Operation Misery: Week 3, Day 6 - The Morocco Concert.

This follows from my Operation Misery: Week 2, Day 6 - Part 2 post that can be found here; http://watchitdie.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/operation-misery-week-2-day-6-part-2.html

Rihanna’s concert in Boston which had to be cancelled has now been rescheduled for May 6^th (6/5/13). Originally this was intended to give Rihanna the opportunity to publically apologise to Mitt Romney whose campaign HQ was in Boston and the Republican Party for her failure to help him win the 2012 US Presidential election. As Rihanna claimed to have been supporting Barack Obama throughout the campaign this concert should have caused backlash against Rihanna as her tour continued throughout the US. However now it has been taken out of its scheduled order this concert has lost most of its political significance. Personally though I think it was a mistake to make this Rihanna’s last US concert because there will then follow an almost three week break in which Rihanna’s association and her betrayal of her race will reverberate.

Following that nearly three week break Rihanna’s tour will move onto Rabat (24/3/13) in Morocco. As I’ve mentioned before in political terms this is without the biggest concert of the entire tour. So much that I’ve been struggling to work out where to begin. However I’ve decided that the best place to start is at the beginning;

In 2009 Rihanna along with Jay-Z and Kanye West released a song called “Run This Town.” The video in support of this single which can be viewed here; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVA-xTBeHyM featured lots of masked extras in a sort of riot/protest scenario. Due to the use of some vaguely Arabic imagery such as henna tattoos and gold jewellery some of the masked female extras could be mistaken for wearing the Islamic Niqab. Therefore the Run This Town video seems to have predicted the events of the so called ‘Arab Spring’ that began in 2010. So along with being blamed for the UK’s 2011 August riots Rihanna and the Run This Town video has – in some circles – been blamed for the Arab Spring.

This is of course nonsense. The Arab Spring was caused by the demographic time bomb of large, educated but unemployed youthful populations across the Arab world. Analysts had been warning that this powder keg only needed a spark to explode since the days when Rihanna was just a little girl playing in the streets of Barbados. That spark finally came on December 17^th 2010 (17/12/10) when Mohamed Bouazizi set himself on fire outside a police station in Ben Arous, Tunisia in protest against police corruption. Then while most of the western/Christian world was distracted by the Christmas holidays the Tunisian people joined together to overthrow their dictator Ben Ali. Then with a little help from Israel’s Mossad the Arab Spring moved onto Egypt before being perverted by western intelligence agencies into the horrors we continue to witness in Libya (the UK) and then Syria (the US). However if it wasn’t for this interference from west many people – myself included – think that the natural path of the Arab Spring would have been west first into Algeria and then onto Morocco.

So ahead of Rihanna’s concert in Rabat the first big thing her CIA handlers plan to hit the Moroccans with is a debate about whether they believe Rihanna started the Arab Spring with the Run This Town video and if so do they think she was acting alone or as part of a wider US conspiracy. This is a complex question to answer because while I’m in no doubt that Rihanna did not cause the Arab Spring and any contribution she did make was purely unintentional in the years prior the US was certainly positioning itself to take all the glory should something like the Arab Spring happen. Also the more I think about it the more convinced I become that the director of the Run This Town video – Anthony Mandler – is a man with strong links to the US intelligence community. Not least because of his extensive work with the UK artist M.I.A whose career only really exists due to Sri Lanka’s civil war.

Once they’d attempted to confuse the Moroccans with that complex question the US would move on (although I doubt this would be a linear debate) to the issue of whether perhaps the Moroccan state owes the US a debt for its efforts in diverting the Arab Spring away from Morocco. Finally the US will be looking to start a discussion about what steps the Moroccans are taking to avoid their own Arab Spring style popular uprising. That’s because while the rest of the Middle-East, North Africa (MENA) region was ablaze the Moroccans were quietly putting in place a series of economic reforms designed to reduce youth unemployment. For these plans to work Morocco needs to maintain over 5% per year economic growth. In 2013 they’re on course to scrape in a 4.8%. Therefore I keep having nightmares about a doomsday scenario in which Rihanna’s Morocco concert provokes something that triggers the Moroccan leg of the Arab Spring. If that happens (it’s unlikely) the US might have to send in actual, proper Marines to get Rihanna and her team out safely. Given their endorsement of her reunion with Chris Brown I doubt they’ll bother.

