White House Journalists

By Jamal Elabiad

In the past, there was across the Arab and Muslim world a kind of poets who received great sums of money soon after the sultans and emirs read the lenghty poems in which they praised them to the skies. And seldom did those poets praise for free. Money-making was their sole intention behind writing praise-poems about the royal family, including sultans and emirs. I think there is nothing immoral with this. But some poets usually wrote poems full of lies, not praises. For example, there were poets who praised emirs as brave though they were coward. There were also poets who praised sultans as “democrats” though they were dictators and butchers. “ The Palace Poets” is among the different names that were given to the poets in question.

Truth be told, I see no difference between “ The Palace Poets” and some American journalists working for the mouthpieces of the White House. The Washington Post and The New York Times are two examples in point. Never before have they praised Arab countries or leaders for nothing. For them, allies of the United States should be praised to the skies, but enemies should be slammed to the bone. And like “ The Palace Poets”, there are journalists whose eulogistic articles about an Arab country or leader are replete with lies and fabrications. When, for instance, human rights abuses take place in Morocco, they are, according to them, the exception rather than the norm. Needless to say, Morocco, as far as human rights abuses are concerned, is no difference to the other Arab allies of the United States.

“ In Morocco, an Alternative to Iran” is the title of an article written by Anne Applebaum and published last june in the Washington Post. Anne Applebaum is an Op-Ed columnist and winner of the Pulitzer Prize for non-fiction in 2004. Following are extracts from the article:

“If you want an antidote to the photographs of police officers beating demonstrators and girls dying on the streets of the Iranian capital, take a drive through the streets of the Moroccan capital. You might see demonstrators, but not under attack.”

“…the country (Morocco) has over the past decade undergone a slow but profound transformation from traditional monarchy to constitutional monarchy, acquiring along the way real political parties, a relatively free press, new political leaders -- the mayor of Marrakesh is a 33-year-old woman -- and a set of family laws that strive to be compatible both with sharia and international conventions on human rights.”

“…people feel it's safe to speak openly, safe to form civil rights groups, safe to criticize the electoral process, even safe to complain about the king.”

Shortly after reading the article, I came to the conclusion that as long as Morocco is a loyal ally of the United States, it’s normal for the White House journalists , including Anne Applebaum to view the North African monarchy as a place of democracy, freedom of expression, human rights, equality before the law, and transparent elections.

As for the U.S. enemies, including Iran the White House journalists totally agree upon tarnishing their image around the world through writing articles based on rumours and misconceptions. For Anne, women in Iran are deprived of “equal rights in marriage, equal rights to divorce, equal inheritance rights and equal testimony rights in court.” For further details, read Anne’s article entitled “An Overlooked Force in Iran”.

It’s really a pity that the Sahara issue remains unresolved despite the fact that Morocco has been a major non-NATO ally since 2004, was the first country to recognize the fledgling United States as an independent nation in 1777, and provided the United States with valuable information about al Qaeda after the September 11, 2001 attacks. This shows beyond doubt that becoming a U.S. ally means giving everything and getting false praises in return…!

Political Hypocricy in Morocco

By Jamal Elabiad

Sometimes, coded language in the field of politics does not work and it is better to call a spade a spade. For instance, when candidates witness an election violation, they not only describe the violation , but they also describe the violators and report them to the police. Otherwise, those candidates are nothing, but hypocrites. They know the violators quite well, but they avoid mentioning their names.

During the local elections campaign, the Interior Ministry received hundreds of complaints from candidates and party supporters across the kingdom. Most of the complaints revolve around electoral fraud, such as the use of “dirty money”, the purchase of votes, the use of the state and local authority means, the use of violence and threats against voters, and the disrespect of election regulations. By the way, these election violations grabbed the headlines in different Algerian and Spanish newspapers!

What was absent from nearly all the complaints is the names of the people lying behind electoral fraud. It’s beyond doubt that the complaint-makers knew who the violators were, but they intentionally avoided to include their names in the complaints. If this is not hypocricy, what is it?

But how can you explain this? You may ask.

The explanations are many. The USFP, for example, will surely refuse to ally with the JDP if the latter accuses the USFP candidates of electoral fraud and, as a result, helps bring them to justice. And do you think the parties forming the Moroccan government will charge one another with electoral fraud? This is a pie in the sky!

I think an Interior Ministry source was right when he referred to those complaints as allegations!

In fact, not only are the candidates who complained to Interior Minister chakib Benmoussa about electoral corruption hypocrites, but also those who went to the polls. If you want to know why you are hypocrites, all you should do is trying to answer such a question: what difference have your votes made to poverty, illiteracy, unemployment, and corruption since you reached the age of voting?

Frankly, it was the Friday’s local elections that made me understand clearly what is meant by “ political hypocricy” in Morocco!

Finally, I greet warmly all the electorate who boycotted the Friady’s local elections.