Morocco That Was

As part of my fellowship research, I am currently reading "Morocco That Was" by Walter Harris. This travelogue was originally published in 1921. The author was a journalist for The Times, a London newspaper and he may have even been a spy for the British in Morocco. He was a witness to events in Morocco in the last decade of the 19th century and the first decade of the 20th century. His purpose in writing this book was to document for posterity Morocco as it was before the French protectorate began in 1912 and before Morocco was a colonized nation. There are many interesting anecdotes throughout this book about Sultan Moulay Abdul Aziz who abdicated his throne in 1908 in favor of his older brother, Moulay Abdul Hafid, who later ceded Morocco to the French protectorat in 1912.

The current King of Morocco is Mohammed VI. He is the son of King Hassan II who ruled Morocco so brutally from the 1960's through the 1990's. The father of King Hassan II was Mohammed V who had lived in exile during the French protectorate and who regained the throne when the French left Morocco in 1956. The father of Mohammed V was Moulay Youssef, the son of Moulay Abdul Hafid. Morocco is a parliamentary democracy in name, yet the King of Morocco is an absolute monarch. Since Hassan II died in 1999, Morocco has experienced new freedoms and immense economic growth.

What I am observing during this fellowship is that the very old and traditional exists alongside the modern and forward-thinking here in Morocco. There are beautiful ruins and very old buildings just as there is an amazing amount of new construction and many beautiful, modern buildings. There are women and men dressed in traditional clothing, others in clothes that show their attachment to a fundamentalist version of Islam (a broad array of veils and headscarves for the women, long flowing robes and beards for the men), and just as many men and women wearing very Western-style clothes. Greetings here are very important moments for expressing respect, care and concern. The men kiss each other on the cheek when they greet, as do the women.

I look forward to finishing this book and comparing the Morocco before the French protectorate with the Morocco of today. As I visit the sites mentioned in this book, I hope to find some of the traces of the Morocco That Was.