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.”