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Moroccan Rabbis Lead Jewish Street Procession Mourning Death of King

March 1, 1961
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A procession of several hundred Casablanca Jews, led by rabbis wearing prayer shawls over their heads, filed through the city’s streets today in mourning for King Mohammed V.

Jews in public processions in other cities chanted the traditional prayer for the dead in mourning for the King who died on the operating table Sunday, m Several hundred Jews assembled at the walls of the palace in Rabat to say prayers. These were the first Jewish public manifestations in Morocco.

(In Washington, Ambassador El-Mehdi Ben Aboud of Morocco today announced that the American-Moroccon community has selected two of its members, one Jewish and the other a Moslem, to attend funeral services in Rabat for King Mohammed V. The Jew, Solomon Bohbott, and the Moslem, Mohammed Kabbaj, left New York by plane last night, the announcement said.)

The Paris daily, France Soir, reported today that Moroccan Jews were frightened by the possibility that the sudden death of King Mohammed V might affect them adversely.

The paper declared that the 200,000 Jews and the 200,000 Frenchmen living in Morocco had realized, since Morocco attained independence, that it was the late King who assured stability within the country and who protected their safety. Some of them were reported as now fearing that his death might lead to internal friction and troubles which might affect their status.

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