kola Boof and Ayaan Hirsi Ali :
what do these two beautiful women have in common?
They are both LIARS AND FRAUDS and proud of it ...
Read carefully the following article and judge by yourself:

Out but not down
Khaled Diab
Caught between a rock and her own hard line, the outspoken Ayaan Hirsi Ali is being stripped of her Dutch nationality and has been forced to give up her seat at the Dutch parliament following allegations of identity fraud.


May 2006

Ayaan Hirsi Ali’s ride on the anti-immigration and anti-Islamic wave sweeping through Dutch politics has ended with the controversial Somali-born politician, who is best known for her vocal criticism of Islam, being unceremoniously jettisoned by her own party.
The crisis broke on 11 May when Zembla, a Dutch current affairs programme, released a documentary entitled De heilige Ayaan (The holy Ayaan). Although Hirsi Ali has herself admitted in previous interviews that she lied while seeking asylum in the Netherlands, the programme has cast further doubt on the claims she has made about her past.
Hirsi Ali says she lied about her surname – which is actually Hirsi Magan – and her date of birth in her asylum application because she feared that her family would be able to locate her after she had fled an arranged marriage. She also says she claimed she had come directly from war-torn Somalia, rather than after a dozen years of comfortable living in Kenya, because asylum policy is not geared towards domestic abuse.
But Zembla suggested that even this was not entirely true. According to several members of her family, Hirsi Ali was not escaping some anonymous arranged marriage but had actually split from her ex-husband in an amicable divorce. Whether or not these claims are true, opposition politicians seized on the opportunity to push the government to live by its tough asylum policy. After initially trying to defend Hirsi Ali, Integration and Immigration Minister Rita Verdonk, who also belongs to the conservative Volkspartij voor Vrijheid en Democratie (the People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy), admitted that “rules are rules” and that Hirsi Ali’s Dutch citizenship was invalid. “However fantastic I may think Ayaan is… I have to uphold the law.”
Verdonk, who is in the midst of a campaign for her party’s leadership, has built an image of being uncompromising on immigration. In a similar case, an Iraqi family were stripped of their Dutch citizenship after it had been found that they had lied about their names and dates of birth. Since taking office in 2003, Verdonk has worked to raise the fortress walls. She has introduced compulsory ‘integration tests’ which gauge a would-be immigrant’s knowledge of the Dutch language, political system and social norms before they have even set foot in the country.
Saying she was “saddened but relieved”, Hirsi Ali announced that she was resigning from the lower house and would be moving to the United States in September to take up a job at the influential neo-con think tank the American Enterprise Institute. The affair has split opinion both within and outside the Netherlands. Calling her a “brave woman”, former VVD minister Hans Wiegel said that her departure would not be a loss to the party or the parliament because of her polarising views. In contrast, another former VVD politician, Jozias van Aartsen, said that the situation was “painful for Dutch society and politics”. Meanwhile, the Contact Organisation for Muslims and Government said Hirsi Ali had caused “a lot of damage” and expressed hope that “we can move forward with building a harmonious society”.
In neighbouring Belgium, the liberal VLD party has suggested that Hirsi Ali should be offered asylum by their country, but most Belgians oppose this. Her future boss, Christopher DeMuth, president of the AEI, wrote in a letter: “I have been deeply angered by the unfair and partisan attacks that have been levelled against you and have admired your courage and forthrightness.
“[Hirsi Ali] has been exposed as the equivalent of such Iraqi exiles as Ahmad Chalabi and Iyad Allawi,” wrote columnist Haroon Siddiqui in Canada’s Toronto Star. “She told the stories the Dutch, and many Europeans, craved, to confirm their anti-Muslim prejudices. Like the Iraqi exiles, she knew exactly which buttons to push.”
Indeed, Hirsi Ali’s ideological swings and roundabouts, which have taken her from fundamentalist Islam to strident atheism, have been remarkably timely. For instance, in 2002, she abandoned a position with the Wiardi Beckman Foundation, a think tank linked to the Dutch Labour Party (PvdA), and defected to the right-wing VVD when they promised her a parliamentary position, which she won in the 2003 elections. She criticised the PvdA for being blind to the ‘negative effects’ of immigration from Islamic countries.
This played well with popular opinion in the Netherlands which has a population of nearly 16.5 million of which nearly 1 million are Muslim immigrants, who suffer disproportionately from the spectre of unemployment due to their marginalisation. An issue of barely concealed concern for years, the gloves of the Islamophobes came off following the 11 September 2001 attacks.
The most prominent was the late Pim Fortuyn, a maverick Dutch right-wing politician who penned a hyperbolic tome entitled Against the Islamisation of our culture. He was gunned down by an animal rights activist in 2002 during the national elections and the party he created, the Lijst Pim Fortuyn, went on to win its first victory. However, the party collapsed in acrimony not long afterwards, failing to form a government, and new elections were called the following year.
The VVD party made massive gains by adopting Fortuyn’s anti-immigrant platform of which Hirsi Ali was an enthusiastic supporter. She rose to international prominence in 2004, following the brutal murder of Dutch filmmaker Theo Van Gogh by a member of a violent salafist Muslim group. His attacker had been angered by a short film produced by him and written by Hirsi Ali entitled Submission about domestic violence against Muslim women. Hirsi Ali has, herself, received numerous death threats and has been living under 24-hour police guard at a secret location since the murder.
After the murder of Theo Van Gogh, the Netherlands developed “a culture of fear”, according to the popular left-wing historian Geert Mak. Describing Holland as a “small, provincial country”, Mak viewed the response to the murder as a gross overreaction: “We have only one murder and everybody goes crazy.”
This article appeared in Al Ahram Weekly on 25 May 2006.

