religious and major national celebrations, such as at Eid al-Fitr, Eid al-Adha, the Throne Day and Independence Day.

Rabat- Morocco’s defender Mehdi Benatia is likely to join Real Madrid during the summer transfer period, according to Spanish sports website El Mnudo Deportivo.

According to the same source, Real Madrid’s manager, Carlo Anceloti, put the Moroccan defender on the list of his priorities, in the likely event Portuguese defender Pepe leaves the Blancos for Monaco.

Benatia was one of the players coveted by F.C Barcelona over the summer. El Mnudo Deportivo reported last May that the Catalan club was ready to pay up to 35 million euros ($ 48 million) for As Roma defender.

But Barcelona’s signing of French defender Jeremy Mathieu, makes his transfer to the Camp Nou unlikely.

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Washington- Washington hails the "strong" and "enduring" friendship and the "historic" and "proud" partnership between Morocco and the United States of America, US Secretary of State, John Kerry, said on the occasion of the celebration of the Throne Day.

"On behalf of President Obama and the American people, I extend my best wishes to HM King Mohammed VI and the Moroccan people on the occasion of celebration of the Throne Day", Kerry said Wednesday in a statement.

"The strong and enduring friendship between our two countries grows stronger each day as we continue to expand our economic cooperation and increase trade, enhance our educational and cultural exchanges, and promote security and stability in the region", stressed the US chief diplomat.

"We look forward to building on our historic and proud partnership and working together to advance our common goals", he concluded.

Washington- The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Monday it will provide Morocco a $5 billion credit line to help the North African country pursue a reform agenda to achieve rapid and more inclusive economic growth.

The PLL arrangement will allow the authorities to pursue their home-grown reform agenda aimed at achieving rapid and more inclusive economic growth while providing them with useful insurance against external shocks, the Washington-based IMF said in a statement.

"Morocco's sound economic fundamentals and overall strong record of policy implementation have contributed to a solid macroeconomic performance in recent years”, Mr. Noayuki Shinohara, IMF Deputy Managing Director and Acting Chairman of the Board, said in a statement following the Executive Board discussion on Morocco.

“Despite a difficult external environment, the authorities made important strides in reducing vulnerabilities, rebuilding policy space and addressing medium-term challenges over the course of the first arrangement supported by a PLL”, he underlined.

For M. Shinohara, the Moroccan authorities “have been consolidating Morocco's fiscal position while pursuing an agenda of structural reforms to address vulnerabilities, strengthen competitiveness, and promote higher and more inclusive growth. The significant progress made in reforming the subsidy system is particularly commendable.”

Washington - King Mohammed VI's commitment to promoting stability, peace, interfaith dialogue, and sustainable development at home and beyond Morocco’s borders "is recognized and greatly appreciated around the world", wrote a group of former US ambassadors to Morocco in a letter to the Sovereign on the 15th throne day anniversary.

"We commend you for all these accomplishments, and for your achievement in maintaining and enhancing our two countries’ deep and longstanding friendship based on our shared values and vision for Africa and the Middle East", said Joseph Verner Reed, Jr, Michael Ussery, Marc Ginsberg, Margaret D. Tutwiler, Samuel L. Kaplan, Thomas Nassif, Frederick Vreeland, Edouard M. Gabriel and Thomas Riley.

"As former US Ambassadors to Morocco, we are keenly aware of your accomplishments over the past 15 years -- creating steady liberalization, democratization and economic development for Morocco, and leading the country into a new era with bold social and economic reforms", the signatories noted.

The diplomats extend to the King congratulations on the 15th anniversary of "visionary rule" and of "guiding your country to become a model of reform and an anchor for fostering regional stability, development and cooperation". The letter also underlines that during this period "Morocco has investigated past human rights abuses and compensated victims; reformed the family code to give women equality in marriage; held free and fair elections; established an independent human rights monitoring agency; and passed a new Constitution that guarantees the separation of powers, freedom of religion and women’s rights."

Rabat - Moroccan scientist, Rachid Yazami, was decorated on Wednesday by King Mohammed VI on the occasion of the 15th anniversary of the Throne Day.

Rachid Yazami was among a large group of Moroccans, as well as foreigners who were decorated by the Moroccan monarch.

The distinction of Yazami, a scientist based in Singapore, came after he was awarded earlier this year the Charles Stark Draper award from the Washington-based National Academy of Engineering in recognition for his work in developing reloadable lithium batteries 30 years ago.

The lithium-ion battery is used by millions of people around the world through the commonplace use of cell phones, laptops, hearing aids, cameras, tablets, power tools, and many other compact, lightweight mobile devices.

Rachid Yazami began exploring graphite compounds in which lithium could be reversibly inserted between graphite layers. This provided an alternative to the lithium metal negative electrode. Yazami’s lithium-graphite is the most commonly used anode in commercial lithium-ion batteries today.

Yazami began his career and the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CRNS) in France, where he later became the research director in 1998.

He also served as a visiting professor at the California Institute of Technology between 2000 and 2010, before being appointed as a visiting professor at the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in Singapore, where he later became the Cheng Tsang Man Chair Professor in Energy at the School of Materials Science and Engineering.

The Moroccan engineer owns over 70 patents related to battery technology.

