Many people of Jewish decent hold pejorative memories of a disastrous history that even they don’t want to remember but still not forget. Morocco is one country where memories and present realities are examined with pride according to Mr. Andre Azoulay, a Jewish advisor to King Mohammed VI. According to Azoulay, Morocco holds a deep bond with its Moroccan Jewish population.
Morocco under King Mohammed VI exercises a friendly yet moderate atmosphere for its Jewish community. Jews living in the Moroccan kingdom represent several facets of Moroccan society. They are a part of the business political world, often as candidates running for parliament, royal advisors, contracted government entrepreneurs and ambassador, for example.
King Mohammed V, the grandfather of King Mohammed VI, protected and provided refuge to fleeting Jews during World War II. Such protective acts present the Jewish people with a strong attachment to the King as well as to the Kingdom of Morocco. One Mr. Simon Levy, a Moroccan Jew, for instance, runs a Jewish museum in Casablanca. He maintains that Jews and Muslims are heirs to a co-existence from the deep and present past. Moreover, he advises that it is imperative for Morocco to preserve a lasting and sustainable Jewish-Muslim (Jew-Arab) relationship, as present and future dealings take place. He is working to refurbish synagogues and to restore religious books written in Arabic. Morocco surely, then, is proud of its Jewish population with roots to the past.
By Carole Morris
