Figure 1.--This is a class at the Auguste Beaumier School in Magador, Morocco some time during the 1930s. The school was administrated by the "Alliance israélite universelle" (universal Jewish Alliance) a French Jewish organization. |
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France and Spain just before World War I seized Morocco (1912). The whole affair caused an international incident. The Sultanate was not ended, but the Sultan was forced to sign treaties with France and Spain putting Morocco under their protection. France seized most of the country. Spain obtained the Northern coast and adjacent mountain areas. Tangier was comverted into an international city. The Sultan was not forced to step down, but was required to put the royal seal on any major policies or laws issued by the colonial powers. Spain played a similar role as France in dividing Jews and Muslims under its protectorate. Most Moroccan Jews, unlike the Muslim population, welcomed the French Protectorate. And Jews were caught in the crossfire in fighting betweem Moroccan troops and French forces when the began to occupy the country. Muslims in the Fez attacked the mellah in retaliation. The Protectorate brought elements of secular French law to Morocco. Under Muslim rule, Moroccan Jews and Christians had the status of dhimmi, essentially tolerated vassals. The condition of the Jews did not improve until the establishment of the French Protectorate in 1912, when Jews and Christians were given equality and religious autonomy. Jews for the first time became Moroccan citizens. Morocco unlike Algeria did not become an actual part of France as the nominal ruler was still the Sultan. Moroccans thus remained subjects of the Sultan rather than citizens of France as was the case in Algeria. The the political equality the Jews received under the Protectorate was therefore tenous because of Koranic passages which are the basis of the dhimmi system.
The Alaouite dynasty im Morocco was a weak central authority, but unlike most of Africa it was an establish national government. And it managed to resist European conrol as the rest of the continent was carved up and North Africa succumbed to Turkish, French, or British domination. The inability of the Alaouite rulers to maintain order generated complaints from European invesors in the country. The European powers began demanding concessions from the Moroccan Government. And the milutary weakness of the regime lerft it unable to effectively resist the European demands. The result was a series of diplomatic mmoves. France was in particular determined to seize control of Morocco. The major impediment was not the Alaouite dynasty and Moroccan resistance, but the competition among the European powers.
France and Spain just before World War I seized Morocco (1912). The Treaty of Fez formally established the French protectorate (March 30, 1912). The whole affair was the culmination of a on-going question that had destabilized European international relatiions since 1905. The Sultanate was not ended, but the Sultan was forced to sign treaties with France and Spain putting Morocco under their protection. France seized most of the country. Spain obtained the Northern coast and adjacent mountain areas. Tangier was confirmned as an international city. The Sultan was not forced to step down, but was required to cooperate
with the French and Spanish authorities and to put the royal seal on any major policies or laws issued by the colonial powers.
We are not sure what the initial Jewish reaction to the Protectorate was. The Muslim population resented te French intervention. The Jews at the time mostly spoke Arabic and were integrsated into Moroccan society to the extent that ewas possible with Koranic restrictions. Jews were caught in the crossfire in fighting between Moroccan troops and French forces when the began to occupy the country.
The Sultan's troops in Fez revolted (April 17, 1912). They were unable seize the European quarter which was protected by well-armed French troops. The soldiers and a civilan mob accompanied them entered the undefended Jewish mellah. The Jews were seen as foreigners and unable to attackthe French. The Jews in the mellah offered a convenient and potentiually lucrative target. The Moroocan soldiers and mob proceeded to pillage it. The French had previously confiscated all the weapons they could find in Fez, including the mellah. Rather than enter the mellah and drive off the Moroccans, the French to avoid potentially costly street fighting prceeded to bombsard the mellah with missiles and artillery. This intensified the initial damage of the Moroccans, destroying houses. The ensuing fires wshich broke out caused further damage. Jews abandoned the mellah which was further pillaged, Tere wrere 3 days of fiughting and pillage. At the end, 51 Jews had been killed and 72 wounded. French soldies had comparable losses. Moroccan soldiers and civilians suffered about 1,000 killed or wounded. A third of the mellah was destroyed, and 12,000 Jews were left homeless. The Fez Pogrom and other violent incidents caused Moroccan Jews to increasingly fear the Muslim majority.
