Inclusion of a Jew on a Moroccan economic delegation to Italy was seen by Jewish sources here today as presaging an easing of the tensions in Moroccan-Jewish relations developing since the visit to Morocco last month of President Nasser of the United Arab Republic.
The Jewish member is Isaac Abergel, secretary general of the Investments Commission of the Moroccan Ministry of Finance. The delegation, which is headed by Mohamed Douiri, the Moroccan Minister of the National Economy, will go to Italy to sign a new trade agreement. Mr. Abergel, as a member of the delegation, was received by King Mohamed V who gave instructions to the delegation.
Meanwhile it was disclosed today that a member of the faculty of the Alliance Israelite Universelle schools here was arrested Sunday and detained overnight. Police said that the teacher, who is serving a training period here, was arrested only because he had no identity papers. He was detained while walking to his home.
The explanation seemed to suggest that the arrest was of a different category than the recent wholesale detentions directed only at Jews. However, on the same night, another Jew, an employee of the Casablanca Jewish community, was arrested for the same reason. Both men were released after a night’s detention.
Official Government sources maintained complete silence today over receipt of a telegram from the CRIF, a major French Jewish organization, expressing anxiety over the worsening of the situation of Moroccan Jewry.
In its telegram to the Moroccan Government, CRIF paid tribute to the memory of the 43 Moroccan Jewish men, women and children who perished off the coast of Morocco last month en route to Israel. The Moroccan Information Minister refused to comment on the matter.
Despite the fact that the telegram was stated in moderate terms, it was understood to have received a negative reaction from Moroccan Moslems who do not understand why any foreign organization should “interfere” in a matter they consider entirely internal.
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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.
