Prince Moulay Hicham of Morocco

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Moulay
Hicham ben Abdallah Alaoui
الأمير مولاي هشام بن عبد الله
Prince Moulay Hicham pictured before a court in Casablanca
Born (1964-03-04) 4 March 1964 (age 60)
Rabat, Morocco
SpouseMalika Benabdelali
IssueSharifa Lalla Faiza Alaoui
Sharifa Lalla Hajar Alaoui
Names
Hicham ben Abdallah Alaoui
DynastyAlaouite
FatherPrince Moulay Abdallah
MotherLamia Solh
ReligionSunni Islam
Royal family of Morocco

Princess Lalla Latifa

Princess Lalla Lamia

Prince Moulay Hicham of Morocco (Arabic: الأمير مولاي هشام بن عبد الله; born 4 March 1964) is the first cousin of King Mohammed VI and Prince Moulay Rachid. He is the son of Prince Moulay Abdallah of Morocco, the late brother of the late King Hassan II, and Princess Lalla Lamia Solh, daughter of Riad Al Solh, the first Prime Minister of Lebanon. He is also the cousin of Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal of Saudi Arabia, whose mother Mona Al Solh is another daughter of the Lebanese family. Under the Moroccan constitution, Moulay Hicham stands fifth in the line of succession to the Alaouite throne.[citation needed]

In his youth, Prince Moulay Hicham garnered the nickname "Red Prince" because of his progressive political positions. Since the 1990s, he has become an outspoken advocate for constitutional monarchy in Morocco[1][2] and democracy in the broader Middle East.[3][4] These controversial positions have distanced him from the Moroccan palace, and are thought to have created personal conflict with King Mohammed VI and other political forces.[5] Partly for this reason, in recent years, he has attracted the new label of the "Rebel Prince."[6] In 2018, he publicly announced his desire to renounce his royal title and institutionally sever ties with the Moroccan monarchy.[7] In a widely watched January 2019 interview on BBC Arabic, the prince expressed his hope that while the Moroccan monarchy could eventually embark upon meaningful democratic reforms, he wished his role to be that of a scholarly advocate rather than a political figure.[8]

Prince Moulay Hicham regularly speaks on issues of human rights, democratic reform, and social movements at public forums around the world, among them the University of Málaga,[9] HEC Paris,[10] University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign,[11] Northwestern University,[12] Tufts University,[13] University of California at Berkeley,[14] Columbia University,[15] Harvard University,[16] and Yale University,[17] as well as prominent broadcast media like BBC News[18] and France 24.[19] Since the 1990s, he has also published numerous essays on political reform, democracy, religion, culture, and development in the Middle East in English, French, and Arabic language journals and newspapers.[20][21][22][23][24][25] During 2007-14, he served as a consulting professor at the Center for Democracy, Development, and Rule of Law at Stanford University.[26] Since 2018, he has been based at Harvard University at the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs.[27] He currently sits on the Weatherhead Center's Advisory Board, where he supports its academic programs.[28]

Professional activities[edit]

Personal life[edit]

As a member of the Moroccan royal family, Prince Moulay Hicham was raised in the palace quarter of Rabat alongside his brother and cousins, including the current King Mohammed VI. He attended the Rabat American School and graduated from Princeton University in 1985 with an A.B. in an independent concentration after completing a 137-page senior thesis titled "Sources of Success and Failure in the Palestinian National Movement."[39] As his father, Moulay Abdallah, died during his college education, the prince developed a close relationship with King Hassan.[40] He later attended Stanford University for graduate study, graduating in 1997 with an M.A. in political science. Many of these events are outlined in his memoirs, Journal d'un Prince Banni,[41] published in April 2014 to considerable controversy.[42]

In 2002, Prince Moulay Hicham relocated to Princeton, New Jersey with his family due to political tensions with King Mohammed VI and other elements of the Moroccan monarchy.[43] He was married in 1995 to Sharifa Lalla Malika Benabdelali, a cousin of the Moroccan businessman, RNI party luminary, and current Prime Minister Aziz Akhannouch. He has two daughters: Sharifa Lalla Faizah Alaoui (born 1996), who attended Yale University,[44] and Sharifa Lalla Haajar Alaoui (born 1999), who attended Princeton University.[45] In 2014, he began pursuing a D.Phil. research degree in Middle East studies at the University of Oxford, which he successfully defended in February 2020.[46]

