Following the excitement at what (sadly) transpired to be a non-sighting of Madeleine McCann in Morocco....?

Question

...can anyone please explain why so many people were quite happy to unquestioningly believe that the Moroccan family in the photo were guilty of kidnap and child-peddling, without any shred of evidence whatsoever?

And how can these same people - having so readily pointed the finger at these poor innocent Moroccans - be so affronted when the police continue to ask Kate and Gerry McCann inconvenient but necessary questions, for which the authorities presumably have at least some supporting evidence?

Is it racism, ignorance, double-standards or willing blind faith in one possible & permissable version of events, that allows people to judge some unknown Arabs one way, and a nice white, English professional couple another way?

Answer 1

I agree, I have not heard anyone feel sorry for this Moroccan family, to be splashed across national newspapers, almost accused of kidnap is disgraceful, a lot of people are quick to judge this family but condone any ones views on the Mccanns, who after all did leave their children alone, inviting something terrible to happen to them, I am not saying they deserved this but they must also realise that a lot of people have and will criticise them over this.

Answer 2

I feel that the emphasis was on whether or not the child was Madeleine, not the family who were with the child. I never felt that it was her, but it is far better to have these possibilities explored than for the photographer to forever wonder for fear of upsetting a family. They had nothing to hide and it must have been easy for them to identify her-far less upset than the people who love Madeleine are still experiencing. I haven't actually read or heard of anyone making accusations towards this family, so I think everyone pretty much took it in the right spirit, i.e. is it or isn't it, rather than are they are aren't they child abductors/pedlars and so on. There has been so much interest generated by Madeleine's disappearance and by the behaviour of the family and friends that I genuinely believe that people care as to whether she is alive or not, and want justice. The race colour or creed is irrelevant. The interest is because the whole thing has felt strange from the start. I care about her whereabouts and I also care about all the other missing children and people who are killed every day. We live in a sad bad world in some respects, and it would be a shame to further cloud this with accusations of racism. Let's hope this sad story has a happy ending. Yes I know, not likely. But until there is proof otherwise there is still a glimmer.

Answer 3

I don't agree that the focus on the Moroccan family can be compared to that on the McCanns.

The focus of that story was almost exclusively on the child in the picture. The focus in Maddie's disappearance has mostly left Maddie herself as an afterthought.

Answer 4

I feel sorry for this Morocan family! I can understand someone thinking they had spotted little Madeleine and, quite naturally, report it so their information can be checked if! I would have assumed that more people knew that there were blond haired children in Africa (North and South) As well.

I think sadly racism is still very much part of our society and as for double-standards ... Same again. When it comes to Justice we should all be treated the same, regardless of race, creed, religion and as when it comes to education or lack of ... They shouldn't make any difference either.

Answer 5

James & Fidgety - if it was my little girl that had been mistaken for Madeleine McCann and somoebody either (a) tried to take her picture or (b) tried to approach her - I'd beat the crap out of them.

Answer 6

Don't forget the ones who point the finger at the McCanns and scream Guilty!

If you are going to come up with a good question that lights up the way that people are making decisions about current events. Try to show both sides.

The Public have taken supposition from the media and read it as fact.
The media says "is this a picture of Maddy?"
The pic was similar so the public (not all) cried "yes it is - the family with her are Guilty"
Its the same story for the Morrocans as it is for the McCanns.

Answer 7

I certainly did not. I was pretty angry that people were almost accusing this family of having a blond child and suggested on numerous occasions that the people saying this needed to travel more.
I think the suggestion that this family were child traffickers, gypsies, etc was disgraceful.

Answer 8

I never though the photo was of Madeleine, but could not understand all the pros coming out saying it's Madeleine, to day they have changed their minds, and they are saying what they really said was, " we hoped it was Madeleine" yes we all hoped it was, but we could quite clearly see it was not Madeleine, there is a big difference, in the two statements

Answer 9

I judge them both innocent!

Only the ignorant would question the fact that there are blond children in Morroco, and I didn`t see anyone calling them "child peddlers". People got excited at the thought of Madeliene appearing alive.Most of the finger pointing is in the Mccanns direction.

Isn`t it inverted "racism" to judge McCann "supporters" because they believe in innocent until proven guilty?They are white and middle class so what? You think people believe them because of that?
Do you disbelieve them because of that?


Neither class nor colour should play any role here.

Answer 10

It's racism, ignorance, double-standards or willing blind faith in one possible & permissable version of events.