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Fez- Following the storm of harsh criticism mocking Nabila Benkirane’s Jellaba – a typical Moroccan women dress- that she was wearing at a White House formal reception during the US-Africa Summit held in Washington, Charafat Afilal, Minister Delegate to the Minister of Energy, Mines, Water and Environment, in charge of water spoke out against people who levelled harsh criticism towards Mrs. Benkirane’s attire.
The Moroccan minister said on her Facebook page that the dress of Mrs. Benkirane was “elegant and beautiful, and carefully chosen with good taste.”
Afilal criticized people who mocked Nabila Benkirane’s appearance in the White House with a Moroccan Jellaba, saying that the Jellaba is an authentic attire deep rooted in the Moroccan culture and represents the Moroccan identity.
She also urged Moroccans to respect Mrs. Benkirane freedom to dress the way she pleases. “The freedom one has to choose the way he/she dresses is an integral part of individual freedoms that, modernist, boast about. Please don’t violate it,” she said.
While some Facebook users appreciated the way Nabila Benkiranehe represented the majority of Morocccan women, the lady’s Jellab did not go without criticism, which ranged from expressions disapproval of “unfashionable look” of her attire to even mocking expression attacking her in person.
Moroccan Fashion Designer Fatima Ezahra Yaacoubi was quoted by Hespress as saying that “Nabila Benkirane should have worn a silky Caftan rather than wearing that sack of flour.”
