le silence est d'or

[fdiwa82]

Desolee, l'article est en Anglais...

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=634517&cont rassID=1&subContrassID=2&sbSub ContrassID=0

Last update - 09:52 12/10/2005

Silence is golden
By Daniel Ben Simon



MARRAKECH, Morocco - If only he would talk - about himself, or about his late father or about his baby, who one day will succeed him on the throne - the Moroccans would be ecstatic. But that is not happening. Six years have passed since Mohammed VI succeeded his father, King Hassan II, who died after 38 years of absolute rule, to the throne. The Moroccans now know his voice, but they yearn for him to speak with them instead of delivering speeches. Since taking power, he has appeared in televised speeches to his nation on festive occasions. But even when speaking to them, he insists on reading from the papers set out before him.

On August 22, he celebrated his 42nd birthday and stood before his people to speak on television. For an hour, he enumerated the reforms that he planned to carry out in the country. From time to time, he raised his eyes from the paper to look at the camera. Each time, it was no more than a brief glance, as if he was suffering from an acute case of stage fright. Throughout the entire speech, he did not modulate his monotonous and dull tone. Only when he completed his comments did he look straight into the camera for a few seconds in order to wish his nation "Salam Aleikum and the mercy of Allah and his blessing."

A senior associate of the king who was present during the broadcast reported that the king rebuffed all attempts to get him to use a teleprompter. "His Majesty explained that there is something impersonal about reading a text from a screen," added the man, who refused to reveal his identity. "He was also afraid that people might think that he had learned the entire speech by heart."




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The Moroccans are dumbfounded by their monarch's extreme shyness. A king cannot afford to be introverted or shy, especially not when his father was Hassan II. After his father's extravagance, they are having a hard time getting used to his heir. Although they did not like Hassan II, they were flattered by the image he enjoyed throughout the world as a man who ruled his kingdom with an iron hand. Even when he imprisoned rebels and opponents under horrific conditions, he earned the admiration of his people.

Not all of them, of course. Many Moroccans became enraged at the rumors of the hair-raising wastefulness that went on in his palaces. Books published in France told of orgies of sex and drugs. Nevertheless, few could ignore the international prestige he brought their country, although his own prestige often surpassed that of Morocco itself.

At his funeral, millions thronged along the streets of Rabat to bid him good-bye, amazed at the number of world leaders that walked behind the coffin. Everybody that was anybody was there: kings, presidents, prime ministers, all crowding next to each other, wilting and sweaty in the exhausting heat. Bill Clinton and Jacques Chirac, Ehud Barak and Shimon Peres, King Juan Carlos of Spain and King Fahd of Saudi Arabia. The gloomy expression on Mohammed VI's face gave away his feelings. Clinton embraced him warmly. Barak and other leaders, too. As if they could sense the terrible loneliness emanating from him. They whispered words of sympathy in his ear. The new king merely nodded his head and thanked them. In Arabic and French and English. A word or two. No more.

The press only guesses

Since then, Mohammed VI has not changed. Even after six easygoing years, he is still exceedingly sparing with his words. Ehud Barak related that he got to know him well when he used to meet with his father, Hassan II. As an army officer, Barak was sent by Israel to help him in his struggle to control the Western Sahara. In all his meetings with the king, the heir to the throne sat next to his father like a sphinx. Although he was going to inherit his father's place, he was never asked to voice an opinion or offer advice. "Hassan is Hassan, Mohammed is Mohammed," responded Hassan II when asked about his relationship with his son.

Hassan II met with journalists often. He especially valued a good conversation and enjoyed spending time with well-known French journalists. He used to invite them without setting an exact time for the interview. While waiting for their appointment with the king, they were lavished with all the pleasures the palace had to offer. The waiting period sometimes lasted days.

Mohammed VI has not given even a single interview to the press since his coronation, to either the Moroccan or the international media. The hundreds of requests for interviews sent to him from Morocco and the entire world have remained unanswered. Even pressure from members of the American administration did not help the producers of the prestigious "60 Minutes" show to get an interview with him; an intimate acquaintance with his father has been of no use to French journalists. Not even one has managed to break the king's barrier of silence. Only the Spanish El Pais received answers in writing to questions sent to the king, and that was only because he was about to go on an official visit in Spain.

