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MOROCCO-FRANCE-WOMEN-RIGHTS
Singer Lamjarred case reopens Morocco violence against women debate
RABAT, Sept 23, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Still adored at home despite three
separate rape charges in France, Moroccan pop star Saad Lamjarred’s latest
arrest has reignited a debate on violence against women in the North African
kingdom.
Following similar accusations in October 2016 and April 2017, Lamjarred was
re-arrested last week in southern France on charges he had raped a woman in a
Riviera hotel.
The superstar’s detention comes just days after Morocco was rocked by
claims from a teenage girl, Khadija Okkarou, that she had been kidnapped and
gang-raped by a group of men from her village.
Lamjarred’s detention has sparked a social media campaign seeking to ban
his songs from Morocco’s airwaves using the hashtags #masaktach (“we will not
be silenced”) and #LamjarredOut.
But the push has done little to dampen the popularity of the 33-year-old
singer, whose hit “Lmaallem” has been viewed more than 660 million times on
YouTube.
“The case of Saad Lamjarred is a symbol that brings together everything
connected to rape culture and impunity,” said Laila Slassi, one of the
campaign’s initiators.
Despite the string of allegations against him, the singer’s tunes have
still been played on radio stations and Moroccan media have enthused over the
release of his latest singles.
In August, he was prominently featured in a video of artists put out for
the birthday of King Mohammed VI — who has helped cover the pop star’s legal
fees.
Lamjarred’s fans remain convinced the singer, from a family of artists in
the capital Rabat, is the target of a conspiracy and that his alleged victims
seek to benefit from his fame.
– ‘Sympathy for the aggressor’ –
“He’s famous, good looking, so we support him… it’s an emblematic case of
sympathy for the aggressor in a society where we always find excuses for
men,” psychologist Sanaa El Aji, a specialist in gender issues, told AFP.
Slassi said the media was “promoting a man accused of sexual violence”
instead of role models.
Under pressure, Morocco’s Radio 2M has pulled Lamjarred from its airwaves,
saying it “no longer promotes (the singer) since the case is in the hands of
the judiciary”.
But Hit Radio, the kingdom’s most popular, was less clear about its stance.
The station’s head Younes Boumehdi initially said he would not broadcast
the superstar’s hits, but quickly added the measure would only last until
“things calm down”.
An on-air poll showed 68 percent of Hit Radio’s audience wanted to continue
listening to the star, regardless of the charges.
Ultra-famous in the Arab world, Lamjarred “is still among the most popular
on YouTube, and for many of his fans he will remain an icon, even if he is
sentenced”, Boumehdi told AFP.
The case has sparked “a lot of emotion because Saad Lamjarred has the image
of a modern man with a new message,” he said.
Radio Chada FM, which claims to be a leader in Morocco’s arts and music
scenes, said it would not take Lamjarred off the air “until he has been
tried, in the name of the presumption of innocence”.
But not everyone agrees.
“His song lyrics glorify male domination among couples… and the
submission of the woman,” business leader Mehdi Alami wrote in a post shared
widely on social media.
– ‘Main culprit’ –
“It amounts to discrediting the word of women,” said rights activist Betty
Lachgar.
Many like Lachgar have drawn comparisons between the #masaktach campaign
and the global #metoo movement against sexual harassment.
But in Morocco, “most people don’t believe in this type of thinking, (for
them), the harassers are the victims”, said El Aji.
Campaign organiser Slassi says the #masaktach movement gained momentum
after the “Khadija affair”.
The 17-year-old was at the centre of a storm last month after she accused a
group of men from her village in central Morocco of having kidnapped, raped
and tortured her over a two-month period.
Her 12 assailants have confessed to having imprisoned and raped her, and of
threatening her with death, according to her lawyers.
“But for many, she remains the main culprit,” said Laila.
BSS/AFP/GMR/0939 hrs