"King Mohamed VI is the latest leader to face the dilemma of whether to co-opt the adherents of political Islam, oppress them, or leave them be and run the risk that they use democratic mechanisms to carry out a hard-line agenda — and ultimately threaten democracy itself."
"Islamic party set for Moroccan victory," by Angela Charlton for the Associated Press:
CASABLANCA, Morocco - The Islamic party dominating Morocco's electoral season has many faces — among them bareheaded young women in jeans, marketing students preaching the gospel of global markets and legions of the poor and disenfranchised.
Impose Sharia, and everyone will get to be poor and disenfranchised.
The Justice and Development Party's cross-class, antiestablishment appeal could leave it the largest party in parliament after elections Friday. And that would pose a challenge to the secular monarchy, and its Western allies.
This resort-lined Muslim kingdom forms one front in the broader battle playing out between forces of moderation and extremism across the Muslim world. King Mohamed VI is the latest leader to face the dilemma of whether to co-opt the adherents of political Islam, oppress them, or leave them be and run the risk that they use democratic mechanisms to carry out a hard-line agenda — and ultimately threaten democracy itself.
Such fears lay behind neighboring Algeria's decision to abort 1992 parliamentary elections that an Islamic party was poised to win. The move touched off an insurgency that still simmers.
"Our victory ... is nothing to worry about," said Saad Eddine Othmani, head of the Justice and Development Party. "Moderate Islam is the best rampart against extremism."
And your idea of "moderation" is...?
The party cites Islam as its inspiration in a country that is overwhelmingly Muslim, but where many women shun head coverings and bars are widespread. Its leadership and message are moderate, though some members may hold radical views.
The Islamic party's platform — streamline bureaucracy, root corruption out of the courts and gear university education more directly toward the job market — resonates among the poor and jobless, who feel abandoned by a government widely seen as self-serving.
The Justice and Development Party accepts the monarch, and wants Morocco to maintain good relations with Washington. U.S. officials say they deal with the party as they do with Morocco's other political parties.
[...]
Othmani said his party has softened its image in recent years — especially after 2003 suicide bombings in Casablanca blamed on Islamic terrorists — to broaden its base. It has played down calls by hard-liners inside the party to cut off thieves' hands and require women to wear head scarves.
Some fear an Islamic-minded government could nonetheless threaten Morocco's moderate reputation, which helps fuel an economy reliant on tourism.
"I have the impression they are hiding their real ideas. This is what worries us," said Amina Elhaja, pushing her 2-year-old son in a stroller past a Justice and Development Party rally on a dusty lot, where supporters chanted "Justice, Development!"
Mustapha Ramid is the face of the party that secularists fear. A defense attorney for terror suspects, he is loudly critical of Israel and the Moroccan government.
"For now, the goal is to develop democracy," said Ramid. But in the long run, Ramid wants sharia, or Islamic law, established in Morocco.
"For now, the goal is to develop democracy," said Ramid. But in the long run, Ramid wants sharia, or Islamic law, established in Morocco."
Democracy & sharia together? What an oxymoron.
Islam: one man, one vote, one time.
Once they're in, everyone else is out.
The French wanted an incompetent Moroccan leader who tortured his subjects to just go away in 1912:
Most of the negotiations, however, were taken up by tedious arguments over money and property, and here the bald acquisitiveness of Moulai Hafid reached megalomaniac proportions. In general, he adopted the view that any property was his to dispose of as he wished as absolute monarch while any outstanding debts were the responsibility of the state. He defended this principle with great tenacity and ability, “and had a classical Arabic quotation at hand-often most skillfully misquoted- to prove his every argument.” The imperial palaces were stripped of their furniture, their mosaics and even an Italian marble staircase…
from The Conquest of Morocco by Douglas Porch
...Alas, Poor Morroco, I knew thee well.....
....someone once sang..."another one bites the dust!.."
Ban Muslim Immigration...
It looks like the 3rd Barbary War is just around the corner.
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." --George Santayana, The Life of Reason.
It's a difficult issue. As Westerners, we grow up with an ingrained love of democracy, but in some countries it may well be "one man, one vote, one time." This was Bush's mistake in trying to spread democracy to places like Iraq.
A shame, too. I've been to Morocco; it's a beautiful country. Great food, great scenery, delicious mint tea--and, as the article mentioned, not very many covered women. Its status as being on the fringes of the Arab world, the fact that their colloquial Arabic sounds nothing like Arabic at all (and the fact that almost everyone there speaks French), and the fact that many Moroccans are Berber, not Arabs, probably helps them avoid most of the foibles of their Arab counterparts. Too bad their current ruler is more interested in jet-skiiing and building golf courses than helping the poor.
Give me a break, democracy, they follow ALLA and the KORAN thatisall! This democracy thing is for the consumption of stupid westerners. Idiots who’s ego’s regarding our values being embraced by others are totally out of proportion. Wake up people and quit watching this islamist theatre. They would like to use faux democracy to eventually steal your democracy. We have seen that they prefer to elect islamists so if you cant figure that out why don’t you save yourself some time and lay down in the middle of the freeway and get it over quickly.
Looks like the Islamics won't win this one, they're whining that bribery lost it for them.
Morocco was a fabulous place in the 80's when I visited twice. Like the above post says, good food, great mint tea and cheap as borscht. We made many good friends there, Arabs who drank liquor, danced at discos, swore etc. Some took us to their humble homes for meals, they were truly lovely people. I got the distinct impression that the ones we met treated their religion as many of us do in N. America. Conveniently.
The people there knew that their tourism economy mattered greatly. They treated us with respect.
I haven't been there for 20 years, so I can't speak for it now, but I have happy memories and am glad to see that the conservatives are so far leading the election count.
Reminds me of a favorite Bob Dylan lyric: "They smile at your face but behind your back they hiss."
Whatever shape Islam takes to break into the room, it will. But once inside the bullies and tyrants will assume control through intimidation, sharia, and violence. First victim, all of the actual "peaceful" Muslims.
Message to all the "peaceful" Muslims. When you embrace Islam, you embrace ALL of Islam, which carries with it the fatal gene of extremism. It CANNOT co-exist with a free and democratic society.
Banning Muslim immigration is just a start. Islam MUST be banned as seditious, or the great Western democracies will be ripped apart by civil war in the not-too-distant future.