Casablanca, Morocco - On a recent mild Sunday evening, a few dozen middle-aged, crisply dressed guests convened at the Jewish community center in this bustling metropolis, where half of the country’s Jews live. They had come to honor Georges Berdugo, an elderly Jewish lawyer who was being given a royal lifetime achievement award.
Standing on the dais under a picture of King Mohammed VI, the head of the community and a cousin of the awardee, Serge Berdugo, delivered a speech stressing the deep bond between Morocco and its Jews. He was followed by a representative of the Moroccan bar association, who lauded the career of his Jewish peer. Then came an elderly rabbi, who recited a prayer for the king.
Offering a Jewish blessing to a Muslim ruler, one believed to be a descendant of the prophet Muhammad no less, is unheard of in most parts of the world. But it is almost routine here in this North African country, where Jews are proud not only of their rich cultural heritage but also of embodying a rare example of Jewish-Muslim coexistence.
“Jews generally have a tragic memory from which they want to distance themselves,” Andre Azoulay, a Jewish adviser to the king, told the Forward in his office at the royal palace in the capital city of Rabat. “Morocco is the only example where the past and the present are elements of pride.”
In addition to a vibrant Jewish community with several synagogues and schools, Moroccan Jewry can boast of a royal adviser, an ambassador-at-large, candidates for parliament and even a smattering of far-left militants.
While the vast majority of Morocco’s quarter-million Jews left the country between 1948 and 1967 to immigrate to Israel, France or the United States, for the most part they felt they had not been chased out and as a result many retained a strong emotional bond to their homeland. Moroccan authorities, for their part, are eager to show off the community as an example of the kingdom’s moderate nature, particularly at a time when Muslim countries are often associated in Western minds with terrorism.
While Moroccan Jewry is unquestionably far better off than communities elsewhere in the Arab world, the picture may not be quite as idyllic as is often painted. To begin with, community leaders’ claims that 5,000 Jews live in Morocco are likely inflated. The Jewish Agency for Israel has put the figure at 3,000, and according to most accounts a sizable proportion of them split time between Morocco and elsewhere.
Moreover, while Jews and Muslims may be friendly neighbors they rarely talk about Israel. Moroccans are staunchly pro-Palestinian, and 1 million of them demonstrated in the streets in the spring of 2002 to protest Israeli military operations in the West Bank and Gaza. And Morocco itself has not been immune to terrorism: When a dozen suicide bombers blew themselves up in Casablanca in May 2003, three of the targets were Jewish or Jewish-owned.
Shortly after the 2003 attacks, Berdugo, who in addition to leading the community serves as the king’s ambassador at large, blasted the Jewish Agency for encouraging Moroccan Jews to leave the country. He now claims Jews are no more at risk from a “foreign-inspired” lethal ideology than ordinary Moroccans. And he is keen to recount that when he told parents of Muslim children attending a Jewish school they could switch schools, they all demurred.
In recent years, both Israel and American Jewish officials have expressed concern over the safety of Moroccan Jews. But a variety of Jews interviewed here brush off such worries, expressing confidence in the Moroccan security services’ ability to thwart attacks.
Joseph Levy, a furniture maker who was among five Jewish candidates running in last month’s parliamentary elections, said he feels perfectly at ease as a Jew in Morocco. He noted that the Moroccan Jewish diaspora has kept a strong attachment not only to the country, but also to the king, whose grandfather Mohamed V protected Jews during World War II.
For much of the last half-century there have been at least a handful of Jews working closely with the palace. These days it’s Berdugo, who previously served as tourism minister, and Azoulay, a former banker who became a financial adviser to the late King Hassan II in 1991 and continues to serve his son. The two men are often at odds with each other, but both recoil at the suggestion that they serve as Morocco’s “court Jews.”
“I don’t consider myself a ‘Court Jew,’ and I believe I was appointed because I had some personal qualities,” Azoulay said. “It’s a caricature that reflects a deep ignorance about the realities of this country.”
In addition to well-heeled businessmen and entrepreneurs who split time between Casablanca and Paris, Morocco is also home to a rather different sort of Jew: far-left and often anti-Zionist activists who spent years in jail or in exile for fighting the monarchy.
