Morocco News Board | MOSTAFA CHTAINI
Washington / Morocco News Board—The discussions aired on the status of the Moroccan American community, with agreements & disagreements expressed in a civil manner, are encouraging. One main legal imperative which was not expressed is that once a Moroccan citizen, you will stay a Moroccan citizen for life.
You may have been naturalized to any other(s) citizenship but in the eyes of the Moroccan law you are still a Moroccan citizen and when you are in Morocco you are subject to Moroccan law even if you have a citizenship from any other country. The new green National Card (CIN) which is the size of an American express card is extremely important because you cannot go home without it. Naturally you can chose to have your CIN or not, but my honest advise is that it is better to have a CIN especially when you travel to Morocco than not to have it. Most of us if not all of us going to visit Morocco as our home of birth on a constant basis do it because we need a shot of Moroccan spirituality and stay connected with home.
Of course, talk is cheap and we have to go beyond the sentimental connection and good or bad personal experiences and look at what other immigrants to the USA have done for their country of origin. Let us look at the Italian-American community as a case study in the United States. The Italian-American community in the USA has opened the business opportunity for Italy in the USA whereas because of the Italian-American involvement, Italy’s export to the United States is greater than all the Italian export to the rest of the world.
Another case point is the City of Falls Church where I lived once. I was amazed to see the Police Department of Falls Church in Northern Virginia driving Volvo police cars. With little research I have found out that Falls Church’s population was mainly Scandinavian of origin.
These are just few examples. There are many others some enjoying positive experience and some who experienced a horrific nightmarish condition such as the one imposed on the US-American Japanese community in America during the WAR. Overnight during the American Japanese War, the members of the American-Japanese community lost their US citizenships and the rights which come with it and were herded like animals to concentration camps with all their belongings confiscated and their citizenship denied. How dehumanizing?
Members of the African American Community as well as the Hispanic American Community are about to lose their right to vote as US citizens because of political reasons imposed by the leadership of the Republican Party. These types of behavior give the US citizenship a bad name and belittles its value and honor.
Back to the Moroccan-American community, can we agree on one thing which is to form a consumer group which will negotiate on behalf of the Moroccan Community in North America with Royal Air Maroc airline, not only in New York and Montreal but also in Casablanca to get our costs of air travel reduced ? This might be the beginning for other things to come.
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