{"id":7643,"date":"2011-02-02T00:00:22","date_gmt":"2011-02-02T08:00:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/muslimahmediawatch.org\/?p=7643"},"modified":"2011-02-02T00:00:22","modified_gmt":"2011-02-02T08:00:22","slug":"berlusconis-rubygate-but-is-she-muslim","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/2011\/02\/berlusconis-rubygate-but-is-she-muslim\/","title":{"rendered":"Berlusconi’s Rubygate: But is she Muslim?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

The ongoing sexual excesses of Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi routinely make headlines. In fact, the tabloid fodder that is his life has been somewhat of a release for me in a time of heavy news (Egypt and Tunisia, anyone?). \u00a0\u00a0Orgies with showgirls, presents for nubile barely legal girls who are \u201cjust friends,\u201d and assorted sex parties (Bunga Bunga ring a bell?) are just par for the course for Italy\u2019s leader.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Ruby Rubacuori.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

But recently, a new scandal has come to the surface for Il Cavaliere. \u00a0The press calls it \u201cRubygate,\u201d and it has become such a problem from Berlusconi that on the 27th, he called a television show live to defend himself<\/a> against these accusations.<\/p>\n

A young girl of Moroccan origin, Ruby Rubacuori, real name Karima el Mahroug (some sources say Karima Keyek), is accused of having paid sexual relations with Berlusconi, and, to make matters worse, he may have abused of his position to protect her from prosecution in a theft case last May. \u00a0Oh, and she was a minor at the time. \u00a0Even better: although her immigration status is unknown (she may or may not have papers), to get her out of custody, Berlusconi told police that she was Hosni Mubarak\u2019s granddaughter<\/a>.<\/p>\n

As I love to find any link, no matter how tenuous, between people who are \u201cpotential Muslims\u201d (like Ruby) and whether or not they are perceived as such by the media and people online, I asked myself the question: \u00a0Is Ruby seen as a Muslim? \u00a0Part of the answer is that Ruby, to the press, no longer identifies as Muslim, and is quoted by a few sources as having converted to Catholicism at the age of twelve<\/a>, much to her \u201cobservant\u201d father\u2019s chagrin.<\/p>\n

Furthermore, while French and Italian \u00a0(and Switzerland for that matter) media delight in pointing out the \u201cnon-Europeanness\u201d of certain protagonists, in this case they were accordingly quick to bring up Ruby\u2019s Moroccanness, but not her potential Muslimness. And Berlusconi himself, who is not the most politically correct of characters, evidently had no problem with her \u201corigins:\u201d\u00a0in fact, it seems he likes \u201cbelly dancers.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, as I have a long history of trolling online media and found the Muslim card being pulled by commenters in spades for my \u201cNo Uglies\u201d post,<\/a> I hypothesized commenters on news posts online would not give Ruby the benefit of the doubt, and sign her off as \u201conce a Muslim, always a Muslim,\u201d or at least try to amalgamate \u201cMoroccan=Muslim.\u201d<\/p>\n

How did I fare? \u00a0On main news outlets, the commenters were pretty tame. In the Economist, the Guardian, and the Huffy, I was pleasantly surprised to find no Muslim bingos, with much of the hate being heaped upon Berlusconi for being a homophobic pedophile. \u00a0English-language media cited her real name, but made no real focus on her \u201cMoroccanness\u201d and none at all on her Muslimness.<\/p>\n

I then moved on to French-language media. \u00a0Would readers and trolls call Ruby a Muslim there?<\/p>\n

Main Swiss papers. No dice. \u00a0The comments in Liberation<\/em>, the bastion of the French gauche caviar? A debate on the age of consent in Italy. \u00a0Boring. \u00a0Le Figaro<\/em>, what your grandparents read? \u00a0Other than every story focusing on the fact that she was a young Moroccan, \u00a0the comments were full of internet high-fives for Berlusconi and supposed moral outrage at what children were being taught by their parents. \u00a0Much to my disappointment, I even couldn\u2019t find any good Muslim hating trolls even in Le Parisien<\/em><\/a> which usually has some \u201cDaily Mail\u201d-like trolling action. Nothing!<\/p>\n

Finally, in Italian (with my rusty college Italian). \u00a0La Repubblica<\/em> on the left? Nyet. \u00a0Corriere della Serra <\/em>on the right? Nope. \u00a0Ansa (the Italian AFP?) Neither. \u00a0\u00a0The hate, like in English-language media, seemed to be focused on Berlusconi for crossing the lines yet again. In fact, my internet research only led me to shady YouTube videos.<\/p>\n

Which lead me to a final conclusion: \u00a0the only place I could find hate online for Ruby\u00a0(seen in most other places as either an underage victim of the system or a really, really hot chick) was by Moroccans or Muslims. \u00a0Two videos on Youtube with variations on \u201cRuby: Moroccan Whore\u201d and a series of forum trolls, best summarized by this example from Ya Bliadi<\/a> (which admittedly does not come out and say being either Moroccan or Muslim but, as I said, it is an example of dozens I read which did) left me speechless. Entitled \u201cYet Another Whore,\u201d it went on to say: \u00a0Each Moroccan whore who gets caught comes out and says,<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2019I left Morocco because I aspired to freedom. The neighborhood grocer and 10 thirtysomething guys raped me when I was 4 years old.\u2019 We must stop with this\u2026Subhaan Allah, when I see that some Moroccan women are able to go out and make up stories to disown their country, their husbands or their parents for questions of papers or money, I tell myself that we are surrounded by vipers.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

What makes this latest sex scandal different for Il Cavaliere is not that he had yet another underage girlfriend, but that he abused of his position yet again to provide favors for his latest fling. \u00a0In fact, the fallout from the Ruby scandal may just yet be his downfall. \u00a0And what about Ruby? The readers\u2019 consensus in three languages? \u00a0Most definitely underage. \u00a0Also hot. And Moroccan. \u00a0But not Muslim. \u00a0For once!<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The ongoing sexual excesses of Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi routinely make headlines. In fact, the tabloid fodder that is his life has been somewhat of a release for me in a time of heavy news (Egypt and Tunisia, anyone?). \u00a0\u00a0Orgies with showgirls, presents for nubile barely legal girls who are \u201cjust friends,\u201d and assorted […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":174,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,14],"tags":[614,708,709,1153,1154,1262],"class_list":["post-7643","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","category-politics","tag-immigration","tag-karima-el-mahroug","tag-karima-keyek","tag-ruby-rubacuori","tag-rubygate","tag-silvio-berlusconi"],"yoast_head":"\nBerlusconi's Rubygate: But is she Muslim?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The ongoing sexual excesses of Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi routinely make headlines. 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