The most famous among them is Abraham Serfaty, the head of an erstwhile Marxist-Leninist group called “Forward.” Serfaty was jailed for 17 years and exiled for eight years under the iron rule of Hassan II. After the king’s death in 2000 and the accession of his son Mohammed VI, Serfaty was allowed to return to Morocco as a symbolic gesture of the country’s turn toward a more democratic rule.
Another member of this circle is Sion Assidon, who spent 12-and-a-half years in jail for his far-leftist anti-regime advocacy as a student. Now an entrepreneur, he founded the local branch of Transparency, an anti-corruption organization. Assidon, who was born a week before Israel gained independence and is married to an American of Palestinian descent, is a staunch proponent of a one-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Assidon shares such views with his friend Simon Levy, a veteran Communist party leader who founded and runs a polished Jewish museum in a leafy neighborhood of Casablanca called Oasis. Levy, who refuses to give his age, is eager to denounce the absurdity of Zionism — “bringing Jews to a Muslim region and sowing hatred for a 1,000 years!”, he told the Forward, before musing about the Jewish state’s dim future: “Barricading the country behind a wall in the era of nuclear weapons is not what I call smart.”
Levy bemoans what he called the Jewish Agency’s draining Morocco of its Jews after reaching a financial agreement with the kingdom in the 1960s. But the old socialist noticeably mellows when he gives personal tours of his Jewish museum’s pictures, artifacts and books, pausing to convey the need to renovate the country’s crumbling synagogues and to restore old bibles written in Arabic.
“Our community has shrunk dramatically but it is still here,” Levy said. “We are the heirs of the old Jewish-Muslim coexistence. We need to save this heritage, and the museum is a way to make sure it doesn’t die.”
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Don't believe a word these guys say. They are full of it. They trade in mythology. That is how they justify their continued presence there. But they also BS out of self preservation both physical and financial. They live there and anything they say might come back to haunt them. The proof is in the numbers. Only 2000 permanent residents are left. What does that say about life there? Most remaining Moroccan Jews have learned to speak in cliches in front of visitors. Despite the image of tolerance and coexistence carefully cultivated by the media,Jews still survive by kowtowing to Muslims in public, and cursing and fearing them in private. As for the far left militants, I did not even hear about them until I left. They can't be more that haf a dozen. Political involvement was very rare. People were terrified of the consequences of political action both for themselves and their family. Most Jews were fervent zionists despite the poor treatment they received in Israel so I don't know what these guys are talking about. There is no doubt that many Moroccan Jews are traditionalists who value their customs and cultural heritage developed in that part of the world but that is a far cry from saying that they care at all about the place itself with its fanatics, its arab muslims, its corruption, poverty and backwardness. We never considered the place our homeland.
What nonsense by these Jews who are, indeed, Court Jews in every sense of the word. Some recent history---bloody riots broke out in June 1948 against the Jews in Oujda and Djerada. In Oujda, within three hours, five Jews were killed, 30 seriously injured, shops and homes sacked. In Djerada, the Jewish population of 100 suffered 39 deaths and 30 severely wounded. The attack on the Jews of Casablanca in 1945 may have been an additional consideration in their decision to immigrate. However, after 1948, a combination of factors led to an increased rate of immigration. With the establishment of the Jewish state, more Jews felt free to immigrate. The arrival of some Israeli emissaries helped to inform Jews of the opportunities in Israel and encouraged their immigration. The major cause of the Jewish exodus from Morocco is the two pogroms that occurred in 1948 and 1953. Within a few years, several thousand Moroccan Jews immigrated to Israel. But mass immigration of Jews from Morocco occurred in 1954 when it became clear that France intended to grant Morocco full independence. Tens of thousands of Jews left Morocco, thereby betraying the typical anxiety of Jews in an independent Arab country. Most important to keep in mind is that in Morocco, as in all islamic countries, Jewish disputes with Moslems on civil commercial, and criminal issues , are entirely subject to Islamic courts. Even under the best of circumstances the courts regard Jewish litigants as unclean, inferior beings.