Prince Moulay Hicham's positions have often instigated outside pressures, including personal and financial threats, as well as smear campaigns in Morocco's state-run media sector.[47] In August 2012, Moroccan MP Abdelhadi Khairat accused him of financial embezzlement, a charge that instigated a successful defamation lawsuit and Khairat's eventual apology for the allegations.[48] In May 2014, the French police arrested an individual on stalking charges at Orly Airport, who in turn claimed that several Moroccans had asked him to monitor the prince's movements.[49] In September 2017, he was controversially deported from Tunisia while scheduled to speak at an academic conference held by Stanford University for reasons suspected to be politically motivated.[50] In November 2018, he won a major libel trial in the United Kingdom against the Arabic-language Elaph media outlet, which had published a story accusing him to have plotted against the Moroccan monarchy.[51] That case was also notable in compelling British courts, in the wider context of UK law, to clarify and deepen the meaning of defamation within electronic publications.[52] In July 2021, the prince was revealed to be one of the targets of the NSO Group's Pegasus spyware as deployed by the Moroccan intelligence services.[53][54] In January 2023, he was expelled from Tunisia a second time for reasons believed to be political, after arriving to attend a conference organized by the French monthly Le Monde Diplomatique.[55]

Honours[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Stanford WebLogin". fsi.stanford.edu. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
  2. ^ "The Staying Power of Arab Monarchies". The New York Times. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
  3. ^ Al Jazeera, Riz Khan - Morocco's Prince Moulay Hicham - 03 Oct 07, archived from the original on 22 December 2021, retrieved 21 January 2019
  4. ^ "Prince Moulay Hicham El Alaoui of Morocco, cousin of King Mohammed VI - France 24". France 24. 17 February 2011. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
  5. ^ Whitaker, Brian (9 July 2001). "Moroccan prince denounces 'despotism'". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
  6. ^ Alami, Aida (9 May 2014). "Rebel Prince Shines a Harsh Light on Morocco". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 21 January 2019.
  7. ^ Koundouno, Tamba François (22 December 2018). "Prince Hicham El Alaoui: 'I Want to Sever Ties with Moroccan Monarchy'". Morocco World News. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
  8. ^ BBC Arabic, المشهد مع مولاي هشام العلوي من قصور الملكية في المغرب, retrieved 21 May 2019
  9. ^ Fundación General de la Universidad de Málaga (16 July 2011), Conferencia del Príncipe Moulay Hicham en la UMA (Ponencia 1/5), archived from the original on 22 December 2021, retrieved 24 February 2018
  10. ^ HECMondeArabe (3 February 2012), Conférence inaugurale d'HECMA avec Moulay Hicham Partie 1, archived from the original on 22 December 2021, retrieved 24 February 2018
  11. ^ "Conference on the New Middle East". newmiddleeast.csames.illinois.edu. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
  12. ^ MENA at Northwestern, Inaugural Conference - Moulay Hicham Ben Abdallah, archived from the original on 22 December 2021, retrieved 21 January 2019
  13. ^ "Lecture: Learning Happened on Both Sides of the Barricades".
  14. ^ UC Berkeley CMES, The Demise of Islamist Utopia: What's Next (Hicham Alaoui), archived from the original on 22 December 2021, retrieved 21 January 2019
  15. ^ "A Talk by Prince Moulay Hicham of Morocco | Columbia Global Centers". globalcenters.columbia.edu. Retrieved 21 January 2019.
  16. ^ Harvard Arab Alumni Association (10 December 2013), Harvard Arab Weekend 2013 | Prince Moulay Hicham Keynote | Harvard Law School - 7 November 2013, retrieved 24 February 2018
  17. ^ "Moroccan prince to deliver the Coca-Cola World Fund Lecture at Yale". YaleNews. 5 April 2016. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
  18. ^ BBC News Arabic, لمشهد مع مولاي هشام العلوي من قصور الملكية في المغرب [A scene with Moulay Hicham El Alawi from the royal palaces in Morocco], retrieved 20 March 2019
  19. ^ FRANCE 24, Hicham El Alaoui: "J'ai écrit au roi du Maroc pour ne plus faire partie de la monarchie", archived from the original on 22 December 2021, retrieved 22 January 2019{{citation}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  20. ^ "The Split in Arab Culture | Journal of Democracy". journalofdemocracy.org. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
  21. ^ "Are the Arab monarchies next?". Le Monde diplomatique. 1 January 2013. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
  22. ^ Alaoui, Hicham Ben Abdallah El (31 March 2013). "L'autre Maroc - Hicham Ben Abdallah El Alaoui - Pouvoirs, revue française d'études constitutionnelles et politiques". revue-pouvoirs.fr. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
  23. ^ Alaoui, Hicham (1 November 2018). "Échec de l'utopie islamiste". Le Monde diplomatique (in French). Retrieved 21 January 2019.
