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The State Parliamentary Council of Communities of Roots and Foreign Cultures (CONSECRE) announced last week that a Palestinian Brazilian citizen has been given a prerstigious award “Honouring Community Personalities” in the State of Sao Paulo, which is home to thousands of Palestinians in exile.
Dr Jamal Suleiman was given the award at an official ceremony in the Legislative Assembly of the State of Sao Paulo, for his work in preserving the memory and cultural identity of the Palestinian people and their original country.
Palestinian Brazilians are respected for their contributions to the socioeconomic development of Sao Paulo and Brazil. Suleiman is the second member of the Palestinian community honoured in this way since the CONSECRE was created in 2001.
“This award is a great honour! I received the news with great joy and pride as a Palestinian,” Dr Jamal told me. “I understand how important this award is for our Palestinian community who started to come to Brazil at least 130 years ago. Now we all experience the pain of exile and have done ever since the 1948 Nakba.”
He pointed out that one of the most prominent characteristics of the Palestinian community in Brazil is the ability to integrate into society and accept others without forgetting their origin, heritage, culture and motherland.
Jamal Suleiman is a well-known Palestinian Brazilian specialist in infectious diseases. He is from a Palestinian family from Silwad, a town to the north-east of Ramallah. His father was living in Haifa when he was expelled during the 1948 ethnic cleansing by Zionist terror gangs. He ended up in Brazil, where his son Jamal was born in 1959 in the State of Sao Paulo. The doctor graduated from the faculty of medicine in 1983.
Suleiman´s story is similar to that of millions of Palestinians living in exile from the land that their families had farmed for generations. It illustrates the fact that Palestinian refugees are living examples of patience and, in many cases, success in the diaspora. Neither the trauma of exile nor the pain of their loss has broken their spirit. On the contrary, their collective experiences have made them stronger.
Dr Suleiman has had an outstanding medical career since the 1980s. He works as a doctor and researcher at the Emilio Ribas Institute, one of the oldest and most important health institutions in Brazil. He rose to prominence within the wider Brazilian community during the Covid-19 pandemic as one of the most sought-after experts due to his direct work in the fight against the disease. He is currently active in training undergraduate medical students.
“I work in Emilio Ribas Hospital that is considered as a reference point for infectious diseases by the World Health Organisation. In addition, I am a focus for Arab patients in the hospital because I speak Arabic. I know the issues related to our Palestinian culture and how we should reveal it in the wider Brazilian community,” he explained.
As an active member of the Palestinian community in Brazil, Suleiman has worked for years to raise awareness about the situation in Palestine. “I know what it means to be a refugee from 1948; I know the pain and suffering of the people who were torn from their roots by force. Unfortunately, this bad situation continues to this day through the continuous violations of the Israeli occupation of Palestine.”
In addition to his work in public health sector, Dr Suleiman has followed his passion to make food products from peppers. “Pimento do Jamal” is now a gourmet brand in Brazil. It has been active since 2010 with dozens of products, ranging from pepper jellies and sauces to peppers with an original Palestinian taste.
He now dedicates some of his time to make the brand represent Palestinian culture and identity. He believes that food can spread knowledge and preserve this valuable asset, while making guests talk about typical Palestinian food. Suleiman has appeared on popular TV programmes to promote Palestinian dishes, including the well-known Makluba.
“One of my hobbies is cooking and making Palestinian traditional dishes, which I think is very important because I can present Palestinian culture through serving food. I find that there is great interaction by the wider Brazilian society towards our culture; they taste our food and they want to know more about us.”
He sees this as both a humanitarian mission and a national duty. “I have Palestinian families living here and there in Palestine. We will never give up. We are all together and we will not leave anything behind. My heart and mind are with the Palestinians in that part of the world.”
Razan Al-Ajmmi plans to open international school in Saudi Arabia
People should visit ‘to see the beauty of the land from the sky,’ she says
Razan Al-Ajmmi, Saudi Arabia’s first licensed woman skydiver, has the lofty ambition of opening a school to help others take to the skies.
She outlined her plans during a recent interview on The Mayman Show by Arab News.
“I want to have like international competitions. I want to see the people around the world coming to Saudi Arabia, to my country, to see the beauty of the land from the sky,” she said.
Al-Ajmmi said it was difficult for her to start skydiving because Saudi Arabia has no schools, which forced her to seek training and jumps abroad.
