Support Maati Monjib in the Face of Moroccan Government Repression

Richard Greeman

Statement of support for Moroccan historian, journalist, and activist Maati Monjib. Maati leads a human rights group that defends journalists and is the translator into Arabic of Raya Dunayevskaya’s Marxism and Freedom and of works by Victor Serge – Editors.

monjib_picMy close friend and colleague, the Moroccan historian, journalist and Human Rights activist Maati Monjib, has entered the third day of a hunger strike to protest abridgement of his right to travel and months of government-inspired harassment. Monjib has been under attack since he became President of Freedom Now, which defends the rights of Moroccan journalists (Facebook Page).

You can help by sending a message to the Moroccan Ambassador: see URLs and sample message below. Also by posting and forwarding this message to your networks.

When Monjib and other journalists founded Freedom Now last April, the government quickly deprived their Association of legal status by simply refusing to process their application. For months Monjib has been the object of a systematic campaign of outrageous personal and political slander in the press of political parties close to the Throne. On Sept. 16, Prof. Monjib was blocked at Casablanca airport by Moroccan security police and prevented from leaving for Barcelona to attend an academic forum organized by the European Institute of the Mediterranean.

Monjib is active internationally as a scholar having taught in the U.S. and participated in conferences throughout Europe, North Africa and the Middle East and is known for his articulate defense of the values of democracy, human rights, and internationalism. Monjib directs the Ibn Rochd [also Rushd, “Averroes” in English] Center in Rabat and is preparing an Arabic edition of Victor Serge’s Memoirs of a Revolutionary.

HERE’S HOW TO HELP.

The Monarchy is sensitive to international opinion, and you can put pressure on by writing to the Moroccan Ambassador in London, Washington, or wherever you live. Here’s a sample message you can copy/paste right now:

Your Highness/Your Excellency:

“Scholars and journalists around the world are disturbed by reports of harassment of our respected colleague Maati Monjib. Please reassure us that his right to travel, speak and write freely will be protected by the Moroccan Monarchy.”

Respectfully yours, etc., etc. They’ll get the point.

 

H.H. Princess Lalla Joumala Alaoui
Ambassador of His Majesty the King of Morocco 
to The Court of Saint James

Ambassador Rachad Bouhlal

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3 Comments

  1. Richard Greeman

    After three days of hunger strike and our international protests, Maati has won a partial victory. The Moroccan Ministry of Interior has published an official communiqué declaring that Professor Monjib is not forbidden to leave the territory. But at the same time, they are now accusing of mishandling of funds in a blatant attempt to turn a political case into a criminal case!

    Reply
  2. Editors

    We received this update recently from Richard Greeman:

    Dear Colleague,

    The Moroccan monarchy has again stepped up its campaign against my dear friend and colleague, Maati Monjib, historian and human rights activist. Fearing more attacks, we are now forming an international support committee of scholars. Anthropologist Abdellah Hammoudi is serving as the president of this committee. He is professor at Princeton University.

    Not only am I appealing to you to join us, but also to recruit others, particularly if you have access to high profile colleagues (like Noam Chomsky, for example). If you are willing, please let me know and I will forward your name and that of anyone else who agrees to join us.

    I attach for reference Maati’s (very impressive) CV and a brief résumé of the situation. As you may know, Maati has collaborated with me at the Victor Serge Foundation for many years, preparing the translation and publication in Arabic of Dunayevskaya’s “Marxism and Freedom” and of Serge’s “Memoirs of a Revolutionary.”

    Most Cordially,
    Richard

    Support Maati Monjib, Moroccan Historian and Human Rights Activist

    My close friend and colleague Maati Monjib, the Moroccan historian, journalist and Human Rights activist, has been under attack since April, when he became President of “Freedom Now,” which defends the rights of Moroccan journalists. On Sept. 18, he was blocked at the Casablanca Airport on grounds of “National Security” and prevented from flying to an academic forum organized in Barcelona by the European Institute of the Mediterranean.

    After three days of hunger strike and our international protests, Maati has won a partial victory. The Moroccan Ministry of Interior has published an official communiqué declaring that Professor Monjib is not forbidden to leave the territory. But at the same time, they are now accusing of mishandling of funds in a blatant attempt to turn a political case into a criminal case! Government-inspired slanders of the most outrageous kind keep appearing in the Moroccan media to prepare opinion for his immanent arrest.

    BACKGROUND: Monjib is active internationally as a scholar having taught in the U.S. and participated in conferences throughout Europe, North Africa and the Middle East and is known for his articulate defense of the values of democracy, human rights, and internationalism. Monjib directs the Ibn Rochd [“Averoes” in English] Center in Rabat and is preparing an Arabic edition of Victor Serge’s Memoirs of a Revolutionary.

    People can help by sending a message to the Moroccan Ambassador: see URLs and sample message below. Also by posting and forwarding this message to your networks.

    The Monarchy is sensitive to international opinion, and you can put pressure on by writing to the Moroccan Ambassador in London, Washington, or wherever you live. Here’s a sample message you can copy/paste right now:

    Your Highness/Your Excellency:

    “Scholars and journalists around the world are disturbed by reports of harassment of our respected colleague Maati Monjib. Please reassure us that his honor as a scholar and right to travel, speak and write freely will be protected by the Moroccan Monarchy.”

    Respectfully yours, etc, etc.

    They’ll get the point.

    H.H. Princess Lalla Joumala Alaoui

    Ambassador of His Majesty the King of Morocco 
to The Court of Saint James’s

    http://www.moroccanembassylondon.org.uk/

    Ambassador Rachad Bouhlal

    http://www.embassyofmorocco.us/embassador.htm

    Reply

FROM THE SAME AUTHOR