Morocco # English board

THE HAGUE, 29/01/09 - Moroccans in the Netherlands are not allowed to give their children any Berber names any more. In this way, Islamic identity is being stressed, Trouw newspaper reported yesterday.

By far the biggest group of Moroccans in the Netherlands are of Berber origin, a region in the mountainous north of Morocco. "They will now be forced to give their children a Moroccan-Islamic name," according to Trouw. "Morocco wants to secure the Moroccan identity of its nationals in this way, including the Moroccan Dutch."

The Moroccan government in Rabat sent all embassies and consulates abroad a list of banned name this week. Christian names were already forbidden. "We forbid Berber names because they conflict with the identity and because they open the door to the spread of meaningless names," said Idris Bajdi, a top official in Morocco, in the newspaper.

Labour (PvdA) MP Samira Bouchibti, a Moroccan national (by royal Moroccan decree) like all other Moroccans who moved to or were born in the Netherlands, is angry. "We must get rid of these lists of names and this interference. I want to be able to decide myself how I name my children. This is discriminatory."

Bouchibti also criticised her party leader Wouter Bos, who said at a PvdA party meeting earlier this week that dual passports "belong in the Netherlands." Bouchibti: "Bos has no enforced dual nationality and therefore does not know what it means in practice." Bos considers dual nationality can foster intergation.

I have never understood why there is so much restriction by our governement about names when some Moroccan names have no meaning.

choosing the name of a new born is entirely up to the mother and the father , why governement getting involved?????this is just weird

Hi all!

I can not believe that our government would stoop so low as to choose the name for us.
I would like to know who did this and where it is written.

Is it a Moroccan Royal Decree? If so can we have the proof. If it is just another Dutch thing to get us to squabble amongt aourselves, I would also like to see the proof.

In the meantime, I will keep my opinion to myself and not get carried away by the heresay. I still think it is not a government thing.

Come on! Did they not give us our language (Berber) and it is now taught in schools? Did they not give us our own alphabet?
Please give me some proof that our government did this.

Amazigh, Muslim, Moroccan and proud.
A

salam

dutch don,t have anything to say about giving names to newborns.the moroccan government issues his orders out for the embassies and consulates so that when you want to register your child you cannot...

it happened in france as well, my brother couldn't give his son the name he wanted.

it's a way to control things but a very lousy one!!!

Hello Aela.91!

Thanks for the quick response and I am sorry about your brother's encounter with consulate authority and the negation ofthe name.
First of all, I do not know what name your brother wanted to register.
Second, he should have arguid the case and not let it go. he should have mentioned that we have Jewish Moroccans and they register their names as, David, Andre, Michel etc. and no Moroccan government has ever stopped them and told them that they have to have Islamic name to conform to the Moroccan Citizenship.
Again, I still would like to see a Royal Moroccan Decree stating this fact. But as far as our consulates and embassies, at times they invent things just because they do not like the colour of your eyes. May Allah forgive them. But I must add that lately, since the new King have been getting their acts together. Adding to the fact that, alhamdulillah we also have human rights and the people are not as illeterate as they used to be.
Going back to names, can you imagine Morocco trying to change the names like Azrou to Hajra or Ifran to H'fare, etc. It sounds absurd isn't it.
Thanks,

A

Quote
amzigh01
Hello Aela.91!

Thanks for the quick response and I am sorry about your brother's encounter with consulate authority and the negation ofthe name.
First of all, I do not know what name your brother wanted to register.
Second, he should have arguid the case and not let it go. he should have mentioned that we have Jewish Moroccans and they register their names as, David, Andre, Michel etc. and no Moroccan government has ever stopped them and told them that they have to have Islamic name to conform to the Moroccan Citizenship.
Again, I still would like to see a Royal Moroccan Decree stating this fact. But as far as our consulates and embassies, at times they invent things just because they do not like the colour of your eyes. May Allah forgive them. But I must add that lately, since the new King have been getting their acts together. Adding to the fact that, alhamdulillah we also have human rights and the people are not as illeterate as they used to be.
Going back to names, can you imagine Morocco trying to change the names like Azrou to Hajra or Ifran to H'fare, etc. It sounds absurd isn't it.
Thanks,

A

hello amazigh,

I don't know how it is now but at the time he couldn't give the name he wanted and h just changed it.
That's why I believe this: they are used to trying to control things.

funny you should name azrou and ifrane, that's the region that I am from. you know morocco is a mix of arab and berber prople and no decree or power in place can change that,even if they try hard for that

Hi aela.91!