She was determined to follow her passion. “If I don’t have something in my place, in my home, it doesn’t mean that is like an excuse or (should) stop me,” she said.
Al-Ajmmi said her first jump, about four years ago, was just a spontaneous try. After that experience, she quickly became a fan of the sport. “After the first jump, and when I just landed, I went to my instructor, and I say: ‘Hey man, I want to be a skydiver. I want this,’” she said.
Al-Ajmmi said she enjoys everything about the extreme sport, including the mental and physical challenges.
“I always like (having) freedom to do what I want to do in my life. And the idea of flying in the sky and you just fly, there is no rules, nothing except the safety rules. And you can do everything in the sky. This is what I like in the skydiving, I just go out from the plane and being in the sky, flying, move my body and do whatever I want to do,” she said.
Al-Ajmmi said she had to go through several levels of training to get an A-license, which requires a minimum of 25 jumps. The top level is a D-license, which is achieved after getting A and B accreditations.
All skydivers must complete an Accelerated Freefall course, a kind of bootcamp. This is for beginners to learn freefall techniques, canopy control, and emergency procedures, which would lead to solo jumps, she explained.
She recognizes the risks associated with skydiving and stressed that split-second decisions are often needed to prevent major errors and accidents. She said safety measures include the automatic opening of a second parachute.
The adrenaline enthusiast has advice for those wanting to try the sport. “Always try before (making) decisions. If you have a chance … just use them, take them, try and work hard. Life is not easy. Nothing is easy. You cannot take your things like by (an) easy way. What comes easy, goes easy.”
Morocco’s King Mohammed VI presides at the Royal Palace in Rabat the presentation ceremony of the model of the first Moroccan car manufacturer “Neo Motors” and the prototype of a hydrogen vehicle “NamX” developed by a Moroccan.
Morocco’s King Mohammed VI presided, on Monday at the Royal Palace in Rabat the presentation ceremony of the model of the first Moroccan car manufacturer and the prototype of a hydrogen vehicle developed by a Moroccan, two innovative projects that will strengthen the promotion of the “Made In Morocco” label and consolidate the Kingdom’s position as a competitive automotive production platform.
The presentation to the King of the car of “Neo Motors”, a company owned by Moroccan capital, and of the prototype of a hydrogen vehicle of the company NamX, named HUV (Hydrogen Utility Vehicle), underlines the Sovereign’s willingness to encourage and promote the pioneering national entrepreneurial initiatives and the creative capacities, particularly of the Moroccan youth, that these projects embody.
These two industrial initiatives are in line with the High Royal Directions aiming at directing the private sector towards productive investment, in particular in the advanced and future sectors and at stimulating the emergence of a new generation of companies in the Kingdom.
They also confirm the King’s far-sighted vision in terms of sustainable development and the promotion of renewable energies, particularly the emerging field of green hydrogen.
Neo Motors company has set up an industrial unit in Ain Aouda (Rabat-Salé-Kenitra Region), to manufacture motor vehicles for the local market and for export, with a projected annual capacity of 27,000 units and a local integration rate of 65%.
The total projected investment for this project amounts to 156 million dirhams ($15.6 million) and will eventually create 580 jobs.
The final approval of the first vehicle was issued by the National Agency for Road Safety in February 2023. The company has launched the pre-production and plans to inaugurate the industrial unit during the month of June 2023 and to launch the marketing.
This project, which gives birth to the first Moroccan consumer car brand, is carried by national skills. It relies mainly on the ecosystem of local automotive suppliers developed by the Kingdom.
As for the prototype of the hydrogen vehicle of NamX, it was designed in collaboration with the Italian design office and coachbuilder of reference Pininfarina. The interior design of the vehicle has been realized by Moroccan talents.
Indeed, the HUV model will be supplied with hydrogen by a central tank that will be completed by six removable capsules, guaranteeing a significant autonomy and facilitating the hydrogen recharge in a few minutes.
This pilot project places Morocco firmly in the ongoing worldwide momentum to develop new forms of transport that combine efficiency and respect for the environment.
The monarch awarded the Wissam Al Kafaa Al Fikria to Nassim Belkhayat, founder and CEO of Neo Motors company, and Faouzi Annajah, President and founder of NamX company.
Dr Hamada Elkady, executive director of Delta Farm, believes that the Egyptian desert has the potential to be a successful shrimp producing region.
