[This is a roundup of news articles and other materials circulating on the Maghreb and reflects a wide variety of opinions. It does not reflect the views of the Maghreb Page Editors or of Jadaliyya. You may send your own recommendations for inclusion in each week`s roundup to maghreb@jadaliyya.com by Thursday night of every week.]
Algeria
Canal+ diffuse une vidéo non censurée de Bouteflika كنال + تفضح كنال ال (VIDEO) Canal+ releases uncensored footage of Bouteflika, in which he looks extremely weak and unwell, exposing montage tricks to make the leader appear in better health.
The Prince and the Pouvoir: Saudi Arabia and Algeria facing an uncertain future Faisal Abulhassan draws a comparison in the aging leadership of Saudi Arabia and Algeria.
Quand le FLN-ALN était une école du militantisme armé africain. Via a photo of past FLN leaders and other revolutionary activists (including Nelson Mandela) Baki “7our” Mansour reminds of the era when the FLN was considered a revolutionary force.
More to Consider: A Commission, Retirement and Reshufflings Kal resumes his critical analysis of recent security reshufflings, probing what may have developed behind the scenes to have allowed for the dismantling of the DRS without prompting a coup d’état.
Libya
Libya: 6 Months On, Scant Action on Protester Killings Human Rights Watch condemns inaction by Libyan authorities in investigating clashes between militias and protesters in Benghazi’s “Black Saturday.”
Reflections on the Twenty-First Anniversary of the Declaration of Minority Rights Lawyers for Justice in Libya commemorates the twenty-first anniversary of the UN declaration on minority rights by admonishing the Libyan government for failing to appropriately involve and consider minorities in the drafting of law.
The changing face of Tripoli’s graffiti Luke Maginness features the changing nature of graffiti in Tripoli as a lens through which to view changing political attitudes.
Mauritania
اسنيم: تستثمر ماليا في بعض مشاهير الصحافة لتليمع صورتها Mauripress reports that SNIM, Mauritania’s national mining company, makes hefty financial investments in certain journalists, cultivating a positive press image despite widespread accounts of corruption.
الفرنسية تزاحم العربية في موريتانيا Al Jazeera reports on the disconnect between Arabic and French in the Mauritanian education system, economy and society.
سجين سلفي موريتاني يدخل في إضراب مفتوح عن الطعام احتجاجا علي "سوء المعاملة والإهمال" Salafist prisoner Said Ahmed Ould Mohamed Fal embarks on a hunger strike to protest the poor medical conditions in his Mauritanian prison.
Morocco
Who`s Your Daddy? Zouhair Mazouz describes institutionalized nepotism in Morocco.
La justice marocaine donne raison à la "mafia du cèdre" Reporters Without Borders highlights the case of Mohamed Attaoui, Moroccan citizen-journalist and environmental activist who was harassed and sentenced to two years in prison after he threatened to expose forged documents and other underhanded strategies by government officials.
Le Faux Débat Zouhair Baghough continues an in-depth economic analysis of the Moroccan education system, highlighting unnecessary trade-offs between inscription rates and quality of education.
« العنصرية و عنف الشرطة في طنجة ؛ « فرق تسد مريم اوراغ describes racism and police violence in the coastal city of Tangiers.
Tunisia
Tunisian journalist Fahem Boukadous on press freedom Malachy Browne interviews Fahem Boukadous on the state of media and press freedom in Tunisia.
Tunisia: security sector reform Robert Joyce frames the murder of Walid Denguir in police custody as a grim indication of much needed security reform.
Peut-on définir ce qu’est être de “gauche” en Tunisie ? Hamadi Aouina explores the meaning of the “left” in Tunisia, situating it temporally and in global ideological trends and explaining solidarities and fissures in contemporary Tunisian politics.
Tunisie, 17 décembre 2010 - 17 décembre 2013: Trois années en 5 chiffres Sarah Ben Hamadi reflects on Tunisia’s two years since Mohamed Bouazizi’s self-immolation.
Western Sahara
Western Sahara: Our Long Road To Freedom By telling her family’s story, accompanied by the photographs of Joe Huddleston, Agaila Abba offers a personal account of what is has meant to be Saharawi since the Green March.
