« Racism is not an opinion, it’s an offense». However, there is not a single election campaign in the world’s most prosperous countries where speeches are not openly racist against a portion of their population. Immigration, and more particularly Muslim immigration has become a matter of « political survival ».  

The vast majority of candidates who have a good chance of coming into power in Europe are pointing a finger towards these Muslim migrants whose presence could constitute a real danger to « Western culture ».

The US have already taken a clear position by electing a President who is at war against migrants and more specifically Muslims. 

In 2017, numerous countries in the EU zone have once again liberated racist speech, in spite of having gone through a hideous war fed by fascism and Nazism which caused irreparable damage.  This targets millions of Muslims, often Europeans, who are suddenly considered as the main cause for a wide array of failures: political, economic, social, cultural, educational and security. The lack of an insightful thought process or political reason, causes them to « cry wolf », which is now defined as the Muslim migrant and refugee.

These speeches constitute a flagrant Human Rights infringement in a part of the world where the latter are society fundamentals. This just illustrates the failure of political thinking, which choses the easy way out and deflects its inability to rule upon a minority whose only crime is being Muslim.  Condemned of being “guilty” for all the terror crimes commitment in the name of this religion whilst in fact they are the ones predominantly impacted by these crimes.  

Post-war, Europe has lived through very tough times linked to religiously motivated terrorism Ireland with the IRA or political in Germany with the Baader-Meinhof gang without trampling the core values of Human Rights.

The political demagogy we are witnessing in Europe and the US are the turning-point in political History. With racism, which seems a better term than islamophobia (fear of Islam), against Muslims, part of the western world is pulling the world into a very risky adventure. 

CCME

Africa, our continent has been living during a long time without great leaders like Mohammed V, Nelson Mandela or Jamal Abdel Nasser.

And now here is Africa receiving His Majesty Mohammed VI as a new leader full of promises for the future of African citizens. In defense of the african people in an era where Africa is about to resign, because of the impact of civil wars, climate change, mass exoduses and departures of the continent to the north to escape from thirst, hunger, violence and terrorism. 

A leader who had the confidence of the African citizens even before their own governments. Concerned during his visits in the Continent about the African development, its cities, villages and jungles. This is why the speech of the 41st anniversary of the Green March, delivered from Dakar, capital of Senegal is a historical precedent for the Kings of Morocco as it reflects friendship and brotherhood in Senegal. 

The speech from Dakar should be considered through the historical position of Senegal vis-à-vis of Morocco, the unwavering support for  just causes, including the question of the sovereignty of the Kingdom.  When Morocco left the African Union in 1984, former President Abdou Diouf had even stated that "it is not possible to imagine the organization without Morocco ...".

If the speech of the 40th anniversary last year took place in Laayoune, capital of the moroccan southern provinces, illustrates the foundations of stability, the attachment of the children to their moroccan roots  and political system, it is meant to become a center of economic cooperation connecting Morocco to its African roots.

The discourse of the Green March of 2016, for its part, was delivered from a friendly country, historically and spiritually linked to the Kingdom and considered among the democratic nations of Africa. A country that respects the constitutional institutions and the election results. Which also enjoys an exceptional political and social stability in the region and moreover it is not a country of "coups". His Excellency President Macky Sall considers the speech from Dakar as a historical event, because His Majesty the King wanted to be in Africa to talk to the Africans.

The King’s speech of November 6, 2016, was explicit and unhindered. For this reason, the African aspect can be easily assimilated. This justifies the mention of the African map, which carries several messages: Morocco is part of the Africa ;  the future is Morocco in Africa and the future of Africa in Morocco. It is in this spirit that the Kingdom targets its economic and political bound south, as part of a South-South cooperation. Hence enacting the preamble to the 2011 Moroccan Constitution "to consolidate relations cooperation and solidarity with the peoples and countries of Africa, especially sub-Saharan Africa and Sahel ", which in itself is a quiet revolution that His Majesty conducted through its numerous visits to western and eastern African countries. The speech explained that the relations with these nations, were not sufficient, " not through negligence or omission, but for objective reasons such as language, geographical distance and differences in historical heritage". 

The achievements of this quiet revolution are already a reality :  partnerships with countries like Rwanda and Tanzania.

The vacancy of Morocco from the African Union since 1984 has contributed to undermine the relations of cooperation and solidarity between several African countries, and gave the opportunity to the detractors of the Kingdom’s sovereignty to embitter the relations with African countries. This inclines Morocco to rebound with the African Union and be part of its African family during  the 2016 summit in Kigali,  far away from any tactical plot, because Africa is our family  and Morocco does not need permission for it’s entry. 

Many questions come to mind regarding the correlation between climate change, migration and the Moroccan community abroad. In light of the waves of migration, what could be the link between COP22 and migratory matters?

M. Boussouf : As the organizer of the COP22, Morocco claims to be at the same level as other countries, which have the capability to host large-scale events and naturally contribute to resolving international issues. The mission of our nation during this COP will mainly be of executive nature as this conference was preceded by the COP21 during which all parties committed to adhere a process designed to protect the environment and to mitigate climate change impacts.

Consequently, the Kingdom’s mission during this summit is to define the execution mechanisms to take up the climate challenge. His Majesty wants to position this event as an African summit. Indeed, Africa is the continent most impacted by global warming and these effects will determine its future.