[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]
Algeria
تزايد الولادات في الجزائر بات اتجاهاً راسخاً Algeria’s fertility rate is on the rise following three decades of decline.
كيف تخطّط الجزائر لتحقيق نموها الاقتصادي؟ Algeria announced a new plan to achieve economic growth despite falling international oil prices.
Algeria: Tomorrow`s battleground for Islamic State and al-Qaeda? After recent attacks, the Algerian Military killed two militants, including Noureddine Laouira, who led an ISIS affiliated group.
Muted start to election campaigning in Algeria The Algerian parliamentary election campaigns are off to a rocky start as the voting public shows little interest in participating.
Une femme agressée à bord d`un vol Air Algérie à cause d`un magazine de mode (Média) A woman was physically and verbally assaulted on an Air Algeria flight.
Khadija Aoudia, une avocate franco-algérienne face aux ogres au barreau parisien A profile of French-Algerian activist and lawyer Khadijah Aoudia.
Libya
Egypt Releases Ex-Dictator, and Russia Eyes Role in Libya Harvard’s Middle East Weekly Podcast analyzes Russia’s growing influence in Libya and looks at the profile of Khalifa Haftar.
مساعي الحل في ليبيا تتعثر Former French Diplomat in Libya, Patrick Haimzadeh considers what the political crisis in Libya can teach the international community.
ليبيا تعلن وقف تهريب الوقود إلى تونس The gas and fuel crisis commission in Libya begins a new operation to end fuel smuggling.
The Desperate Journey of a Trafficked Girl Ben Taub of the New Yorker looks at the world of smuggling networks that connects major cities in Nigeria and Niger to Tripoli’s coast.
Libyan writer Hisham Matart wins 2017 Pulitzer Prize for his book The Return Hisham Matart’s memoir “The Return,” soon to be published in Arabic, has won multiple international awards.
Un expert commente le projet de partition de la Libye en trois entités Libyan expert on regional conflict Abu Bakr al Ansari offers his perspective on dividing Libya into three parts in response to a Trump political aide’s ‘partition plan.’
Mauritania
Kosmos Energy Begins Second Phase of Exploration Drilling Program Offshore Mauritania and Senegal Kosmos, a gas and oil exploration and production company, pushes the rhetoric of human rights while continuing offshore hydrocarbon exploration in Morocco and the Western Sahara.
موريتانيا...خطر العطش يهدد مدن الشرق Desertification threatens people in the eastern regions of Mauritania who already depend on distant public wells for water.
موريتانيا: 19% من السكان مصابون بالاكتئاب The Mauritanian Ministry of Health reports that depression affects nineteen percent of its population.
Former Mauritania president slams ‘constitutional coup’ Former Mauritanian President Sidi Mohamed Ould Cheikh Abdallahi issued a statement denouncing current President Aziz’s efforts to reform the constitution.
La Mauritanie, pilier de la sécurité au Sahel President Hollande welcomed Mauritania’s President Aziz in Paris, praising Mauritania’s security improvements.
Mauritanie : le Quai d’Orsay allège les restrictions de voyage The French Minister of Foreign Affairs announced that tourists can safely visit regions of Mauritania that were previously considered dangerous.
Morocco
Des Histoires et Des Hommes Nabil Ayouch produced a new 2M documentary “H&H” that raises issues of marriage and sexual relationships in Morocco.
Tanger : Le Roi préside la présentation d`un projet à 10 milliards de dollars King Mohammed VI is presiding over a 10 billion dollar project in cooperation with Chinese investors to build a new industrial city near Tangier.
Morocco king names new cabinet, Islamists lose key post Samia Errazzouki of Reuters reports on the cabinet reshuffle following the appointment of new premier, Saad Eddine El Othmani, last month.
Célibataires au Maroc: hommes et femmes, même combat? A piece on the manifestation of sexuality in modern day Moroccan society, the question of gender-based double standards, and the contrasts between law, social stigmas, and reality.
واش حنا مغاربة؟ An interview with Soraya El Kahlaoui about her documentary film, which focuses on the struggle of Douar Ouled Dlim’s residents against land grabbing by private land developers.
اختلالات طبية تؤدي إلى وفاة طفلة بتنغير وجمعويون يحملون المسؤولية لوزارة الصحة The death of a child in Tinghir led a network of local associations to criticize poor medical services, directing blame at El Hossein El Ouardi, the kingdom’s Minister of Health.
