Author: Ismail Azzam

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A Moroccan man holds his passport in front of his computer displaying a Schengen visa (image: Fadel Senna/AFP)

Morocco-Europe relations

Unauthorised brokers obstructing Schengen visas

Morocco's system for allocating Schengen visa application appointments has been hijacked by unauthorised brokers. Moroccans are finding travelling to Europe increasingly difficult, despite the lifting of pandemic-related travel restrictions in 2022. Ismail Azzam reportsMore

Relations between the EU and Morocco: The stability mythMorocco and Spain: What price Madrid and Rabat's "historic" reconciliation?Crisis between Morocco and Germany: Western Sahara, source of strife among would-be partnersFranceʹs new Mediterranean initiative: A G10 summit marked by pragmatism
Algerian Islamic scholar Said Djabelkhir was sentenced to three years in prison for "insulting Islam" (photo: Ryad Kramdi/AFP)

Interview with the Algerian scholar Said Djabelkhir

What we Muslims need is a critical appraisal of Islamic law

Algerian scholar Said Djabelkhir rejects the charge of "offending Islam". In interview with Ismail Assam, he maintains that he has been wilfully misconstrued. At the same time, he stresses that he was talking in a "historical" manner about Islam, calling for it to move on from the era of fatwas and to look critically at Muslim religious heritageMore

Interview with pioneering Islamic thinker Fehmi Jadaane: What is the essence of Islam, and does it need reforming?Interview with Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na'im: "We are in the middle of a transformative process"Execution for a Facebook post? Why blasphemy is a capital offence in some Muslim countries
Social Democrat Euro MP Dietmar Koester attends a European election campaign event in Dortmund, Germany, 02.05.2014 (photo: Ruediger Woelk/imago images)

MEP Dietmar Koester on Fortress Europe

"The EU allows human rights to be trampled underfoot"

EU parliamentarian Dietmar Koester criticises the Union's failure to speak up when faced with human rights abuses committed by its Middle Eastern allies, while pointing out that its own isolationist migration policies contravene fundamental European values. Interview by Ismail AzzamMore

Refugee crisis on the Greek-Turkish border: Europe's liberal warriors put democracy to the swordRefugee crisis in Europe: The price of European indifferenceThe EU's asylum and migration policy: Necessary migrantsMigration and human rights: Refugee versus migrant: what's in a name?
A medical worker collects a swab from a man for a coronavirus test in Sale, Morocco (photo: imago images/Xinhua | Chadi via www.imago-images.de)

Coronavirus in Morocco

The threat of a new lockdown emerges

After the country initially showed itself to be gaining control over the pandemic, to the point of being classified as a safe country for travel from the European Union, the situation in Morocco has deteriorated, as the King himself has noted. So has Morocco lost its way in the fight against the coronavirus? By Ismail AzzamMore

Qantara dossier: CoronavirusCOVID-19 in the Maghreb: Coronavirus and Morocco's "peak national solidarity"Digitalisation and the coronavirus in Morocco: From care to control?
Moroccan political scientist Hassan Aourid (photo: private)

Interview with the Moroccan thinker Hassan Aourid

Democracy cannot be stopped

Hassan Aourid is one of the most important political and intellectual figures in Morocco. In interview with Ismail Azzam for Qantara, Aourid outlines his vision of the decline of political Islam and the future of democracy and human rights in the MaghrebMore

Indigenous rights in the Maghreb: An uphill struggle for Tunisiaʹs AmazighMorocco′s Amazigh: The long road to recognitionUnrest in the Arab world: The genie is out of the bottle
Slogans relating to the Atheist Moroccan Republic (source: YouTube screenshot)

Atheism in the Arab world

Moroccoʹs atheists find a home on the Internet

The Internet has made it possible for some to declare and even to promote their atheism by criticising Islam and other religions. Ismail Azzam spoke to some young Moroccans who have left their Muslim faith behindMore

Atheism in the Arab World: The dictators' scourge: Of 'heresy' and humanistsAtheism in Saudi Arabia: God's own countryIslam in the Middle East: The curse of religiosity
Moroccan writer Fatima al-Zahraaʹ Al-Riyadh (photo: Imane Bouziane)

Social media fosters creative writing in the Maghreb

Published by Facebook

Social media has democratised literary publishing, paving the way for young Moroccan writers to publish works which previously would not have enjoyed publication through traditional outlets. By Ismail AzzamMore

'The Olive Writers' creative writing programme for young MoroccansLiterary trends: Introducing Egypt's BookTubersHoda Marmar, administrator of Beirutʹs Bookoholics: Truly, madly, deeply into booksArab teens and Young Adult literature: The new wave
Amine Ennaji in a still from "Kilikis, Town of Owls" (written and directed by Alaoui Lamharzi Azlarabe)

Film review: "Kilikis, the town of owls"

The power of reflected suffering

Directed by Azalarabe Alaoui, the Moroccan film "Kilikis, the town of owls", though not a documentary, is based on the notorious Tazmamarat prison, where political opponents were incarcerated during the reign of the late King Hassan II. Time to face up to the past? By Ismail AzzamMore

Nabil Ayouch's film ''God's Horses'': Ostracised and forgottenAlgerian cinema: Young, rebellious and full of beansSyrian detainee No. 72