As a Berber Muslim Moroccan, I feel annoyed when I know a key part of the history of thsi country in untold and thus unknown to this generation and would be for the coming ones too: The Jews throughtout history in Morocco have coexisted with Berbers, and possibly Arabs too, particularly in the remote area of the countr. They have shared work expereicnes and and exchanged their know-how, their artwork and trades: The Jews were experienced tradesmen, and talented artisans: The fabilous silver work in Souss area; the pottery making in some middle sized towns, like Demnate near Marrakesh, and coastal towns like Safi; in addition to some carpet weaving and textile symbols testify of their valuable contribution to and peaceful presence in Moroccan history. This presence belongs to human cultural heritage that trenscends political narrow-mindedness, religious fanatism, and other differecnes. With due respect, comments in the sense of Rachel's and Nadav's inflame intolerence, nurishe hatred our paranoid world unfortunately embrasse. I understand the hardship some Jews have expererienced in their country, Morocco. But this suffering has been accumulated due to ignorance; an untold history of Jews presence in Morocco prior to the Arabs conquest, and an education system and media power which tend to disregard the facts. With Peace.
I grew in Morocco of a Muslim family and I have vidid memories of both Jews and Muslims truly living in harmony. I recall few doors from my own house we had 3 jewish neighbors including a man who owned the only pharmacy in town at the time (1964) and he also came to several house giving vaccins to children and truly caring. During Eids they were invited or we shared meals. later in the Faculty of Sciences in Rabat I also had Moroccan Jewish professors so while as in every country on earth there is prejudice and ignorance (even in Israel btw, The Moroccan experience is a very positive one. A good book to read by Robert Assaraf is truly worth it (published in french: "Moroccan Jews under The Mohamed V reign". A Muslim king who was courted by Germans in exile to side with them and he refused. He refused to sign dahirs forced on him by Vichy to discriminate against Jews and he said no! And for the comments below about violence against Jews in Oujda etc, that may well be true and very deplorable but historically speaking and statistically speaking it is not the Muslims nor Arabs who killed Jews in large numbers! Let's not ever forget that.
to Rachel and Nadav, you're right they live peacefully here because they've been denouncing the so called 'israel' and rightely so, i mean what do you expect?!! people like each other as long as they dont try to hurt each other, and who ever supports 'israel' is hurting us -litterally- so what goes around comes around. i dont hate jews or even dislike them, but i wouldnt be a respectable individual if i lied and said that i have any sympathy for whatever terrible that happens to 'israel'.
I would like to comment on Rachel comment dated of Thu. Oct 11, 2007 Dear Rachel, The reason for me to decide to debate your comment is that I completely disagree on the fact you used “we” as if you are the ambassador of the Jewish community in Morocco. You wrote: We never considered the place our homeland I can sense the characters of bitter in your comment, I don’t want to be a judge-mental in the sense of analysing the condition of your departure from Morocco, or if you regret that or not. That is not the point for my reply. I am from Morocco, grow up in Casablanca, Jewish quarter (Derb Sultant). I come from a working class and both my parents are illiteracy. Our next-door neighbour are Jewish from the same social class, underprivileged. The thing that my mother used to teach us is respect to people regardless to their cultural background. I have a lot of Jewish Moroccan friends, mostly from abroad, as I have been abroad myself since 1986. I strongly believe that they are proud of their Moroccan side. On the question of what happen in Casablanca in 2003. Terrorism is a global phenomenon nursed by a fatal combination of ignorance, poverty, and lack of human rights. This combination is synonym to a bomb oriented by dangerous ideologies that uses hate as a tool to dazzle their victims, the bombers and to hurt their no sense target. Dear Rachel, I respect your opinion but I believe that the article is very positive and does demonstrate the coexistence between Jewish and Muslims. It takes a lot of efforts to build things, but to destroy them all you need is a negative attitude. With respect and I hope you don’t hate me for my opinion, Khalid
one more note to Rachel & others: most Israelis of Moroccan origins are successful and prominent. Just to list few: Rafi Edderi, David Levy,Shlomo Be Ami and the list is long. So how can one pretend they weer so badly off in Morocco if most ended up successful -- granted some probably were not given same opportunities as they compatriots of berber or arab background but that is just life. Even in Israel not all sews are equal: discrimination against Sephardi and Russian Jews is blatant. Let alone Israeli Arabs who are worst than 3rd class citizens So all societies have their own issues so lets bring people together instead of trashing! Shalom/Salom/Peace!
a one state solution is the best solution for palestine. jews being champions of socialist ideas can bring about a real revolution in the middle east and liberate the dynasties and set the people free.
