Morocco is a complex society in which different realities intermingle with time and place eras. There are medieval-era structures that coexist in harmony with those of this century. Sephardic customs that coexist with the Berber tradition and the latest discoveries in technology are easily adapted to the Muslim faith. This half-breed is characterized by the capacity for evolution of Moroccan society and at the heart of this reality we meet the Moroccan woman.
Few know that the University of Al Qarawiyyin in Fes (Morocco) founded in 859 is considered by Unesco and the Guinness Book of Records to be the oldest in the world still in operation. Its creation was 200 years before the uprising of the University of Bolognese, the first in Europe. The anecdotal thing about this university without its situation and its architecture is that it was founded by an Arab woman “Fatima al Fihri” who decided to donate all her inheritance to the construction of a mecca of knowledge and who during the time of its construction was fasting as an act of faith.
Today, we find in Morocco women who run centers of power, they run large companies, preside over federations of entrepreneurs, ministers, ambassadors such as the case of Assia Bensalah Alaoui, the most human face of diplomacy according to the “jeune afrique”, appointed in 2006 as itinerant ambassador of King Mohamed VI, requested in all international for a for his vision of the international geopolitical situation and for his analysis of political phenomena at the global level.
In Mallorca, we were fortunate to have a first consul representing the Moroccan government in the Balearic Islands, Hannane Saadi, a talented diplomat who advocated the integration of Moroccan women into Balearic society through training and social participation, took her fight to the streets of Palma at the demonstration on 8 March 2017, where his presence on a personal level, caught the attention of all participants.
Many women have opened up and are opening the way to equality in Moroccan society and in the host society; but there are many challenges to be achieved and many stereotypes to destroy. The new generation of Moroccan women who go to schools and university on our islands, have in hand the power to work for real equality and effective integration. Tomorrow is March 8, a significant date for the women’s movement but the current reality requires that every day be an 8M.
