MESA Banner
Oujda and Jerada; A Revisionist View
Abstract
In the period 1946-1948, in the shadow of the Holocaust, Moroccan Jewry underwent a dramatic transformation. From a state of widespread indifference to the Zionist cause, Moroccan Jews became avid supporters of the new Jewish state. The number of Moroccan Jews seeking to permanently resettle in Palestine surpassed all previous limits. As departures rose, so did violent attacks against Jews, culminating in a massacre on June 8, 1948 in the eastern towns of Oujda and Jerada, where more than forty people were killed by mobs. The motives behind these attacks have never been examined, the perpetrators have never been definitively identified, the architects behind the scenes never named, their motives never fully explained. The aim of this paper is to reexamine the available evidence and to propose a more precise analysis of who was responsible. Using archival sources from Nantes, Rabat and the JDC in New York, this paper will take a microscopic look at the Moroccan “pogroms” of 1948, asking who participated and for what reasons, while also addressing the question of why this tragedy became a definitive turning point in Muslim-Jewish relations in post-war North Africa.
Discipline
History
Geographic Area
Morocco
Sub Area
None