Kuwaiti Media, Cultural Days begin in Morocco

MEKNES, Nov 24 (KUNA) -- Moroccan city of Meknes witnessed Friday the launching of Media and Cultural Days, organized by the Information Office of the Kuwait Embassy in Rabat.

Head of the office Muhammad Al-Hajri said in the opening speech that the event represented a chance to bolster Kuwait-Moroccan Media and cultural cooperation.

The Kuwaiti official thanked the organizers of the event for their efforts and hoped for more Media and Cultural activities to be held in Morocco.

The four-day event will include a host of activities, like a seminar over "translation and dialogue between civilizations." Academics and intellectuals from Morocco and Kuwait will be taking part in the event.

A book fair, a photo exhibition and an illustration of Kuwait traditional arts will be held during the Media and Cultural Days.

Moroccan wins Holocaust cartoon prize

Iran awarded the top prize in a Holocaust cartoon contest to a Moroccan artistfor his depiction of Israel's security wall with a picture of the Auschwitz concentration camp on it.

The organizers of the exhibit -- meant as a response to the Danish cartoons of Islam's Prophet Mohammed that enraged many Muslims -- awarded Abdollah Derkaoui $12,000 Wednesday for his work depicting an Israeli crane piling large cement blocks on Israel's security wall and gradually obscuring Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem. A picture of Auschwitz appears on the wall.

PIECES OF NEWS FROM THE MOROCCAN PRESS

YESTERDAY I read in ALAHDATH MAGHREBIA that the Wali of Kenitra , Mr ABDELLATIF BENCHRIFA , invited a spanish delegation to dinner....In ASSABAH, which is also a daily newspaper, the delegation changed the nationality and become Portugese..Today, November2,this is what I read in ALMASSAE , a new daily edited by Rachid Nini: ( translation is mine)

Julia Roberts defends the Djemaa El Fna monkeys
This week Julia Roberts , the most famous American actress , raised controversy in Hollywood by criticising the way Moroccan monkeys are chained in Djemaa El Fna..The Oscar-winning actress has come to Morocco where the shooting of the film ,Charlie Wilson's War, is taking place...She was astounded to see the monkeys chained and called that act'barbarian'..


IN IRELAND ONLINE I FOUND ANOTHER VERSION OF THE SAME STORY
Roberts courts controversy with monkeys

Julia Roberts courted controversy this week when she posed for photographs with chained monkeys in Morocco.
The Oscar winner took time out of filming Charlie Wilson's War in the North African country to enjoy the sights of Marrakech.
Roberts succumbed to the tourist attraction of cuddling up with performing Barbary monkeys in the city's famed Djemaa El Fna.
Animal rights groups and respected travel guides such as Lonely Planet encourage tourists to refrain from paying to pose with the macaques, who are kept in chains in the bustling city all day and are removed from their natural habitat in the nearby Atlas Mountains.

