<div dir="ltr"><h1 class="">The False Debate on Minister Khalfi’ Interview on Europe 1</h1>
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<span class=""> <strong>Tuesday 3 March 2015 - 22:57</strong></span>
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<h5 class=""><a href="http://www.moroccoworldnews.com/author/youssef-el-kaidi/" title="Posts by youssef El kaidi" rel="author">youssef El kaidi</a> </h5>
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Youssef El Kaidi is a PhD candidate at the University of Sidi Mohammed Ben Abdelah Fez.
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<p style="text-align:justify">Fez – <strong><em>Perhaps no
Minister in Morocco’s current government has ever been remorselessly
reproached and harshly criticized like Minister of Communications and
Spokesperson of the Government Mr. Mustapha El-Khalfi following his
interview on February 26 with the French radio channel Europe 1.</em></strong></p>
<p style="text-align:justify">Commentators on social networks reacted
with blatant mockery and indignation (even disrespect sometimes) toward
Mustapha El-Khalifi, particularly at his lack of mastery of the language
of Molière. ‘Lacking in charisma, self-confidence and, worst of all,
accurate French grammar.’ This is how Mr. El-Khalfi was caricatured.</p>
<p style="text-align:justify">My mission here is not to defend the
Minister- though out of objectivity, even the devil should be given his
due- but rather to debunk some of the considerations on which the wave
of destructive criticism was built.</p>
<p style="text-align:justify">First of all, Mustapha El-Khalfi is
Moroccan, and his mother tongue, which he has mastered perfectly, is
either Arabic or Tamazight. His interviewer, Emmanuel Faux, who looked
head and shoulders over our Minister (and that’s not surprising at all,
since he was speaking in his language) couldn’t pronounce even the
simplest words in the Moroccan national languages, let alone give an
interview to a Moroccan channel. Mustapha Al-Khalfi, by contrast, is a
polyglot, speaking Arabic, Tamazight, French, and English.</p>
<p style="text-align:justify">It’s almost incomprehensible to me how
some Moroccans consecrate French and deem it sacred, and woe betides
anyone who misuses it, while Arabic, the sacred language of the Qur’an,
and Tamazight are shamelessly underestimated.</p>
<p style="text-align:justify">Recently, the Minster of National
Education and Vocational Training allegedly told a French journalist
that he doesn’t speak Arabic and the news didn’t make a buzz! After more
than fifty years of Morocco’s political independence, I feel the
colonial ideology is still there in language policy, inflicted by the
Moroccan French lobby not only to maintain their powerful socio-cultural
status, but also to sustain France’s interests, or what some prefer to
call neo-colonialism. French, therefore, has been made our destiny,
despite its tragic downfall in the world.</p>
<p style="text-align:justify">Before we make any hasty judgements, we
have to bear in mind that Mr. El-Khalfi is the spokesperson of the
government, and he was speaking as a Minister representing his
government, not as an ordinary Moroccan citizen. This means that he
would be accountable for any irresponsible or personal statements he
gives on behalf of the government, and for which Morocco might later on
pay a high price.</p>
<p style="text-align:justify">To me, Mr. Al-Khalfi was very cautious
with the interviewer, and tenaciously refused to yield to his many
attempts to elicit information on sensitive issues, even though some
questions were really bothering and perplexing. As a spokesperson of the
Moroccan government, I believe, Mustapha El-Khalfi did exactly the
right thing not to jeopardize France-Morocco relations only a few days
after they were normalized.</p>
<p style="text-align:justify">As Dale Carnegie once said, anyone can
criticize, complain, and condemn, but it takes character and
self-control to be understanding and forgiving. It seemed to me very
irrelevant to pick on Mustapha El-Khalfi’s level of fluency in the
French language and not discuss the core of the issue for which he was
invited to the channel. Very few reactions really tackled the crux of
the problem and discussed the Moroccan-French relations after a year of
tension. Most comments, however, went dramatically astray and centered
on the man rather than on his ideas and arguments.</p><p style="text-align:justify"><a href="http://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2015/03/152981/false-debate-minister-khalfi-interview-europe-1/">http://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2015/03/152981/false-debate-minister-khalfi-interview-europe-1/</a><br></p><br clear="all"><br>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature">**************************************<br>N.b.: Listing on the lgpolicy-list is merely intended as a service to its members<br>and implies neither approval, confirmation nor agreement by the owner or sponsor of the list as to the veracity of a message's contents. Members who disagree with a message are encouraged to post a rebuttal, and to write directly to the original sender of any offensive message. A copy of this may be forwarded to this list as well. (H. Schiffman, Moderator)<br><br>For more information about the lgpolicy-list, go to <a href="https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/">https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/</a><br>listinfo/lgpolicy-list<br>*******************************************</div>
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