[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 by Thursday night of every week.]
Algeria
Entretien avec Tewfik Khelladi, DG de la télévision nationale Tout Sur l’Algerie interviews the director of Algeria’s public television foundation, probing the budget and censorship. (Read a critique of the interview by Kamal Douad: Voyage dans l'esprit ENTV.)
Joint Letter to Algeria on Candidacy for the Human Rights Council A collection of six human rights organizations send a letter addressed to President Abdelaziz Bouteflika urging Algeria to address workers’ and media rights and to cooperate with the UN Human Rights Council.
A threat on many fronts S.B. of The Economist outlines the particular obstacles that Algeria’s southern region faces: terrorism and economic strife.
Est-ce un crime d’être un chiite en Algérie ? Djamila Ould Khatteb describes a witch hunt for Shi’ites in Algeria.
Libya
Libya's Constituent Assembly: light at the end of the tunnel? Rhiannon Smith outlines the daunting task that Libya’s Constituent Assembly has ahead of it and measures taken to address issues of representation, trust and security.
Video Story: The Role of Media in Supporting Women Candidates The United Nations Support Mission in Libya recently organized a workshop on how to best support female candidates, as highlighted in this video.
الدستور هو الحل” كرر 3 مرات.." الصدى warns that a new constitution may not be the final solution to all of Libya’s problems.
Mauritania
Mauritania Confronts Long Legacy of Slavery Adam Nossiter describes the complex institution of slavery, hierarchies of race and the government’s (heavily criticized) efforts to combat these.
Mauritanie: l'opposition dénonce la mise en place tardive d'un observatoire des élections Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz reports on the delayed nomination of a national monitoring body for upcoming elections.
قوى الأمن تقمع وقفة لشباب المعارضة الموريتانية (صور) Security forces crackdown on those protesting upcoming elections (photos.)
Morocco
Sun shines brightly on Morocco’s solar energy ambitions Maghreb page co-editor Allison L. McManus highlights Morocco’s ambitious solar energy project, it’s potential to change the energy dynamic in the region, and the significant obstacles it will have to overcome to do so.
Atlantic Future Video: Moroccan economic research body CESEM recently organized a conference on the economic potential of the Atlantic in attempts to facilitate stronger institutional and research ties between Africa, Europe and the Americas.
RSF interpelle John Kerry sur la situation de la liberté d'information au Maroc Reporters Without Borders urges US Secretary of State John Kerry to pressure the Moroccan government to address press freedoms and, in particular, the case of Ali Anouzla.
Femmes politiques au Maroc d’hier à aujourd’hui. Osire Glacier traces the oft-marginalized role of women in power through Morocco’s history. (And Imane Hadouche offers an analysis of femininity in this context: On ne naît pas femme.)
Tunisia
Tunisian Rap Song Turns into an Anthem for Youth Video: Hamzaoui Med Amine and Kafon’s 7oumani, a song about daily life in Tunisian neighborhoods, has garnered nearly 3.5 million views on Youtube.
دراسة حول وضعيات المهاجرين في تونس Djibril Diallo reports on the findings of a study on the integration of migrants into Tunisian society.
Fan Chaabi: The Art of the Masses Videos: Asma Smadhi highlights various popular artists in Tunisian chaabi music.
La révolution tunisienne est-elle un tremplin vers le néolibéralisme? Hajer Zarrouk asks if Tunisia’s economy is headed for another era of neoliberal reform.
Western Sahara
Kosmos announced drilling and new partner in occupied Sahara Despite its illegal nature under international law, as declared by the United Nations, Western Sahara Resource Watch announces that Kosmos Energy and Cairn Energy are set to begin oil exploration in the Western Sahara.
Recent Jadaliyya Articles on the Maghreb
New JADMAG: Beyond Dominant Narratives on the Western Sahara A new JADMAG, edited by Maghreb page co-editors Samia Errazzouki and Allison L McManus is available now from Tadween Publishing.
Colonisation Pacifique?: Examining the Contradictions of Xavier Coppolani’s Expansion into Mauritania Hassan Ould Moctar explores the colonization of Mauritania as a series of competing and concurring political maneuvers, instigated by the master plan of orientalist Xavier Coppolani.
باية محي الدين: الرسم على إيقاع الطفولة Jadaliyya’s Arabic editors feature the artwork of Baya Mahieddine.
كروم الجزائر في العهد الاستعماري: أهو تاريخ نبيذ فرنسيّ أم جزائري؟ Through the history of wine production in Algeria in the colonial period, Maia Venturini addresses attitudes of the French and Algerians during colonization.
"Laaroussa" Collaborative Art Project Medrar TV and Jadaliyya Culture feature the “Laaroussa” collaborative between a group of artists and women potters from Sejnane.
Roundtable Introduction: The Afterlives of the Algerian Revolution Jadaliyya’s Maghreb Page co-editor Muriam Haleh Davis produces a roundtable discussion on historiography and post-coloniality in Algeria, based on a series of papers presented at a panel at the most recent Middle East Studies Association conference.
Impossible Opposition: The Magic of the One-Party Regime Malika Rahal explores the paradox of the FLN as both object of criticism and admiration in communist revolutionary circles.
Still Standing: Algeria’s Future Past James McDougall highlights the value of recognizing fluid articulations of past and present and the use of ethnographic methods in the historiography of Algeria.
Reimagining the Belle Epoque: Remembering Nation-Building in an Algiers Neighborhood With the nostalgic memories of residents of Algiers’ Bab al Oued neighborhood, Ed McAllister reconstructs Algeria from 1972.
“Give Us Back Our Oil:” Claims for Justice in Light of Algeria’s Colonial Past Thomas Serres unpacks “colonialisms” in Algerian discourses and the employment of the term in positioning the elite. (In Arabic: أعيدوا لنا نفطنا)
1962 As Event and Metaphor in Women’s Oral Histories in Algeria Through ethnographies of women independence fighters, Natalya Vince explores the binary language of the Algerian struggle for independence and nation-building after 1962.
Testing Diversity, Researching the Invisible: The Jew, the Israelite, and the Margins of Algerian National Identity (in France) in exploring recent moments of Jewish-Algerian experience, Samuel Everett grapples with his nascent research on diversity in the country.
الجزائر: تعاقُب أجيال وتغييرات سياسية In analyzing political power in Algeria, Omar Ben Dorra believes the focus should be on the role of the security and intelligences services, rather than the head of state.
كاتب ياسين: نجمة As part of the Collection From the Archive’s Series, Jadaliyya’s Arabic Editors feature the work of Algerian writer Kateb Yacine.