By Garry T. Ansdell
Special to ASSIST News Service 

CASABLANCA, MOROCCO (ANS) – My recent destination was Casablanca in Morocco, North Africa. I wasn’t going there without some background on this fabled city as I had watched the classic movie Casablanca staring Humphrey Bogart.

However, somehow real life doesn’t match up. The airport was larger and

there was no fog or a girl waiting. It was just a lot of their brand of homeland security doing their job, and teaching me patience.

My reason for being there was all together different too. My associate and co-founder of Ambassadors for Peace, Inc., Ameal Haddad, and I were meeting up with leaders who live in Morocco to attempt a new type of dialog between religions. Some have tried the “one-size fits all” approach, but most of us look strange in someone else’s comfortable fit.

Contrasting this, the “Religious Rights Resolution” we had brought with us, has never been tried before. It allows for the uniqueness of each religion.

Ameal and I had been to Cairo Egypt, where the traffic is similar, and we had the opportunity meet with the “Pope of the Muslim Sunnis” in 2002. He agreed with the content and signed the Resolution. Two years later the Catholic Pope has offered to meet with him to discuss among other things the Ambassadors for Peace resolution.

But, back to my story, I want to tell you about driving through Casablanca. (I didn’t say “the city” because I like saying Casablanca). This place is like many cities outside the USA — absolute chaos. The chaos is very ordered though, like American jazz. In America, we have a law for just about everything, especially driving. There are laws for when to make a U turn or double park or staying out of the space between two cars to get past slow moving traffic. I soon discovered that the Moroccan has less road rage, yet weaves in and out of traffic with a respectful ease. They are trusted to do logical things like double park if the traffic allows and when a cop comes up, he says “It’s getting busy, don’t stay too long.”

Running red lights are forbidden of course, but driving down a one way street twenty feet to get to a parking space is ok, just do it safely.

Casablanca’s traffic is one thing, but the pedestrians who come and go between cars are a dance of unbelievable trust. Of course Casablanca does have more accidents than any other place in Morocco.

The people are laugh out loud, enjoy a good meal, eat with their hands, and are kind of neighbors. We are, after all, closer to each other than first appears. I always thought of them on camels, not in cars, dressed in robes not blue jeans. Some say only six people or contacts separate us from anyone anywhere in the world.

During our trip, Ameal and I went to LaYonne in the Sahara desert. They’re tying to work out independence, or not, with Morocco, but were there to talk about religious independence, not the politics of the day.

They were so gracious to us. Like most people, when you’re invited to their home, they prepare their best. The towering camel was a surprise of dining delight, especially since it was still alive when we got there. It’s as easy as killing a chicken for them, but it sure is bigger. Next time I go there I think I will wait for Ramadan. This is a time of fasting for the Muslims. Each religion has its special days and beliefs.

Ameal and myself founded Ambassadors for Peace, as a non profit 501c3 corporation that provides people of faith from every religion, even atheists, a resolution that defines individual freedoms. It was penned after the terror of 911 to attempt to provide answers outside the political or extremist circles.

Bombings in London, Casablanca, Manhattan, Spain and on and on need to be dwelt with by the governments and laws of their lands but what about the individuals, the roots of the trees of government. The Religious Rights defines a new beginning and some hope for the future.

I finally went for a walk in the desert to see if Peter O’Toole was anywhere to found. I did see a little sand colored lizard. I thought to my self; this lizard has never seen New York or Los Angeles or Casablanca even, but he or she is here in the desert and it looks content. He lost his friend today, the camel. It must have bothered him but he went on his way. He is, after all, a lizard.