Dour al-internet fi al-siasa al-arabiya

So the most exciting thing that happened today actually did not happen to me, it happened to a friend of mine in the Arabic program here.

Last week, one of our class assignments was to record a newscast in Arabic and turn it in to our professor for a grade. One girl, let's call her Ruby (her youtube name) posted her video online and as of now it has reached over 25,000 views...in four days. The video has been reposted on several Moroccan blogs, including a prominent Moroccan news site, Hespress. I told my host family to watch the video today, but they had already seen it. The comments on the views are fascinating to read, and range from "excuse me you are very beautiful please marry me " to "I as a moroccan, i disagree with u, given that the 20th feb movement have much more liberals demands that hidden behind the lines of the claimed changes" to "im moroccan and im so happy to see some one interesed by my country thank you and allah alwatan almalik peace and love" (actual quotes).

The truth is, a lot of Arabs, and especially Arab youth, don't find the Arabic language valuable. The reasons for this are a little complex, but essentially the written form of the language (Modern Standard Arabic) is so removed from spoken Arabic dialects, that many Arab linguists fear that Arabic is going the way of Latin. Another reason is that most Arab parents pressure their children to learn French or English because job opportunities in the Arab World are so scarce.

So when a foreigner speaks to an Arab in their own language, it seems to be a huge compliment. I never cease to amuse Moroccans on the street when I talk to them. Often I'll say Kee dair? to a taxi driver and he'll looked shocked for a moment and then laugh in surprise before rattling off in Arabic. Mizyan, alhamdulilah. Ketahdar bilaraby? Inta mineen? (I'm good, thank God. You speak Arabic? Where are you from?) They even take time to correct my mistakes and teach me new phrases.

So I don't know if that's why the video went viral. Maybe it's just because she's a hot Asian lady (on the street, the most misogynistic and racist catcalls are always reserved for Ruby). Either way, it's a really cool case study for what makes a video go viral.

(Future business idea: hot Asian ladies read the news. I thought of it first!) Links to the video below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GP1RizmOo8w

http://hespress.com/videos/34276.html