For six years now, Moroccan newspapers continue to write about the king with embarrassing familiarity - as if they have spoken to him, as if they have spent time in his company, as if they know his secrets. Over time, because of the communications blackout the king imposed on himself, the Moroccan press has been forced to invent his life.

"It is not fair," railed Ahmed Ben-Chemsi, the editor of TelQuel, a Moroccan French-language weekly. "We don't know what the king thinks about us. Because he has never spoken with us. This is a dramatic situation. On the one hand, he wants our support and understanding, while on the other, he does not say anything to us. He wants us to help him? So let him tell us what he wants."

The king has chosen a different route from that of his father, even on official occasions. King Hassan II used to invite thousands of guests from among the Moroccan elite to the ostentatious parties he gave at his palaces. Hundreds were invited to kiss his hand; many had the privilege of exchanging small talk with him. This practice has been discontinued. A few weeks ago, King Mohammed VI celebrated his birthday in his palace in the city of Tetouan, located in northern Morocco. Only a few hundred guests were invited to the garden party. They had to be satisfied with seeing the king from afar, surrounded by family members. Only about 20 were invited to the small reception held in a closed hall - the prime minister, senior ministers, a few diplomats serving in important capitals, plus some religious leaders and some top army officers. A short time later, the king bid them farewell and ate a secluded supper with his family.

Those familiar with the ins and outs of the kingdom's business cannot recall such grating royal asceticism. All those that have met with Mohammed VI have noted how he almost pathologically recoils from any contact with people. "He smiled at me shyly and nodded his head," related a senior-level Moroccan official invited to the king's birthday. "Not a single word, not a joke, nothing. I kissed his hand and continued on."

[fdiwa82]

Live testimony

The king's introverted behavior may be misleading. Even those who are not happy with his remoteness and melancholic nature admit that the king has amassed governmental power that does not fall short of that of his father, and in some cases even surpasses it.

"Who remembers Hassan II today?" boasted one of his media advisers, off the record. "Everyone thought that Mohammed VI would live in his father's shadow his entire life. I am happy to inform you that today there is only one king."

Immediately after assuming the throne, Mohammed VI started cutting the ropes that tied him to his father. First, he dismissed Driss Basri, his father's powerful minister of the interior and right hand. After a while, he sent other close associates of his father home as well. The new king allowed some celebrated emigres to return to the country, especially Abraham Tsarfati, a Jewish communist who sat in jail for almost two decades due to his obstinate struggle against the policies of Hassan II in the Sahara. The members of the Oufkir family were also permitted to return to their homeland.

General Mohammed Oufkir was executed following a failed attempt to overthrow the king in 1972. Exploiting his position as minister of defense and of the interior, he sent combat pilots to intercept the royal plane, in which the king was returning to Morocco. The damaged plane just barely managed to land near the capital of Rabat. The plot failed and a few days later, Oufkir's bullet-riddled body was discovered. The combat pilots were executed and dozens of other plotters were sent to rot in the Tazmamart prison in theheart of the Sahara. Many did not survive the torture and unbearable prison conditions.

Taking revenge on Oufkir, King Hassan II ordered his wife and five children, including the youngest ones, aged three and five, to be sent to Tazmamart, too. Only thanks to international pressure were the members of the family released - after spending 18 years in prison. The king conditioned their release on their exile from Morocco. After Hassan II's death, however, Mohammed VI, decided to allow the family to return home. This step was received with a sigh of relief in Morocco and the entire world. Human rights organizations applauded him and demanded that the Tazmamart prison be closed down. Political prisoners and subversive elements that undermined the king's rule had been incarcerated in that Sahara torture chamber, where the heat rose to 50 degrees Celsius (122 Fahrenheit) in the summer. Over the years, hundreds of them disappeared in the dark of night, with their families only later being informed that their loved ones had died in Tazmamart or other prisons like it.

The Moroccans urged their king to conduct a public reckoning regarding the crimes of the previous regime. They especially demanded to investigate the torture and abuses carried out during his father's rule. The king was stunned by the intensity of the demand. Each day produced new accusations. The various media competed with one another over who would give the most extensive coverage to the cry of protest. Journalists and commentators chronicled the life of debauchery led by King Hassan II in minute detail along with the practices of his ruthless regime. For the first time in the history of Morocco, the king was dubbed a "dictator," "corrupt," and even "a criminal."

