Through various stratagems, which have no legal basis, Moroccan regional authorities are preventing Jews from obtaining documents needed for travel to Israel, according to a report received here today.
The report, printed in the influential newspaper, Le Monde, declares that Moroccan Jews wishing to go to Israel must resort to getting forged passports. Moroccan Jews are reported suffering from economic difficulties and continuous harassment.
Among “petty administrative measures” reportedly taken against Moroccan Jews recently have been the suppression of Jewish broadcasts in the kingdom; and hampering postal exchanges attempted by Moroccan Jews, both inside the country and in mail contact with Israel.
Jewish emigration from Morocco is reported by the newspaper to have declined in the last two years. On the other hand, a greater desire for emigration to Israel is seen as existent among Jews. Morocco Jews are watching to see how the government will treat the 13 Moroccan Jewish men recently arrested in Nador, where they were apprehended for allegedly trying to leave for Israel with forged passports.
The ultimate treatment of these unfortunates, says Le Monde, will provide to Moroccan Jewry the clue as to the government’s ultimate intentions regarding all Jews in the kingdom. These 13 Jews were reported trying to enter Algeria March 20, presumably on their way to Israel, with 38 Jewish women and children. Moroccan authorities permitted the women and children to return home after they had held them for two days, while the men had been imprisoned in Nador, in northeast Morocco, about 65 miles from the Algerian border.
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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.