Rabat - The US Department of State’s Religious Freedom Report for 2013 estimates the number of Moroccan Christians at 8,000, mostly ethnic Amazigh.

According to the Religious Freedom Report, released on July 28, Moroccan Christians along with Shia Muslims, are the second largest religious group in Morocco after Sunni Muslims who consist 99 percent of the Moroccan population.

The report noted that there may be as many as 8,000 Christian citizens throughout Morocco, but many reportedly do not meet regularly due to “fear of government surveillance and social persecution.” It goes on to add that there are 4,000 citizen Christians (mostly ethnic Amazigh) who regularly attend “house” churches and live predominantly in the south.

More specifically, the predominantly Roman Catholic and Protestant foreign resident Christian community consists of approximately 5,000 practicing members, although some Protestant and Catholic clergy estimate the number to be as high as 25,000. Most foreign resident Christians live in the Casablanca, Tangier, and Rabat urban areas.

The report noted that the number of Christians approximately equals the number of the Shia Muslims in Morocco. “There are an estimated 3,000 to 8,000 Shia Muslims, most of them foreign residents from Lebanon or Iraq, but including a few Moroccan citizens,” the report said.

The report adds that the number of Jewish citizens in Morocco is estimated at 3,000 to 4,000.  the remainder of the Jewish population is dispersed throughout the country. Over 2,500 of them reside in Casablanca and are “the remnants of a much larger community that has mostly emigrated.”

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Rabat - The Moroccan government condemned, during its weekly meeting under the chairmanship of head of government Abdelilah Benkirane, the ongoing Israeli assault against the Palestinian people in Gaza.

This aggression, which has been going on for 23 days, breaches the spirit and provisions of international agreements and represents a scandalous decline in respecting values, said communication minister, spokesperson of the government Mustapha El Khalfi in a statement at a press briefing following the meeting.

The cabinet highlighted the tireless efforts by the Kingdom under the leadership of HM King Mohammed VI to stop this attack and avoid its repetition, recalling efforts made in collaboration with brotherly Arab and Muslim countries, whether via the Arab League, whose council of ministers is currently chaired by Morocco, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, or in coordination with the international community.

The cabinet reaffirmed the active and effective solidarity with the Palestinian people, pursuant to the instructions of King Mohammed VI, Chairman of the Al Quds Committee, in order to defend the just Palestinian causes namely the establishment of a Palestinian State with Al Quds as capital.

Rabat- Morocco’s cabinet on Thursday endorsed the draft law 31-13 on the right of access to information.

The draft law, submitted by the Minister-Delegate for Public Service and Administration Modernization, has been endorsed according to chapter 27 of the new constitution, which classifies it within the essential rights and freedoms that ought to be respected.

This draft law aims at promoting participatory democracy by encouraging citizens to participate in the control of the administrative action and decision making, Communication minister, Government Spokesperson, Mustapha El Khalfi, said at a press briefing following the cabinet meeting.

This draft law defines the nature of the information, the access process, exceptions and proactive measures to ensure the dissemination of information in a bid order to consolidate the right of access to information.

Fez - Morocco’s Hafida Bourouih was found dead one week after she was reported missing in Copenhagen. Hafida’s husband, a former boxer, admitted in court to killing her, reported Ritzu News Agency.

The 40-year-old former boxer confessed in court on Tuesday to killing his Moroccan wife, Hafida Bourih, according to Ritzu News Agency.

The man admitted to killing his Moroccan wife, but denied accusations that he had attempted to cut the body into two parts, according to the Copenhagen Post.

During his trial Tuesday in Copenhagen, the suspect said that he and Hafida Bourouih got into a fight, while their two children were watching cartoons in their room.

The man goes on to add that he threw the 39-year-old victim to the ground and strangled her to death using a cord, after she lunged at him with a knife, threatening to stab him.

He then wrapped the dead body in a plastic, put it in the trunk of his car and drove away with the children in the car.

According to the same source, the Danish boxer apparently tried to cut the body in two and leave it into two places while his children were asleep. But he gave it up.

Instead, he drove back home, hopefully to return later and cut the body into two parts. However, he was arrested Friday in Alberslund before he could come back to the crime scene and try again.

Hafida Bourouih was reported missing on Saturday, after she disappeared right before she was supposed to travel to Morocco with her two children.

One week later, Copenhagen Vestgen police announced in a press release that Hafida was found dead near a hut in Southern Zealand.

 Rabat - Following the worsening of security in Libya, a crisis cell, composed of the different ministerial departments concerned, was set up at the headquarters of the Moroccan foreign affairs ministry to monitor the situation of Moroccan nationals in the country, said a statement by the ministry on Friday.

This cell is tasked with coordination with the Moroccan diplomatic and consular services in Libya to establish a voluntary repatriation mechanism, as well as emergency intervention for Moroccan citizens in the country, it said.

The following phone numbers are available to get information regularly on the development of Libya's situation:

Toll-free number :

080 000 05 07

Crisis cell's phone numbers:

05 37 73 24 99

05 37 67 63 19

Phone numbers of Moroccan embassy in Tripoli:

00 218 213 61 78 08

00 218 922 366 364

00 218 94 54 97 203

00 218 91 71 28 253

Phone number of Moroccan consulate in Tripoli:

00 218 21 36 151 01