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Moroccan Jews & Muslims- From Very Good to Strained
Morocco has always had strong ties with Judaism. Soon after Arab rule began in Morocco at the end of the seventh century, there was an influx of Arab Jews into the country. Over time, relations between Morocco’s majority Muslim population and its small Jewish population have ranged from very good to strained.
The King’s top adviser, Andre Azoulay, is Jewish. “Moroccan Jewish memories are many centuries old,” said Azoulay. “We know it has not all been rosy. There are black pages. But the Moroccan Jewish past has nothing to do with the history of the Jews during that same period in the West. Rather, we have seen Jews and Muslims living together and respecting each other.”
During World War II, when King Mohammed V refused to implement the anti-Semitic practices of the Vichy French government, approximately 300,000 Jews lived in Morocco. After decades of emigration, 3,000 Jews are now left.
“It’s sad how much the community here is shrinking, with everyone leaving,” said Robert Serero, whose family has been in Morocco for more than 500 years, since Jews and Muslims were expelled from Spain. “But this is my home, and I will never leave. They say we have problems but there are problems everywhere, and why trade one for another?”
There have been tensions between Muslims and Jews in Morocco in the wake of the 2003 Casablanca bombings that targeted Jewish sites. But Mustapha Al Khalfi, a member of the council for the Islamist-leaning Justice and Development Party, said the strong Moroccan history of inter-religious understanding still prevails.
This year, there was widespread condemnation from the Jewish Moroccan community of Israel’s invasion of the Gaza Strip, calling for an end to the violence. “For more than two weeks the residents of Gaza, sitting targets, are suffering under the bombs, the widespread destruction, the lack of food and water,” the Council of Jewish Communities in Morocco (CCIM) said in a statement sent to Agence France Presse.
“The pictures of Palestinian children torn from life are unbearable,” the CCIM added. “We, Moroccan Jews, are in solidarity with the innocent victims who are suffering, in Gaza and elsewhere…No just and viable solution can be found through force.”
Simon Levy, director of the Foundation of Judeo-Moroccan Cultural Heritage (the only Jewish museum in the Arab world), said the situation in Palestine was “more than deplorable,” and urged international organisations to intervene and resolve the crisis.
According to the Jewish Moroccan Council, the Jewish community in Morocco is dwindling because the country’s 30 million Muslims maintain contradictory views of Moroccan Jews. While many believe Jews are essential to the country’s progress, some believe that Moroccan Jews still affiliate with Israel (to which they are strongly opposed), and some are resentful of their economic power in the country.
Despite this, many Muslims still make pilgrimages to the tombs of Jewish saints, and they respect Jewish festivities in Morocco. Culturally, they are also similar as they share the same languages (French and Moroccan Arabic, known as deriga) and certain foods. However, intermarriage is rare.
Nora Fakim, Arab Media Watch intern
Global Arab Network