J Lo's Performance in Rabat Provokes Furore
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22 June 12, 2015 Culture J Lo’s performance in Rabat provokes furore Saad Guerraoui said Aftati. Another PJD member, Khalid Rahmouni, expressed dis- gust at what he watched on 2M and Rabat called on Khalfi, as the one respon- sible for media policy, to resign. sexually charged per- However, PJD MP Abdeslam Bal- formance by pop diva laji told The Arab Weekly that Khalfi Jennifer Lopez at the does not have authority over public Mawazine music festival TV channels. in Rabat prompted mem- “It is the responsibility of the bersA of the ruling Islamist Justice High Authority of Audiovisual and Development Party (PJD) to call Communication (HACA) to investi- for the resignation of Communica- gate the matter following the min- tions Minister Mustapha el-Khalfi. ister’s request,” said Ballaji who Lopez, 45 and a popular Ameri- was the first MP from PJD’s parlia- can performer, opened the 14th mentary team to ask Khalfi for an Mawazine festival on May 30th, explanation for the concert. performing a nearly two-hour In a message posted on his Fa- long concert for a record crowd of cebook page, Khalfi, who is also 160,000 while millions watched on the government spokesman, an- state-owned television channel 2M. nounced that HACA and the ethics The glamorous New York-born committee of 2M would be inves- singer showcased scanty costumes tigated. Ballaji stressed that broad- and provocative poses as she casting the US singer’s suggestive donned seven different outfits, -in dance routine on a public TV chan- cluding a white leotard, during her nel was against Morocco’s constitu- performance, which was slammed tion, values and media ethics. by many Moroccan media outlets, “We are not against music festi- politicians and TV viewers. vals that are ethically and morally acceptable,” Ballaji said, although The concert by he admitted that he only saw what he called the “shocking” pictures Lopez triggered a he received from infuriated citi- furious backlash zens. The opening ceremony’s concert Rather than issuing a public state- was broadcast a few hours after ment like the government made Moroccan King Mohammed VI do- about filmmaker Nabil Ayouch’s nated 10,000 copies of the Quran to banned film on prostitutionMuch authorities in charge of managing Loved, Khalfi took to social net- religious affairs in Guinea-Bissau. works to condemn the broadcast. “This TV show is only feeding ex- He wrote on his Twitter account tremism in Morocco,” Ballaji said, The concert by Lopez triggered a The language that was allowed that broadcasting the concert on 2M urging the king to intervene. furious backlash, with viewers call- Lopez opened the isn’t even allowed in the U.S … You was “unacceptable” and “against An online petition calling for the ing on HACA to punish 2M officials 14th Mawazine don’t have to be Muslim or in a the law”. Moroccan monarch to withdraw his for airing it. Thousands of view- festival on May 30th Muslim country to not want to see But some PJD members called patronage from the Mawazine festi- ers took to social networks to vent a record crowd of or hear that crap on TV,” she added. on Khalfi to resign unless he comes val quickly gathered more than 730 their fury, with some branding the However Emad Loudiyi, a British up with convincing arguments dis- of the 750 signatures needed. US singer a “prostitute”. 160,000 Moroccan concert producer disa- tancing himself from what they The petition, which was posted Soukaina Ouafdi, a 25-year-old greed. called an “outrageous and despic- June 1st on Avaaz Website, also urg- social worker, told The Arab Week- “J Lo was horrible. Scantily clad “It’s not J Lo’s performance you able” TV broadcast. es public institutions to end sup- ly that she could not believe the … the ‘F word’ coming out of her scream about. It’s her style in dress MP Abdelaziz Aftati said Khalfi port for the festival, and calls on way Lopez and her dancers were mouth … not once but several and dancing. She had far more must step down if he cannot clarify political groups, trade union organ- dressed even though they knew times,” said the American teacher clothes on than a belly dancer you the limits of his responsibility. isations or associations that serve they were performing in a con- who lives in Casablanca. “The US watch on TV flaunting her assets on “Public media has turned into the public interest to file a lawsuit servative Muslim country. Angela Federal Communications Com- many Arab films,” Loudiyi said. merchandise to dumb-down and against HACA, in accordance with Arigoni-Mesfioui denounced the mission would have never let this Rachid RG, a computer science distract people. This is why the Article 4 of the Law on Audiovisual American singer’s performance as concert be broadcast in the United engineer, said people “are free not minister has to bear responsibility,” Communications. irresponsible. States. to watch the show.”.