Western Sahara has the dubious distinction of being the subject of probably the most forgotten-about post-colonial conflict in the world. Until 1975, the Spanish government considered Western Sahara a Spanish province, just as much an integral part of its territory as any of its provinces in the Iberian peninsula. However, at the beginning of the 70s, a burgeoning pro-independence movement, and increasing appetites of its Northern and Southern neighbours, Marocco and Mauritania, led to a UN visiting mission in early 1975, which found that "there was an overwhelming consensus among Saharans within the Territory in favour of independence and opposing integration with any neighbouring country". This finding was given additional support by an opinion by the International Court of Justice supporting the Sahrawis right to self-determination against the claims of neighbouring nations. [more inside]
posted by Skeptic on Nov 30, 2009 - 35 comments

One Last Journey. "Cars these days, they're like washing machines." (Not Clarkson...)
posted by parmanparman on Jan 24, 2008 - 13 comments

Moroccan Argan Trees threatened by climbing goats.
More pictures of goats in trees.
posted by Partial Law on Jan 5, 2007 - 50 comments

Pioneering Anthropologist Clifford Geertz Dies. An era ends.
posted by Seth_Messinger on Oct 31, 2006 - 55 comments

Images of daily life Photoessays of daily life in Morocco, Yemen and Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, and Hong Kong. [An update on a plep thread from 2003, and some nice armchair travel for a Sunday morning]
posted by carter on Dec 4, 2005 - 8 comments

Iwan.com has lots of nice photos of interesting places and people and an inoffensive site layout.
posted by ab'd al'Hazred on Dec 1, 2005 - 21 comments

"She didn't seem to care for the hawker selling goats' heads. But she did stop when a young, well-dressed fellow ambled over to her and said: 'You have captured my liver.'" This and other stories from a very well-detailed article on the three-day dating festival of the Berbers of Morocco.
posted by XQUZYPHYR on Sep 12, 2003 - 5 comments

In May 1999, Chris and Erin Ratay quit their jobs, sold their Upper West Side Manhattan apartment, and shipped their motorcycles to Morocco to begin a trip around the world. Now, four years, 50 countries, and 100,000 miles later, they're back home. They've kept a continuously updated web journal over the past four years, available here. Ignore the unfortunate font and JavaScript choices and read this couple's incredible story.
posted by grrarrgh00 on Aug 11, 2003 - 7 comments