In an attempt to make inroads in this new atmosphere, the new king distanced himself from the centers of the old oligarchy and only rarely visited the royal palaces scattered throughout the kingdom. From now on, he would make do with a luxurious villa for his family and staff. He began to visit poor neighborhoods to learn firsthand about the living conditions in them. In his early speeches, he admitted that he felt ashamed when he discovered the terrible squalor in which millions of his people were forced to live.

The Moroccans were impressed with his intentions, but demanded immediate attention to the crimes of the past. "You must deal with the past before you speak about the future," demanded a headline in one of the papers. The king ultimately bowed to the popular protest. In his speech to the nation two years ago, he informed the people of the establishment of a "justice and conciliation committee" that would hear testimonies from those that had fallen victim to the previous regime.

Like in South Africa, Morocco also decided to broadcast the debates live on television. The king set only two conditions: that the names of the torturers not be mentioned and that the testimonies not go beyond the year 1999, the year he was crowned. The parade of witnesses continued for months. The testimonies were grim. Mothers related how their doors had been broken down in the middle of the night and their children seized by policemen, and that they never saw them again. Former prisoners in Tazmamart told of the torture they had undergone, how their bodies and spirits had been broken.

Everyone wept. Even the judges. The king later related in one of his speeches that he too shed tears when he listened to the stories. It is difficult not to admire his courage: With his decision to discuss the crimes of the era of Hassan II, the son determined the place his father would have in the history of the kingdom.

What is permitted

The nation's reckoning threatened to go beyond the mandate that had been set. Moroccans demanded to know how much the king earned, how much money he had, where his assets were, if his money was kept in Swiss banks or perhaps some other country. Speculations ran wild. Some spoke of assets worth $10 billion dollars; others spoke of $40 billion. "Why not pay Morocco's external debt with that money?" asked Abdessalam Yassine, the leader of the Islamist Justice and Charity Organization (IJCO).

The newspapers competed with one another in shattering the myths of the kingdom. In its main headline, one newspaper mocked the custom of kissing the king's hand at official events and wondered at its roots. "Does the hand kissing stem from the Moroccans' servile nature?" he wrote. Another paper analyzed the practice and stated that it is only the tip of the iceberg and that servility and slavery are engraved in the culture of Moroccan life.

How far can the line be drawn? That is the question that has been occupying the Moroccans. What is permitted and what is not? Will police or security officers knock on their doors in the middle of night and carry out mass arrests? Soon enough, a general consensus seemed to have been reached: that anything goes - as long as the king's honor and status remain untouched. But finally they too were challenged.

In a press interview given in May of this year, Nadia Yassine, daughter of Abdessalam Yassine and a prominent Islamic activist, declared that she would like to see the monarchy come to an end in Morocco. Everyone waiting with bated breath for a response from the king or his court. As is his wont, the king chose silence. Yassine underscored that she remains adamant in her view, saying: "I am only sorry that I did not say more in the interview."

The state finally charged her with defaming the monarchy. The trial began in Rabat, but is being drawn out. It would appear that the authorities do not quite know what to do with Nadia Yassine. Each day, hundreds of Islamic activists show up in the courtroom and call out slogans in support of Yassine and Islam. It is clear to the government that the trial could develop into an open confrontation between the state and the Islamic movements.

The relationship between the two sides ran aground in wake of the four suicide attacks carried out in Casablanca on May 16, 2003. The state imprisoned thousands of Islamic activists without trial. Mosques were shut down, preachers were sent away and religious activity in the country was restricted.

That was the first time that Mohammed VI took iron-fist steps in the style of his father. He realized that if he did not eradicate fundamentalist Islam in his country, his regime would be in danger. "The action succeeded above and beyond," said one of his advisers. "Militant Islam is under full control. It no longer endangers us."

That may be the reason that Nadia Yassine's trial may drag on and on until it disappears from public awareness. The king is determined to establish his rule on a general consensus. Meanwhile, accelerated democratization and a series of reforms in all areas of life are changing the face of the country. Experts maintain that this is a process that could well turn the institution of the monarchy into a symbolic one, similar to the situation in nearby Spain.

"That is what the king wants," explained a close associate. "He is not filled with the passion to rule the way his father was. He aspires to strengthen the governmental institutions so that when the day comes, he will remain only figurehead."