Dr Elkady has been the executive director of Delta Farm – a tilapia and shrimp farm in Wadi El Natrun – since 2019.
Can you briefly describe your aquaculture career?
I obtained a doctorate and a master’s degree in aquaculture, but upon graduation, I worked as the production manager of the Al-Amana Feed Factory until 2013. Then I worked in tilapia farms for my family in Kafr El-Sheikh. I have been the director of Delta tilapia and shrimp farm in Wadi El Natrun since 2019.
What inspired you to become a shrimp farmer?
We were looking for an alternative to tilapia culture, and shrimp was the ideal solution. What helped us were the factors available at our Wadi El Natrun farm, such as the salinity of the water and the appropriate climate for vannamei shrimp culture.
What were the main challenges to overcome when you set the farm up?
The first aquaculture season there in 2019 was dedicated to Nile tilapia culture. We started trialling vannamei shrimp farming in 2021 in two ponds and the success of the trial was an incentive for us to convert more of the farm to shrimp production, and perhaps move purely to shrimp in the future.
A key challenge was to search for a place with a water source with a suitable salinity for aquaculture, which was also close to the markets. After that, the design of the farm itself, in order to save energy, adjust production intensity, improve feed conversion ratios and ensure the best waste disposal methods.
Can you provide as many details as possible about the scale, design and operation of the farm?
The total land area is 70 acres and includes nine 70 by 70 metre ponds lined with polyethylene, in addition to four 40 by 40 metre ponds used for rearing and nursery. The ponds are fed by groundwater from wells and we use the waste water in a hydroponic component, which produces crops that tolerate salt, such as alfalfa (Medicago sativa) and the Barhi date palm (Phoenix dactylifera ‘Barhi’) in the parts of the farm with no ponds.
How many tonnes does the farm currently produce per year?
Our production is mixed between tilapia and shrimp. There are three shrimp ponds with a production average of 2.6 tonnes of shrimp, with production sizes ranging from 30 to 40 shrimp per kilogram. There are also four nursery tanks each holding 100,000 shrimp larvae. The current year’s production consisted of one cycle of shrimp because we are still developing a plan to produce more than one cycle.
Meanwhile, we produce around 135 tonnes of tilapia from six ponds, selling them at sizes ranging from 250 to 350 grams.
What does a typical day’s work consist of on the farm?
Most of the day is split between the disposal of organic waste from the ponds, which we do three times, and feeding, which takes place four times. We also take samples to ensure that the water conditions are good.
Dr Elkady next to one of the shrimp ponds at Delta Farm
The farm has three shrimp ponds with a production average of 2.6 tonnes of shrimp, while six additional ponds produce around 135 tonnes of tilapia
What was the project’s original goal and what has been achieved so far?
The original goal was to produce high-quality fish in an area far from all sources of pollution and with the highest production rates. Next season, we aim to produce 10 tonnes of shrimp per acre, and then ramp this up until we reach optimal global production rates.
What are the most important factors for ensuring efficient shrimp production in a desert environment?
The salinity level of the water source needs to be reasonable for shrimp culture, and the level of 20-30 ppt has the advantage of high feed conversion rates and low disease incidence.
A sandy loam soil which retains water can save the cost of lining the ponds with polyethylene
A reliable source of electricity to operate the aerators and pumps from the wells – solar energy can reduce costs.
Trained workers and experience are required because aquaculture in the desert differs greatly from other climates.
What impact has the rising costs of inputs such as feeds had on you?
The rise in feed prices represents a major challenge but the price of shrimp is still high enough to make profits. However, it is harder to make profits from tilapia.
What regions and production systems have the most scope for shrimp farming growth in the coming years?
Promising production systems depend mainly on the type of surrounding environment and the availability of water, but in desert lands, intensive and semi-intensive systems – including biofloc and recirculation aquaculture systems (RAS) – are among the best options.
One of the most promising areas for aquaculture in Egypt is the Al Maghrah area in Matrouh Governorate, which is characterised by good soil, a suitable climate and a water source with suitable salinity.
How would you like your farm to develop in the coming years?
The most important part of our development plan is installing alternative energy sources, such as solar panels, and developing the nursery unit so that we can do more than one cycle of shrimp per season. We are also looking to cover the ponds with polytunnels.
The Banker highlighted Jouahri’s strategies to safeguard Morocco’s economic stability in 2023, as well as his dedication to social causes.
