One Jew was included today in the Moroccan Cabinet, the first Moroccan Government ever to be formed, it was reported from Rabat. The names of all members, including the Jew, will be announced later today after they are officially presented to Sultan Mohammed ben Youssef by Premier M’barek Bekkai, the report said.
The Jewish member will represent the approximately 300,000 Jews in Morocco. The other 19 Cabinet posts are distributed among the two major nationalist parties who fought against the French administration, which has ruled the country for 43 years. Moroccan nationalist leaders, at their convention in Rabat this week, adopted a resolution proposing that Jews be represented in all Moroccan legislative bodies. The resolution also advocated equal rights for Jews.
The Jews of Morocco were heretofore the most under-privileged Jewish community in North Africa. They were considered “protegees of the Sultan and did not enjoy the same rights as Moslems, since they were judged according to the Islamic law, which is essentially religious. Deeds prepared by Jewish notaries had no validity, and a Jew’s oath was not recognized. The Jews were excluded from all posts in the Moroccan administration except that of Inspector of Jewish Education and Institutions.
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