Morocco & Africa Today: First Moroccan English Language Newspaper

The Moroccan Woman : A Variation On Two Themes By Assia Bensalah-Alaoui : holder of a doctorate in law, Assia is a lecturer at the University Mohammed V and Director of Research at the Centre d'Etudes Strategiques in Rabat, Morocco. A world-renowned specialist in international economic law, she is the author of Pouvoir Vert et Peril Rouge and La Securite Alimentaire Mondiale

The Moroccan woman is a part of this universal movement, in which the courage of some and the struggle of most herald the liberation of all

When Tahar Benjelloun accepted the Prix Goncourt, he paid a touching tribute to his illiterate mother. Like the Moroccan girls who wear miniskirts today, the renowned author owes much thanks indeed to the veiled women of previous generations and their determination to venge themselves against centuries of ignorance. The present generation of Moroccan women also owes a debt of gratitude to those who opened the doors of knowledge to all Moroccans, women as well as men.

Making education available to women was not just an innovation, it was a revolution! This single act overturned the accepted truths of our secular society, which symbolized more than any other the "closed to openness" parabole sung by our poet-philosopher Mohammed Aziz Lahbabi.

From the exclusively feminine world to which she had been confined, woman, in all her vulnerability, stepped into a world that had previously belonged to men. While Arab-Islamic tradition, the source of her faith and her identity, continues to lay its claim on her, she also feels the tug of modernity and its promises of freedom and untold possibilities. And so the future heaps its demands upon the constraints of the past.

Moreover, the Moroccan woman's fight for her own place in the sun is accompanied by her daily struggle to educate her abundant offspring, to safeguard basic, threatened loyalties and to preserve Morocco's legendary culinary heritage from the invasion of fat food! As Moroccan society undergoes countless transformations, the Moroccan woman just take the time she needs to adapt to then.

Having reconciled the past with the future, she navigates, sometimes with ease and sometimes with conflict, through the characteristically ambivalent intercultural waters. Seductive as she knows her caftan to be, she likes the convenience of blue jeans. And although she may still subscribe to the traditional virtue of submission, she takes delight in self-assertion.

Steeped in the teachings of the Hadiths from earliest childhood, she does not hesitate to invoke Marx and Marcuse in her quest for recognition. She defies prohibitions, topples taboos and tears off her veil, to give life to hope and light to the future! Breaking with centuries of langour and apparent idleness - much to the regret of those nostalgic for Arabian nights style exoticism - she has thrown herself wholeheartedly into her century, gladly taking up every physical and mental challenge that come her way.

Armed with advanced degrees or jut her own determination, she has ventured, unhesitating, into the most arid, unwelcoming territory. Moroccan women now work in every sector of activity. Whether she is an Olympic champion, a company president or a researcher, whether she works in a textile or electronics factory or ploughs the fields, the Moroccan woman serves the nation with sensitivity and enthusiasm.

As the poet said, woman is the future of man. Woman's accession to the last bastion of male dominance may take some time yet, constantly deferred by the painful adjustments it implies for the collective consciousness, and especially for die-hard male chauvinists. But accede to it she will - the ineluctability of this will become self-evident as new generations succeed the old.

From her position at the heart of the development process, the Moroccan woman is often called upon to take command - and not just in the cosmopolitan, upper class strata of society

Originality combines with modernity

Are women active in Moroccan society?

The best answer to this question can be found in the speech delivered by Mrs. Farida Jaidi, delivered by the new consul general of the Kingdom of Morocco to Canada last year. We also do not want to miss another answer by our colleague, Mr. A. Khouibaba who wrote in Maghreb Observateur, "The arrival of Mrs. Farida Jaidi, the new Moroccan consul general to Canada is a message seen by many as a call for competence. Today, in order to know if 'the woman is active in the Moroccan society,' one can quite simply call 514-288-8750." It can really be said that a new air is blowing in the Kingdom of Morocco.

King Mohammed VI, the Moroccan Ambassador to Canada and the new consul general, Mrs. Jaidi are testaments to this. Both are committed to uniting and strengthening the presence of the Moroccan community both at home and abroad. Their leadership is clearly a symbol for the transformational changes that are occurring in Moroccan society, both at home and abroad. But it is not enough to listen to their words. Their actions demonstrate their dedication and commitment to this emerging vision.

Mrs. Jaidi is committed to strengthening Moroccan communities both at home and abroad and stands as a leader and role model for Moroccan women. Her efforts to unite the Moroccan community in Canada has been strongly felt. As soon as she took office, she dealt with the transpiration of Moroccans abroad to return or visit their country. She contacted the persons in charge of the Moroccan carrier Royal Air Morocco to study the possibilities of making the trip of our compatriots to Morocco the most enjoyable and profitable.

Taking floor in front of the members of the Federation, Mrs. Jaidi insisted on taking concrete actions rather than just making promises. She did not cease repeating: "Stop seeing what Morocco can give you; Morocco needs you ". In an age when change in Moroccan society is inevitable and women are finding the courage to surpass the restrictions once placed upon them, Mrs. Jaidi's contributions certainly stand as a positive example of this transformation. If the course of this lady can be followed, one can discover the wealth our country finally is beginning to exude and the competences Morocco possesses.

Mrs. Jaidi holds a high grade license in public right in Bordeaux. She speaks French, English, Italian, Spanish and Arabic. She served in the Europe- America Division of the Moroccan Foreign Affairs Ministry, and was later transferred to Rome where she served for eight years. She served as Head of Service at the General Assembly of the United Nations Organization and with the Security Council for five years. Also, from 1990 to 1993, she was Head of Service for conferences and International Organizations involved in economy and head of Division of Regional and International Economic Co-operation from 1993 to 1995. Her role as Director of Multilateral Cooperation lasted from 1995 to 1999, after which she accepted her new role as general consul of the Kingdom of Morocco to Montreal.

"Stop seeing what Morocco can give you; Morocco needs you." Said Mrs. Farida Jaidi, General Consul of the Kingdom of Morocco To Canada, in a speech delivered upon her arrival to Ottawa in the presence of a crowd of Canadian officials and Moroccans abroad. She said: "I would like first of all to thank all those who since my arrival, did not cease multiplying the gestures of friendship, support and solidarity enabling me to foresee that my mission will be crowned with success. I would like to say how much I am happy to find myself in Canada in general, and Montreal in particular, among a Moroccan community which is a pride for Morocco, from its intellectual level, its dynamism, its work and achievement and its discipline.

My wish is that with the help of the Moroccan community in Canada and its assistance, I can make the Kingdom of Morocco known among Canadians, his weaknesses and his insufficiencies, but especially his enormous qualities, his wealth and his potentialities. I would like at the same time to reinforce the links between the community and the Moroccan associations in Canada with Morocco and his associations, and reinforcing by the same time the co-operation between Canada and the Kingdom of Morocco. I would like that we can work together, endeavor and multiply the actions and the activities in all aspects, be it consular, social, cultural, economic, tourist and sports activities, etc. To achieve all these goals, we have to dedicate time and efforts to know each other, to appreciate each other. Therefore, I would like to ask every Moroccan present in Canada to communicate us his contact information and his availability to us. Even if he does not need us, We do need him.

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