International financial affairs magazine The Banker has named the Governor of Morocco’s Bank Al-Maghrib (BAM) Abdellatif Jouahri Africa’s Central Bank of the Year 2024.
Earning the top spot for Africa in the Financial Times-owned outlet’s ranking highlightedJouahri’s leadership in the African banking sector, as well as his contributions during a period of remarkable growth and resilience.
Jouahri’s tenure spans two decades, marked by his adept steering of Morocco’s banking sector and the broader economy.
The Banker acknowledged Jouahri’s role in the relief efforts following the devastating Al Haouz earthquake that hit central Morocco in September of 2023.
The magazine noted that Bank Al-Maghrib, Morocco’s central bank, donated MAD 1 billion to the country’s relief fund for the earthquake, and “was quick to offer support for sectors of the economy most impacted by the tragedy.”
In addition, the Banker lauded Jouahri’s decisions, including BAM’s “relative success” in tackling inflation. The Moroccan central bank was one of the first African central banks to hold interest rates in 2023, after lifting them to 3% in March, allowing the economy to absorb the impact of rate rises.
“After a slight uptick in August, the bank continued to hold its nerve, a move that was vindicated by inflation falling back down to 4.3% in October from a high of 10.1% in February,” the magazine explained.
The Banker also highlighted the launch of Morocco’s instant payment system (IPS) in June, which aimed to advance the country’s financial infrastructure.
Commenting on the recognition, Jouahri expressed “considerable satisfaction” for receiving the top spot in the ranking, emphasizing the key role of central banks in overcoming global challenges.
“I am convinced of central banks’ pivotal role in overcoming the major challenges that beset the world. Foremost among these is climate change: the consequences of which are steadily worsening,” he said.
In light of escalating political tensions and the prolonged inflationary trends, Jouahri underlined the heightened challenges that central banks face.
He called on these financial institutions to “optimise their monetary policy decisions to safeguard the purchasing power of citizens, especially the most underprivileged among them, and improve investor confidence in the future of their companies.”
Ras Al Khaimah welcomed the New Year with yet another record-breaking eight-minute-long firework and drone display setting two new Guinness World Records titles in a stunning spectacle that lit up the skies along 4.5 km stretch of Ras Al Khaimah’s waterfront.
Already holding several Guinness World Records titles for its legendary fireworks New Year’s Eve shows, the Emirate has made history once again with a jaw-dropping show that broke the Guinness World Records titles for the ‘Longest chain of aquatic floating fireworks’ for a grand total of 5.8 km and the ‘Longest straight-line drones display’ for a total length of 2 km.
The mesmerising show featured groundbreaking techniques that have never been attempted before using a combination of 1,050 LED drones, a ‘carpet’ of aquatic floating fireworks and acrobatic pyro planes display inspired by Ras Al Khaimah’s natural wonders – the desert, the sea and the mountains – all choreographed to music specially composed for the celebration.
Raki Phillips, Chief Executive Officer of Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority, commented, “Breaking two more Guinness World Records titles has set the stage for an unforgettable night of celebration bringing together thousands of visitors and residents.”
“As we kick off the new year, 2023 has been an exceptional year for tourism in Ras Al Khaimah with numerous achievements and the highest ever annual number of visitors recorded, propelling the Nature Emirate further in attracting over 3 million annual visitors by 2030.”
The Sheikh Zayed Festival in Abu Dhabi’s Al Wathba area celebrated New Year 2024 with exceptional shows and features, breaking 4 Guinness World Records. This included a spectacular fireworks display and a 60-minute drone show, along with international performances and programmes, creating a joyful and cultural atmosphere for visitors.
The Festival attracted a large international crowd to celebrate the New Year with events, activities, and performances. A 40-minute fireworks display broke 3 Guinness World Records, while over 5,000 drones created dazzling formations in the sky, setting another record for the largest aerial logo.
A unique laser show, a first in the region for these celebrations, captivated Festival visitors with vibrant colours and tranquil evening rhythms to mark the beginning of the New Year. Special shows took place at the Emirates Fountain, Glowing Towers Garden, and various pavilions, along with folklore performances from around the world.
The entire Festival grounds were bustling with visitors who came to experience the international celebrations, especially the Heritage Village which celebrated the New Year with Razfa and Ayalah dances, in addition to special entertainment events presented at the various pavilions. Children’s City joined the fun festivities with special activities for children, including plays and competitions at the children’s theatre, fun rides in Fun Fair City, the thrilling House of Horror, Al Forsan Sports Resort, and many other special features set to enrich visitors’ experience with a festive spirit in the early hours of the New Year.
