Decolonizing Moroccan Jewish Identities in the Mid-20th Century

The moment of Moroccan independence in 1956 was optimistic for Jews.  The Istiqlal (“Independence” in Arabic) government with King Mohammed V at its head appointed a Jewish minister, and the Muslim-Jewish unity group, al-Wifaq (“Accord”), drew the support from all segments of society. Such movements, however, coincided with the 1956 Suez crisis. Pre-existing tensions of anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism became increasingly conflated in the Moroccan public sphere, polarizing members of the Jewish community against one another in addition to the Jewish community vis-à-vis the majority Moroccan Muslim society. The ensuing mass migration of Moroccan Jews to Israel would ebb and flow in response to domestic and international events.

 Many Jews remained, however, and a handful were ardently committed to the Moroccan nationalist cause, and with it, a patriotic rejection of Zionism. These Jews were members of the Moroccan Communist Party (PCM). The Jewish members of the PCM harshly criticized those Jews who left Morocco as traitors or “dupes” of Zionism, and were suspicious of the Ashkenazi dominated state structures of Israel. These Moroccan Jewish leftists were crucial in shaping the broader decolonizing discourse of Morocco in the immediate post-independence period, and yet they have been largely effaced from nationalist narratives. Meanwhile, most Moroccan Jews who arrived in Israel were placed in the infamous ma’abarot (transit camps) with inadequate sanitation and cramped space. They received sub-par government education, menial labor positions, were deemed “backward” and in need of “civilizing.” And yet, such experiences catalyzed Moroccan Jews to “double down” on their Israeli identities in the new nation state.

 Through an examination of archival sources, novels and newspapers, I argue that each community of migrants and remnants reflected their visions and dreams of Jewish citizenship in newly independent national contexts against one another, shaping justifications for their political and cultural identities.