The World Jewish Congress welcomed today a statement issued earlier this week in New York by a representative of the Moroccan nationalist Party–Istiqlal–guaranteeing Jews equal rights with all other citizens of an independent Morocco. The assurances by Ahmed Belafrej, secretary general of the Istiqlal Party, released in a statement by the Moroccan Office of Information and Documentation in New York, were “an essential contribution towards the resolution of the crisis which is now causing such widespread anxiety,” the WJC said.
“This assurance has been repeatedly given to us by spokesmen of the Moroccan nationalist parties in Europe, in the United States and in Morocco itself, in the course of discussions over a period of many months,” the WJC statement declared. “We welcome its publication at a moment of critical importance for the future of Morocco. Moreover, we are encouraged by it, in the confidence that these leaders will exert their influence to prevent the exploitation of the present crisis by irresponsible extremists of whatever origin for anti-Jewish purposes, and to discourage attacks on the Jewish population.”
The statement pointed out that when France and Tunis were negotiating a new status for the latter, the WJC submitted “certain proposals which were given most sympathetic consideration by both governments concerned; an undertaking to apply the principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to all inhabitants of Tunisia was included in the conventions” which established the new relations between France and Tunis The WJC recommended a similar course of action for those seeking a solution of the Moroccan question.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
