Think Forward.

Gaza and AI are just a few words away... 7523

Aziz Daouda, 6 mon.
The second week of February saw Israeli hostages exchanged for Palestinians. The Hamsaouis were still armed to the teeth. The bombings did not do much. This happened against the backdrop of President Trump's confirmation that there would be a Gaza Rivera without the Palestinians. Bluffing is becoming a constant in the President's language. He said that he was 99% certain that Egypt and Jordan would agree to receive him, brandishing the fatal weapon of the dollar. When he received the King of Jordan in the Oval Office, it was a painful moment bordering on humiliation. It took all the class and dexterity of the Hashemite sovereign to finally get through it, his face taut and red with barely veiled anger and sadness. He had to stand his ground and he did. Trump seems to be ignoring history and geography, or at least not taking them into consideration. Let's wait for the Arab summit on 27 February in Cairo and the reactions of countries that have so far been silent or in a state of expectation. In the meantime, Hamas is begging the Arab countries for help, going so far as to acknowledge at last that 7 October was a mistake. Trump quickly moved on to other things. After 19 minutes and 55 seconds with the King of Jordan, he now had a long telephone conversation with Putin lasting almost an hour and a half. The two men seem to be on the same wavelength. They say they want peace in Ukraine as soon as possible. The future of the troublemaker Zelensky seems to be numbered. In principle, the Europeans say that peace cannot be achieved without them. They don't have the power, divided as they are. At the same time, the Palestinian Authority, or what is left of it, has thanked His Majesty King Mohammed VI for his intervention to release funds held back by Israel for its benefit. What is happening in Gaza has overshadowed the most important event of the month: the Paris summit on artificial intelligence. Almost every country in the world was there. Some were represented by their presidents, such as India and the Emirates. China and the USA were represented by their respective vice-presidents. The American president's remarks were in line with his own. This just goes to show how important this issue is for the future of humanity as a whole. Some want fairness, others balance, and still others transparency and ethics. This is difficult to achieve when the world's major players do not sign the final resolutions and make no commitment to restrict their domination and the technological development that serves them first. 61 countries have signed up to an open, inclusive and ethical AI, not including the USA and the United Kingdom. On the fringes of the summit, there was a very important meeting of the Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence, which today brings together some fifty countries. This was necessary, as many countries, including Morocco, are knocking on the door to join. The young body took the opportunity to take stock of its strategy, which it is seeking to bring into line with the OECD's recommendations on AI. While many countries are campaigning to reduce the gap between nations as much as possible, it has to be said that this is not going down well with the purists and the naïve. The gap is already there, with the two behemoths, the USA and China, firmly in the lead. Others are hoping and doing their utmost to catch up, notably India and now France, which has announced its intention to invest $109 billion in AI. To achieve this, they are joining forces with the United Arab Emirates, which will contribute $50 billion, and Canada, which will inject $20 billion into the project. The most important thing is to have their own data centres. Data being the sinews of war at this level, alongside technology of course. The amount announced by France is still a far cry from the 500 billion American project. We're on a different planet here. But do we need so much money when we learn that DeepSeek, developed by the Chinese, only cost USD 6 million? What China isn't saying is that it started from where the Americans had arrived with heavy investment, even using INVIDIA cards, albeit from a slightly earlier generation. To get an idea of the differences, consider that in terms of data centres, there are 5,381 in the USA, compared with 521 in Germany, 449 in China, 315 in France and just 219 in Japan, for example. The USA has more than 50% of the world's data storage capacity, compared with 16% for China. Africa is counted in the rest of the world, a truly negligible quantity. Having data and computing centres is first and foremost a matter of will and funding, as well as the ability to produce energy and have access to large quantities of water. Yes, when you click to open a WhatsApp message or send one; when you do a search on Google, Brave or others; when you watch a video on YouTube or a film on Netflix, you consume energy to run the machinery that will respond to you but also water because it is water that cools it down. The technology consumes a lot of energy and water. Some even say that it is Silicon Valley's excessive water consumption that explains the recent huge fires in California. If Morocco is seeking to join the PMIA, it's because it feels the importance of not just being a simple consumer of AI. It wants to play its part and, above all, position itself so as not to be left behind. The country already has respectable-sized computer centres, enabling it to aspire to efficiency in scientific research and in meeting the needs of its citizens. But this is not enough. Today, AI is everywhere in our daily lives, and it will be even more so in the future. Morocco aims to continue its digital transformation and is looking for a small share in technological innovation. This means that we will need to produce more energy, and to do so we may have to take account of the limits of renewable energies and their cost, and give serious thought to nuclear power. This is what is planned in the American project. We mustn't be mere consumers of AI, otherwise we'll be importing other people's biases and then we'll simply be lost. To achieve this, we need to be careful not to over-legislate and over-regulate in a rapidly evolving field where no one can say how or what tomorrow will bring. One article, one comma in a law and the machine is irremediably blocked. We are in a field where milliseconds are important, and the freedom to think without limits, to venture beyond barriers and to undertake without conditions is vital.
open.luxeradio.ma/show/track/47f...
Aziz Daouda

Aziz Daouda

Directeur Technique et du Développement de la Confédération Africaine d'Athlétisme. Passionné du Maroc, passionné d'Afrique. Concerné par ce qui se passe, formulant mon point de vue quand j'en ai un. Humaniste, j'essaye de l'être, humain je veux l'être. Mon histoire est intimement liée à l'athlétisme marocain et mondial. J'ai eu le privilège de participer à la gloire de mon pays .