Thousands of visitors gathered around the Emirates Fountain to enjoy the special performances, including Sparkling and Confetti shows, presented by authentic American, Mexican, and Ukrainian bands, in celebration of the New Year 2024.
The international pavilions featuring the countries participating this year welcomed a massive crowd from all over the world to enjoy the carnival shows and folklore performances. The International Civilisations Parade roamed through Festival grounds, infusing a unique spirit into the celebrations scattered across every corner of the Festival, giving thousands of bystanders the opportunity to witness the multicultural festivities in one place that brings together the civilisations of the world.
The Sheikh Zayed Festival offers new dining experiences from local and international restaurants, along with discounts and bonus surprises for shopping. The festival runs until March 9, 2024, with daily hours from 4 p.m. to midnight on weekdays and until 1 a.m. on weekends and public holidays, providing various events, activities, and competitions for all age groups.
Yasmine Idriss hopes her ‘heroine’s journey’ will inspire others to take the road less traveled.
Earlier this year, Yasmine Idriss sat down with Arab News just before setting off to Iceland to cycle the country’s Ring Road on the journey of a lifetime. Now, she has become the first Arab woman to complete the grueling trip.
Initially, she thought her time on the road — which runs for almost 1,400 km — would give her the chance to plan her next career move. Little did she know she would pedal her way to much deeper enlightenment.
Her entire journey, from raging winds to sweet serenity, is captured in a documentary film titled “Threshold,” due out in 2024.
“I open up quite a bit (in the film) about what this was for me and what the ‘heroine’s journey’ is. The heroine’s journey isn’t just a woman going through the hero’s journey. (It) has a lot more surrender embedded in it, and that’s a huge theme of what Iceland was for me,” she told Arab News.
While Idriss knew there was no way to replicate the effects of Iceland’s biting winds during her training period, she hadn’t expected them to be quite as fierce as they were — she faced the highest winds of the entire season and was blown off track in all directions. With oncoming traffic on one side and sharp rocks on the other, she prayed for stability.
HIGHLIGHTS
• Yasmine Idriss’s entire journey is captured in a documentary film titled ‘Threshold’ due out in 2024.
• Kathi Hendrick helped create the narrative for the documentary while Madison Hoffmann is the lead filmmaker.
“It was a very brutal welcoming to what this Ring Road journey was going to be about,” she said.
With the exception of just two days in her three-week trip, the wind was constant — not stopping “even for a second,” she said. While most life challenges come in waves, ebbing and flowing, the continuous assault brewed frustration.
“Why? What is the purpose? What can I be learning from this? Why is this so hard?” Idriss says she wondered.
Her close friend — and one of her two companions on the road — Kathi Hendrick, said to her: “Wind stops inertia, wind forces you to move, it forces you to be awake, otherwise you would fall.”
The physical challenges paralleled the emotional. Realizing that she was exerting more strength than needed, she surrendered.
“The muscles that needed to be working were working, and the muscles that didn’t need to be working were relaxed. Psychologically, how that translated was: I just let anything that needed to happen, happen,” she explained.
I feel proud to be able to represent Saudi women. I don’t feel like I’m the first. There are so many amazing Saudi women who have paved the way for me, (who have) done amazing things (and) are doing amazing things.
Yasmine Idriss, Cyclist
Hendrick supported the cyclist on the trip and helped create the narrative for the upcoming documentary, while Madison Hoffmann, also a good friend, was the lead filmmaker.
Idriss said: “Somehow the three of us were mirroring each other’s experiences. Each of us was going through something very similar; even though I was on a bike and they were in the van, there was a sort of synchronicity that was happening. It was just really beautiful to see the magic that can happen when women come together in a supportive way.”
The trip was meant to help clarify what the next chapter of her life would look like. Idriss had just left her position as the head of a sustainable footwear company, which she thought was her dream job.
Removing herself from the responsibilities of daily life, and being disconnected from family and friends, ignited a deep transformation, as trips of this nature tend to do. “Over 20 days on the bike, it was an inward journey,” she said.
While there was no hiding from the elements, there was no avoiding the self either. From ending a close relationship to facing difficult questions, “everything was brought to light,” Idriss said, adding that that was exactly what she needed.