If you were in my shoes , would you believe the Moroccan journalist or the Irish one?
To help you give a correct answer, just have a look at the pic below

Institute pioneer Geetz dies

BY ROBERT STERN

PRINCETON TOWNSHIP -- Clifford Geertz, an eminent cultural anthropologist who played a large role in the evolution of the Institute for Advanced Study in the 1970s, died Monday following heart surgery at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. He was 80.
Geertz was a prolific author known for his extensive research in Indonesia and Morocco. His appointment in 1970 as a faculty member at the Institute of Ad vanced Study in Princeton Township, where he lived, initiated the formal founding of the institute's School of Social Science three years later.
Geertz made landmark contributions to social and cultural theory that became influential in anthropology and various other fields, including ecology, political science and history.
He worked on religion, especially Islam, as well as bazaar trade, economic development, traditional political structures and village and family life.
"Cliff was the founder of the (institute's) School of Social Science and its continuing inspiration," said fellow professor Joan Wallach Scott in a statement posted by the institute, where Geertz has had emeritus status since 2000. "He changed the direction of thinking in many fields by pointing to the importance and complexity of cul ture and the need for its interpretation."
Institute Director Peter Goddard called Geertz "one of the major intellectual figures of the 20th century" and said that he "re mained a vital force, contributing to the life of the institute right up to his death. We have all lost a much loved friend."
Born in San Francisco, Geertz served in the Navy during World War II and went on to study at Harvard University, where he received his doctorate from the department of social relations in 1956.
He taught at numerous universities over the years, including Oxford, the University of Chicago and Princeton University, where he held an appointment as visiting lecturer with rank of professor in the history department from 1975 to 2000.
He received the National Book Critics Circle Award for criticism in 1988 for "Works and Lives: The Anthropologist as Author."
A memorial will be held at the Institute for Advanced Study but details will be announced later.

see also

ROBERTS COURTS CONTROVERSY WITH MONKEYS

Hollywood star JULIA ROBERTS courted controversy this week (ends03NOV06) when she posed for photographs with chained monkeys in Morocco.
The Oscar winner took time out of filming CHARLIE WILSON'S WAR in the North African country to enjoy the sights of Marrakech.
Roberts succumbed to the tourist attraction of cuddling up with performing Barbary monkeys in the city's famed Djemaa El Fna.
Animal rights groups and respected travel guides such as Lonely Planet encourage tourists to refrain from paying to pose with the macaques, who are kept in chains in the bustling city all day and are removed from their natural habitat in the nearby Atlas Mountains.

MAHMOOD’S BLOG TO BE BLOCKED

It’s official, Mahmood’s Blog (http://mahmood.tv) will be blocked effective immediately, by the orders of the Bahraini Ministry of Information.

Together with 6 other web sites (listed below), the official memo was delivered to all the ISP’s in Bahrain this afternoon.

Mahmood is a prominent Bahraini/Arab blogger. His blog is the most famous one in Bahrain. His blog tagline read: “intelligent… informative… and fun!” and it is.

I just came from a quick visit to Mahmood and he looked very optimistic about unblocking his blog soon.

Immediately after Mahmood made the announcement, he received endless support calls from friends all around the world. He was interviewed in at least three Bahraini daily newspapers and his news will be published tomorrow in Al-Wasat, GDN and Bahrain Tribune. Several letters went out to some NGO’s to support unblocking Mahmood’s Blog.

Few hours after Mahmood published the official memo, his blog is going up and down due to unexpected bandwidth load from visitors and supporters.

Following is a list of the web sites ordered to be blocked in today’s official memo (click on thumbnail to enlarge):

http://www.annaqed.com
http://freecopts.net
http://arabchurch.com
http://www.ladeeni.net
http://www.albawaba.com
http://kurdtimes.com
http://mahmood.tv

Among the above list, only Mahmood’s blog is a Bahraini. Other web sites vary between news, religious and entertainment web sites.

