In Which an Obscure Tribal Sport from Hawaii Jumps Two Oceans and Washes up on Islam's Western Shore
Like Beirut in the early eighties, Morocco stands at a crossroads. Practically next door, Libya is being torn apart by civil war while Morocco, a pacific monarchy with a king who is both a committed surfer and a direct descendent of the Prophet Mohammed, remains an adventurer’s mecca and a gateway into Arabia. On April 28th, 2011, a deadly suicide attack in Marrakech’s iconic Djemma al-Fna square underlined the fragility of Morocco’s achievements. Still, desite the lingering threat of religious violence and the growing political unrest, Morocco remains (for the moment) one of the most accessible and cosmopolitan Arab countries.
The water does funny things to the eye. Makes those upon it look back at their terrestrial home with a kind of fateful judgment, as if afloat past the end of the known world one can see the ends of other things. Can surfing change a man, open his heart to new experiences, ways of seeing the shore-bound world? Can different people on the water come to see each other in a new light? Can an American have an authentic, unmilitarized experience in the Arab world? These are the questions I’m pursuing. As a former Marine officer and war correspondent, I’m curious to see what humanity can be rescued from the last decade of war. To see what genuine personal adventures might be possible in the Muslim world, to explore the ways in which globalized sport and liberalized Arab youth are changing our world.
What I propose is to travel board in-hand to Rabat, Morocco and paddle out with the Oudayas Surf Club, a singular waveriding organization founded by the current head of state, King Mohammed VI. I’ve also been in contact with the founder of the Moroccan Surf Federation who has agreed to host me for a couple days while I am there. The idea with both of these encounters is to explore Morocco’s pressure points, the intersection of issues between the era-defining Arab Spring, and, most importantly, to put a human face to modern Arabia through the conduit of surfing.
I am partnering with The Surfer's Journal and Foreign Policy to publish this story. I will be doing a 3-4,000 word feature on Moroccan surf culture for The Surfer's Journal as well as a short piece and photo slide show for Foreign Policy's website. The Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting is supporting this story with a $2,000 travel grant.
David J. Morris is a former Marine officer. He has covered the wars in Iraq & Afghanistan for Salon and the Virginia Quarterly Review since 2003. His work has appeared The Surfer's Journal, Slate, Foreign Policy and The Best American Nonrequired Reading series.
