''Lissan-ul-Maghreb'' () was a Moroccan arabophone newspaper established in Tangier in 1907. It was founded by two Lebanese brothers, Faraj-Allah Namor and

Artur Namor Artur is a cognate to the common male given name Arthur, meaning "bear-like," which is believed to possibly be descended from the Roman surname Artorius or the Celtic bear-goddess Artio or more probably from the Celtic word ''artos'' ("bear"). Ot ...

. It famously printed the , as well as open letters to Abdelaziz and then Abd al-Hafid.

History

''Lissan-ul-Maghreb'' was founded in 1907 by two Lebanese brothers, Faraj-Allah Namor (), a literary man born in Sidon in 1865, and his brother

, a gifted journalist. They had traveled to Europe, Morocco, South America, Tripoli, Tunis, Paris, and London before arriving in Tangier January 1906 in search of work, hoping to establish an Arabic publication. The German consulate in Tangier was eager to found an arabophone publication to support German interests in Morocco, and from it the Namor brothers received the necessary support. They sourced all necessary furnishings from the Catholic Press in Beirut (). The first issue of ''Lissan-ul-Maghreb'' was published February 8, 1907. It was an arabophone weekly newspaper consisting of four pages, with Faraj-Allah as the political director and Artus as the editor-in-chief. With French encouragement, supporters of Abdelaziz founded ''as-Sabaah'' () in Tangier in 1904. At the time of the '' Hafidiya'' (1907-1908), the

fratricidal Fratricide (, from the Latin words ' "brother" and the assimilated root of ' "to kill, to cut down") is the act of killing one's own brother. It can either be done directly or via the use of either a hired or an indoctrinated intermediary (a ...

struggle between Abdelaziz and Abdelhafid for the Moroccan throne, the French arabophone newspaper '' Es-Saada'' supported Abdelaziz. ''Lissan-ul-Maghreb'' printed open letters to Abdelaziz and then Abd al-Hafid. In the ''Lissan-ul-Maghreb'' issue of February 14, 1908, the newspaper confirmed the sale of the newspaper to the Makhzen of Sultan Abdelhafid and that the editors would be working for him. In the months following the signature of the sale, things proceeded well, but after about a year, the Makhzen did not uphold its financial responsibilities and the Namor brothers began to publish defamatory content on the Makhzen, criticizing the state on all fronts. In 1908, Abd al-Hafid ordered the creation of the newspaper '' al-Fajar'' (), first appearing June 27, 1908, which would promote his views''.{{Cite journal, last=العفاقي, first=رشيد, title=الصحافة اللبنانية الهاجرة إلى طنجة (1889-1911م), url=https://tafahom.mara.gov.om/storage/al-tafahom/ar/2014/044/pdf/17.pdf, journal=مدن وثقافات, language=ar''

References

Arabic-language newspapers Newspapers established in 1908 Defunct newspapers published in Morocco