Usually, no explanation is given to the web sites owners about the reason their web sites are blocked. However, looking at the official memo, it refers the press law no. 47, passed in 2002, which then added further restrictions on freedom of expression including the prohibition of “defamation of the person of the king and royal family members.” On 24 April, 2005, the Information Ministry issued a decree instructing web site and blog moderators of any site that included information on Bahrain to register with the Ministry and to assume responsibility for all materials published online.

In the past, authorities have blocked access to a number of political sites, including those of opposition groups, because the officials claim that these sites incite “sectarianism” and contain “offensive content.” The criteria for making such determinations, though, are not clear. In some cases, the Ministry of Information claimed it blocked only sites that seek to “create tension between people and to provoke resentful sectarianism.”

Spring, O'Brien captures Morocco tourism account

NEW YORK: The Moroccan National Tourist Office (MNTO) has awarded a three-year, $1.3 million contract to Spring, O'Brien, marking the first time in more than 20 years that the organization has hired a US firm.

Honorary Consul to Morocco arrested

Friday, October 27, 2006
THAI Police last night arrested Malaysian national and honorary consul to Morocco Tan Tek Hai, known better on the island as “Valentino”, 56, and his wife Suwaphat Kheereephon, 41, who is an honorary consul to Djibouti.

The couple were arrested by Department of Special Investigation (DSI) agents at their home for allegedly encroaching on a large plot of public land on Koh Yao.

Both denied the charge.

Police are waiting for three Thais, including a land official based on Koh Yao, to turn themselves over to DSI agents next week.

So many ways to offer praise
By Don Heckman, Special to The Times


The Fés Festival of World Sacred Music — which annually brings musicians of every imaginable religious background to Morocco for a transcendent spiritual and cultural get-together — seems like a virtual anomaly at a time when much of the world is ablaze with confrontations between differing forms of religious fundamentalism, more eager to emphasize differences than share common ground. But the touring mini-version of the Festival, "Spirit of Fés: Paths to Hope," at UCLA's Royce Hall on Thursday offered a very real image of the warm, integrative qualities of music.

The opening half of the program was dedicated to ancient Hindu and Christian music, as well as material from the Andalusian Jewish tradition. Each song represented a different cultural vision of spirituality, from praise for the Universal Master in a 300-year-old Tamil work, "Satileni," and a Latin tribute to God by Hildegard of Bingen to a Ladino "Shalom Alechem" and the 13th century Galician-Portuguese "Des Oge Mais."
The music was performed by an ensemble that was similarly diverse. American singer Susan Hellauer, a founding member of the vocal ensemble Anonymous 4, applied her luxurious timbre to a lovely "Ave Maria." Moroccan-born guitarist-singer Gerard Edery found the inner depths of the Abrahamic song "Kochov Tsedek." Lebanese American oud-violin player Zafir Tawil and Palestinian American percussionist Jamey Haddad provided authentic support across the many musical styles, with Haddad contributing a gripping, Sufi-style frame drum solo to open the second half of the concert.

Best of all, there was the gifted South Indian singer Aruna Sairam, singing with a mesmerizing combination of sheer inventive abandon and virtuosic musical precision. Her solo on the seven-beat pulse of "Satileni" was an astonishing display, its passion and probing intensity reminiscent of the penetrating, exploratory improvisations of John Coltrane.

The program's second half was largely devoted to a collection of pieces by the Daqqa of Taroudant, a Sufi ensemble. Using a collection of small percussion instruments, a pair of double-reed neffars and their own collective vocals, the nine male members of the Moroccan group performed a group of numbers convincingly illustrating the ecstatic, trance-evoking music of the Sufi tradition. Joined onstage by the other festival participants, they performed a climactic "Sidi Habib/Eli Sh'ma Koli," a Judeo-Muslim song used in both communities, here serving as a spreading tent of musical and spiritual togetherness open enough to include Sairam's tribute to the god Muraga and Hellauer's traditional ballad, "Wayfaring Stranger."

