Aida Alami

Casablanca

Freelance Reporter at Freelance

Reporter. Mostly migration/human rights. Words in @nytimes, @nybooks + other places. @ColumbiaJourn visiting prof/alum. Contributor @OurWomenOTG. Travel addict

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Articles

The Radical Courage of Noor Abdalla

2 weeks ago | newyorker.com | Aida Alami

Last Sunday, Noor Abdalla drove from her apartment in Morningside Heights to St. Paul and St. Andrew United Methodist Church, on the Upper West Side. She was with her sister and her month-old son, Deen; the occasion was an alternative graduation ceremony for students at colleges and universities in New York who had been expelled or suspended for protesting Israel’s war in Gaza.
Take It or Leavitt

1 month ago | cjr.org | Aida Alami

Sign up for The Media Today, CJRâs daily newsletter. Some days ago, before stepping into the White House briefing room, Karoline Leavitt took a few moments to pray. âLord Jesus, please give us the strength, the knowledge, the ability to articulate our words,â she said. Leavittâwho, at twenty-seven, is the youngest person to hold the position of press secretaryâwore a short-sleeve gray Chanel-inspired dress, and held a stack of papers. She is Catholic.
Q&A: Omar El Akkad on the War in Gaza and the Failure of Journalistic Institutions

2 months ago | cjr.org | Aida Alami

Sign up for The Media Today, CJRâs daily newsletter. In the weeks after October 7, 2023, Omar El Akkad, the author and journalist, posted on X about Israelâs intense bombardment of Gaza: âOne day, when it’s safe, when there’s no personal downside to calling a thing what it is, when it’s too late to hold anyone accountable, everyone will have always been against this.â The post went viral.
As Morocco's King Urges People Not to Kill Sheep for 'Big Eid,' Many Are Relieved

Mar 7, 2025 | nytimes.com | Aida Alami |Amelia Nierenberg

Moroccan families usually celebrate Eid al-Adha, the Feast of Sacrifice, with prayers at the mosque in the morning and sizzling meat skewers at night. But in recent years, many have been unable to afford basic necessities - much less the cost of a sheep to slaughter for one of Islam's holiest festivals.
Connecting the Dots in Coverage of Trump and Islamophobia

Mar 6, 2025 | cjr.org | Aida Alami

Sign up for The Media Today, CJRâs daily newsletter. In 1981âin the wake of the Iran hostage crisis, an attack on the United States embassy in Tehran, which Time magazine described as a disaster of âmutual incomprehensionââEdward Said published Covering Islam, an examination of how Western media represents, and mishandles, Muslim life and imagery.
France Aligns With Morocco on Western Sahara, Angering Algeria

Jul 30, 2024 | nytimes.com | Aida Alami |Aurelien Breeden

France has backed a plan for the autonomy of the long-disputed Western Sahara territory under Moroccan sovereignty, a diplomatic shift that immediately provoked condemnation from Algeria, a former French colony and Morocco's rival in the region.
Why More French Youth Are Voting for the Far Right

Jul 4, 2024 | nytimes.com | Aurelien Breeden |Aida Alami |Dmitry Kostyukov

In the 1980s, a French punk rock band coined a rallying cry against the country's far right that retained its punch over decades. The chant, still shouted at protests by the left, is "La jeunesse emmerde le Front National," which cannot be translated well without curse words, but essentially tells the far right to get lost. That crude battle cry is emblematic of what had been conventional wisdom not only in France, but also elsewhere - that young people often tilt left in their politics.
¿Por qué están reñidos patrimonio y vivienda en Marruecos?

Nov 22, 2023 | eltiempo.com | Aida Alami

AGADIR, Marruecos — Boujemaa Kouti aún recuerda los gritos de sus vecinos atrapados bajo los escombros de sus casas, pidiendo ayuda aquella horrible noche hace 63 años. Tenía sólo 8 años y dormía cuando un gran terremoto azotó Marruecos en 1960, acabando con barrios enteros en la ciudad costera de Agadir, cerca de las montañas del Atlas, y matando a al menos 12 mil personas. “Vi estrellas cuando me desperté”, dijo Kouti, y luego escuchó “a gente gritando ‘¡Sálvenme!’ —llamando a su familia”.
After Earthquake Morocco Debates How To Rebuild

Nov 18, 2023 | theafrica.co.za | Aida Alami

As Morocco Tries to Rebuild After Quake, Tradition Is Top of Many Minds Experts say the government should preserve cultural and architectural heritage, while also building disaster-resistant homes. In the meantime, residents are living in tents and in limbo. The Agadir Oufella, a fortress in Morocco, was damaged during an earthquake in 1960 but has been restored more recently. Credit...
As Morocco Tries to Rebuild After Quake, Tradition Is Top of Many Minds

Nov 18, 2023 | nytimes.com | Aida Alami

Boujemaa Kouti still remembers the screams of his neighbors trapped under the rubble of their houses, calling for help that horrific night 63 years ago. He was just 8 and asleep when a large earthquake struck Morocco in 1960, wiping out entire neighborhoods in the coastal city of Agadir, near the Atlas Mountains, and killing at least 12,000 people.