Sunday, February 19, 2012

This Day in History February 20, 2011

I cannot believe that I never heard about this since it happened last year.  But then again, I guess I shouldn't be so surprised since the U.S. is so egocentric--concerned about ourselves and the news that affects us.  Perhaps you know what happened on this date just last year--2011.  But if you don't, kindly read on.

Last year at this time, there was a movement going throughout the youth of Morocco.  It was called "Movement for Dignity."  Evidently, political unrest began in Egypt and Tunisia, and it spilled over into Morocco.  The group that planned this protest in Casablanca called themselves Democracy and Freedom Now.  You can see what they wanted to have happen by watching the video that went viral and got people to join the protests.


They were successful in bringing free elections and a new constitution, but the fight is far from over.  At its peak last year in March, over 800,000 people from all over Morocco joined the demonstration.  As the anniversary has now approached, the protests are much smaller but are still fueled by music.  A strong Islamic government was elected on November of last year, and they have promised to bring about many of the things that were fought for during the protests.  I guess only time will tell.

For more information, here are many websites with various views about this issue.
http://www.lonelyplanet.com/travelblogs/922/104297/February+20th+Protests+in+Morocco?destId=355491
http://www.moroccoboard.com/news/34/5088
http://www.wbez.org/episode-segments/2011-02-17/political-unrest-morocco-next-82475
http://www.thenation.com/blog/158670/arab-uprisings-what-february-20-protests-tell-us-about-morocco
http://cabalamuse.wordpress.com/2011/02/08/the-hunger-trigger-2/
http://www.moroccoboard.com/viewpoint/68-hassan-massiki/5087-morocco-to-march-or-not-to-march-on-february-20
http://globalvoicesonline.org/2011/02/01/arab-world-a-revolution-time-table/
http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/02/19/138343.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/africa/a-year-after-it-changed-moroccan-politics-the-feb-20-democracy-movement-struggles-for-a-role/2012/02/18/gIQAh14SLR_story.html
http://globalvoicesonline.org/2011/02/17/morocco-movement-for-dignity-planned-for-20-february-2011/

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