Idriss is now advocating for time away to recharge and innovate in a hyper-productive society, packed with intense working hours and social commitments.
She explained: “For Vision 2030, we’re developing like crazy. We’re one of the fastest developing countries in the world, and it’s happening with such beautiful leadership. We also need rest, and we need space, and we need to take care of ourselves in order to be as productive as our communities need us to be right now.”
While she primarily embarked on the journey for her own self-exploration, she humbly hopes to drive others to do the same.
“I feel proud to be able to represent Saudi women. I don’t feel like I’m the first. There are so many amazing Saudi women who have paved the way for me, (who have) done amazing things (and) are doing amazing things,” she said. “If I can be a mirror for the world to look at what women are doing in Saudi Arabia, then that would be a huge privilege. And if I can inspire others to go on their own road, whether that’s a walk in the neighborhood, or climbing Mount Everest like Raha Moharrak, then I have accomplished my mission.”
Immersing herself in the landscapes of Iceland, with all the challenges and revelations that it brought, inspired her to “(bring) this work to others and invite others into similar journeys of transformation in a very different form. This is what I’m working on next.”
source/content: arabnews.com (headline edited)
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Yasmine Idriss has made history as the first Arab woman to complete the grueling 1,400 km cycling trip along the Nordic Ring Road. (Supplied)
It is now recognized as the largest falconry competition in the world, with 2,654 falcons participating.
The King Abdulaziz Falconry Festival 2023 has set a new world record by entering in the Guinness World Records for the third time in its history, the Saudi Press Agency reported on Saturday.
It is now recognized as the largest falconry competition in the world, with 2,654 falcons participating.
The festival was held between Nov. 28 and Dec. 14 and was organized by the Saudi Falcons Club at its headquarters in Malham, north of Riyadh.
The accomplishment stands as a testament to the backing of the Saudi leadership in safeguarding the Kingdom’s cultural heritage.
In its inaugural year, the festival secured a Guinness World Record with 1,723 falcons, and in the following year in 2019, it repeated this feat by including 2,350 falcons.
The event drew falconers from the Kingdom, Gulf countries and across the world, who competed for the festival’s awards over 17 days. Falconers vied for places in the Al-Mazayen and Al-Milwah competitions, with prizes exceeding SR33.6 million ($8.91 million).
As part of efforts to enhance the ancient falconry heritage of the Kingdom, the Saudi Falcons Club is partnering with the Royal Commission for AlUla governorate to organize the first AlUla Falconry Cup 2023.
The competition will be held in AlUla governorate from Dec. 28 to Jan. 5, with prizes worth up to SR60 million in the Al-Milwah and Al-Mazayen competitions. These represent the largest financial prizes in the history of falconry competitions in the world.
source/content: arabnews.com (headline edited)
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The festival was held between Nov. 28 and Dec. 14 and was organized by the Saudi Falcons Club at its headquarters in Malham, north of Riyadh. (SPA)
The London-born aspiring actress has a deep appreciation for her Moroccan heritage – which may explain why migration is an issue so close to her heart.
Nora Attal has the index finger of one manicured hand extended across the bridge of her nose, and the straightest face she can muster in the circumstances.
It started as an attempt to brush aside the fuss made about her eyebrows, which are, according to various beholders, glorious, serious, stunning, bold, thick, enviable and — somewhat at odds — natural and well groomed.
But now the British-Moroccan fashion model is mulling over a new signature look. “Oh, no! They’re just hair on my face,” Attal tells The National, embarrassed and amused by the attention. “I get them from my Dad — he has very bushy eyebrows.
“If I didn’t groom them, they would be a monobrow. Actually, I saw the film Frida yesterday. It was incredible. I think,” she pauses to regard the mocked-up effect in the zoom camera, “I might just do that … grow a monobrow.”
Perhaps such thinking is to be expected after a 48-hour infusion of cultural rebellion. The day before watching the biopic on the hirsute and indomitable Mexican artist Frida Kahlo, Attal was celebrating turning 23 at her first ever music festival near her home in Spain.
There, she was among the crowd asked by flamboyant American rapper and actress Megan Thee Stallion to make a particular gesture of protest to the US Supreme Court for overturning Roe v. Wade.
“Megan Thee Stallion’s my new icon,” Attal, an enthusiastic gesticulator in daily life, says, “but who I look up to evolves all the time.”
