The contribution of World Jewish Organizations to the Establishment of Rights for Jews in Morocco (1956-1961)

Yigal Bin-Nun
Université de Paris VIII

Journal of Jewish Modern Studies 9:2, p. 251-274, Oxford 2010

The history of the three-way relationship between Israel, the Moroccan government and Moroccan Jewry could be entitled the "catastrophe that didn’t happen." Carlos de Nesry put it well: "The Jews of this country bring to mind the person who was saved from an explosion and is after¬wards surprised to discover that he is healthy and whole. During the days of the protectorate, it seemed to them that independence would be a dramatic revolution with unpre¬dictable results. In the end, they saw it as a sort of apoca¬lypse in which the peace and quiet, which they knew un¬der the French government, could be destroyed forever. The severity of the omens justified this fatalistic fear. When independence was achieved, they learned that it was not all that terrible."
The subject of Jewish emigration from Morocco, or as it has been coined by both parties, the right to freedom of movement, troubled the leaders of the Jewish community regarding difficulties the authorities were creating for Jews seeking to obtain pass¬ports. This issue was no less troubling for the leaders of the World Jewish Congress, the government of the State of Israel, the Jewish Agency, and the agents of the Misgeret who worked secretly on behalf of the Mossad in Morocco. Liberal circles within the Moroccan leadership rejected the idea of Jewish emigration because with the advent of Moroccan independence, they wished to create the appearance of a progressive country in which all of its citi¬zens—regardless of their religion—enjoyed equal rights so that none would have any desire to leave. Liberals also op¬posed emigration because of the concern that if Jews left the country, the economy would suffer. Pan-arabists in the conservative wing of the Istiqlal , for their part, were unhappy