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Bint Bladi or Hubbub over Arabs Prejudice PDF Print
AHMED TAIBI
Thursday, 02 September 2010 23:44
Washington / Morocco Board News Service - It seems evident now that to nudge the Moroccan collective psyche out of its narcosis and get a goading message through to the lower stratum of society, one has to use toons or Middle Eastern soap operas and stream them through satellite television feed to circumvent Naceri’s censorship. The forceful indignant reaction and public clamoring for a tough governmental action in response to what is perceived as a gross affront to Morocco’s honor by the “Bu Qatada and Bu Nabeel” animated series,  Egyptian television drama, and Saudi Arabia’s age restriction on Moroccan women traveling for ‘umra so incensed me. It is not as though, all of a sudden, the Moroccan public realized that the reputation of Moroccan women in the Gulf countries has putrefied. The public and the government both have known about it for decades, but they’ve always opted to look the other way.
And what’s worse! People are not upset because our women are perceived as harlots and witches and our officials as corrupt by the majority of the Arab world; the overblown ire seems to have been drawn out by the impropriety of conveying that image through foreign Arab media; mind you, Moroccan sitcoms and movies that our very own 2M and “al oula” broadcast this Ramadan are replete with not so subtle innuendoes painting the Moroccan woman as intrinsically libertine and the Moroccan man driven by mindless cupidity. Of course, the majority of Moroccan men and women are virtuous and hard working people; these reflections are hardly an accurate depiction of Morocco, but they parody a social woe that some Moroccans encounter daily. It is then predictable that as Kuwaiti artists are granted more freedoms by their government, aspects of their environments and experiences will seep into their creative work. And Morocco is a big part of their experience.

The majority of Gulf tourists visit Morocco for the same reason they go to Thailand or the Philippines, not with an interest in the culture and to enjoy the pristine beaches, but in prurient pursuits. Hardly ever will you find a Middle Eastern family in vacation in Morocco. Most often, they come in small groups of young or middle aged men dressed in Western clothes, but easily recognizable by their pants pulled up to their bellybutton, designer pens in shirt pockets, scented prayer beads twirling like fan blades, and the unmistakable shuffle, attributed to lifelong wearing of dishdashas and over priced sandals. While the older men’s poise and discretion reflect their acquaintance with the process, the younger ones, most sporting well-groomed goatees and mullets, are boisterous in action and flashy in vesture. While for the older ones Morocco constitute an escape from professional and familial responsibility, for the younger ones it is a rite of passage to adulthood. Of course, I am taking a broom to the easel. But the way Moroccan women have been characterized in these productions is nothing more than distasteful stereotyping. It does not constitute just cause of umbrage, nor is it reason enough to call for the curtailment of others’ freedom of speech.

During my travel in the Gulf, I have met Middle Easterners who have travelled to Morocco and do not share that negative view of it; they harbor great regard for the country and are grateful for the bounty of its people. Unfortunately, they are not many. Just as the numbers of Moroccans, men and women, leading decent lives in Gulf countries are Lilliputian when compared to the throngs of Moroccan “artists” engaged in reprobate nocturnal trades.

Most of us are not aware of the tribulations these women endure in Gulf countries. It is true that they chose to relocate to the Middle East, but most of them are lured by well-paying and respectable jobs. When they arrive in country, they are told that the job they were promised has been filled; they are literally detained in guarded apartments, threatened with jail if they don’t pay back the inflated cost of their travel, room, and board; they’re subjected to peer pressure and some of them are physically and sexually abused. The Moroccan diplomatic corps that is supposed to protect them is too engaged in sycophancy to devise a policy toward them. They provide them with a trickle of services and only intervene when the host nation complains. Mohammed Ameur, Minister Delegate in Charge of Moroccan Community Residing Overseas, refuses to acknowledge that Moroccan women residing in the Gulf face a chronic problem. On the home front, the support is non-existent. Having acquired the preposterous epithet of “Gulf girls,” their reputation is ruined. They come back to confront a sexist mindset that humiliates them while it exploits them; their families demand their money, the police bribes, the government foreign currency.