She favours strong, not-so-silent types. Michelle Obama, the former first lady of the US, was top for a while for always telling it as it is — “I still respect her a lot” — along with actor, musician and serial disrupter Riz Ahmed and the Arab writer and women’s rights champion Leila Slimani.
“People like this, I love. I really try to take in their energy,” she says.
It’s a fighting spirit that Attal herself embodied recently when Maria Grazia Chiuri, the creative director of the French fashion house Dior, reportedly said that “models don’t represent women … the model is only a girl who passes in front of you”.
Having walked the runway for Dior 20 times since Chiuri took over, an indignant Attal vented on her Instagram stories, posting: ‘And to hear that I’m not a woman … she is very vocal about her feminism narrative, yet so archaic in thinking that models should only be hangers”.
“Coming into adulthood has been quite nice,” she tells The National. “I understand myself more and, because of modelling, I’ve travelled such a long time alone, experienced a lot, and I’ve maybe grown up quicker.
“I’m definitely more confident, like the way I speak to adults in the industry.”
She recalls being a shy, studious little girl, born in London to two Moroccan parents, Charhabil (Charlie) and Bouchra, and growing up on a council estate in Battersea until the family moved to Surrey.
Sport was an outlet, sometimes whether she liked it or not because of her talent for everything from gymnastics, basketball and tennis to golf and representing her county in long-jump.
Saturday mornings in the house were full of music, regularly featuring Michael Jackson, Prince, Stevie Wonder, and Diana Ross, to whose live performance Attal would dance the night away at a star-studded after party in Marrakech a decade later.
The walls of her childhood bedroom were plastered with magazine covers and fashion campaigns, America’s Next Top Model was the programme of choice, and she would doodle clothes on mannequins in English class instead of writing, say, the set essay on Thomas Hardy.
Yet the industry wasn’t one that young Nora easily identified with or conceived of entering, not least because “there weren’t many people who looked like me”.
“I don’t think she would have ever imagined anything like this,” Attal says, her hands making an all-compassing vertical circle in the air. “Ever, ever, ever.”
It wasn’t long, though, before the striking 12-year-old in blue Converse trainers and a hoodie was first spotted while out in a shopping mall.
“My Dad said ‘yeah, no’ when I went to see the agency,” she remembers with a smile, “and I really appreciate that now …
“It’s tough. I don’t think that young girls should be working in such an adult industry, which doesn’t have a union or HR department that you can go to.”
Modelling, it seems, wasn’t going to take no for an answer. Two years later, the British fashion and documentary photographer Jamie Hawkesworth turned up at her high school, casting for a JW Anderson campaign.
Attal subsequently debuted as Anderson’s muse, dubbed “the mystery girl”, and spent the next few years fitting fashion shows and shoots around education, poring over textbooks while waiting at castings or back stage after hair and make-up.
A fortnight before receiving her A-Level results in History, Psychology and Art at Ewell Castle School, the September issue of British Vogue landed in newsagents with Attal on the cover beside Kate Moss, Edie Campbell, Stella Tennant and Jean Campbell.
The avid true-crime fan was offered a place at Greenwich to study criminology but “took a gap year, deferred it and then dropped it”.
“Working in this industry, I can see that almost anything is possible if you put your mind to it,” she says. “I think everyone should know that.
“My family, being Moroccan, would have loved it if I became a doctor or a lawyer or a pharmacist, and had a normal life but you should do what makes you happy — and you will be successful.”
Represented by Viva Model Management, her own success can be measured by the fact that it would be faster to name the exclusive brands, designers, magazines and celebrity photographers that she hasn’t collaborated with than those she has.
Her brown doe-like eyes, long dark hair and slender 5ft 10in figure quickly became a mainstay on the global circuit in an ascent likened to that of Gigi Hadid.
As with Hadid, she has come to treasure her Mena heritage, and an appreciation has deepened over the years for the hardships that her parents overcame as immigrants “for me to get where I am”.
“It is really important for me to remind myself of that,” she says.
It makes her all the more sensitive to the migration issues prevalent in the UK, particularly the controversial policy of deporting asylum seekers to Rwanda. She has just sent an email opposing the plan to her local MP in England, and urged her 71,000 Instagram followers to do the same.
“I think it’s terrible, I really do. My mum has friends from Syria and Iraq. It could be anyone. Even if you don’t have Syrian friends or Iraqi friends, it’s just a basic human right.”
She talks about what it has meant to have been able to incorporate her North African roots into modelling work many times during a vibrant career.