The Protectorate brought elements of secular French law to Morocco. Under Muslim rule, Moroccan Jews and Christians had the status of dhimmi, essentially tolerated vassals. The condition of the Jews did not improve until the establishment of the French Protectorate in 1912, when Jews and Christians were given equality and religious autonomy. Jews for the first time became Moroccan citizens. Morocco unlike Algeria did not become an actual part of France as the nominal ruler was still the Sultan. Moroccans thus remained subjects of the Sultan rather than citizens of France as was the case in Algeria. The the political equality the Jews received under the Protectorate was therefore tenous because of Koranic passages which are the basis of the dhimmi system.
The fighting at Fez was reported in detail by French newspsapers. Jewish organizations in France and other countries demanded that steps be taken to protect Moroccan Jews. France took administrative control of the Jewish communities in Morrioco. The Resident General replaced the Sultan. Thiscissomewhat complicated because the French did not grant French citizenship to the Jews, they remained subjects of the Sultan. Although bFrace would govern their communities, they could not become Fremnh citizens. This caused a complication comncerning theirt place in Moroccan society. It also had ramifications concerning their status during the Worldf War II Vichy period. And affectedcthe popularity of Zionism leading after World War II to emigraiion to Israel.
We do not know much about Jewish education in Morocco. We do know that education was a priority with Jews througout the Disaporah. This was notthe case for the Arabs, a large majority of which were illiterate. A factor in the backwardness of the Arab world. We note Talmud Torah schools in Morocco (16th century). And they probably exited even earlier. At this time few Arab children were being educated. With the French establishment of a protectorate (1912), we begin to see public schools and Catholic school for the French colonists and Moroccans who decided to adopt French culture. We are not sure to what extent Jewish children attended French public school children or separate Jewish schools. We note a Talmud Torah School in 1950. It was one of several such Talmud Torah schools in Morocco.
Standard colonial policy by allof the European powers was to divide colonial peoples to msake them easier to control. The French in Morocco pursued policies to divide the Arabs and Berbers. The French likewise attempted to weaken the ties Jews had with Moroccan Arab (Muslim) society.
French policy played on the fearsd generatedby the Fez Pogrom and other attacks. The French claimed thsa they had come to rescue them and offered the benedits of civilization, equality, and emancipation--nut not French citizenship. The Alliance Israelite Universelle (AIU) promoted the French language and French civikization.
Many Jews began using French rather than Arabic. A Frenchified elite began to develop in Jewish communities. Here French rule was not entirely benign. It was not just that the French did not offer citizenship, but vsome French officials and colonists were openly anti-Semitic. While a Frenchifgied Jewish elite develped, many Jews had only limited contact with the French. French policy was anything other than poroting equality. Jews were expected to accept a role of inferiors to the French, but superior to the majority Arabs and Berbers.
The French did ease pre-existing legal restrictions. But new restrictions were imposed. French colonists received preferential treatment in both legal and economic areas. This affected some occupations that Jews had previouslt pursued in Moroccan society. French colonists thus displaced Jews in some areas. The result was a gradual Jewish migration from rural villages to the urban mellahs.
