After the earthquake, it took the King of Morocco four days to get to the site.
Four days is a long time. Why such a delay? Simple: His Highness was in France for medical treatment. And it wasn't the first time: in 2018 he had already come to France for heart surgery.
Other despots in the region do the same. We remember, for example, that former President Bouteflika also made a habit of making the trip. We can safely assume that a good portion of the Maghreb and African elite indulge in these little health-related trips, encouraged, moreover, by France, as this booklet from the French embassy in Rabat demonstrates.
This homage paid by local leaders to French medicine does not prevent them from saying all the bad things they think about France. We would not be surprised to discover, in the coming months, that the putschists of Mali or Niger, after having declaimed their hatred of France, will in turn discreetly go to a French hospital.
In the case of Morocco, the problem takes another turn after the king's refusal of the French proposal to send aid to the victims.
As usual, the French media remained remarkably silent on this strange paradox. They weren't about to start demanding answers from the king, especially if he was ill. Faced with the king's refusal, President Macron accepted it without flinching, asserting that Morocco is a sovereign nation.
The argument might hold water if it concerned another country. But we learned that the French volunteers who, listening only to their conscience, had decided to go to Morocco on their own initiative, were forced to keep a low profile by removing their tricolor flag.
France remains a hated country. That it dares to offer its help is unbearable. Rather die. Here, honor comes before life. Moroccans seem to accept it. So we will not see them in the streets to protest against a regime that is visibly doing the minimum to protect its population. Yes, Your Highness: we accept to die in atrocious suffering rather than harm the honor of His Majesty and our country.
Seen from France, this hierarchy of values does not pose a problem. It has been a golden rule since decolonization: we are not going to start judging these countries by our Western criteria. These countries have suffered so much because of us that it would be inappropriate to lecture them. And it is obviously not the decolonial movement, so quick to denounce France in all circumstances, that is going to launch itself into this field.
One question remains, however, which inevitably resurfaces on the occasion of such dramatic events: dear former colonies, what have you done with your independence?
