The Movement Populaire, a rural rightist political party, demanded at its annual Congress at Marrakech today that the Moroccan Government “take action” against Moroccan Jews for allegedly “working in the interests of many foreigners, rather than in the interests of their native Morocco. ” The party is a member of the Government, holding two posts in the Moroccan Cabinet.
Some months ago the movement published in Arabic a translation of the notorious “Protocols of the Elders of Zion, ” a classic forgery in the literature of anti-Semitism. As a result, Daniel Mayer, a Moroccan Jewish community leader, sent a letter of protest to Minister of National Defense Aherdane.
At the same time today, King Hassan conferred medals of Chevalier of the Order of the Throne on four members of the prominent Moroccan Jewish family of Botbol. The royal citations particularly singled out for high distinction “for services rendered to the Royal family over a number of years” by Haim Botbol and his son Raphael. The Botbols had previously been honored with official Moroccan Government medals 10 years ago.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
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.