Recent Jadaliyya Articles on the Maghreb
Emel Mathlouthi at Cairo`s Qasr El Nil Theatre Jadaliyya culture and Madrar TV cover Tunisian singer Emel Mathlouthi at Cairo’s Downtown Contemporary Arts Festival.
Drug Trafficking in Northwest Africa: The Moroccan Gateway Abdelkader Abderrahmane examines the history of Morocco’s cannabis cultivation and its drug trade with Europe.
Implications of Morocco`s Bifurcated Educational System Yasmine El Baggari situates her own experiences as a student in the Moroccan educational system, caught between a colonial model and failed indigenous policies.
الثورة الجزائرية: محاورة الماضي Jadaliyya Reports on the anniversary of the Algerian Revolution with a series of articles and spotlight analyses.
Blasti – C’est ma place Jadaliyya Reports on a new Tunisian photography project that encourages women to use this medium to communicate about their relationship to their city.
الجزائر تلقي الحجاب Jadaliyya’s Arabic editors analyze the veil in Algeria as a symbol of anti-colonialism through excerpts from Franz Fanon.
Mohammed Arkoun: A Profile Jadliyya’s Critical Currents in Islam Page profiles Algerian/French scholar Mohammed Arkoun.
Maroc, difficile dialogue entre islamistes et gauche radicale Jules Crétois discusses the necessity for and the obstacles to achieving dialogue between political parties on the radical left and Islamic political factions in Morocco.
New JADMAG: Beyond Dominant Narratives on the Western Sahara A new JADMAG, edited by Maghreb page co-editors Samia Errazzouki and Allison L McManus is available now from Tadween Publishing.
Colonisation Pacifique?: Examining the Contradictions of Xavier Coppolani’s Expansion into Mauritania Hassan Ould Moctar explores the colonization of Mauritania as a series of competing and concurring political maneuvers, instigated by the master plan of orientalist Xavier Coppolani.
باية محي الدين: الرسم على إيقاع الطفولة Jadaliyya’s Arabic editors feature the artwork of Baya Mahieddine.
كروم الجزائر في العهد الاستعماري: أهو تاريخ نبيذ فرنسيّ أم جزائري؟ Through the history of wine production in Algeria in the colonial period, Maia Venturini addresses attitudes of the French and Algerians during colonization.
"Laaroussa" Collaborative Art Project Medrar TV and Jadaliyya Culture feature the “Laaroussa” collaborative between a group of artists and women potters from Sejnane.
Roundtable Introduction: The Afterlives of the Algerian Revolution Jadaliyya’s Maghreb Page co-editor Muriam Haleh Davis produces a roundtable discussion on historiography and post-coloniality in Algeria, based on a series of papers presented at a panel at the most recent Middle East Studies Association conference.
Impossible Opposition: The Magic of the One-Party Regime Malika Rahal explores the paradox of the FLN as both object of criticism and admiration in communist revolutionary circles. (In Arabic: معارضة مستحيلة: سحر نظام الحزب الواحد)
Still Standing: Algeria’s Future Past James McDougall highlights the value of recognizing fluid articulations of past and present and the use of ethnographic methods in the historiography of Algeria.
Reimagining the Belle Epoque: Remembering Nation-Building in an Algiers Neighborhood With the nostalgic memories of residents of Algiers’ Bab al Oued neighborhood, Ed McAllister reconstructs Algeria from 1972. (In Arabic: الجزائر إعادة تخيّل الحقبة الجميلة)
“Give Us Back Our Oil:” Claims for Justice in Light of Algeria’s Colonial Past Thomas Serres unpacks “colonialisms” in Algerian discourses and the employment of the term in positioning the elite. (In Arabic: أعيدوا لنا نفطنا)
1962 As Event and Metaphor in Women’s Oral Histories in Algeria Through ethnographies of women independence fighters, Natalya Vince explores the binary language of the Algerian struggle for independence and nation-building after 1962. (In Arabic: سنة 1962 كحدث واستعارة في التواريخ الشفوية للنساء في الجزائر)
Testing Diversity, Researching the Invisible: The Jew, the Israelite, and the Margins of Algerian National Identity (in France) in exploring recent moments of Jewish-Algerian experience, Samuel Everett grapples with his nascent research on diversity in the country.