Tunisia
تونس تشهد خلافاً حاداً بين الحكومة والاتحاد العام للشغل A recent cabinet reshuffle replacing the former Minister of Public Service, Abid Briki, former Under Secretary General of The Tunisian General Labor Union (UGTT), has created a conflict between the union and the government.
عمادة الأطباء التونسيين تدين الفحوص الشرجية وتدعو للإمتناع عن إجرائها مستقبلا The National Council of the Medical Order in Tunisia recently issued a statement calling for doctors to cease conducting forced anal and genital examinations, which are sometimes used to test for homosexual conduct.
Sick Tunisia: Austerity and vested interests destroying health services The Middle East Eye paints a bleak picture of health care in Tunisia, where demands for better medical care and infrastructure in the public sector have become more acute after years of economic liberalization and ramped up defense spending.
British DJ sentenced to year in Tunisian jail for Muslim call to prayer remix Tunisian authorities charged a British DJ with public indecency for using the call to prayer in one of his remixes at a musical event in Tunisia.
Tunisie : les raisons d`une grève générale The Tunisian people organize a general strike to demand economic reforms.
Jemna in Tunisia: an inspiring land struggle in North Africa Hamza Hamouchene reports on the struggle for land rights in Jemna, a region of southern Tunisia.
Western Sahara
الأمم المتحدة تعتزم إعادة بعث المفاوضات بـ"ديناميكية جديدة" بين جبهة البوليساريو والمغرب UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called for new negotiations to resolve the Western Sahara conflict.
منتدى العمل من أجل الصحراء الغربية يؤكد أن وضع حقوق الإنسان في الصحراء الغربية خطير The Western Sahara Action Forum redoubled its pressure on the United Nations to implement a human rights monitoring mechanism in its mission in Western Sahara (MINURSO).
How Polisario Front hopes to partner with Russia in Western Sahara Independent journalist Habibulah Mohamed Lamin considers how the new pipeline deal to connect Morocco and Nigeria might affect Russia’s position in the Western Sahara conflict.
Répression au Sahara Occidental: Comment le Makhzen a essayé de duper la communauté internationale After Moroccan forces used real bullets to disperse a crowd of Saharan independence protesters, the Makhzen sent a report to foreign diplomats reconstructing facts.
Morocco provokes crisis by blocking Western Sahara from AU meeting Morocco, which re-joined the African Union in January, demanded the exclusion of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic from a conference of African economy ministers.
Sahara Occidental. Mi nombre es Galia, refugiada saharaui A Saharan refugee, Galia describes life in Tindouf where she was raised.
Recent Articles on Jadaliyya
New Texts Out Now: Henri Lauzière, The Making of Salafism: Islamic Reform in the Twentieth Century Jadaliyya interviews Henri Lauzière about his new book that traces transformations within the history of Salafism and grapples with the different narratives that have emerged overtime. The connecting thread of the book is Moroccan scholar Taqi al-Din al-hilali (1894-1987), whose intellectual journey brought him into contact with other “Salafi” scholars and activists.
لمحة من أحداث الحملة الانتخابية في المغرب: مجلة الوضع مع نبيلة منيب Jadaliyya co-editor Samia Errazzouki provides a glimpse of the Moroccan election campaign trail, highlighting a speech from Nabila Mounib, head of the Federation of the Democratic Left and the first woman to lead a major political party in the country.
الذاكرة المجروحة Rachid Yamlouli comments on the Moroccan political experiment, the persistence of the Makhzen, and those who have made a lasting impression on the national memory.
Why History Matters in Post-2011 Morocco Susan Gilson Miller offers a salutary reminder of the importance of historical memory to an understanding of the events unfolding in Morocco after the Arab uprisings.
Imider vs. COP22: Understanding Climate Justice from Morocco`s Peripheries In preparation for the COP22 in Marrakech, Morocco polished the most visible parts of the city and lifted its partial ban on social media, attempting to appear environmentally conscious and politically moderate. In reality, it was only hiding its social and environmental crimes in villages such as Imider, three hundred kilometers south of the environmental convention.
Why Is a Moroccan Professor Being Charged with "Endangering State Security?" An interview with history professor and 20 February Movement participant Maati Monjib, who was subject to a travel ban in August 2015.