Mayor Emanuel welcomes Ambassador Rachad Bouhlal from Kingdom of Morocco to Chicago
By Ray Hanania
“Meeting with Moroccan Ambassador Rachad Bouhlal highlights City’s strong partnership with Sister City Casablanca,” Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel says
Mayor Rahm Emanuel welcomed Ambassador Rachad Bouhlal from the Kingdom of Morocco to Chicago Thursday, to convey the City’s steadfast commitment towards maintaining strong Chicago- Morocco business relationships and furthering collaboration on innovative water infrastructure projects.
“I am pleased to welcome Ambassador Bouhlal to Chicago,” said Mayor Emanuel. “Since 1982, Chicago and Morocco have had one of the more active Sister City relationships in the world, working together to strengthen the bonds between the two cities through cultural, educational, humanitarian and economic projects,” said Mayor Emanuel.
“Today’s meeting marks yet another step in supporting this important relationship and helping the world view Chicago as a world-class city with world-class people.”
Mayor Emanuel and Ambassador Bouhlal also discussed a possible exchange between Chicago students and Casablanca students in connection with the City of Learning Digital Badging System, as well as the educational work done at the Center for Arabic Language and Culture – housed at Lindblom Math and Science Academy in the South Side’s West Englewood neighborhood.
In addition to his meeting with Mayor Emanuel, during his visit to Chicago Ambassador Bouhlal also met with the MacArthur Foundation, toured digital start-up hub 1871, and spoke at a program hosted at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs.
In 2013, total trade with Morocco totaled over $66 million. Currently, several Chicago-based companies operate in Morocco: Baker & McKenzie, Grant Thornton, Hyatt Regency, JLL, Leo Burnett, and QST industries.
Today’s meeting was another example of frequent exchange between Morocco and Chicago.
Since taking office in 2011, Mayor Emanuel has committed to improving Chicago’s international relationships, meeting with dignitaries from Britain, Germany, Mexico, India, China and Poland among many other nations.
Members of the American Arab community have criticized Mayor Emanuel, however, for gutting the Arab Advisory Commission, and canceling a dozen events with American Arabs that were previously hosted by Mayor Richard M. Daley. The events include the annual Arabesque Festival at the Daley Plaza, which had only begun five years prior, the annual Arab Heritage Month celebration, which had been held in Chicago for two decades, and several entertainment venues hosted by the City of Chicago Office of Special Events featuring American Arab and Arab World poets, writers, entertainers and speakers at the Cultural Center.
The mayor has declined to respond to inquiries from American Arab organizations, this news organization and community leaders. We continue to ask Mayor Emanuel to meet with the American Arab media and discuss these issues but he continues to reject all inquiries from American Arab media. He did give a lengthy interview to Neil Steinberg at the Chicago Sun-Times, and he has met with the Jewish Ethnic media.
Photo Credit: Brooke Collins // City of Chicago: Photo Caption: Mayor Emanuel welcomes Ambassador Rachad Bouhlal from the Kingdom of Morocco to Chicago.
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Ray Hanania is an award winning political and humor columnist who analyzes American and Middle East politics, and life in general. He is an author of several books.
Hanania covered Chicago Politics and Chicago City Hall from 1976 through 1992 at the Daily Southtown and the Chicago Sun-Times. He began writing in 1975 publishing The Middle Eastern Voice newspaper in Chicago (1975-1977). He later published “The National Arab American Times” newspaper (2004-2007).
Hanania writes weekly columns on Middle East and American Arab issues as Special US Correspondent for the Arab News ArabNews.com, at TheArabDailyNews.com, and at SuburbanChicagoland.com. He has published weekly columns in the Jerusalem Post newspaper, YNetNews.com, Newsday, the Orlando Sentinel, Houston Chronical, and Arlington Heights Daily Herald.
Hanania is the recipient of four (4) Chicago Headline Club “Peter Lisagor Awards” for Column writing. In November 2006, he was named “Best Ethnic American Columnist” by the New American Media. In 2009, Hanania received the prestigious Sigma Delta Chi Award for Writing from the Society of Professional Journalists. He is the recipient of the MT Mehdi Courage in Journalism Award. He was honored for his writing skills with two (2) Chicago Stick-o-Type awards from the Chicago Newspaper Guild. In 1990, Hanania was nominated by the Chicago Sun-Times editors for a Pulitzer Prize for his four-part series on the Palestinian Intifada.
His writings have also been honored by two national Awards from ADC for his writing, and from the National Arab American Journalists Association.
Hanania is the US Special Correspondent for the Arab News Newspaper, covering Middle East and Arab American issues. He writes for the Southwest News newspaper group writing on mainstream American issues.
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