Morocco
King Hassan II, Morocco's constitutional monarch and religious leader
since 1962, belongs to the Alawi dynasty, which has ruled the country since
the seventeenth century. The 1990s have witnessed a gradual liberalization
of political and economic life in Morocco. In 1993, parliamentary elections
were won by a coalition of centre-right parties. The king has sought to
entice the legal opposition parties, led by the nationalist Istiqlal (Independence
Party) and the Union socialiste des forces populaires (USFP, Socialist Union
of Popular Forces), to form a government, in line with his aim of rotating
power among major political groupings. His insistence on reserving key ministries
for loyalists led the opposition to reject his overtures. The September
1996 referendum on constitutional reform approved the establishment of a
bicameral system, and the next parliamentary elections are due to be held
in 1997.
The Moroccan economy has been challenged in recent years by the effects
of severe drought, currency fluctuations and world recession. In 1996, however,
good rainfall combined with structural reforms contributed to modest economic
growth. Morocco also began to benefit economically from the 1995 free trade
agreement with the European Union.
Direct relations between Morocco and Israel have developed as a result of
the Middle East peace process. Liaison offices, which opened in Tel Aviv
and Rabat in 1994, continued to function throughout 1996. The relationship
was strained, however, by Moroccan criticism of Israel's campaign in Lebanon
in April. Following the election of the Israeli prime minister, Binyamin
Netanyahu, in May, official contacts between the two countries diminished.
The Jewish community of Morocco, which dates back more than 2,000 years,
has experienced various waves of both tolerance and discrimination. The
worst outbreaks of antisemitic violence occurred during the Middle Ages,
when Jews were massacred in Fez in 1033 and in Marrakesh in 1232. Following
the establishment of the French protectorate in 1912, Jews began to enjoy
greater equality. Under the Vichy regime, Jews suffered discrimination but
King Muhammad V did much to ensure that they were not deported. By 1948
there were some 270,000 Jews in Morocco but, thereafter, the population
decreased rapidly.
Following the establishment of the state of Israel, there were numerous
attacks on Jewish individuals and premises. In June 1953, forty-three Jews
were murdered, and violence persisted until Morocco gained independence
in 1956. Jews were granted full suffrage and complete freedom of movement
but emigration was restricted (although thousands of Jews continued to leave
for Israel clandestinely). After the 1967 Six-Day War, many middle-class
Jews emigrated because of worsening conditions, including a virulent antisemitic
and anti-Israel press campaign.
In recent years the Jewish community has maintained good relations with
King Hassan, as indicated by his appointment of a Jew, André Azoulay,
as adviser on economic affairs, and by the appointment of the president
of Morocco's Jewish Communities Council, Serge Berdugo, as minister of tourism.
Ber-dugo was dropped from the cabinet appointed in 1995, perhaps owing to
continued troubles in the tourism sector.
Islamist movements are fragmented in Morocco partly because of a ban on all Islamist political activity. During 1996 clashes did occur, however, between Islamist and leftist groups at Casablanca University. Some Islamist groups in Morocco have occasionally expressed antisemitic sentiments by accusing the king, for example, of selling the country to the Jews.
On 8 June, the deputy head of the Casablanca Jewish community, Babi Azencot, was seriously wounded by two gunmen on a motor-cycle. The motive could not be ascertained and the assailants were not arrested.
The Middle Eastern tour of French Holocaust-denier Roger Garaudy, in
July, received considerable attention in the Moroccan media (see HOLOCAUST
DENIAL).
On 5 August, the weekly newspaper al-Ousbua published an article
by Hamid Boucetta, entitled "Do the Jews Rule the World?", in
which he stated: "The Zionist Protocols have been victorious. Zionists
have dominated the world for hundreds of years by means of the Torah and
this is what they are continuing to do today." The same publication
featured a lengthy antisemitic diatribe on its leader page on 25 October,
which accused Jews of usurping land to fulfil "devilish dreams"
and called on Muslims to read the Qur'an in order to confront the "Jewish
racist octopus". It concluded that "the Jews are the number one
enemy of Muslims".
On 5 November, the opposition communist newspaper, al-Bayane , published
a report on the Lebanese response to the US feature film Independence
Day , which was branded as "Jewish propaganda" (see Lebanon).
