2023-12-11 12:18:55
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The war between Hamas and Israeldossier Since October 7, the serenity of Moroccan Jews has been put to the test. While demonstrations in support of Palestine bring together tens of thousands of people every week, the minority adapts, without being alarmed.
On Boulevard Pasteur, or “the boulevard” as the people of Tangier call it, a few Hebrew letters adorn a large building. Few passers-by pay attention to it, and many have no idea that it is a synagogue. But on days of demonstrations in support of Palestine, the police presence is reinforced in front of the building. Because although the Jewish population of Morocco has been greatly reduced – it has gone from 200,000 people in 1949 to around 3,000 today – it is still the largest community in North Africa, which the kingdom wants to protect.
The millennial presence of Jews is among the multiple identities that shape the territory, as recalled in the preamble to the latest Constitution of 2011, which highlights the “Arab-Islamic, Amazigh and Saharo-Hassani components. […] enriched by its African, Hebrew and Mediterranean tributaries. This historical observation is found in the preservation of sites, such as cemeteries or synagogues, but also that of memory. The kingdom has two museums on the history of Judaism, one in Casablanca, considered the “only Jewish museum in the Arab world”, and the other in Tangier. A third is due to open its doors in Fez soon. At the same time, Rabat defends a positioning
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#Morocco #Jewish #exception #Libération