"Elections do not create democracy. We will neither have modernity nor citizenship in the absence of a civil state. Our Arab societies cannot be torn between two bitter choices: political Islam or military rule," Moroccan intellectual Hassan Aourid, the first spokesperson for the Royal Palace, told Raseef22 in a lengthy interview.
Aourid thinks that the "burden of the Arab history" is the worst obstacle keeping the Arab world from emulating modern societies' advancement. He believes this history has to be dismantled so it does not encumber the Arab civilization, stressing people should not regard it as sacred or legendary.
The interview took place in Bordeaux where Aourid took part in an event organized by Les Désorientalistes under the name of the Week of the East.
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In your latest novel "Spring of Cordoba" you recall the Andalusian history to talk about reality and pose questions related to politics, ruling affairs and what was happening inside the Royal Palace. Have you used history to conceal the fact that you have spoken of a reality that you have perhaps experienced firsthand?

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In the novel you talk a lot about coexistence of religions. For instance, you quote the first Andalusian caliph Abd-ar-Rahman III as saying while he was speaking to his heir apparent, "Righteousness is too great to be exclusively dictated by a religion, and morals are too aloft to be attributed to a group". Are you afraid of the fact that Islamists or maybe mainstream Muslims claim they solely know the truth?
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Can we perceive Spring of Cordoba part of Hassan Aourid's memoirs of an epoch he lived in the Moroccan Royal Palace, especially that you know the secrets of the palace and what was going on confidentially and in public?
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Tell us a secret that you came to know during the time you worked alongside the Moroccan monarch and you have never unveiled.
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You say in the novel: "Zizi, Berber boy, Arabic is your language as much as it is the language of my father Ali Al-Qali who is Armenian. It is also my language while Arab, Berber and Visigothic blood runs in my veins". What makes an Amazigh adore the Arabic language? And where are the cultural rights of Amazighs in a sentence like this?

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Your studies and work with King Mohammed VI aside, how do you assess this ongoing period while you are now out of the ruling institution?
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Can we describe you as the intellectual who abandoned power, or is it power that could not afford you? Why exactly did you leave?
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From February 20 movement in 2011 to Hirak Rif, which reality do Moroccan live today while it has to change?
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Who is responsible for not achieving that?
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Can we say that King Mohammed VI and the Moroccan system in general have successfully contained the uprisings of the Arab Spring? How did the regime contain those calling for change? And why did the Hirak Rif area witnessed the recent events?
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Could you have talked about reform, political Islam and Amazighs while being part of the authority? Can a man of authority reflect the burdens of the public and think freely about a political reform?
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What do you think should be reformed in the Moroccan political system to achieve real democracy?
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Are you worried over the parties of political Islam in Morocco? How do you assess their experiences? And how do you see the "Makhzen" policies that aim to contain and affect them, like what happened with the Justice and Development Party? Does weakening the parties serve the political life or cause people to lose faith in peaceful change?
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What are the chances of jihadists in a country like Morocco? What are the factors that help them spread and recruit people, and what are the elements that have the opposite effect?

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What do you think is the most needed change on the level of freedoms in Morocco?
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Do the people of the Arab world indeed have only two choices in political Islam and military rule?
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Is there something in the Arab culture that keeps the region from emulating contemporary societies' development?
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Do you think that western countries, particularly EU nations and the US, are afraid of Arab democracies and prefer to deal with authoritative regimes that can guarantee the implementation of treaties?
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How have the history of France's ties with Morocco, the Arab culture and the Francophone culture affected Moroccans' life? What are the negative and positive effects?
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As a Moroccan intellectual, a citizen and a politician, how do you look at the feud of the Western Desert? And how can this struggle end in a fair way that would satisfy all involved parties?
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