Thanks for your reply and I am glad that you said it is long time ago. I ahsll endeavour to find the truth about this whole affair of names. I am very atrict about the facts and do not like people passing rumours around Europe about how our government is maltreating its citizens.
Like I mentioned before, our country has also advanced and there is no way that they will try to take us back again.
I do not know when you were last in Morocco but if you have been there recently, have you noticed the whole infrastructure changed. Thanks to the vision of M6 (May Allah Bless him) the whole north of Morocco has changed drastically for the better.
I am from the Rif mountains and I should know. We ahve been driving on the same winding roads that the stupid Spaniards left us since the independence. Now Alhamdulillah since Allah sent M6, the roads are wider and are not washed away each time it rains.
This is just an example but I beg you to visit Morocco soon and notice the difference the present government has made.
please take care and may Allah bless you. A

Quote
amzigh01
Hi aela.91!

Thanks for your reply and I am glad that you said it is long time ago. I ahsll endeavour to find the truth about this whole affair of names. I am very atrict about the facts and do not like people passing rumours around Europe about how our government is maltreating its citizens.
Like I mentioned before, our country has also advanced and there is no way that they will try to take us back again.
I do not know when you were last in Morocco but if you have been there recently, have you noticed the whole infrastructure changed. Thanks to the vision of M6 (May Allah Bless him) the whole north of Morocco has changed drastically for the better.
I am from the Rif mountains and I should know. We ahve been driving on the same winding roads that the stupid Spaniards left us since the independence. Now Alhamdulillah since Allah sent M6, the roads are wider and are not washed away each time it rains.
This is just an example but I beg you to visit Morocco soon and notice the difference the present government has made.
please take care and may Allah bless you. A

salam amazigh

you know I cannot spend a year without visiting family in Morocco. the last time I went was in august for 2 months, I even spent the feast month there.

I saw some changes in the infrastructures, that's true but it is only done in big axes. in small towns it is still the same hole filled road, with the a one car width only.....

people in morocco haven't changed, things are the same with the police, beggars, poverty ans so on....I'll be glad to see morocco change in a drastic way so that all the moroccans share the development. but let,s give time to see that.

may allah bless you too brother.

Quote

amzigh01
Thanks to the vision of M6 (May Allah Bless him)

Wow ! And I thought I appreciated the guy, but you've taken it up a notch, you seem to bring it to the level of adoration...
He's done a good job so far but this is definitely a screw up and we'd be failing as citizens not to point it out and criticize. The list does exist and is still enforced by idiotic public servants who use it as a way of milking people for a bribe, there are documented cases of this in Morocco.
Now for the consulates, it's even worse because those who have two passports have given up all together and didn't register their children, it's a loss for Morocco, if they keep that list in place, Morocco will keep hemorraging citizens abroad, and among them, maybe great minds will be french, belgian, dutch...etc instead of being moroccans.
The State has no business telling me how to name my kids, nor does it have a right to dictate my faith, this wouldn't be if we have a clear separation of religion and state affairs.

Hi chelhman!

Your points accepted bro but as for adoration, I would call it respect. The king and his father and grnadfather before him have stayed and worked for Morocco. They could have chosen to go anywhre and lived better than kings but stayed to make Morocco waht it is today.
As for corruption, you know and I know that it is not dictated by the government or the king. It is people like you and me. And it is unfortunately by those who do not know their rights taht become the victims.
As you must know that in Islam 'rachi wa l'marchi li naar'. I have never given it nor taken it but I do feel for my brothers who have given it or taken it. Again it was the stupid who has taken and the stupid who has given it not demanded by the government.
I appreciate what you said about 'point out and creticise', that is what this forum is all about. It is about you and me putting these public servants to shame and as for the brain drain, I agree with you entirely that we are loosing a very good number of very able citizens to all parts of the globe.
As for me bro, I love my country and I must admit I do forgive quite a lot. But while I am forgiving, I also pray and ask Allah subhanahu wataala to help my country and my people as to give us a better future so that we do not have result to kill or being killed.
You do you bit and I'll mine bro. We will get there inchallah. God bless bro!. A

Hi aela.91!

I can see from your writing that you are very much like me. You love Morocco and you miss home a lot. like you when I go there i do not want to leave. Alhamdulillah in my case I go every 2 or three months. Sometimes I feel doing like the pope, kneel down and kiss the ground, with joy of beimg back.

I was told off severely by the (chelhman) for saying 'thanks to the vision of M6 (May Allah bless him)'.
I do not know what he saw in it but nobody creticizes the English for saying God save the Queen, Spaish for saying Viva Espana or the Americans for saying God bless America Etc. but he was offended for me saying May Allah Bless M6.
Still, I think he's got fire in his billy because he cares. We all do. The more we love Morocco, the more we seem to cretecise it. Be honest, there is nothing like home. No matter where we go.
Morocco, with Allah's help will be great one day. Maybe not in my life time but Inchallah in my children's time. We will all be proud of it. Imazighen,Arabs, Jews and anybody that had the honour of being a citizen of this great land of ours. May Allah bless you sis! Take care of your Mum!