Rachel is right in most of her analysis. Moroccan Jews were never at home. They had to be economic background and holding foreign citizenship for protection. Notwithstanding the BS from the so called leftists, a bunch of self hating imbeciles who are effectively less than a dozen, there never was a true coexistence. The most often heard expression is arabic is Yihoudy Hashak, "a jew followed by excuse the expression". Once the French left most Morocan Jews lived in fear of their physical integrity and hence all left and the Simon Levy and Andre Azoulay are opportunistic fellows that live off being circus jews. The truth is that none of the following generations abroad keep any real connection to the country. The very religious have a connection to a few holy sites, but lets face it my children will never visit and I will never go back. My memories are memories of having to be discrete not being able to truly discuss Israel freely and having to listen to the BS about Israel being the source of all ills. The hate for jews is omnipresent notwithstanding the BS and the new generations have basically no knowledge whatsoever of the past jewish presence. The fact is that Jews from Morocco will be a thing of the past soon as the last generation with a direct connection go away. By the way do they still have the daily " L opinion" in French that spent its time denigrating jews , the mythology of a friendly place has to cease. I know US jewish organizations went along with the BS for political reasons, but as Rachel said the numbers speak for themselves and please no incentives from Israel would have made a happy group leave. The economic conditions alone do not justify a 99 percent for some at a young age for some at an old age to countries as far away from Israel as Canada and having to start over in the 60's and 70's in far away places even for those that had achieved some economic success they left to live a free life , free of physical threat and of insults. As to Sion Assidon, he was a zionist as a teenager, then became a Maoist, then went to jail and is ranting what is mostly the product of his own failures in life, he is no entrepreneur he runs the business inherited from his father. Serfarty is senile and live of charity from the king with no dignity since that is the son of the King that jailed him for his opinions, opinions that were mostly inherited from his exposure to French leftists who hate jews. These guys are losers that have no connection to jews or judaism by choice and to survive in a backward country. But please keep that BS to yourself not to us who when we carried Moroccan passports had to endure humiliation just to renew them. When I lived in Paris, I had to wait hours in the 70's to renew my passport and hear from the consulate officer Jews have to wait twice as much, it usually took me 12 hours vs 2 hours for the muslim citizens. So please keep your BS to yourself... Morocco is no place for jews with dignity as jews.
I agree with Rachel, Benchimol,and Nadav,
My grandmother was a convert from Judiasm to Islam and lived in Agadir, until the whole family moved to Casablanca. When we were growing up we heard all kind of stories of the humiliation of the jews of Morocco. It is true that Mohamed V protected the jews during World War, but that was about it. Instead of the gaz chambers in Europe they suffered humiliation by the poorly educated, corrupt discusting moroccan authorities. They suffered humilaition even from the neighbors that claimed to be freind, but still a YIHUDI was an insult, to call someone Yihudi was a disgrace and so on. That country is for corrupt, dishonest, dirty minded government officials and uneducated so called muslims. They are the worst of the worst and the jews that are still in Morocco are no better, they are just Moroccans taking their share of the pie.
Shalom
There is no coexistence between Jews and Muslims, but fear the Moroccan authority and I want to convert to the Jewish but I am not able to say your best friends for fear they would kill Muslims in the cities of Mend twenty years was a Jewish physician who lives where, but he was killed with a knife to a Muslim
We do tend to forget, the so called jews were never satisfied with the treatment or laws of god let alone a country. history repeats itself, the pharo, hitler , and now the moroccan people. The so called jews have sterotyped this and labeled all-non jews who are becoming aware of jewish conspiracies as anti-semitic. they topple cultures on ideological and political levels. "MAHYA" Morocco's cheapest alcahol produced non other then their jewish conrty-men ....... great contribution........ We are now on the last straight in the track time. All will be revealed to muslims ,jews and christians alike.
a/salam, shalom and peace