"Condom Culture" accusation from Islamists

The Inter Press Service in Rome is reporting that a telethon to raise AIDS awareness has caused a dispute between religious groups and other parts of society.

"The telethon held up use of condoms as the best way to protect oneself from HIV," said a long article in the PJD daily Attajdid (The Revival). In promoting use of the condom, the association was "copying foreign programmes and trying to implement them in Moroccan society without regard to Morocco as an Islamic country." The article condemned the organisers over "the condoms used in the telethon were designed by a French architect who had been brought to Morocco especially for this."

The article went on to say that; "fidelity to religion and marriage" are the way to fight AIDS, which it described as "divine punishment".

Such suggestions have been strongly challenged. "This is neither new nor accidental in our political and community life," writer Mohamed Janboubi told IPS. His recent work 'Marabouts in Morocco' shows that ancient religious leaders in Morocco fought against fundamentalism and obscurantism has been a bestseller in Morocco.

Read the full article here: Civil 'War' Over Condoms

Tags: Morocco, Fes, Maghreb, news