Top-Rated Hotels:
1.Riad Kniza, Marrakech, Morocco
2.An African Villa, Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa
3.La Villa des Orangers, Marrakech, Morocco
4.Dar Silsila, Marrakech, Morocco
5.Four Seasons Resort Sharm El Sheikh, Sharm el Sheikh, South Sinai, Red Sea and Sinai, Egypt
6.Beau Rivage Hotel, Belle Mare, Mauritius
7.Renaissance Golden View Beach Resort Sharm El Sheikh, Sharm el Sheikh, South Sinai, Red Sea and Sinai, Egypt
8.Heritage Golf & Spa Resort, Bel Ombre, Mauritius
9.Dar Seffarine, Fes, Morocco
Top-Rated B&B:
1.Riad Azzar, Marrakech, Morocco
source :http://www.tripadvisor.com

Raising a Moroccan-American child: Panel on approaches to nurturing successful multi-cultural Moroccan-American children
@ John Hopkins University

Organized by : Friends of Morocco
Tangier American Legation Museum Society
American Moroccan Professionals Association


Moderator is Norma McCaig, an intercultural specialist and the founder and current chair of Global Nomads International, an organization serving those who have lived abroad because of a parent¹s career choice. She specializes in programs for raising awareness of the dynamics of the internationally mobile family, the lifelong impact and uses of a globally nomadic childhood, cross-cultural transition and intercultural communication. In addition to her work with GNI, she is an affiliate faculty member of George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, coordinating Global Nomad Programs and Services through the Multicultural Research and Resource Center (MRRC). Ms. McCaig¹s work has been highlighted in a number of articles and books, most notably Third Culture Kids: Growing Up Among Worlds, by Ruth Van Reken and David C. Pollock , and the Foreign Service Youth Foundation¹s book, Notes from a Traveling Childhood.

Panelist Myriam Fizazi-Hawkins spoke about her experience growing up to a Moroccan father and American mother in Morocco. Bill Lawrence spoke about his experience of being married to a Moroccan woman and raising a child together and Samir Labriny spoke about his experience of being married to an American Woman and raising two children together.

Event ended with an a debate among attendees with different experiences of growing up in multi-language and multicultural households.

Nawal El Moutawakil was added to the hall of fame by the Women’s sports foundation in USA .
By MarocPost.net
October 21, 2006 12:00 AM

In a ceremonial atmosphere Nawal El Moutawakil was honored by the Women’s sports foundation and was added to the hall of fame of this prestigious organization.

Marocpost.net was present to witness this event and to talk to our champion about her impressions pertainign to her honoring and to ask questions about her career and projects.

Marocpost :“Nawal El Moutawakil, thank you for accepting to have this interview with us. Do you see progress being made in Moroccan sport and especial women’s sport since your achievement of 1984?”

Nawal El Moutawakil: “Yes and definitely, take for example the participation factor, in 1984 I was the only female in the Moroccan Olympic team but things have changed since then, after winning the gold medal in Los Angeles 1984, and immediately, Moroccan women’s participation became higher and higher each games. For example 1988 in Seoul there were 5 or 6 female participants. In 1992 we started to bring medals and we have been doing so since then, we reached a point where we have a variety of participation not only in track and field but also in wrestling, swimming, judo, Take wondoo and weight lifting. This shows that there is openness in regards to women’s participation because of the 1984 success and the political will in Morocco.”

Marocpost : “your experience and expertise belong to you but also to the Arab, Moroccan and African women, do you see yourself actively helping these women to perhaps follow your footsteps or to use you as role model.”

Nawal El Moutawakil: “I am currently active in this capacity with Moroccan organizations such as “l’association Marocaine de sport et developement” I do this because sport gave me a lot and I believe that as a citizen I need to give back, nowadays many ex-champions are doing the same thing, giving back to their country in order to complete their mission and I do so on a daily basis.”

Marocpost : “Football is number one sport in Morocco, although it did not reach the level of Moroccan athletics with world championships and gold medals in the Olympics. Do you believe that athletics is not getting its fair share and what can we do to even the balance?”

Nawal El Moutawakil: “Football is morocco’s number one sport and athletic is number two; this is the reality in morocco. But athletics in morocco is receiving more and more respect in morocco and if you compare the 1984 budget of $60,000 allocated to the Athletics federation with today’s budget, you’ll see that Athletics in morocco are much more important now than before and my personal opinion is: athletics is number one sport.”

