INTERNATIONAL WINE FAIR HELD IN CASABLANCA AND ORGANIZED BY MARTINI & ROSSI CAUSES UPROAR AMONG MOROCCAN MUSLIMS

Orthodox Muslims were outraged by the international wine fair that Martini & Rossi decided to hold in Casablanca in mid November. According to Al-Arabiya, the event that included about 40 important wine producers from France, Italy, Spain, and Chile had the goal of giving value to Moroccan wine production, thus risking a revolt among the most orthodox Imams.

For Sheikh Abdel Bari al-Zamzami, the head of the Moroccan Scholars Association, this fair was a provocation that underlines the fundamental problem of the presence of winemaking production in a Muslim country. The leader contested the fact that the government of Rabat allowed the country to produce wine and alcohol in Morocco (about 30 million bottles per year with a goal of increasing to at least 34 million).

“The public authorities” – explained al-Zamzami – “should assume the responsibility to avoid people who come from the outside and to defend the moral corruption of the country”.
Other Imams who were interviewed also requested that the fair be prohibited by the government as well as the production and sales of alcoholic beverages in the country.

Source: Adn Kronos