News from Morocco

[yeezevee]

Death toll in Morocco minaret collapse rises to 36

RABAT: At least 36 people died and 71 were injured after the minaret of a historic 18th century mosque collapsed in the central Moroccan city of Meknes during Friday prayers, the interior ministry said.

Local officials said the toll could mount. "The minaret and part of the roof fell on the congregation which had gathered for the weekly prayer," a resident told media.

Residents told media that heavy rains had lashed the region in the past days. The mosque was packed with worshippers at the time of the collapse. "Apart from the Friday prayers, the faithful were also offering funeral prayers for a deceased person whose body was inside the mosque," a local functionary told media.

The ministry announced earlier that the minaret toppled at 1245 GMT. It gave an initial toll of at least 11 dead.

Rescuers initially had trouble sifting through debris as the mosque was located in the crammed and bustling Old City and surrounded by high walls delineating the quarter.

Moroccan city of Meknes is a great place with lots of Pre-Islamic Roman Architecture ..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNxmPb648Io
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1DtZDUM3Gc


yeezevee

[Woland]

Tragic...

However, I do find myself wondering how these idiots can pray to Allah for the dead.
How do they explain that Allah decided to kill innocents as they were worshipping him?
I'm sure the families of the dead are, at this very moment, trying to rationalize the event.

-"Allah sure is great that he can do things like that which are so beyond our understanding that they seem evil to our poor human minds!"
-"He sure is!"

Man, when I die I won't forget to ask Allah what he was trying to prove by killing innocents who were faithful to him.

Must have something to do with sealing the hearts of disbelievers by making them think Islam is absurd so that he can justify sending them to Hell.

Ah the joys of religion.

Woland

[WesternCanuck]

Well regardless of why the people were there, this is an awful tragedy to be sure!! Quite horrific.

[pr126]

Indeed, it is a tragedy.

Qur'an 64:11 "No calamity occurs, no affliction comes, except by the decision and preordainment of Allah."

[yeezevee]

pr126

Indeed, it is a tragedy.

Qur'an 64:11 "No calamity occurs, no affliction comes, except by the decision and preordainment of Allah."

You are right dear pr126., It is a tragedy that BOUND HAPPENS with or without Quran. It is very unfortunate people in this 21st century can not realize how old is the building and its life time., On top of it 100s of Muslims folk get together to pray in these OLD..OLD mosques., so such tragedies will continue to happen if no one checks upon these old structures.. Any ways news at http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/w ... 181189.htm says

Death toll from a collapse of a mosque minaret during a Friday prayer in northern Morocco rose to 41, a civil protection official told Xinhua on Saturday.The minaret and part of the ceiling of the 16th-century Khnata bent Bekkar mosque, also known as Bab Berdieyinne, in the old city of Meknes broke down onto the courtyard when worshippers were about to perform the Friday prayer.

The number of injured people also rose to 72, Meknes civil protection chief al-Elwi al-Ismaili said.

According to state-run MAP news agency, King Mohammed VI sent interior and Islamic affairs ministers to the scene to "supervise rescue operations and enquire after the conditions of the injured. "

The monarch also ordered the re-building of the mosque as soon as possible, the agency said.

As officials say the collapse was caused by heavy rains that hit the country over the past few days, the Moroccan king was reported to issue orders to examine all centuries-old mosques across the country.

.. THAT IS A 400 hundred year old Mosque., and people need to die before the some one realizes these structures needs enforcement and reconstruction..

yes.. It is an unfortunate accident and will happen again if Bums walk in to old building in groups to Pray Allah..

with best wishes
yeezevee

[planck]

Christian aid worker purge? Morocco orders dozens in five cities to be deported.

Morocco has ordered dozens of Christian aid workers in five major cities to be deported this week, with a Western official saying there may be another wave. The expulsions call into question an unspoken but longstanding truce.

Rabat, Morocco

Moroccan authorities have ordered dozens of foreign Christian aid workers deported in at least five major cities this week, calling into question an unspoken but long-standing truce between missionaries and their Muslim hosts.