Marocpost : “Your experience as head of the Olympic Committee for the 2012 games is tremendous and especially that it was a successful campaign, do you think that you can help Morocco with your insight in this field to perhaps organize major international games.”

Nawal El Moutawakil: “Morocco is bidding for the 2011 Special Olympics “for intellectually handicapped athletes” and I am in the bidding committee and I hope that my expertise and know-how will boost morocco’s chances.
I am also nominated chair person of the Arab confederation of sports supervising Arab games. My experience as head of the Olympic Committee will provide a certain insights to morocco, the Arab coutries and Africa.”

Marocpost : “Nawal El Moutawakil, what is your last word to Moroccans living abroad and especially in the USA and Canada.
Nawal El Moutawakil: “To be the best ambassadors for their country”

Marocpost : “Nawal El Moutawakil thank you for this opportunity.”

After receiving her award, Nawal El Moutawakil gave a speech. “…I would like to dedicate this award to all the girls, women and the children of this world who do not have the chance to play and enjoy sport, who do not have the chance to play and learn to perform and succeed…”

Nawal’s honoring comes in a time we Moroccans need to do more to recognize those who did so much for us as a nation, athletes, artists and activists because people like Nawal gave the Moroccan woman a new purpose in life: to be successful and to be equally as important as her follow man. Morocco needs all of it sons and daughters to prosper. For her inspiration to many Moroccan, Arab and African women we say thank you Nawal El Moutawakil.

Minnesota hounours Morocco
This year, the Minnesota centre, willing to honour an Islamic country, has chosen Morocco, the country considered as “America's friend for forever” and a country of openness, tolerance and dialogue.
Through this initiative, the MIC wanted to celebrate the good relations binding the two countries and peoples, and give the opportunity to the citizens of Minnesota State to closely know an Islamic country renowned for its long tradition of tolerance.

“Morocco, our oldest friend and the first state to have recognised the US after its independence, is a country with a rich history and fascinating culture,” underlined the MIC president, Carol Engebreton.
The event was also an opportunity to celebrate the 30th anniversary of cooperation relations between Minnesota University and Morocco.

“This cooperation has allowed hundreds of Moroccan students to follow their studies in Minnesota and a number of professors of the Minnesota's university to teach in Morocco,” said Engebretson.

“This gala dinner was also an opportunity to honour the relations between Minnesota citizens and the 1,500 Moroccans living in the State,” added the president, underlining that these Moroccans are well educated and occupy important positions in the society and are well integrated into the American community.
She also pointed out that one of these Moroccans, Abdessamad Morabit, professor of mathematics at the university, is a member of the committee organizing the event.
For her part, the president of the gala, Laura Merriam, has underlined that “Morocco is an interesting country that fascinates the Americans,” adding that “Tangier and Casablanca are endowed with a certain romance.”
“Morocco is the first Arab, African and Islamic country to be honoured by the MIC,” she concluded.

“This gala,” Engebretson went on, “is a wonderful experience,” expressing her confidence that the event will contribute to the consolidation of the already-strong relations existing between Morocco and the US.

“I want all Moroccans to know that we are determined to consolidate the bilateral relations between the two countries and work together so that understanding and harmony prevail,” added MIC president.
The Moroccan Ambassador to the US, Aziz Mekouar, who was the gala's president of hounour, presented to the audience the new Morocco.

“Morocco which has launched important reforms in the economic, political and social fields, registering, with the orientation of HM King Mohammed VI, acclaimed achievements in all domains,” said the Moroccan diplomat.
He mentioned the progress achieved in the domains of human rights, state's law and the adoption of the new family code.
In a warm and jovial atmosphere, the 500 attendants who came to celebrate the kingdom enjoyed the Moroccan culinary art.
The gala, which is the most-awaited event in Minnesota, gathered presidents and general directors of Minnesota's biggest enterprises namely Cargill, 3 M, Donaldson, Medtronic, General Mills; members and former president of MIC; members from the Moroccan community in Minnesota and members from Peace Corps who have served in Morocco like Tim Resch, the president of “Friends of Morocco” association.