The editor of Vogue Arabia, Manuel Arnaut, described her as “cool, contemporary and a great ambassador of the Arab world” when she graced the December 2017 cover in a Berber ceremonial headpiece.
Among several shoots with the noted American photographer Steven Meisel was one set against the dunes of the Sahara, and she has traversed a catwalk at El Badi Palace in Marrakech.
But perhaps her favourite fashion “story” ever was for a Vogue Italia issue devoted to DNA. The editorial team descended on Attal’s ancestral home in Larache, near Tangier, where she has spent two months every year since she was a toddler.
Her abiding memories of those visits are the aromas of tagine and couscous emanating from the kitchen of her grandmother, Fatna, and forays to the picturesque old town of Chefchaouen in the surrounding hills or along the coastline in search of quiet bays.
This time, though, Fatna lined up in the family living room next to Attal, her brother, Adam, sister, Yesmin, and parents, all dressed top to toe in Chanel for a black and white photo shoot.
“My grandma had never seen anything like it in her life,” she says, fondly. “She thought it was quite strange but was excited. She really loved it.”
More recently, her extended family fronted Ralph Lauren’s holiday campaign for Eid in a video clip that also included Attal’s then fiance, Victor Bastidas, a director and cinematographer 10 years her senior.
The couple met on location at the 16th-century Samode Palace nestled in the ancient Aravalli hills outside Jaipur, but it is all a bit of a blur to Attal now.
What stands out most is being photographed aged 17 by Mario Testino alongside an elephant painted with orange and pink food dye, and embellished in heavy jewellery.
“Arrrgh!,” she says, reliving the excitement and leaning back to show the proximity with her hands. “I shot with an elephant in real life that had to be just here.”
Happily, Bastidas and Attal bonded years later in London over their mutual love for the music written and performed by Thom Yorke for Luca Guadagnino’s supernatural horror film Suspiria, and began dating just before the coronavirus tightened its grip on the world.
Their fairy-tale wedding was held a few months ago at Cortijo San Francisco, a 1,900-square-metre “farmhouse” in Estepona, near Marbella, built as a refuge by the Hollywood actor Stewart Granger who starred in King Solomon’s Mines with Deborah Kerr.
There is a picture from the day of an ornate Mexican fireplace that would have dominated the room until Attal, in strappy skyscraper heels and a breathtaking Lanvin gown, stepped down a narrow passageway into the scene.
The pandemic has marked many other new beginnings for Attal. She did a Run for Heroes in support of the NHS, painted and made lino prints, learnt to cook (pizza, ramen noodles from scratch, a mean carrot cake), and moved to Barcelona for the fresh air and to be closer to nature.
At such a time, it is unsurprising that someone whose favourite poem is William Blake’s Auguries of Innocence — “To see a World in a Grain of Sand. And Heaven in a Wild Flower …” — began to consider the wider picture.
“It was a very big reset. It made me sit down and think about what I wanted to do with my life,” Attal says.
The answer was to act, and she has just graduated from the prestigious Baron Brown Studio in California after two years of studying the Meisner technique over the internet.
Asked if she’s thought much about who she would like to work with, Attal whips out her phone. “Yes, I have lists for everything. A list of directors, of actors, films that I like, references of things.”
For the record, Guadagnino is director number one, leading, in no particular order, Todd Phillips, Pedro Almodovar, Tim Burton, Wes Anderson and the Iranian Asghar Farhadi, “though I don’t speak Farsi, but…,” she says, trailing off hopefully.
Whether theatre or independent film, Attal doesn’t mind. Just having undertaken the training is, she believes, her biggest triumph, which is saying something.
“I’m actually very proud of myself for going back to school, even though it’s on Zoom or it’s not necessarily as heavy as being a doctor.
“I’m doing things that maybe I wouldn’t have done before. I’ve taken the step to tell agents and brands that ‘No, I can’t do that job because I’m studying acting’, and I’m putting my foot down. I think, before, I doubted my abilities, and now I’m like: ‘Yeah, just do it, why not?’”
It is hard not to wonder where Attal’s forthright tendency, fervour and self-determination, so unusual in a young woman in her early 20s, come from.
A clue may lie in a single line buried among the Moroccan press coverage that describes her paternal great-grandfather as a revolutionary, poet and director. The snippet is, it has to be said, uncorroborated, but sounds just about right.
