{"id":329124,"date":"2010-02-17T00:45:58","date_gmt":"2010-02-17T05:45:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/globalvoicesonline.org\/?p=123113"},"modified":"2010-02-17T00:45:58","modified_gmt":"2010-02-17T05:45:58","slug":"morocco-to-valentine-or-not-to-valentine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/329124","title":{"rendered":"Morocco: To Valentine or Not to Valentine?"},"content":{"rendered":"

In Morocco, as in many countries, celebrating Valentine's Day<\/a> has caught on as a modern expression of love.\u00a0 In major cities, storefronts stock candy hearts and teddy bears, but, as blogger Robin du Blog<\/em> points out, the Moroccan media doesn't always encourage the celebration.\u00a0 In a post entitled “La Saint-Valentin Halal,” the blogger writes<\/a>:<\/p>\n

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[Au Maroc] un simple b\u00e9cot peut toujours les mener droit au panier \u00e0 salade mais, marketing oblige, des jours durant, \u00e0 l'approche du 14, sur les vitrines, des c\u0153urs rouges virevoltent et flamboient \u00e0 l'unisson.<\/span> <\/span> Alors, parce que cette date s'est inscrite dans le calendrier et que l'on est \u00e0 l'aff\u00fbt des \u00e9v\u00e9nements sur lesquels faire r\u00e9agir les auditeurs, la Saint-Valentin a pris \u00e9galement sa place dans les programmes radiophoniques.<\/span> <\/span> Au petit d\u00e9jeuner du 14, donc, dans le cadre d'une de ces \u00e9missions interactives lors desquelles les auditeurs sont invit\u00e9s \u00e0 t\u00e9l\u00e9phoner pour faire conna\u00eetre leur point de vue sur l'un ou l'autre des sujets trait\u00e9s, l'animatrice d'une des radios locales les plus \u00e9cout\u00e9es lance celui du jour : l'amour, on l'aura compris.<\/span> <\/span> Mais alors, tout en rappelant qu'on est \u00e0 la Saint-Valentin et que la Saint-Valentin est la f\u00eate des amoureux, ne voil\u00e0-t-il pas qu'elle nous livre en pr\u00e9ambule une superbe tirade o\u00f9 elle nous dit ceci : 1\/ la source de l'amour ne serait autre que l'amour port\u00e9 \u00e0 Dieu ; 2\/ il n'est pas de plus bel exemple en mati\u00e8re d'amour profane que celui de l'engagement affectif du Proph\u00e8te \u00e0 l'\u00e9gard de Khadija, sa premi\u00e8re femme ; 3\/ c'est de ce mod\u00e8le que les amoureux – amoureux l\u00e9gaux d\u00fbment unis par la charia, at-elle bien pris soin de pr\u00e9ciser – devraient avoir la bonne id\u00e9e de s'inspirer.<\/span>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

[In Morocco] a simple peck can still lead straight to the paddy wagon, but marketing forces these days, with their approach of the 14th on windows, hearts and flaming red twirl in unison. Then, because this date is included on the calendar and we are abreast of the events on which listeners should respond, Valentine's Day also took place on radio programs. <\/span>At breakfast on the 14th, therefore, in the context of these interactive programs in which listeners are invited to call to make known their views on various topics, the host of a local radio's most popular launches of the day: love, we will understand. <\/span>But then, recalling that is Valentine's Day and Valentine's Day is for lovers, lo and behold, she gives us no preamble in a superb tirade where she says this: 1) the source of love is none other than the source of God; 2) there is no finer example in matters of love than the emotional commitment of the Prophet with regard to Khadija, his first wife, 3) that is the model that lovers – lovers united by due legal Sharia, she was careful to state – should have the good sense to follow.<\/span><\/div>\n

The blogger continues explaining the discussion on the radio show and the implications of the imported Valentine's Day in Morocco, concluding: “L\u2019amour, c\u2019est l\u2019amour, point. Qu\u2019on nous laisse, ne serait-ce que l\u2019espace d\u2019un jour, le concevoir libre de toute barri\u00e8re” (”Love is love, period.\u00a0 Let us leave, if only in the space of one day, this idea free from any barriers”).<\/p>\n