  24. ^ "Arabie saoudite: Mohammed Ben Salmane, une dangereuse tendance à l'arbitraire". L'Obs (in French). 5 January 2018. Retrieved 21 January 2019.
  25. ^ علوي, هشام (6 October 2021). "ژئوپلیتیک خلیج فارس، بازگشت قطر به جلوی صحنه، تضعیف امارات متحده عربی". Orient XXI (in Persian). Retrieved 3 June 2022.
  26. ^ "Professor, prince". Stanford Daily. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
  27. ^ Hicham Alaoui Profile at Weatherhead Center
  28. ^ "New Hicham Alaoui Fellowship Fund". wcfia.harvard.edu. Retrieved 15 October 2023.
  29. ^ "Partners Archive". Moulay Hicham Foundation. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
  30. ^ "Research partnership with the University of Gothenburg". Moulay Hicham Foundation. 25 August 2019. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
  31. ^ جدلية, Jadaliyya-. "The Political Economy of Education in the Arab World: An Interview with Hicham Alaoui". Jadaliyya - جدلية. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
  32. ^ University, Princeton. "The Institute for the Transregional Study of the Contemporary Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia - Home". princeton.edu. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
  33. ^ University, © Stanford; Stanford; California 94305. "The Program on Arab Reform and Democracy Homepage". cddrl.fsi.stanford.edu. Retrieved 3 June 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  34. ^ "โรงไฟฟ้าพลังงานชีวมวลเชื้อเพลิงแกลบ ช่วยหนุนรัฐแก้วิกฤตน้ำมันแพง". thailandindustry.com (in Thai). Retrieved 22 January 2019.
  35. ^ "MOROCCO : 'Red prince' Moulay Hicham hopes to mend royal fences for the sake of his businesses - 29/01/2021". Africa Intelligence. 29 January 2021. Retrieved 15 October 2023.
  36. ^ "A WHISPER TO A ROAR | They will be heard". awhispertoaroar.com. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
  37. ^ "Un prince au Kosovo". LExpress.fr (in French). 13 April 2000. Retrieved 22 January 2019.
  38. ^ Carter Center, "Observing the 1998-99 Nigeria Elections," Final Report, Summer 1999, https://aceproject.org/ero-en/regions/africa/NE/niger-final-report-general-elections-ndi-and.
  39. ^ Abdallah, Hicham Den. Princeton University Independent Concentration Program (ed.). "Sources of Success and Failure in the Palestinian National Movement". {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  40. ^ Majid, Anouar (25 May 2014). "The Impossible Dreams of a Moroccan Prince". Tingis Magazine. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
  41. ^ Alaoui, Moulay Hicham el (9 April 2014). Journal d'un prince banni: Demain, le Maroc. Paris: Grasset. ISBN 9782246851653.
  42. ^ FRANCE 24 English (9 April 2014), Moulay Hicham El Alaoui, Morocco's 'rebel prince', archived from the original on 22 December 2021, retrieved 24 February 2018{{citation}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  43. ^ "Morocco's 'Red Prince' departs for US". 23 January 2002. Retrieved 22 January 2019.
  44. ^ Kasraoui, Safaa (4 June 2018). "Prince Moulay Hicham Calls King Mohammed VI to Thank Him following His Daughter's Graduation". Morocco World News. Retrieved 21 January 2019.
  45. ^ "LA FILLE DU PRINCE MOULAY HICHAM OBTIENT SON DIPLÔME DE PRINCETON – Hola Maroc" (in French). Retrieved 15 October 2023.
  46. ^ "Moulay Hicham pose aux côtés de sa mère après la présentation de sa thèse". 4 February 2020. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
  47. ^ "From a royal palace to ivy halls: A dissident's view of the Arab Spring". Harvard Gazette. 23 December 2019. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
  48. ^ "Abdelhadi Khairat s'excuse, Moulay Hicham retire sa plainte". Bladi.net (in French). Retrieved 22 January 2019.
  49. ^ Sourgo, Youssef (31 March 2014). "France: French Man Arrested for Stalking Prince Moulay Hicham". Morocco World News. Retrieved 21 January 2019.
  50. ^ "Tunisia expels Moroccan prince who came to discuss 'democratic transition'". Middle East Eye. Retrieved 22 January 2019.
  51. ^ Tobitt, Charlotte (13 November 2018). "Arabic news website pays out to prince over 'seriously defamatory' claims he plotted against king". Press Gazette. Retrieved 21 January 2019.
  52. ^ "Case Law: Prince Moulay v Elaph Publishing, Moroccan Prince wins libel and data protection appeal against Arabic news publisher – Simon Brown". Inforrm's Blog. 7 February 2017. Retrieved 21 January 2019.
  53. ^ "« Projet Pegasus » : au Maroc, le cyberespionnage s'étend jusqu'à la famille et à l'entourage du roi Mohammed VI". Le Monde.fr (in French). 21 July 2021. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
  54. ^ "Pegasus: From its own king to Algeria, the infinite reach of Morocco's intelligence services". Middle East Eye. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
  55. ^ Aamari, Oussama (19 January 2023). "Tunisia Prevents Prince Hicham from Entering Country". Morocco World News. Retrieved 14 October 2023.
  56. ^ President of the Republic's website

External links[edit]

Royal titles
Preceded by
Prince Moulay Ahmed
 Line of succession to the Moroccan Throne
4th in line 		Next:
Prince Moulay Ismail of Morocco
as Prince Moulay Ismail
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