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Thursday, August 26, 2010

Kuwait apologizes to Morocco over TV cartoon

From the Arab Times:
The Kuwaiti Ministry of Foreign Affairs has officially apologized to the people of Morocco for the animated comedy series screened by a Kuwaiti TV channel, reports Al-Seyassah daily.
It has been reported the improper depiction of the Moroccan women has sparked an outrage.
The Ministry apology said Kuwait respects the Kingdom of Morocco and its people. The apology also stressed on the fact that issues such as these cannot affect the distinguished and brotherly relations between the peoples of the two countries.

This came when the Moroccan community in Kuwait expressed its resentment of the TV program which greatly offended the Moroccan people and requested the Ministry of Information to delete the two episodes which were telecast on Aug 17 and Aug 18.

The Moroccans said this incident is unprecedented in the Arab world since this is the first time one Arab country has insulted the people of another.

In the meantime, the Kuwaiti daily newspaper Al-Watan, an affiliate of the channel, has issued a formal apology on its front page under the title ‘All love and respect for Morocco’. According to the paper, the play was not meant to offend the Moroccans.
I am trying to figure out what the exact offense was, and as far as I could tell, in the offensive skit, a Moroccan mother greeted two guests and gave them coffee, but was surreptitiously practicing magic on them to make them want to marry her two daughters. It might have implied that the guests specifically came to Morocco to meet and sleep with women.

Between the witchcraft and implied prostitution, Moroccans were a bit miffed.