A flood of anti-Jewish propaganda, stemming from the Arab defeat in the war last week and distributed by the opposition Istiqlal party, has prompted many of Morocco’s 50,000 Jews to remain in their homes behind locked doors, it was reported here today from Rabat.
The Istiqlal newspapers are publishing what Moroccan Jewish leaders call falsehoods hostile to Moroccan Jews, who are being denounced in the publications as Zionists responsible for the Arab’s defeat. Moroccan authorities have issued stern warnings against molestation of Jews but the Istiqlal campaign is causing anxiety among the Jews. Jews have been observing a voluntary after-dark curfew since an Arab gunman shot and killed two Jews last Sunday in Meknes and since then there have been reports of Jews being molested by Arab hoodlums.
Jewish sources said Moroccan officials had warned that anyone caught molesting Jews would get five years in prison, despite the fact that the Government of King Hassan II gives “total support” to the Arab League stand that Palestine is properly Arabic.
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