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Moroccan pharmacies threatened over cross symbols
[Magharebia] A self-proclaimed "lover of al-Qaeda and Jihad" has given Moroccan pharmacy owners one month to remove cross symbols from storefronts or else face beheading."In 2009, crusade France lured owners of pharmacies with financial benefits and discounts in medications in return for placing the green cross along the green crescent," said a letter published in late July by several online forums. "We demand you remove the crosses off the façades of your pharmacies and to respect our religion," the web threat continued. "Forewarned is forearmed," the unnamed writer said. "We give you and those who work with you an interval of one month to return to your true nature and nation." The deadline expires August 28th. Morocco has not issued an official response to the online ultimatum. Communication Minister Khalid Naciri on August 17th told Magharebia that "the government can't issue reactions to each and every threat posted on the internet". For his part, Laghdaf El Ghaouti, the head of Morocco's General Union of Pharmacists and Health Professionals, said that the internet threat is wrong on several counts. For one, the cross symbol has been used in Morocco for longer than the single year claimed by the web writer. "This sign is the symbol of pharmacy worldwide and doesn't have anything to do with the Christian cross," he also noted. "There is no relation between the dealings of pharmacists and pharmaceutical companies and crusade activities," he said. "The logic of trade is the only thing that governs these dealings." Ahmed Quechtar, a member of the Moroccan Association of Pharmacists agreed with El Ghaouti, stating that "the placement of the cross on the façades of pharmacies is not a deliberate thing, and it surely doesn't have a certain background". "Pharmacists graduating from Moroccan faculties understand the difference between the crescent and cross," Quechtar added. Another pharmacist in the city of Salé told Magharebia that the allegations made by the author of the message are completely untrue: "France doesn't intervene in the work of Moroccan pharmacists, who are independent and belong to independent professional entities." "The placement of the cross is a tradition we inherited from France," he explained. "The saying that France gives discounts to pharmacists in Morocco is a false claim, given that those pharmacists deal in a direct way with Moroccan pharmaceutical companies. Morocco produces about 85% of its needs of medications. In addition, Morocco is considered a pioneering country in the field of pharmaceuticals and regulation of the pharmacist profession." Posted by: Fred 2010-08-26 |
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