It is in the early eighties, five years after the Lebanese civil war had started and during those tumultuous times of the Iran/Iraq war, that Morocco became a favored mecca to the satyric men of the Gulf countries. The Iran/Iraq war slowed down the Kuwaiti and Saudi weekend car races to Baghdad; the 1991 Gulf war stopped them completely. At first, only Sheikhs, high ranking officials, and affluent businessmen from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, UAE, and Qatar – all referred to as Swa’da then, often invited by the Moroccan government, visited. They found in Casablanca, Rabat, and Tangier a viable alternate to a dangerous Beirut and an increasingly unwelcoming Baghdad. They bought swanky homes in the exclusive neighborhoods of Morocco, built mosques, and opened Middle Eastern clubs; they hired Lebanese and local pimps to marshal high end escorts and organize bacchanalian revelries some of which were facilitated by Hassan II ‘secret service in harmony with Morocco’s national agenda at the time. In the eighties, rumors circulated through impoverished neighborhoods about these golden geese. In the Gulf countries, stories were spun up about these pulchritudinous Moroccan women their sheikhs had been courting. All of a sudden, for the less affluent Middle Eastern man, having a Moroccan mistress or girlfriend became a sign of opulence, something to crow about in dewaniyas, much like driving a Lamborghini or wearing a Hublot’s Black Caviar Bang. Moroccan women became human bling bling. Add a generous portion of poverty and social inequality, a dash of illiteracy, a dab of governmental and societal laissez faire, sprinkle in corruption, and stir in prostitution entrepreneurs, scouts, and human traffickers – Moroccans and Middle Eastern.  Simmer over the government’s failed economic and social reforms and voila. The rest is history. Not the kind we read about; the kind we see in Middle Eastern movies.

A. T. B. © 2010

 

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Dr D. Amin said:

Ah who would date a Saudi Man anyhow
I would not go to Saudi Arabia no matter when you think women are treated like dogs!
09/28/11

Truth will set you Free. said:

Moroccan Government hates the Moroccan People
This entire sordid affair is just another clear illustration of the utter contempt with which the Moroccan government holds the Moroccan people. Moroccan Government is run by a bunch of pimps. Hassan II was a pimp. He clearly pimped out poor Moroccan girls to Saudi deep pockets in the hopes of getting some crumbs that fell from the table. It is so sad that the Moroccan government has such deep hatred for the people of Morocco.
09/05/10

truthTeller said:

...
This is sign of declining society
09/04/10

man en blanc said:

day of reckoning is near
I can't wait for the oil wells in the wretched Middle-East to dry up, then you'd see the sex tourism going in the reverse direction!
09/03/10

Morcelli said:

...
If Moroccan women with niveau bac at best are lured to Golf countries by "job offers" then Russian women are too lured by the same job offers only to find themselves working in brothels. I do not think those women nor their family are so naive to believe that a decent job is awaiting them. Those women are doing what they can to make a living and help their family, it might not be pretty but it is what it is.
Some people decide to fight and keep their dignity and honor, others don't have that stamina, instead, they sacrifice the lamb (the girl(s)).
As for Moroccan Government not helping them out, I am sorry to say that it is joke to even think as such, when did you hear in the history of Morocco since the independence that our government helped us in or outside the country? The government in Morocco helps the government, "Remember this: by the government for the government"
The only time i hear the government interferes is when there is an accident with dead Moroccans in Spain or France on their way to the bled and it gets decided that the government (king) will pay for repatriation.
Do you really believe that Mohammed Ammeur will criticize these golf states? Why blame them in the first place? One thing for sure if that is the case. He will find himself looking for a job, the second after.

In Morocco you do not cut the hand that feeds you and for those women who are so " Naive" to be lured, I say "Li darha bi iddih, iffakha b sannih and may God help them"

Lastly, Moroccans should start taking responsibily for their wn actions for a change. We have grown accustomed to blame anything that moves but never ourselves.

The chinese used to blame their government for everything good or bad, look at them now, deciding if the world economies will go up or down. You know why because they have long decided that only themselves can make a change.
Maybe Moroccans should embrace Chinese philosophy (work) to get themselves out of this peril and then when all is good, go back to the root/base.


wa salamo alaykoum.





09/03/10

Chaibia said:

BINT BLADI OR HUBBUB OVER ARABS PREJUDICE
Thank you for a brilliant piece. We need more writing on this issue. The gulf states have soiled our land and should be prohibited obtaining tourists visas. We should encourage on the hand work with European and American countries to expand our tourism. I feel sick from the hypocrisy.
09/03/10

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