Report from the article: “Little Jerusalems,, Without Jews
MUSLIM MEMORIES OF JEWISH ANXIETIES AND EMIGRATION. (Aomar Boum)
This chapter deals with the migration to Israel of rural Jews from Akka and some other areas in southern Morocco. Aomar Boums seeks answers to the following questions:
- Why did many rural Moroccan Jews go to Israel in the second half of the 20th century?
- Why did the early nationalism of Morocco fail to define a national narrative in which the Jews as part of the Moroccan society could see themselves?
- What is the role of Zionism in the migration of Moroccan Jews to Israel?
To answer these three questions, the author conducted many interviews. This includes an interview with Abbas, a former soldier of the French Foreign Legion. It also includes an interview Ibrahim Nouhi, a former member of the Armee de Liberation du sud, which fought against colonialism. Abbas’ statements are based on the news and opinions he had heard. The most important part of Abbas’s statement is that he had not heard about the killing of Jews or that Moroccan Jews had been sent to death camps. He did, however hear that some Jews were excluded from some jobs in Essaouira. In the following, Abbas emphasizes the “religious sense of belonging” of Moroccan Jews to Palestine, that is the “promised land”. But Ibrahim’s view of the Jews is more nationalist. He, who is happy with the participation of Jews in liberation and anti-colonial struggles. He considers this participation as a strong document to prove the national attitude of Moroccan Jews. So he also blames the Moroccan nationalists who failed to recognize the political and legal status of Jews after Moroccan independence. Both Abbas and Ibrahim’s narratives are mostly influenced by positive and negative rumors. These rumors circulated at the level of public opinion – none of them are based on accurate information, statistics and scientific research. Boums’ research focuses on:
- The role, strategy and treatment of colonialism;
- the programs of Nazism and
- the role of great powers.
- Focusing on Jews, it also covers:
- religious Moroccan’s treatment of Jews;
- nationalists Moroccan’s treatment of Jews,
- Arab nationalism,
- Jewish religious leaders, and finally
- the role of Zionism.
The author argues that «the Zionists appealed to an already existing historical narrative among southern Moroccan Jews of belonging to Eretz-Israel. Although economics and politics were strong factors in this migration, the success of Zionism in building support for this exodus can be explained by its emphasis on a local interpretation of Jewish history based on the belief in aliya».
In my opinion, this narrative may not be the most fundamental. But it can be the most justified narrative to explain the migration of traditional and religious Moroccan Jews to Israel. Currently, if the followers of other religions have facilities, most of them prefer to live in their religious holy cities. Therefore, Gellner’s “Jewish Diaspora Nationalism” and “Eretz-Israel” as well as the Zionists’ successful use of these historical and religious traditions can be very important for the migration of Moroccan Jews to Israel. This is where Ibrahim says, “The Zionists succeeded where we were defeated” The Zionists succeeded in using this narrative of history.
The author under the influence of “Tsur” tries to distinguish between Messianic Zionism and modern Zionism. According to him the migration of Moroccan Jews was influenced by modern Zionism, that is by “the idea of returning to the ancestral land”. This introduces modern Zionism as the driving force behind the migration of Moroccan Jews to Israel. But it must be said that the narrative of Zionism and the formation of the State of Israel was a big and trans-regional event. The role of the great powers in this cannot be denied. As the author states, the political pressure of powerful countries, such as England and others, helped to make these migrations possible.
In addition, the author shows how Moroccan and Arab nationalism, as well as religious extremism added to Jewish immigration.
For this reason, he emphasizes ” dhimmī” and the shortcomings of Moroccan nationalism. But the fact is that being a dhimmi cannot be a serious reason for the Jews to emigrate and completely leave the land. Muslims and people of the book had lived side by side for more than 14 centuries. On the other hand, as the author points out, in the last decades of the 20th century, being a dhimmi had more ceremonial and symbolic value. The practical value of dhimmi had lost its relevance.
Another point is that one meanings of “dhimma” is protection. This means that Muslim rulers must take care and protect the “people of dhimma”. The financial dimension of “dhimmī” is not prominent in Islamic Sharia. For example, in some Muslim communities there were very small minorities of “people of the book. These Jews were considered dhimmis even if their financial role and collection of “jizyah” was never effective.
The fact is that the word “Dhimmi” is on the same path as “People of the Book”. The term “Dhimmi” is a privilege for the followers of the People of the Book. It distinguishes them as followers of “Hanif religions” from the followers of other religions. Later this term was however extended to other religions. By paying, Dhimmi were exempted from many social responsibilities. Of course, I myself am against being a dhimmi. My approach is more epistemological. Also, many cases contrary to this may have happened in history. Finally, it can be said that the Moroccan leaders – from the king to the nationalists – were evidently dissatisfied with the Migration of the Jews.
It is better to say that the Jews were in a situation where everything forced them to emigrate. Maybe this can be called “the algebra of history”. In contrast to the author’s opinion, I believe that when people are in such a situation, individual decisions and authority do not play a serious role. Instead, their fate is determined by social and historical determinism. Jews were forced to migrate under the influence of the conditions of time and place in their environment at that period. In my view most of these points stated by Aomar Boums and others – such as Tesur, Gellner… and the interviewees Abbas and Ibrahim – explain only a part of the conditions governing the Jewish community. They reflect some but not all of the factors that facilitated Jewish immigration.
Other important factors in the migration of Moroccan Jews to Israel are: traditional Messianic symbols, Eretz-Israel, colonialism, superpower politics and the formation of the State of Israel, the population needs of Israel, the availability of more economic and welfare facilities in Israel, poverty and discrimination in Morocco, relations with European Jews, the Arab-Israeli war, the escalation of Arab nationalism and most importantly the successful efforts of the Zionists. In other words, according to the author and some experts mentioned in this book, political, economic, social, historical and religious factors played a big role in the immigration of Moroccan Jews to Israel.
In my opinion, all the conditions and contexts for the Jewish migration from Morocco and the forced leaving of “Little Jerusalem” were inevitable. All these stimuli encouraged the Jews to migrate. But this compulsion was more strategic and hidden than physical and tangible. The only obstacles to the efforts of the Jews were the opposition of some Moroccan groups. But the Moroccan opposition was ineffective against all the other strong and organized stimuli.
Another interesting point in this book is the historical depth of Arab-Jewish relations. The conflict between Muslims and Jews is more flexible among Arab Muslims than among non-Arab Muslims. In addition to historical issues and religious conflicts, after the issue of Palestine, the negative attitudes between the Jewish and Muslim communities have intensified. For this reason, the positive political and social interaction between Arabs and Jews surprises many non-Arab Muslim communities. This is because many non-Arab Muslims do not know that Jews and Arabs have a common history and culture. Also non-Arab Muslims have little interaction with Jews and do not have enough experience and knowledge of Jews.
For this reason, I believe that if the Jews stayed in their countries instead of immigrating to Israel, and if this made more interaction and understanding possible, there would be more mutual acceptance and friendship between Muslims and Jews. Because I believe that interaction is a source of knowledge and friendship.
