By Ikbale Bouziane HAF-Dakira Cultural Coordinator Moroccan Jewish people’s material and moral conditions and cultural identity are important as a subject of study at this time given the significant role that Moroccan Jewish heritage plays in the tributaries that form the Moroccan identity. According to today’s successful cultural development options, the Jewish dimension in Morocco’s […]

By Soukaina Kherdioui, Dakira Cultural Field Coordinator Sport has become a compelling tool to promote solidarity and mutual understanding. It is a universal language that transcends socio-political barriers and has the power to unite people of different religious, cultural, and social backgrounds, through which messages of togetherness can be conveyed.  The vital role of sports […]

By Soukaina Kherdioui, HAF Field Coordinator Based on the teachings of all Abrahamic religions, humans are entrusted with the safeguarding of mother nature’s multiple components. Trees, in particular, are treated with reverence and are viewed as a sacred element in many cultures. Beside their ecological functions, they provide people with spiritual, symbolic, cultural, religious, and […]

Jamal Maghiouzi HAF Field Coordinator, Dakira The HAF Team holding a participatory community meeting. Photo by: Fatima Mrini/HAF On Tuesday 4, January 2022, I went with Youssef Tahiri, HAF Project Manager for the Youth Conservation Corps program, to see the khettara, or irrigation system, in Tifrka village, Adar commune. Mr. Hassan Ouakzin and Mr. Mohamed […]

Arabic version Saplings grow at a community-based fruit tree nursery supported by the High Atlas Foundation (HAF) in Morocco. (Photo: HAF, 2021) It is common that each religion has its own new year celebrations that mark events or simply cherish the divine orders of days and months. These festivities usually mark the end or beginnings […]

By Catrin Waters What is universal about the human experience? And what does it have to do with planting trees? Let’s start at the beginning. An amorphous concept of where we came from and why seems to be at the center of each religion, philosophical group, and to some extent academic discipline. Why are we […]

M’Suud And Mohammed: A Tale Of Two Friends, Scoop world. Arabic: Beirut times, 07 January 2022. By Youssef Enouiti | Marrakech, Morocco Overlooking the Green River Valley and village cluster of Oulad Amer, Larbi Soukab makes his daily trek on donkey-back with bamboo cane in hand to check on the growth of his land. Photo: […]

By Amal Mansouri and Soukaina Kherdioui, REMA Field Coordinators On Wednesday, December 22, 2021, the embassies of the United States and Israel in Morocco celebrated the first anniversary of the renewal of diplomatic ties between Morocco and Israel. The celebration was attended by several high-level profiles, including ambassadors, diplomats, religious leaders, and representatives of the […]

By Amal Mansouri, HAF Field Coordinator, REMA Pictures from different angles and neighborhoods of the old medina Morocco is renowned for its hospitality, diversity and multiculturalism. Out of all the places where you can sense the existence of these concepts, we find them most easily in the facades, ancient corners and long past laid bricks […]

Living Together: Religious Coexistence In Morocco, Scoop. Arabic: Sot Aliraq, 11 December 2021.  By Mohamed El Kadiri, HAF Program Coordinator The fascinating site we came across is located in Erfoud, a small tranquil town in the southeast of Morocco, about 70 km from Errachidia. Our visit was initially aimed at monitoring fruit trees distributed to […]

by Noah C. Kohlmayer – HAF Volunteer On Tuesday, December 7, my two fellow Austrian volunteers and I had the opportunity to join Dr. Yossef Ben-Meir for the last class he taught for the University of Virginia at the Jewish cemetery in the Mellah of Marrakech. Now, what is a Mellah?  In Marrakech, the Mellah […]

– Moroccan Cemeteries Waiting to be Visited and Remembered, San Diego Jewish World. By Yossef Ben-Meir Marrakech In early July, I set out with colleagues of the High Atlas Foundation—a U.S. and Moroccan non-for-profit organization—to meet with agricultural cooperatives in Morocco to understand their needs and goals and create action plans toward lasting development. Along […]

By Soukaina Kherdioui On Thursday, December 16, I had the chance to attend a Conference-debate organized by Al Mowafaqa Institute during which Dr. Amina Mesgguid, doctoral researcher in Social Anthropology at the Center for Global Studies (CGS), provided interesting insights on contemporary Sufism and its evolution in Morocco. Her research focuses on “Contemporary expressions of […]

By Jamal Maghiouzi, Cultural Field Coordinator On Tuesday, November 24, I had the chance to attend the first day of the conference which was held under the theme Jewish Onomastics in Morocco: Political, Economic, and Territorial Implication at Universiapolis University in Agadir. The event gathered the participation of various scholars from different parts of the […]

By Julian Stoiber, HAF Volunteer View from first High Atlas Foundation (HAF) House of Life interfaith fruit tree nursery in the village of Akrich. November 2021. Photo: Julian Stoiber/HAF The Akrich tree nursery, about half an hour outside of Marrakech, was the first among many nurseries that the High Atlas Foundation (HAF) brought into being. […]

By Jamal Maghiouzi, Cultural Field Coordinator I left my village of Ait Kassi Ouali at 6:30 in the morning to travel the 90 kilometers to Ouarzazate in a grand taxi before taking another for about five hours to the outskirts of Taroudant. I traveled from Taroudant to Ait Iazza, and then finally from Ait Iaazza […]

By: Jennan Al-Hamdouni, Director of Engagement and Advocacy, REMA U.S. Consul General Lawrence Randolph and President of the Jewish Community in the Marrakech-Safi region Jacky Kadoch at the first High Atlas Foundation (HAF) House of Life interfaith nursery in Akrich. November 2021. Photo: HAF What brings people together in celebration of heritage, cultural identity, and […]

By Fatima Zahra Laaribi Program Manager, Women’s Empowerment HAF and Association Bayti meet with 13 local CSOs who are preserving local heritage in Essaouira. Many treasures are hidden within the coastal Mogador city, today known as Essaouira, which is characterized by its rich, multidimensional culture. This small city is a melting pot of Amazighen, Arab, […]

By Yossef Ben-Meir, Ph.D. President, High Atlas Foundation I had the opportunity, for which I am grateful, to visit together with Mr. David Greene, the U.S. Chargé d’Affaires, the Jewish and Christian cemeteries in the incredible city of Essaouira. The day prior, we had launched with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) its new […]

French version Arabic version Essaouira – U.S. Embassy Chargé d’Affaires David Greene joined H.E. André Azoulay, Senior Advisor to H.M. King Mohamed VI, at Bayt Dakira in the Mellah of Essaouira to launch a three-year USAID program aimed at recording and sharing hundreds of stories that capture the Kingdom’s rich multicultural history. This $3 million […]

By Jennan Al-Hamdouni I first arrived in Morocco in December 2011 to serve in the US Peace Corps as a development volunteer. I lived in Agourai, a small town in the Middle Atlas Mountains until 2015, when I returned to the States to complete a master’s in humanitarian aid and conflict resolution. The nature of […]

Creating and Codifying the Right to be Remembered, Global Research. • Arabic: Sot Al iraq, 21 September 2021. Yossef Ben-Meir, Emily Oksen, and Kristin O’Donoghue The Jewish cemetery in Tisfen – and its memory is fading – located in the Taroudant province of Morocco (High Atlas Foundation, 2021) It is human nature to wish to be remembered. We […]