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Ibtissam, please : Allah is Allah... 454

Aziz Daouda, 1 d.
- Politics - Society - Lifestyle -
3.3 min read.
Recently, Ibtissam Lachgar, who calls herself an activist, wore a T-shirt of no value, except that she deliberately intended to insult millions of Moroccans and undoubtedly many believers, Muslim or not. God is the omniscient Creator, regardless of religion or rituals. Madam found it clever to display a T-shirt with a strange inscription, not at all amusing: an offense to the divinity. No, madam, Allah is Eternal without beginning or end, beyond time. He is Almighty, and His power is infinite and absolute. He is Merciful, full of compassion and kindness towards human beings, including you. What did you have for breakfast that morning, madam? By this useless act, you seem to have forgotten that faith is also a fundamental right. Americans, whose modernity cannot be denied, claim it to the point of engraving it on their dollar bill. Belief in God, in Allah, is a fundamental, universal, immutable pillar. To say or imply mocking or even simply disrespectful words towards what is sacred in the collective consciousness is to hurt deep sensitivities. It is an affront to the spirituality of billions of people. Yes, it is important to remind that everyone is free to live their life and love whom they want. However, there is one condition: not to unnecessarily offend others. Inventing an impromptu epithet for Allah goes far beyond personal debates linked to sexual orientation: it harms the deep faith of billions of people, including the 36 million Moroccans. This provocation cannot be considered a mere wit or a brave claim: it is a misstep that threatens harmony and social cohesion. Indeed, God does not need anyone to defend Him, much less my humble self, but admit that God is everywhere, simply present in every believer outraged by your lowly stylized statement, which is not freedom of expression but a qualified insult. It is billions of believers you insult with your superfluous act. Moroccans who strive to make their country a state of law also want social peace and cohesion to be fully preserved, within necessary limits to freedom of expression. This freedom can be neither absolute nor without red lines, and this is a genuine protection. Elsewhere, where the state is less protective, a provocation like yours would have caused far worse consequences for you. My generation, and those that followed, have fought extensively for freedom, notably the freedom to express oneself, develop ideas, and help society evolve and emancipate within a civic framework. But madam, yes to freedom, but within respect for laws freely chosen by the majority. This is the foundation of democracy: adopting the will of the majority, even if very narrow. In 2011, it was broad enough to set supreme rules and strives to respect them at all costs. You must understand that freedom does not mean unlimited license. Democracy is based on a constitution and laws adopted by the people themselves. These laws define what is acceptable in public space. Your supporters, Mrs. Lachgar, often foreigners or fringe elements, must understand that it is Moroccans who decide on their laws, according to their history, culture, and values. It is not up to minorities, even vocal ones, or foreigners to this secular context, to redefine the rules of coexistence in a sovereign country. Yes, activism is vital and contributes to progress and the pushing of boundaries, but not sterile and counterproductive provocation such as you have just committed. It is also fair to acknowledge that Morocco has tolerated peaceful advances in favor of sexual minorities. Some of your acquaintances know this well. Debates, demands, and defense of individual rights are permitted, within legal and social frameworks. But when a public figure—as you are with your MALI—takes a "step too far" with a shocking gesture against the very essence of religion, this constitutes an unnecessary provocation, all the more serious when occurring in a sensitive period. You are a declared repeat offender who has so far gotten away with it. This shows a tolerance, albeit relative, but tolerance nonetheless, towards movements as marginal as yours. Minorities have always existed and always will, but you should understand that cohesion is a heavy responsibility of the state, and it is unacceptable to play with such a sovereign prerogative with multiple facets. Your arrest or administrative detention should not be seen solely as a sanction but rather as a protective measure. Would you have taken a few steps in public space with your T-shirt without becoming a target for a probable violent extremist, ready to resort to illegality? On the very day of your counterproductive gesture, police services uncovered yet another vehement extremist, ready according to his ideology to restore a "perfect world" where people like you have no place. It escapes you that Morocco firmly fights all forms of extremism, religious or ideological, and is an ideal target precisely because it accepts differences and diverse orientations, because it does its best to leave room and space for everyone. Freedom to think and live is precisely the opposite of extremism, whatever form it takes. Protecting social peace also means protecting those who sometimes unconsciously or knowingly contribute to destabilizing it, as you do. You may not know, but in France, a mayor had to suspend the screening of the film "Barbie," which promotes homosexuality, under pressure from some inhabitants of his municipality. This shows that even further north, there are still hostile reactions to your orientations. Morocco is a nation rooted in strong historical, cultural, and religious values, with certainly some hypocrisy. This is not a flaw but possibly a true asset. Individual freedom must be exercised within the framework of respect for democratically defined values and laws. Your mistake was to cross these boundaries, thus shaking one of the indisputable foundations of Moroccan identity. It is up to everyone, Moroccans and residents, to respect the country's tranquility and allow everyone the freedom to live in peace, without provoking or dividing.

