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Mahi Binebine’s story is one that evokes feelings of love, hatred and betrayal. It is an account of his family’s unforgotten wound that he tried to narrate in his newly launched book «Le Fou du Roi». For those who do not know Mahi, he is the son of Mohamed Binebine who was notorious for being the palace’ storyteller. For 39 years, Binebine the father, served as King Hassan II entertainer, telling jokes and narrating laughable stories.
It all started for the Marrakchi national when the Egyptian singer, Oum Keltoum visited the kingdom for the first time in 1960. He inspired the diva with his humorous stories and since then, Binebine was hired by the King as his personal entertainer. Now it is his son, Mahi that occupied himself with the task of telling their story. The story of his brother Aziz who was detained in the Tazmamart prison after participating as a soldier to the failed political coup performed in 1971.
Mohamed Binebine with the Egyptian singer, Oum Keltoum during her visit to Morocco in 1960./Ph. Courtesy of Mahi Binebine/Al Jazeera
Interviewed by Al Jazeera, Mahi insisted that he was committed to reveal the story that involved his father, brother and the king in order to give his «father a chance to speak. I allowed him to explain, to tell his own wounds». In fact, Mahi’s brother spent 18 years in the infamous Tazmamart. According to him, Aziz was one of the few detainees who managed to survive the prison. For years, the tragedy tore the Binebine’s family apart. As a teenager Mahi was there witnessing everything and surrendering to his hatred.
«I feel at peace with myself now»
«To keep his job with the king, my father had to publicly deny his son, tear off his page from the family's record book. As a teenager, I was mad at this man that I considered to be a coward. I refused to see him for many years», the writer told Al Jazeera. Even after his brother was released in 1992, Mahi could not forget the traumatic event that changed his life.
Le Fou du Roi, a novel written by Mahi Binebine and inspired by his father's true story./Ph. DR
«When he left prison, my brother asked me to take him to see my father. I took him there unwillingly and the two men fell into each other's arms and wept», Mahi recalls indicating that he could not understand how his brother Aziz forgave his father easily. «My brother explained that of the 29 inmates in his building, only four had survived. Someone who miraculously survived had no hatred for anyone, not even for the king, because hatred is a poison to the one who carries it», he added.
Now thanks to his novel released on the 15th of March 2017, Moha the painter, and writer is now «in peace with (himself)». After all these years, Mahi was able to forgive what happened and to reconcile «with (his) father. And by extension with our history.»