The opening of the film in Rabat in mid-November was accompanied by antisemitic
commentary in the leftist weekly newspaper al-Mounataf . A front-page
story was published on 21 November entitled "Under the Guise of Culture,
Jews take Control of the Screen". This media response was criticized
by the leaders of the Moroccan Jewish community and a week later the newspaper
printed an apology from the editorial committee.
On 12 November, an antisemitic poem appeared in the Berber language and
in French on the cultural page of al-Bayane . Entitled "Opportunists",
the poem included the following line: "The world today belongs to the
Jews who lent us money at an interest rate of five hundred per cent."
The appointment of Madeleine Albright as US secretary of state elicited
an antisemitic response in the left-wing newspaper al-Anouar , which
published an article on 28 December entitled "The Political Wedding
of an old Zionist". The author referred to the egoism ingrained in
Jews and posited that this could be because of certain genes in Jewish blood
that carry the idea of world domination.
Texts such as The Protocols of the Elders of Zion continue to circulate
in Morocco.
Although good relations generally exist between the Jewish and Muslim communities, antisemitic themes have emerged in sermons by Islamist clerics. Since the regime seeks to quell the spread of militant Islamic ideas, particularly in view of the situation in neighbouring Algeria, all statements, antisemitic or otherwise, by these circles tend to be made clandestinely.
The French Holocaust-denier Roger Garaudy (see France) was invited by
Moroccan academics to attend a conference in Rabat in October. The conference
was cancelled at the last moment following the intervention of King Hassan.
Nevertheless, Garaudy visited Morocco, and received widespread media coverage.
Many newspapers and other publications featured positive reviews of Garaudy's
latest book and sought to legitimize Holocaust denial.
The leftist daily newspaper al-Anouar published a declaration signed
by thirty-eight leading cultural figures in support of Garaudy. The glossy
French-language magazine Teleplus , for example, dedicated twelve
pages of its July edition to sympathetic articles about Garaudy by Moroccan
intellectuals.
The question of whether and how fast to normalize relations with Israel
remained a subject of controversy within Morocco. Opposition newspaper editorials
and cartoons referred to the debate, often employing antisemitic images
to emphasize their warnings against the evils of normalization. Hostility
towards Israel and towards Jews became increasingly pronounced after the
election of the Israeli prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, in May. Controversy
over the opening of the Hasmonean tunnel near Muslim and Christian holy
sites in Jerusalem, and the delay in signing an agreement between Israel
and the Palestinians over Hebron, heightened these tensions. The newspaper
al-Ousbua referred to "the Jewish people" as "new Nazis".
On 5 November, an article in the Islamist newspaper al-Ra'i proclaimed:
"Despite all that the holy Qur'an says about the Jews, despite the
intransigence of the terrorist Netanyahu in blocking the peace process,
there remain among us those who wish to satisfy the demands of the children
of Zion . . . Is there an Israeli-Zionist lobby among us, as there is in
the USA, France and Europe in general?"
Following protests by the Israeli consul, King Hassan intervened to prevent
an academic conference in Rabat to which the French Holocaust-denier Roger
Garaudy was invited (see HOLOCAUST DENIAL).
At the beginning of October, the head of Morocco's liaison office in Tel
Aviv, Talal Ghoufrani, was invited to a meeting of the Knesset Committee
on Immigration and Absorption convened by a member of the Knesset, Naomi
Blumenthal, to discuss reported expressions of antisemitism in the Moroccan
media. Ghoufrani noted that Moroccan authorities were committed to suppressing
antisemitism.
The Moroccan minister of higher education, Darif Khalil, also stated to
the Israeli counsel in Rabat that: "Universities in our country will
not admit antisemitism through their gates, nor will anyone who expresses
antisemitic beliefs be admitted."
Moroccan Jewry currently enjoys the tolerance of King Hassan's regime,
but an increasing degree of antisemitic sentiment was evident in the opposition
media during 1996. Morocco's increasing economic links with Israel, the
flow of Israeli tourists and the peace process all contribute to the relative
security of Moroccan Jews. Factors that may impinge on this include the
growing socio-economic difficulties of certain sectors of the Moroccan population,
a concomitant rise in Islamism and a deterioriation of the situation in
neighbouring Algeria. Concern has also been expressed, owing to the monarch's
recent bouts of ill health, about the possibility of change when King Hassan's
rule comes to an end.
© JPR 1997