Casablanca

July 20, 2023 | |

King of Morocco Invites Israeli Prime Minister to Visit 

Morocco’s King Muhammad VI invited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on July 19 to visit him in Rabat. The invitation comes two days after Jerusalem announced that it recognized Morocco’s...

June 25, 2020 | Thomas Joscelyn |

Donald Trump’s Silence on Al-Qaeda Is Deafening

The administration is still going after terrorists even as it claims to be ending ‘endless war.’

September 10, 2012 | Daveed Gartenstein-Ross Gunpowder & Lead

LIFG and Al Qaeda: A Response to Zelin

On Friday, I had a post at G&L questioning the field’s conve...

January 19, 2012 | Thomas Joscelyn The Long War Journal |

Leaders of German al Qaeda Cell Living in Iran

In early October 2010, US forces launched a drone airstrike against a militant compound in North Waziristan, Pakistan. The intent of the strike was to kill members of a German al Qaeda cell that...

August 8, 2011 | |

The Hidden Hand

The Obama administration finally highlights Iran’s key role in supporting al Qaeda

May 18, 2011 | Thomas Joscelyn The Long War Journal

Analysis: Al Qaeda’s Interim Emir and Iran

Saif al Adel has been named the interim emir of al Qaeda in the wake of Osama bin Laden's demise, according to multiple press reports. Al Adel is a longtime member of al Qaeda's militar...

November 18, 2010 |

How to Reform Islam

I have often argued that one of the redemptive graces of Western civilization is self-criticism, a deeply ingrained habit that has enabled Western man to reflect, to adjust, to improve his belief...

August 7, 2008 |

Islamist Extremism’s Rising Challenge to Morocco


Morocco has long enjoyed a well-deserved reputation as an oasis of moderation and relative tranquility amid the whirl of religious extremism and violence that passes for politics in most of the Muslim world, especially its Arab lands. Moroccan leaders are wont to remind their American interlocutors that Morocco's Sultan Mohammed III was, in 1777, the first foreign sovereign to recognize the independence of the United States. Subsequently, a 1786 treaty established diplomatic relations between the two countries, the oldest such ties between America and any Middle Eastern country. Renegotiated in 1836, the accord is still in force, making it the United States' longest unbroken treaty relationship. In June 2004, after notifying Congress and in recognition of the country's strategic support for the war on terrorism, President George W. Bush
formally designated Morocco a "Major Non-NATO Ally of the United States," making one of only fourteen states to be accorded that privileged status. And while it does not have full diplomatic relations with Israel, the Sharifian Kingdom has maintained high-level contacts with representatives of the Jewish state since 1986, when the late King Hassan II became only the second Arab ruler to openly host a senior Israeli leader, inviting then-Foreign Minister Shimon Peres to the royal palace at Ifran for formal talks. Just last week, on the ninth anniversary of his accession to the throne, King Mohammed VI conferred the Royal Order of Al-Alaoui on several prominent Jews of Moroccan origin, including Dr. Dominique Strauss-Kahn, managing director of the International Monetary Fund; Dr. Yehuda Lancry, former Israeli ambassador to the United Nations; and Rabbi David Messas, chief rabbi of Paris. Thus it is more than disconcerting to note the rising tide of Islamist extremism and concomitant menace of terrorist violence in Morocco.

 

March 6, 2008 |

Why AFRICOM is Critical for Our Security Interests


This week I thought it useful to update readers on developments with some of the stories that have been previously reported in this column.

November 16, 2003 | FrontPageMagazine |

Jihad in Istanbul

By Walid Phares There is no doubt about it: the final target in the terrorist attacks against the Jewish synagogues of Neve Shalom and Beth Israel in Istanbul, beyond the Jewish communit...