Jamal Berraoui has gone... to his resting place and the earth trembled.
Si Jamal Berraoui, you are no longer with us in this world, and country that you loved so much and for which you fought all your life.
You fought for justice, progress, fairness, dignity and so many other values to which you gave your own meaning.
Sometimes a philosopher, sometimes a philanthropist, you navigated between common sense and loyalty to an ideology that seized you at a young age but which you managed to tame in your own way. Your loyalty to your party did not blind you, and your selflessness gave you freedom of tone and time.
You managed to tame time.
Sometimes a writer, sometimes a columnist, sometimes a journalist, but never silent. Disappointment, discouragement and nihilism never got the better of you.
Life was hard for you, but you loved it with tenderness. You were a renowned journalist and an outstanding political analyst. Your significant contributions to Moroccan journalism and your incisive analyses of the country's political, economic, social and sporting issues made you an influential voice on behalf of the silent majority.
Your critical and informed perspective on current events has been passed on to everyone in an ‘Ach Waqe3’ that you have shaped in your own way. In this way, you brought politics back to its rightful place, within everyone's reach. In your own darija, you gave many people a taste for debate, a willingness to think and a desire to participate in politics. On your own, you did more than all the parties put together, more than all the media, more than all of us.
Your weekly appearances on the Décryptage programme, every Sunday morning in the studios, from your hospital bed or simply from your home by telephone, were key moments, sublime moments of intelligence and humanism.
I'll confide in you, my dear: even though I won't be seeing you again because God has decided it's best, How proud I was each time you quoted my name, one of my words or one of my positions!
Sidi Jamal, how many journalists have you educated and trained? How many citizens have you made happy with your words?
In your own safiote way, you have contributed to the evolution of the Moroccan media landscape. Your public appearances have always been closely followed, tackling complex subjects with simplicity, clarity and rigor. The large audience that Moroccans have reserved for you speaks volumes is telling more about the great respect they have for you among your peers. They saw themselves in you.
You have always defended press freedom and your desire to see independent and rigorous journalism develop.
You made a major contribution to ‘tamaghrabiyt’ in your own way, subtly referring to your hometown, your neighborhood in Casablanca, your neighbors, music, history, , the Raja, everything that links us to our rich culture, our largely ignored or despoiled history, our roots, our continent and the world.
Rest in peace, my friend, after so many years of winning battles, of self-sacrifice and courage.
You have finally beaten the disease. Your doctors, your family, your friends, your readers and listeners know it very well. It wasn't the disease that finally got you, it was you who decided to put an end to the disease and to your mission.
I know you let out a long sigh and a charming little smile as you left us, because it's in your nature to always smile.
In the end you decided to rest.
We miss you already, Sidi Jamal.
Si Abdelaziz Erromani will never again have to ask at the start of a show ‘Qi Bqat Shiha Si Jamal? No more of the ‘ana matafeqch m3a si Hadad’ that punctuated your contributions to Décryptage from time to time.
Mission accomplished! You were a real treasure.
And what a coincidence, even the earth shook that day...
(On this sad occasion, let's listen to the song linked below, which I'm sure will please Si Jamal)
Vous quittez Bluwr.
We cannot guarantee what's on the other side of this link:
