Posted by Nabil Echchaibi on Friday, April 29, 2011,
It's always hard to make sense of the senseless. The heinous attack at Café Argana in Marrakech yesterday bears all the signs of a coordinated effort to forestall the peaceful process of democratic reform in Morocco. The timing is calculated to derail a scattered but popular uprising across the country to demand more democracy and economic parity. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack yet, but early investigations point to Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, a violent group which ... Continue reading ...
Posted by Nabil Echchaibi on Thursday, April 14, 2011,
CNN had an interesting exchange a couple of days ago between Hebah Ahmed (veiled with a niqab) and Mona Eltahawy (unveiled) about the validity of the official ban of the niqab in France. This conversation would have gone quite differently on French television. CNN's Eliot Spitzerwas clearly defending Hebah's right to dress how she wishes. The issue is more complicated than being just a First Amendment question, but 10 minutes of television is not enough to talk about deeper issues. Continue reading ...
Posted by Nabil Echchaibi on Sunday, April 3, 2011,
As I was watching CNN's Unwelcome: The Muslims Next Door recently, I couldn't help thinking about another way of deploying the media to build bridges across communities. CNN's special report was obviously meant to highlight a deep rupture at the heart of a community divided on whether a bigger mosque should be built in their town in Tennessee. This got me thinking about a documentary about a similar issue in New Jersey, but this time instead of making discord and tension the driving force beh... Continue reading ...
I was born and raised in Morocco. My research focuses on the intersections between Islam, Arab popular culture and the media. I'm currently an assistant professor in the School of Journalism at the University of Colorado-Boulder.
I was born and raised in Morocco. My research focuses on the intersections between Islam, Arab popular culture and the media. I'm currently an assistant professor in the School of Journalism at the University of Colorado-Boulder.
