I'm really glad that there has been such an outpouring of support for the three members of Pussy Riot who were convicted yesterday of charges of hooliganism motivated by religious hatred, and sentenced to two years imprisonment each. Everyone is all over this, Amnesty International, the major news media, and US pop musicians are falling all over themselves to express their solidarity. Most notably, of course, Madonna. The fabulous J.D. Samson (Le Tigre, MEN, Peaches and the Herms) was on Democracy Now! yesterday to make the pitch for Pussy Riot, stressing that they are a feminist band.
But why has Moroccan rapper Al Haqed ('sullen/rancorous/enraged one'; born name, Mouad Belghouat) not garnered 1/100th of the attention that Pussy Riot has received?
Al Haqed was sentenced in May to a one-year prison sentence for insulting the Morrocan police. Meanwhile, as Mark Levine has noted, the likes of Lenny Kravitz, Pitbull, Khaled, Mariah Carey, Scorpions, LMFAO, and Evanescence all played the Mayazine Festival in Rabat, Morocco in May. Not one said a word in support of Al Haqed. Joan Baez (!) and Bjork played the Sacred Music Festival in Fez in June. Didn't mention his name.
In July Al Haqed launched a 48-hour hunger strike to protest his conditions of detention. I didn't hear any messages of solidarity from our progressive musicians.
This is not to say Al Haqed's case has not received any coverage. Human Rights Watch has raised his case. Human Rights Watch has covered it, Torie Rose DeGhett has covered the story for The Guardian, The Huffington Post, and so on. And of course most importantly, Mark Levine.
But where are the Madonnas in support of Al Haqed?
Here are a few possible reasons that the likes of Madonna haven't shown up to express solidarity with Al Haqed and outrage at the Moroccan monarch.
1. Morocco's King Muhammad VI is a strategic ally of the West.
2. Muhammad VI has successfully presented himself to the West as a "moderate." We love "moderates." They don't criticize us. They don't criticize Israel.
3. The Moroccan regime has successfully sold itself as a "moderate" government in contrast to those radical Islamist trends.
4. The Moroccan state has very effectively used its massive Festival industry and its tourism industry to sell its moderate image. The Mayazine and the Sacred Music festivals (plus the Gnawa Festival at Essaouira) are key elements in the selling of this image. Levine calls it "art-washing." Aomar Boum recently published an excellent piece on the regime's use of festivals in Middle East Report. Waleed Hazboun in his book Beaches, Ruins, Resorts: The Politics of Tourism in the Arab World shows how Tunisia was able to use tourism in the same way (see my review here.)
5. As Gene Lyons remarked on Facebook, people really seem to get a charge out just saying "Pussy Riot."
6. There is no charge to saying "Al Haqed."
7. Putin isn't our strategic ally.
8. Putin isn't going along with our Syria policy or our Iran policy.
9. Pussy Riot is a feminist band. Al Haqed is an Arab Muslim guy. And he is angry.
10. We can't understand what Al Haqed is saying. Of course, we can't understand Pussy Riot's Russian either, but it's been widely translated. And people like JD Samson can read their lyrics on Democracy Now! (Of course, if anyone tried a little bit, they could have found a translation of one of Al Haqed's songs at Revolutionary Arab Rap.)
11. The "Arab Spring" is so over. So 2011.
12. "Arab rap" is so over. Been there. Done that.
13. We love monarchs.
14. The pot is so good in Morocco.
15. Morocco is so cool, man. Didn't Paul Bowles and Brion Gysin and William Burrough say so? Don't harsh on my mellow.
End of rant. You add your own reasons. I leave you with the offending video from Al Haqed. "Klab al-dawla." The dogs of the state. Why doesn't Madonna like this vid?
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3 comments:
hi ted, very important post. i wonder if the israel angle isn't more important than we might want to imagine re not criticising morocco too harshly. i presume and readers of this blog know about perry farrell of jane's addiction and his rabid-pro-occupation positions, (http://www.perryfarrellsucks.com/ for those who don't). and now he's bringing lollapalooza (or however you spell it) to tel aviv next year which will bring supposedly 200 bands to israel. that plus the fact that hardly any a-list artists besides roger waters has signed onto the boycott or will even speak very critically of israel and the occupation and perhaps somewhere in there there is the sense that morocco is an ally of someone you don't want to say anything bad against and thus keep your hands off. plus of course, the pot is good, and from what i've heard back stage at mawazine is pretty sultanic, so perhaps the musicians figure it's better to pick a fight with someone who doesn't throw as good parties and isn't friends with powerful people. just a thought.
Mark: I think this may be part of it too. A big part of the reason for Morocco's reputation for being "moderate" is that it tends to be much "softer" on Israel than the other Arab countries. Morocco is also the only Arab country with a remaining and vibrant Jewish community. That part of its "moderation" I of course would want to defend.
And I should add, Mark, thanks very much for your thoughtful comments.
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