Good for the Jews

And a word about the Jews and Israel. The disengagement from Gaza improved Israel's position in the eyes of the Moroccans. After years in which it was the subject of negative headlines, the newspapers changed their tone and reported favorably on the steps taken by Israel. The greeting that Mohammed VI sent to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was spread out over the front pages of the newspapers.

The Jews of Morocco welcomed this. When communications between the countries are smooth, they feel protected. At the beginning of the intifada, millions of Moroccans demonstrated against Israel's treatment of the Palestinians. Cries were heard at the demonstrations condemning Morocco's Jews, and signs were held up demanding that they leave the country. Now things have calmed down considerably. The status of the Jewish community is safeguarded by the authorities, and after the suicide attacks in Casablanca, Mohammed VI hurried to visit the Jewish community center in the city, which had been damaged.

There are currently 2,500 Jews living in Morocco, mostly in Casablanca. They represent what now remains of a vital Jewish community that at its height numbered over 400,000. However, in another 20 or 30 years, the curtain may come down on the life of this community.

[fdiwa82]

celle-ci est la partie qui m'a choquee le plus:

Since then, Mohammed VI has not changed. Even after six easygoing years, he is still exceedingly sparing with his words. Ehud Barak related that he got to know him well when he used to meet with his father, Hassan II. As an army officer, Barak was sent by Israel to help him in his struggle to control the Western Sahara. In all his meetings with the king, the heir to the throne sat next to his father like a sphinx. Although he was going to inherit his father's place, he was never asked to voice an opinion or offer advice. "Hassan is Hassan, Mohammed is Mohammed," responded Hassan II when asked about his relationship with his son.

:-o :-o

[Zyryab]

fdiwa82 a écrit : celle-ci est la partie qui m'a choquee le plus: Since then, Mohammed VI has not changed. Even after six easygoing years, he is still exceedingly sparing with his words. Ehud Barak related that he got to know him well when he used to meet with his father, Hassan II. As an army officer, Barak was sent by Israel to help him in his struggle to control the Western Sahara. In all his meetings with the king, the heir to the throne sat next to his father like a sphinx. Although he was going to inherit his father's place, he was never asked to voice an opinion or offer advice. "Hassan is Hassan, Mohammed is Mohammed," responded Hassan II when asked about his relationship with his son. :-o :-o

ça fait peur mine de rien!!

Anaya be3da, je sens qu'il y'a un truc qui cloche!!

[fdiwa82]

Zyryab a écrit*: Anaya be3da, je sens qu'il y'a un truc qui cloche!!

c'est ce que je me dite aussi...Ehud Barak ga3?? koummeme koummeme :-D :-P

Ceci dit, la haaretz est un quotidien Israelien assez respectable. Les affaires internes Marocaines ne sont pas sa specialite cepedant...

[Zyryab]

fdiwa82 a écrit : c'est ce que je me dite aussi...Ehud Barak ga3?? koummeme koummeme :-D :-P Ceci dit, la haaretz est un quotidien Israelien assez respectable. Les affaires internes Marocaines ne sont pas sa specialite cepedant...

wayeh, mais et je dis bien mais (j'adore quand je fais un air sérieux :-D ), quand je vois u quotidien israelien de ce poid critiquer ouvertement M6, et ce, pendant cette période de tension..Je sens que l'heure de la démocratisation du Maroc est bientot arrivé :-D

Que ça saute!! ikhalliw lia ghir la famille diali :-D (le sens du patriotisme dans les veines!!)

[fdiwa82]

t'as rien compris... :-D la haaretz ne critique pas M6, bien au contraire... :-D

c'est vrai que l'article est un petit peu long... :-D

[Zyryab]

fdiwa82 a écrit : t'as rien compris... :-D la haaretz ne critique pas M6, bien au contraire... :-D c'est vrai que l'article est un petit peu long... :-D

hahaha!! je me disais bien!! vu que je le seul truc que je comprend en anglais est:
"Good morning Mr Steev Lynch"!! :-D

J'ai fais l'effort quand méme!!
j'ai lu les deux premiéres lignes!! :-P

[fdiwa82]

Zyryab a écrit*: hahaha!! je me disais bien!! vu que je le seul truc que je comprend en anglais est: "Good morning Mr Steev Lynch"!! :-D J'ai fais l'effort quand méme!! j'ai lu les deux premiéres lignes!! :-P

:lol: :lol: :lol:

[PrincesseSara]

C'est un article plutot positif mais qui laisse un tas de questions en l'air.