Peace Corps Volunteer oclynn in morocco<\/em> expresses surprise<\/a> at the recognition of the holiday at her post in a rural part of the country:<\/p>\n

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So I decide to go down to the Coop this morning, a little later than usual-didn\u2019t really have any specific business to do, but had told Zahra that I\u2019d come by. Glad I did. She greets me with questions about today\u2019s holiday. Huh? You know, the American Holiday today. Huh? Geez, I just found out yesterday that it\u2019s President\u2019s Day Weekend on Skype w\/Jo, but why would Zahra know about that? Then she\u2019s asking, isn\u2019t there a holiday of the heart today? OHHH. Valentine\u2019s Day. Yes! Duh, Lynn. She\u2019s wishing you Happy Valentine\u2019s Day! Thanks! Mind you, this is a Coop of all unmarried women. I didn't give any other description of the holiday. Decided I like the idea of a Holiday of the Heart.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Some Moroccan bloggers are heavy into the holiday.\u00a0 L'Cassetta<\/em>, a music blog, offers a cornucopia of romantic music from around the globe, saying<\/a>:<\/p>\n

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Que vaut l\u2019amour sans la musique ? Que vaut le fait d'aimer si pendant cette sensation on ne prend pas gout dans l'accompagnement vers la jouissance musicale ? Que vaut le fait de dire que la musique est bonne quand on n'a pas un jour v\u00e9cu la souffrance qui \u00e9mane des mots, des paroles ; des notes ? On a toujours dans la t\u00eate une de ses chansons slow, cette superbe chanson qui m\u00e9lange bonne m\u00e9lodie et paroles bien cisel\u00e9s. Aimer donc n'est qu'entre autres le fait d'accompagner le bonheur a cot\u00e9 de la souffrance.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

What is love without music? What is the act of love if while loving one doesn't take pleasure in the very process that leads to music enjoyment? What's the point of pretending that music is good when one's never experienced the pain that might erase from words and notes? We always remember those romantic songs; the kind of beautiful songs that mix good melody and well-crafted lyrics. Therefore love, among other things, helps to deal with feelings of well being as well as sorrows.<\/div>\n

Last but not least, need a place to celebrate Valentine's Day 2010? Casawaves<\/em> just might have the answer. Poking fun at the oft-made comparison of the film Casablanca<\/em> to Morocco's largest city of the same name (the two, in reality, have little in common), the blogger writes<\/a>:<\/p>\n

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Pour la Saint-Valentin, \u00ab pourquoi ne pas d\u00e9clarer votre flamme en 2010 \u00e0 Casablanca au Maroc. En effet pour un voyage en amoureux \u00e0 la Saint-Valentin 2010, cette ville offre un incroyable d\u00e9paysement \u00bb.<\/p>\n

Au d\u00e9but, en lisant cette offre publi\u00e9e sur un site d\u2019actualit\u00e9 internet j\u2019ai cru \u00e0 une farce, voire \u00e0 un poisson d\u2019avril l\u00e9g\u00e8rement pr\u00e9coce. Mais non, il s\u2019agit bien de f\u00eater la Saint-Valentin dans notre m\u00e9tropole<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

For Valentine's Day, why not declare your love in 2010 in Casablanca, Morocco? Indeed for a trip to a romantic Valentine's Day 2010, this city offers incredible scenery.<\/p>\n

At first, reading this offer posted on an Internet news site I thought it was a joke, even an April Fool's joke slightly early. But no, it is good to celebrate Valentine's Day in our city<\/strong>.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In Morocco, as in many countries, celebrating Valentine's Day has caught on as a modern expression of love.\u00a0 In major cities, storefronts stock candy hearts and teddy bears, but, as blogger Robin du Blog points out, the Moroccan media doesn't always encourage the celebration.\u00a0 In a post entitled “La Saint-Valentin Halal,” the blogger writes: [Au […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4423,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-329124","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/329124","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4423"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=329124"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/329124\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=329124"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=329124"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=329124"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}