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Tradition of Tolerance
"Oh, somber Morocco, stay walled in and close off to new things, keep your back turned to Europe and remain steadfast in the things of the past".
Fortunately, Pierre Loti's incantation from his book in Morocco never came true. Indeed, throughout its long history, Morocco's doors have never been closed.
Serving as a bridge between two continents, between Muslim and Christian, between Spain and the rest of North Africa (the Straits of Gibraltar are less than 15 km wide), the Alaouite Kingdom along with Turkey, is geographically the closest Muslim country to the west.
It is perhaps in its attitude towards minorities, namely the Jewish minority, that Morocco has best shown its spirit of tolerance. In 1492, fleeing the extermination by the very Catholic Isabelle, 150.000 Spanish Jews were welcomed in Morocco, where they enjoyed the status of dhimmi or protected jew.
Then, when the Vichy authorities in the last World War tried to impose the Yellow star and other discriminatory measures on Moroccan Jews, King Mohammed V refused the demands of the occupying authorities. He never questioned the oussaya, the duty to protect the Jewish minority.
And in the early 1950s, during the struggle for Algerian independence, when the Jews began to worry about their future, King Mohammed V tried to reassure them and to slow their departure for Israel. Eventually, he agreed to their departure and told his ministers, "The Jews are my children and I love them. I do not know the reason for their departure, but if it is their will, we will forgive them".
When King Mohammed V died in 1961, the "children" mourned his death along with other Moroccans.
His Majesty, King Hassan II, took up the torch. He accepted the departure of 200.000 jews for Israel, allowing them to keep their Moroccan nationality. He even played an important role in the meetings between the Arab word and the government of Tel Aviv.
It was in Rabat in 1977 that Moshe Dayan, Begin's new Secretary of Foreign Affairs, met the Egyptian emissary of President Sadat. That meeting led to the Camp David Accord.
Illustrating Morocco's importance on the Middle East scene was the visit of courtesy and gratitude paid by Yitzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres to Morocco the day after signing the Washington accords.
To the other religion of the Book, Christianity, his Majesty, King Hassan II, has made gestures that were not simply symbolic. He admitted to the Royal Academy a dignitary of the Vatican, Monsignor Norbert Calmels and, after his death, the prestigious African Cardinal Bernardin Gantin. The Catholic Clergy, though small, is not only able to carry out its duties freely, but it is also paid by the public authorities.
However, the most spectacular initiative - a first in the Arab Muslim world - was the invitation to Pope Jean- Paul II to visit Morocco. On August 19, 1985, in the Casablanca stadium, the leader of Christendom addressed 80,000 young Moroccans. "Christians and Muslims", he said, "have much in common, as believers and as men...
In the past, we have also misunderstood each other and often opposed one another and exhausted ourselves in quarrels and war. I believe God is calling upon us today to change our old ways".
His Majesty, King Hassan II, often cites the following surah from the koran. "The spider" : "Only speak softly to people of the Book, unless they have oppressed you. And tell them that we believe in what was revealed, and revealed to you too, that our God and your God are one and we must all submit to Him".
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