Confiscated Freedoms: El Harrach and Tindouf, Two Faces of the Same Oppression... 690

Aziz Daouda, 4 d.
It was while reading, moved, the heartbreaking letter from Algerian writer Boualem Sansal, addressed ultimately to everyone, that the idea for these few lines came to me. In this letter, written from El-Harrach prison, Sansal fiercely denounces the political repression and arbitrary incarceration imposed by the Algerian regime. This denunciation quickly made me think of the tragic situation of the population confined by the same regime for nearly fifty years in the Tindouf camps in Algeria. My thoughts wandered randomly between the zealots who are there, like my high school friend Sadati, bearers of a chimera; those who stay there without even knowing why; those who have aged there; those buried there; and those born there. It is on these last that my thoughts particularly lingered. The Tindouf camps shelter a few thousand young people born in exile, rather exposed where their parents ultimately did not choose to be, under extremely harsh conditions. For many, they are not even originally from the coveted lands nor bear any claim. They mainly depend on humanitarian aid, live in total precariousness, and see their well-being deteriorate, while those living just a few miles away enjoy abundance, comfort, and rights. They did not ask to be there and dream, like all their peers, of a better life, which truly exists on the other side. Unlike a traditional prison with visible walls, like El Harrach, the Tindouf camps are an open-air prison, a constrained space where these youths are held without trial, without hope of freedom, nor any possibility of returning to their homeland—not by their own choice, but that of their jailers. The common point between El Harrach and Tindouf: the sordid game of a military regime from another era. This prolonged situation strikingly evokes the deprivation of freedom suffered by the detainees of Tindouf and the Algerian political prisoners Boualem Sansal describes in his letter. Both embody the same silenced voice, the same hope confiscated by the whims of officers who only carry the name, and by a military caporalism that, since 1962, continuously invents enemies, uses torture, repression, and deprivation of fundamental rights to maintain its grip on one of the richest countries in the world. This regime has stifled all democratic expression, from annulling election results to the spectacular assassination, broadcast live on television, of President Mohamed Boudiaf, sending a message of terror to the whole people. Recently, it brazenly repressed the peaceful Hirak protests and imprisoned their leaders. This regime no longer hesitates to mistreat even its most loyal servants. Randomly, prime ministers, ministers, high dignitaries, businessmen, generals, and journalists, even foreigners, find themselves subjected to quick trials where only the voice of their master resounds. They end up in the same prison, the famous El Harrach. In his letter, Sansal expresses the physical and moral pain of a man imprisoned for having evoked history, dared to defend justice and dignity. His words carry the voice of all those whom the regime seeks to silence. This captive voice painfully echoes the fate of the youngsters held in Tindouf, also deprived of their most basic freedoms and condemned to endless waiting in a desert environment, hostile and hopeless. Far from being a mere analogy, this comparison reveals a universal reality: whether behind bars or in the vast inhospitable desert, deprivation of freedom, forced exile, and broken hope remain the instruments of relentless political oppression. For these youths, the "march through an endless desert" is both a physical ordeal marked by extreme poverty, scorching heat, and isolation, and a metaphor for their quest for identity, dream of regaining their freedom, and joining the motherland. Beyond denunciation, in his letter, Sansal makes a solemn appeal to France, asking it not to sacrifice its values on the altar of mercantile contingencies. The same appeal is addressed to the international community, on behalf of the young detainees of Tindouf, so that human rights principles are not sacrificed on the altar of geopolitical interests. This appeal is all the more relevant facing the situation of these youths, many of whom are not even originally from the Moroccan Sahara but are still imprisoned in a situation of exile and oblivion. Thus, behind two different walls, a prison cell and undocumented, unrecognized refugee camps, lies the same tragedy: human beings reduced to waiting, to deprivation of liberty, and to a silent struggle not to disappear. This convergence highlights the urgency of strong humanitarian and political action to end these imprisonments so that freedom of thought, of living, and of deciding one’s own destiny is never again captured by an oppressive political machine, devised and implemented by an anachronistic military staff. Thank you, sir, for awakening in me this fiber of compassion, even pity, for young people who deserve to live a better future. I take here again Boualem Sansal’s words, which I address to the youth imprisoned in Tindouf: *"Fear is a prison larger than the one where I find myself, and it is harder to break. But I know that one day, the wall will fall. Dictators always end up falling."* Youth of Tindouf, You will break the barbed wire, you will cross the checkpoints to return home by the strength of your character and the power of your will. Your country, that of your ancestors, the Kingdom of Morocco, awaits you; the future opens its arms to you; life will smile upon you for eternity, you will taste freedom there, the joy of living, of building yourself and of ensuring a happy future for your children. Your dreams will come true there and your ambitions will be realized. You will be the continuation of your ancestors in a diverse and powerful nation as it has been for centuries. You will help enrich humanity by your knowledge, your creativity, your genius. You just have to dare.