Foreign Minister Maurice Couve de Murville has informed the Foreign Affairs and-Security Commission of the Senate that the French Government is concerned over the anti-Jewish discriminations practiced by the Moroccan Government, the Quai d’Orsay revealed today.
The Foreign Minister’s statement was made last Thursday to a closed session of the Senate body. It followed sharp criticism of the Moroccan measures by Christian Pineau, former Foreign Minister; M. Brocas, a Senator representing right-wing groups, and others. Attention was focused on the Moroccan anti-Jewish measures by the tragedy last month when some 40 Jews lost their lives trying to leave Morocco clandestinely.
Jacques Soustelle, former Vice Premier and de Gaulle aide who broke with his leader on North African policy questions, charged in an article in the publication of the Committee for Democratic Defense and Action, that the anti-Jewish policies of the Moroccan authorities were linked with overall racial policies prevalent in North Africa. M. Soustelle, who opposes independence for Algeria, charged that the National Liberation Movement, the FLN, like the Moroccan authorities, did not hide “its anti-Jewish sentiments.” He appealed to “all men of good will, whether of the Left or the Right,” to combat the racial theories of the FLN and to do their utmost to prevent them from being put into practice.
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