The second issue that Rihanna’s Rabat concert is intended to raise between the US and Morocco is that of religion. In its entirety. Morocco is a Muslim nation where it is a criminal offence (article 220 of the penal code) to attempt to shake the faith of a Muslim or convert him to another religion. This prompts discussion about whether elements of Rihanna’s stage show – particularly the intro section – contain Christian imagery that would shake a Muslim’s faith making Rihanna guilty of the offence of proselytization.  Although at first glance elements such as the use of statues and the use of stained glass windows could be mistaken for Christian imagery I think this is a very short argument. That’s because on closer inspection the statues are cultural/historical reference such as the Venus de Milo and Roman Emperors. Likewise although they are used extensively in Christian Churches stained glass windows are not in of themselves Christian symbols. It’s just the time we learned how to stain glass coincided with the time that Christianity was spreading across Europe so many of the new Churches included this new, modern design feature. Stained glass windows are also widely used outside Churches and in fact I have one in my hallway. I suppose if you tilt your head and squint your eyes that window could symbolise a rose but mainly it just looks pretty. Then there is the issue of the song “Mother Mary” itself. As with in the Beatles song “Let it Be” the ‘Mother Mary’ being referenced by Rihanna is actually marijuana rather than the mother of Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary. However as I understand that Jesus Christ is considered a prophet within Islam mere references to his mother would surely only strengthen a Muslim’s faith rather than shake it. Finally there is Rihanna’s habit of posting Bible passages and Christian prayers on Instagram. However if you’ve actually studied the Bible (Rihanna clearly hasn’t) you would know that most of these are either taken wildly out of context or simply made up. Rihanna’s purpose in posting these passages is to use them as a way to pass on coded messages – often to Chris Brown. This is something that is actually quite offensive to Christians and fortunately something that Rihanna seems to be getting out of the habit of doing.

As the Arab Spring swept away largely secular dictators in places like Tunisia, Egypt and Libya it has created space for some of the more extreme interpretations of Islam to flourish. Many of these see it as their duty to God to either convert everybody to their interpretation of Islam or kill them. One thing they most certainly do not tolerate is people converting Muslims to other religions such as Christianity. This new level of intolerance has seen people in Egypt being given prison sentences of around 15 years for converting people to Christianity and around 150 Coptic Christians kidnapped and tortured in Libya on suspicion that they may try and convert Muslims. Therefore the question of whether Rihanna’s concert constitutes an effort at proselytization is one that will reverberate across the MENA region from Morocco in the west through to Turkey in the north-east. The US is hoping to use the issue as a sort of barometer of extremism across the entire region.

Religious idolatry is a specific issue within Morocco though. Morocco is an absolute Monarchy and not only that the Monarch is considered to be some kind of supernatural, Supreme Being. That is to say he is considered to be the embodiment of God on earth which is similar to what Christians believe to be true of Jesus Christ. Therefore the Moroccan King’s opinions are considered infallible and unquestionable. Apart from economic reforms in order to avoid an Arab Spring style uprising Morocco has amended its constitution to reduce the idolatry around its King. For example I believe his corporal form is now no longer considered to be the sacred vessel of God on earth. The idea of the Moroccan King being an earthly god is actually deeply offensive to most Muslims. It’s is especially offensive to Salafists  who believe the teachings of the Prophet Mohamed as written down in the Qur’an are God’s final say. Therefore any attempt to add to or re-interpret those teachings or elevate yourself to or above the level of the Prophet Mohamed is sacrilege. As Salafists tend to make up the bulk of violent Jihadists testing out how flexible the Moroccans are prepared to be on the idolatry surrounding their King is a good way for the US to try and gauge how worried the Moroccans are about violent Jihadists in their country.

Then there is the issue of Rihanna’s marijuana use. In Islam the use of mind-altering substances is forbidden. In the time of the Prophet Mohamed this meant only alcohol. However as the range of mid-altering substances available increased the definition expanded to include all of what are considered illegal street drugs in the west.  Many Muslims though are permitted to smoke tobacco which is considered roughly the same marijuana in the west . Therefore Muslim attitudes to smoking marijuana vary widely. Morocco has traditionally and historically been very tolerant to marijuana use with the city of Marrakesh long being considered and essential stop on the hippy trail although normal border rules do apply. Therefore Morocco’s tolerance or otherwise of Rihanna’s marijuana use will provide the US with another barometer of whether interpretations of Islamic law are becoming more strict in the country.

The other major issue that will be present during Rihanna’s trip to Morocco will be her relationship with Chris Brown. Although it is more a tribal tradition rather than a strictly speaking Islamic one many Muslim nations including Morocco practice arranged and forced marriage. At its most benign arranged marriage is simply people – often the parents – who know two people well thinking they’d make a good couple and suggesting they spend time together. At its most extreme forced marriage is a parent – often the father – forcing a child –often the daughter - into a marriage under the threat of death. More often than not what marks the difference between an arranged marriage and a forced marriage is the transfer of wealth or status between the families or clans of the two people getting married. So a father will often offer a bribe or dowry along with his daughter in order to buy his way into a higher status family.