“This is a change in policy from the top of the government,” says Jack Wald, who has spent 10 years as pastor of Rabat International Church, a protestant congregation here in the capital. “It’s like going to sleep, waking up, and all of the sudden you’re in a different country.”

The largest incident took place at an orphanage for 33 abandoned children in the Middle Atlas mountains on Monday. Moroccan police showed up in the village of Ain Leuh, located 50 miles south of the ancient city of Fez, and separated orphans from their adoptive parents before delivering a grim piece of news: the Moroccan authorities had accused the volunteers of spreading Christianity – a crime in this overwhelmingly Muslim nation.

Witnesses described an anguished scene as Dutch, British, Kiwi, and American volunteers hastily emptied households under stormy skies and hugged weeping Moroccan kids for the last time.

.........The deportation of aid workers from Morocco highlights both the major role that Christian aid organizations play in a number of Muslim nations and local anxieties that aid efforts are cover for covert proselytizing. On Wednesday, gunmen killed six Pakistani staffers for the Christian aid group World Vision working on a development project for survivors of a 2005 earthquake outside of Islamabad. World Vision spent $1 billion on aid projects around the world in 2009.
Government: It's not just Christians

Moroccan officials say they’re merely targeting isolated instances of law-breaking.

“This is not a move against Christians, it’s a move against people who don’t respect the law of this country,” said Morocco’s Communication Minister Khalid Naciri in a telephone interview.

But Christians see a sudden, coordinated campaign that has reversed an unwritten understanding.

In principle, Christian groups are allowed to do charitable work here so long as they don’t try converting Muslims, who make up 98 percent of the population. In practice, hundreds of foreign Christians have been quietly spreading their faith in Morocco for years, says Jean-Luc Blanc, head of the Casablanca-based Evangelical Church of Morocco.

In the past, Mr. Blanc said the government would typically deport one or two missionaries per year whom it judged to have crossed the line. But in his nine years here, Blanc says he hasn’t seen a mass expulsion like this. “Since I’ve been in Morocco, never,” he said.

[ygalg]

Mohammed Jadidi protests authorities by raising Jewish State's flag over his home. Court finds him guilty of sacrilege, sends him to six months in prison
Ynet

A Moroccan court sentenced a man who flew the Israeli flag over his home to six months in jail, Ynet leaned Saturday.

According to an Al-Arabiya report, Mohammed Jadidi, 42, raised the flag over his Nador home as means of protest against local authorities over the disconnection of electricity and water supplies to his residence.

Jadidi was arrested on Monday and was charged with "sacrilege" via the "undermining the Moroccan national flag."

According to the report, Jadidi's mother appeared on a video circulated on Moroccan websites appealing King Mohammad VI to release her son.

She said he only raised the Israeli flag to attract the attention of the senior officials to look into the conditions of his family.

Morocco's Rif Association for Human Rights slammed the court's ruling as baseless, saying flying a foreign flag over one's home cannot be deemed as undermining the Moroccan flag.

http://www.ynetnews.com/Ext/Comp/ArticleLayout/CdaArticlePrintPreview/1,2506,L-4197729,00.html

[enceladus]

Man, are they sensitive.....



Come and get me, Morocco.......

"Ha-vaaaaaaa nagila, ha-vaaaaaa nagila....... "

- enceladus

[marduk]

Morocco's flag is a pentagram on a red background. It means Venus, the Morning Star, "Lucifer" in the Bible. Turn it upside down and it's Lucifer as a goat head.

[Ariel]

Morocco: Belgian volunteer girls in shorts threatened with beheading by Islamists



A group of Belgian students volunteering for the summer has been targeted by Moroccan Islamists because ”they work in shorts”.

An elementary school teacher urged on social media to behead the girls “so that nobody can challenge Islam’s teachings”.

And a Senator with the conservative pro-Islamist Justice and Development party raised the case in parliament: ”Is construction work in Europe ever carried out in a bathing suit?”, he said.

