On a previous post, I wrote an erroneous post about the origin of the term “Ali Baba,” and why Moroccans call me Ali Baba whenever they see me. It has nothing to do with 1992’s Aladdin, and instead comes from the story “Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves.” From what I can tell based of wikipedia, when the Iraq War began, American and British soldiers referred to Iraqis as “Ali Baba,” in the Iraq War’s equivalent of “Charlie” from Vietnam. Iraqis, in turn, began to refer to American and British soldiers as “Ali Baba” as well, especially to certain soldiers suspected of looting.
This is an explanation for Iraq, not Morocco. As I’ve said, Michael Fitzgerald gets called Ali Baba all the time, and he’s been in Morocco since well before the beginning of the Iraq War. He also says it has more to do with our beards than our national origin, so it could just be part of the larger culture. I’m really not sure.
I am going to soon be adding another, longer post. Stand-by.