Obviously the US’ main strategy is to use confusion to exert pressure on the Moroccans to see what falls out. Therefore the comparison between Rihanna and Chris Brown’s relationship and a forced marriage is not a tidy one. However it is clear that their relationship has been engineered through a high-level of coercion.  These include threats having been made to Rihanna such as she could lose her US work permit, the threat that she could lose her legal action against Berdon LLP and the threat that either her or her mother could be prosecuted by the US’ Inland Revenue Service (IRS) over tax evasion. It also includes forcing Rihanna to undertake a hectic schedule of recording and touring along with containing her in the gilded cage of fame with the constant threat of paparazzi and crazy stalker fans keeping so isolated that she keeps going back to Brown because he is effectively the only man in her life. Also as Rihanna is significantly wealthier and significantly more famous than Chris Brown the transfer of wealth and status from her to him as part of their relationship could be interpreted as a kind of dowry. However I think it is far more likely that Brown will end up dragging Rihanna down to his level rather than Rihanna pulling him up to hers.

In many tribal/Islamic societies the practice of forced marriage is under-pinned by the practice of honour killing. Basically if a family member – often a woman – brings dishonour to the family they are killed by other family members in order to restore the family’s honour. More often than not the thing that the woman does to bring dishonour is to either to refuse a marriage or to have sex outside of marriage thus losing her virginity reducing her value as an asset that can be traded through marriage. Although honour killing is one of the most extreme forms of domestic violence once again the comparison with Rihanna and Chris Brown is an unwieldy one. However the US were hoping that the Moroccans along with other Arab Monarchies would believe their story about Rihanna causing the Arab Spring. Therefore the debasement and ultimately destruction of Rihanna that her relationship with Chris Brown will inevitably bring could be viewed as the US killing Rihanna in order to restore honour to the Arab Monarchies.

Clearly the US wants its role in the debates over forced marriage and honour killing to be viewed differently by different groups. They want the Arab Monarchies to view it as a sign that the US understands, respects and shares their views and traditions. However the US also wants the Arab Street and western liberals to view it as them bravely standing up to the Arab Monarchies and their abhorrent and outdated views . I doubt though that those last two groups will be stupid enough to fail to notice that the US clearly has no problem doing this sort of thing itself.

Another major issue at Rihanna’s concert in Morocco will be her sexuality as expressed through her raunchy dance moves and her clothing or lack thereof. Even before you get into complex issues such as homosexuality attitudes to everyday sexuality within Muslim societies are deeply contradictory. On one hand the Prophet Mohamed not only taught that Muslims should engage in sexual activity but that it was their duty to God to be good at it. However that sexual activity should only take place within the privacy of the marital home. Therefore Muslim women should dress demurely in public so only their husbands get to see what they’ve got to offer. However over the centuries and with the emergence of Kings in some Islamic societies that teaching got twisted to mean that only men and not women were permitted to enjoy sex. A few Islamic societies – mainly in east Africa – have taken this to the extreme of practicing female genital mutilation. Basically this involves of the sensitive parts of a woman’s genitals being surgically removed leaving her physically incapable of experiencing pleasure from sexual intercourse.

Prior to the Arab Spring the secular dictators largely kept a lid on these debates about Islam and sexuality. Now with those dictators out of the way those rules are being re-interpreted and re-written every day on the streets. For example in Cairo, Egypt it is so common for woman out in public alone to be groped, sexually assaulted or raped that a French charity has gone to the lengths of setting up volunteer patrols to deter and catch the perpetrators. By contrast in Tunisia a young woman, Amina Tyler recently published photographs of herself topless save for slogans decrying the notion that Muslim men own a Muslim woman’s body. Despite initial fears for her safety and the occasional boisterous threat she appears to have escaped any serious retribution.

So by sending Rihanna and what the US hopes will be a growing debate about the state of her vagina to Morocco to perform a raunchy concert wearing costumes that fall far below even the most moderate of Islamic dress codes the US is hoping to provoke widespread public debate in the newly freed airwaves and on the Internet. The US will then study and analyses all that is said and written about Rihanna in an effort to assess attitudes to sexuality – especially women’s – in the newly freed middle-east.

Finally Morocco is home to the city of Casablanca that was made famous by the 1942 US film of the same name.  During World War two Morocco stayed largely neutral so became a hotbed for spying and espionage activity. Therefore Casablanca has become a by-word for modern day Azerbaijan. As I’ve previous mentioned whilst performing in Azerbaijan in October 2012 Rihanna experienced a significant emotional meltdown. Therefore this promotes a discussion about whether the Moroccan authorities will be able to protect Rihanna’s safety and welfare whilst she is in the country. This rapidly becomes a discussion of whether the Moroccan authorities consider Chris Brown to have a positive or negative effect on Rihanna’s welfare. That then becomes a discussion over whether Morocco would be willing to allow Chris Brown into their country. If their answer is yes it then becomes a discussion over whether the Moroccans can prevent someone killing Chris Brown whilst he is in the country. That discussion forces the Moroccans to reveal a lot of information to the US about the security threats they have in their country and the security apparatus they have in place to control those threats.

22:15 on 28/3/13.