The teacher was arrested while the lawmaker formally asked the interior ministry to examine the documentation and ascertain the true nature of the initiative.

The young women, who were working to build a street, are part of a Belgian non-profit organisation called the Bouworde which has been promoting humanitarian projects for over 14 years in the North-African country.

Under the scorching sun, they were working in a T-shirt and shorts and posting photos and videos on Facebook.
Their attire prompted criticism. Senator Ali El Asri published a comment, wondering whether construction work in Europe is ever carried out ”in a bathing suit”.

”Everybody knows how the issue of security on the job is important in Europe: tourists can’t get near construction sites without wearing helmets, appropriate clothes and gloves.”

In the village close to Taroudant, the senator also said, there is no change of clothing for the summer because ”it is a rural and conservative area”.

The 26-year-old elementary school teacher subsequently commented the post: ”You are absolutely right, they should be beheaded so that nobody can challenge our religion’s teachings.”

The teacher was reported to the authorities for instigating terrorism and arrested. The post was removed within 24 hours but the minister’s parliamentary question remains.

Meanwhile the students have travelled back to Belgium.

The Bouworde also decided to suspend new projects in Morocco, following the advice of the Foreign Office and the embassy.

[antineoETC]

Have theses girls not been told: "When in Europe you must respect Islamic sensibilites. When in North Africa you must respect Islamic sensibilities. Muslims, naturally, are not required to respect YOUR sensibilities." ?

[Nosuperstition]

Morocco's flag is a pentagram on a red background. It means Venus, the Morning Star, "Lucifer" in the Bible. Turn it upside down and it's Lucifer as a goat head.

Venus is the symbol of all of feminine beauty in the ancient world right from polytheist Assyrian/Babylonian/Mesopotamian pantheon.Lucifer on the other hand is a male fallen angel in Christianity who used to be the most beautiful arch angel before his banishment from heaven for rebelling against God.So per Christian theology did Lucifer reveal himself to those polytheists by impersonating himself as an angel of light in the form of Venus?

[Ariel]

Morocco tightens the illegal migration valve as the EU and Spain pay up

According to new reports, illegal migrant arrivals to Spain are said to have decreased by close to half in 2019, after the EU and Spain dished out tens of millions of euros to the Moroccan government.

Earlier this year in February, bilateral agreements were reached between Spain and Morocco which have supposedly led to a 45 percent decrease in North African migrant arrivals to Spain. The agreements saw the Moroccan government receive 140 million euros from Brussels and tens of millions of euros from Madrid to step up its efforts to stem the flow of northward migration.

However, despite the decline in illegal migrant arrivals, more than 15,600 illegal migrants have still made their way to Spain by boat so far this year, The Local reports.

After Salvini closed Italy’s ports in 2018 and Greece started to send migrants back to Turkey under the 2016 EU-Turkey agreement, Spain became the primary point of entry for illegal migrants looking to make Europe their new home.

As a result, the Spanish government has approved aid packages totaling more than 58 million euros for this summer to assist Moroccan authorities to increase boat patrols and provide the interior ministry with additional vehicles.

Jose Encinas of the AUGC Guardia Civil police association says, “Moroccan authorities are now preventing boats from setting sail for Spain, whereas before they let them leave.”

“When Morocco wants more money, it opens the tap of immigration and when it receives money, it closes it,” said Encinas added.

“Morocco has realized that the migration card is a very effective pressure tool,” said Eduard Soler, a North African geopolitics specialist.

But the Moroccan government isn’t the only government to realize this simple truth.

Turkey has employed the threat of mass migration as an effective pressure tool against Europe as well.

Just days ago, Turkey’s head of state Recep Tayyip Erdogan, threatened to “open the gates” to allow roughly four million Syrian migrants to leave Turkey for European countries if Europe doesn’t provide logistical support to relocate the migrants.

And weeks before that, Turkey’s Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu threatened European governments when he said, “We are facing the biggest wave of migration in history. If we open the floodgates, no European government will be able to survive for more than six months. We advise them not to try our patience.”