An Arab Scandal: Saudi Arabia Assumes Moroccan Women Are Prostitutes

This is unbelievable. Morrocan women “of a certain age” are not allowed to go to Saudi Arabia for pilgrimage? This is indeed a stereotype too far. as Nisreen Malek wrote in the Guardian today:

Instead of diverting resources to investigate and tackle the problem within Saudi Arabia, the blame and responsibility for the problem has been placed squarely on the shoulders of Moroccan women. This, if I may indulge in a little generalisation myself, is a characteristic way of dealing with issues that touch on morality. Sweep under the carpet, blame the other, and if all else fails, ban something.

But the blame sits not only with the Saudis. The Moroccans should have made a bigger stink out of this. They should have threatened to go all the way and if need-be ban their citizens from going to Saudi Arabia. Maybe this would generate the kind of publicity that forces the entire Arab world to debate this all-too-common stereotype.