Blinken says Israeli assault on Gaza’s Rafah would be a ‘mistake’

SIDI YAHYA ZAER, Morocco: Mbarka Moullablad’s family frowned when she first told them she planned to make a living as a cheikha, singing about love, pain, and societal change to the melodies of her ancestors under the stage name “Thouria.”
Women like her are the stewards of one of Morocco’s most cherished oral traditions: a form of folk singing known as aita, which means a “cry” or “lament” in Arabic. From smoky bars and cabarets in Morocco’s largest cities to the gatherings in the country’s rural regions, they croon at weddings, festivals and private events and pub nights, hypnotizing audiences both humble and wealthy.

But despite aita’s position in Moroccan culture, the genre’s popularity does not always translate into acceptance for those who perform it. Cheikha are often stigmatized, eroticized, and pushed to society’s margins. That was once a fear for Moullablad, but she says her community in Sidi Yahya Zaer, a farming town on Morocco’s Atlantic plains, has mostly accepted her.

“My family did not agree at first and I used to suffer from society’s judgment, but now everything is good,” Moullablad said on the sidelines of a recent performance south of Morocco’s capital, Rabat. “I do it in order to earn money for my children.”

A form of sung poetry, aita has long explored themes of societal triumphs, ironies, and unspoken struggles, including those related to relationships and economic hardship. Cheikha don heavy stage makeup, silk caftans, and golden takchita belts as they sing about their community’s agonies and triumphs. They sway their hips to amplify emotion, dancing seductively or cheerfully depending on the context.
When Moullablad performs, men and women lean in as her voice softens, captivated as she climbs octaves into a full-throated howl. The beads wrapped around her sister Fatiha’s belly shake as she dances. The band leader, another singer, backs her with his own poetry while a drummer keeps the beat, a guitarist strums, and a violinist drags his bow in sync.

Those who come to hear them sing say cheikha can serve as a community’s truth-tellers, singing about often unspoken dynamics related to marriage, agriculture or, historically, colonial resistance. Moullablad sings in Moroccan Arabic, embodying traditions specific to her community. But cheikha across the North African Kingdom also perform in the indigenous Amazigh language, adapting the music and lyrics to reflect their region.
The art form has inspired contemporary acts like the electro-infused “Aita, Mon Amour” and Kabareh Cheikhats, a troupe of male actors who pay homage, dress and sing in the tune of Morocco’s most celebrated 20th century women folk singers. It is also the subject of Morocco’s submission for this year’s Academy Awards, “Everybody Loves Touda,” which follows a single mother who leaves her town in the Atlas Mountains to pursue her dream of singing in bars, cabarets, and hotels in Casablanca.

“I was always amazed by their strength and the power that they have toward people when they open their mouths. Whether they are modern or conservative people, they all stand up and get into a kind of trance like gospel,” Nabil Ayouch, the film’s director, said in an interview when the film premiered at the Marrakech Film Festival last year.

Morocco’s music scene is increasingly embracing Middle Eastern pop and rap by North African artists from throughout the diaspora. And rural communities are shrinking amid the country’s rapid development and urbanization. But though the future of aita may seem uncertain, its musicians and listeners remain confident that it will endure.
“Aita will not die because it is renewed by young people. Aita will remain in all times and is loved by old people and young people as well. It is developed and improved, but they preserve its origins,” said Rachid Kadari, a Cheikh who also sings aita.

KORBOUS, Tunisia: With a Mediterranean coastline, natural thermal springs, clement weather and affordability, Tunisia has become the world’s second-largest destination for seawater-based treatments known as thalassotherapy.
Now, it is setting its sights on overtaking France to claim the top spot.
“The main advantage of Tunisia is its coast and thalassotherapy,” compared with neighboring countries, said Mario Paolo, an Italian, at the Korbous thermal spa, perched on a hill an hour’s drive from the capital, Tunis.

A 78-year-old retiree who has lived in Tunisia for the past five years, Paolo said he frequently visits Tunisian thalassotherapy centers “to get back in shape.”
“Enjoying sea water and natural springs is not just leisure but also a therapy,” Paolo said after a thyme and rosemary oil massage.
Korbous, a coastal town on the Cap Bon peninsula, has historically been one of Tunisia’s hot spots for the therapy, which uses sea water and other marine resources.
Thalassotherapy is an “ancestral heritage” for Tunisians, “since hydrotherapy has existed in Tunisia since antiquity, at the time of the Carthaginians and the Romans,” Shahnez Guizani, the head of the National Office of Thermalism (ONTH), told AFP.

Other popular thalassotherapy destinations in the country include Sousse, Hammamet, Monastir, and Djerba, which Tunisian news agency TAP said was named the Mediterranean thalassotherapy capital in 2014 by the World Federation of Hydrotherapy and Climatotherapy.
Rouaa Machat, 22, said she traveled from France to Korbous for a three-day wellness retreat.
“I’m here to enjoy the types of water this beautiful town offers,” she said, referring to the use of seawater, spring water, and desalinated water for therapy.
“But I am also here for this,” she added, grinning and pointing to the Korbous sea and mountains.

Customers mainly come for the quality of spring water, said Raja Haddad, a doctor who heads the thalassotherapy center at the Royal Tulip Korbous Bay hotel.
Today, Tunisia boasts 60 thalassotherapy centers and 390 spas, 84 percent of which are located in hotels, according to the ONTH.
Tourism accounts for seven percent of the country’s GDP and provides nearly half a million jobs, according to official figures.
The sector has seen a decade of setbacks due to terrorist attacks and later the COVID-19 pandemic.

But it has been recovering again as the number of foreign visitors exceeded 10 million last year — a record for the country of 12 million people.

Guizani said thalassotherapy on its own draws about 1.2 million foreign visitors a year, with “70 percent coming from Europe, including 40 percent from France.”
The industry generates approximately 200 million dinars ($63 million, 60 million euros) per year, she added.
That compares with a French thalassotherapy market valued at around 100 million euros last year, according to market research firm Businesscoot.
At a luxury hotel near Monastir, a thalassotherapy center buzzes with customers despite the cold winter season.
Visitors have come from France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Canada, among other countries.
“As soon as you arrive, you find palm trees and the sun,” said Monique Dicrocco, a 65-year-old French tourist. “It’s pure happiness, and it’s also worth your money.”
“Here the therapy is much cheaper than in France, with 1,000 euros a week all inclusive instead of 3,000,” she added.
Jean-Pierre Ferrante, 64, from Cannes, said he found “the quality of the water and the facilities just as good as in France.”
Kaouther Meddeb, head of the thalassotherapy and spa center at the Royal Elyssa Hotel in Monastir, said the number of clients has been growing lately.
Yet despite meeting international standards, the sector remains underappreciated in Tunisia, she said.
“There’s a lack of communication and promotion,” she added.
Experts say more investment is needed in infrastructure. This includes road improvements and air services, they say, as there are few low-cost flights.
But plans are already underway to develop eco-friendly thermal resorts in regions like Beni M’tir, a mountainous village in the northwest, and near Lake Ichkeul south of Bizerte, said Guizani.
“With all the advantages it has, Tunisia is poised to become the world leader in thalassotherapy,” she added.