Morocco had the largest Jewish population in the Arab world outside of Palestine, often estimated at about 250,000 people. Morocco in 1940 was a French protectorate, nominally rulled by the Sultan. After the fall of France (June 1940), a French Government was established in an unoccupied zone with a capital at Vichy. This Government while not totally controlled by the Germans, but collaborated with them in many ways. One of these was the Holocaust. A Vichy law of October 4. 1940 provided that "foreign nationals of the Jewish race" would be detained in "special concentration camps". The Sultan of Morocco wa a French client, however, the German victory provided an opportunity to expand his perogarives against a weakened France. The role of Mohammad V is a matter of historical debate. He had earlier ordered the detention of various persons who could be used as forced labor. These camps were primarily set up for European Jews, not Moroccan Jews. One report indicated that there were 12 such camps set up in Morocco. Conditions in these camps were harsh, although the fate of the interned Jews in Morocco was apparently better than that of the Tunisian Jews in concentration camps. The situation of Jews was "precarious," especially European Jews. The Sultan attempted to protect Moroccan Jews, however, Vichy regulations imposed in Morocco included severe limitations on Jews, including work as professionals and education for children. There were forced relocation to the "mellahs" (Moroccan ghettos) as well as financial extortions, land expropriation, exclussion from holding public office, and a variety of other regulations. We know of no actual deportations of Jews from Morocco. These restrictions were only ended by the Allied Torch landings, but not right away. The Jews were not immediately released because Eisenhower allowed Admiral Darlan to retain Vichy's authority. After Laval's assasination, General de Gaulle finally ended all Vichy influence in Morocco and abrogated the Vichy race laws (June 3, 1943).
Morocco had the largest Jewish community in North Africa, variously estimated at 0.25-.30 million. After Israel declared independence and the Arab states invaded, Arabs rioted in Oujda and Djerada, killing 44 Jews. About 18,000 Jews emigrated, most but not all to Israel (1948-49). Jewish emigration slowed down after 1949, but continued at a few thousand annually during the 1950s, gradually reduciing the Moroccan Jewish community to a few thousand. Several factors explain the exit of Moroccan Jews. It is probably true that Moroccans did not share the exterme anti-Semitism of many Europeans. It is not true, however, that there was no anti-Semitism in Morocco. The Vichy experience undoubtedly alerted many Moroccan Jews to their vulnerability. And the hoistility and scattered violence after Israel declared independence was a further factor. Limited economic opportunity and fear of the future after France granted Moroccon independence were further factors. A major tuning point was when the Moroccan Government attemoted to ban Jewish emigration (1956). The Isrealis helped Moroccan Jews to emigrate ilegally, Legal emigration resumed (1963). Since that time about 0.1 million Moroccan Jews have eigrated to Israel.
The Allies landed in Morocco as part of Operation Torch (November 1942). This precented the NAZIs andcVichy from proceeding furher against Moroccan Jews. Morocco at the time had over 250,000 Jews, the largest Jewish population in the Arab world outside of Palestine. After Israel declared independence and the Arab states invaded, Arabs rioted in Oujda and Djerada, killing 44 Jews. About 18,000 Jews emigrated, most but not all to Israel (1948-49). Jewish immegration slowed down after 1949, but continued at a few thousand annually during the 1950s, gradually reduciing the Moroccan Jewish community. Zionist organizations promoted further emigration, seeking to expabd Isrrael's population. They focused on the relatively poor and conservatibe south where many Jews wee involved with agriculture.
Morocco achieved independence (1955). Jews at the time held political positions. There were three Members of Parliament and a Minister of Posts and Telegraphs. Emmigration increased with independence. Jewish emigration to Israel increased from 8,171 (1954) to 24,994 (1955) and increasing even more the following year (1956). The Suez War inflamed anti-Isreali feeling and he Government banned further Jewish emigration (1956). Authorities felt that allowing Jewish immigration was strenthening Israel.
The Goverment quietly relaxed emigration laws to allow Jews to leave. This allowed more than 80,000 Jews to reach Israel (1961-63). This significantly reduced Morocco's Jewish population. There were about 60,000 Jews left in Morocco at the time of the Six Days War (1967). Tenons between Arabs and Jews increased and emigration continued. Many Moroccan Jews at this time went to America and Europe.
This left about 35,000 Jews in Morocco (1971). While the Jewish community is now very small, the Government continues to protect the remaining Jews. The King has a Jewish adviser, André Azoulay. Jewish schools and synagogues receive government financial support. Some Islamists devilver vituperative anti-Semetic sermons. The public is generally hostile to Jews and there have been attacks on Jews. Al-Qaeda's bombed a Jewish community center in Casablanca. There are about 5,000 Jews left in Morocco. Most Moroccan Jews live in Casablanca, but are also small communities in Fez and other cities.
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