by MEMRI
While it is the absolute right of every citizen to publicly express his support for a cause he considers fair, it is illegal to call to murder people [just] because of their religious affiliation.
At
a mass rally held in Casablanca, Morocco on October 25 in support of the
Palestinian Intifada, children wearing shrouds spattered in red chanted slogans
such as: "We will sacrifice our soul and our blood for you, Al-Aqsa"
and "Millions of martyrs march to Jerusalem." The demonstration
included men dressed as stereotypical Orthodox Jews being
led, handcuffed, at gunpoint.[1]
The next day, a group of Muslim and Jewish Moroccan activists calling itself "Moroccan Citizens against Incitement to Murder the Jews of Morocco" posted, on Change.org , a petition which, while recognizing the right of Moroccans to publicly support various causes, deplored the "murderous antisemitic" displays in the demonstration, warning that they constitute incitement that threatens the safety of Morocco's Jews and Jewish-Muslim coexistence in the country. The petition, which is in French and has so far been signed by 4,900 people, called on the Moroccan ministers of justice and the interior to identify those involved in the incitement and bring them to justice.
The following are translated excerpts from the petition: [2]
"To the Moroccan
Minister of Justice and Minister of the Interior,
"We,
a group of Jewish and Muslim Moroccan citizens, wish through this petition to
bring to your attention the very disturbing excesses that marred the
demonstration in support of Palestine held yesterday in Casablanca... As part
of this march, which described itself as a march of solidarity with the Palestinian
people, organizers staged displays that explicitly called for the murder of
Jews. For example, [demonstrators] dressed as masked Palestinian rioters pointed
guns at the backs of men dressed up as religious Jews. Photos circulating on
social networks also show children holding plastic weapons or trampling the Star
of David, the symbol of Judaism.
"While
it is the absolute right of every citizen to publicly express his support for a
cause he considers fair, it is illegal to call to murder people [just] because
of their religious affiliation. These morbid theatrics, orchestrated by unknown
parties and reminiscent of displays orchestrated by the worst of terrorist
groups, have sown fear and a sense of degradation in the Moroccan-Jewish
community in Morocco [itself] and around the world, and also among many Muslim
Moroccans. These blatant and murderous antisemitic excesses pose significant
danger to the security of Jewish Moroccan citizens and to coexistence in our
country. They also go against the pluralistic and tolerant values advocated by
the supreme law of the [Moroccan] Kingdom, which, as should be recalled,
recognize the 2000-years-long Jewish influence as an undeniable component of
Moroccan identity. These deplorable excesses are also contrary to the royal
directives calling for the preservation of Jewish-Muslim coexistence in
Morocco, a unique model [of coexistence] in the Muslim world.
"Therefore,
we, a group of Moroccan Jewish and Muslim citizens, call upon you to take the
necessary steps to identify the perpetrators and those involved in these
excesses and to bring them to justice. The future and the social peace of our
dear country are at stake.
"Signed,
"The Group
of Moroccans Citizens against Incitement to Murder Jews in Morocco
General
Coordinator: Mouna Izddine."[3]
Endnotes:
[1] See
MEMRI-TV Clip, Mass
Rally in Casablanca, Morocco, in Support of Intifada: Millions of Martyrs
Marching to Jerusalem, October 25, 2015.
[2] https://www.change.org/p/a-messieurs-les-ministres-de-la-justice-et-de-l-int%C3%A9rieur-marocains-pour-la-condamnation-des-appels-au-crime-contre-les-juifs-au-maroc.
For the
original text see also MEMRI.FR Report, Le Collectif des citoyens marocains lance
une pétition contre l’incitation au meurtre des juifs au Maroc, October 27, 2015.
[3] Mouna Izddine is a Moroccan Journalist.
MEMRI
Source: http://www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/8823.htm
Copyright - Original materials copyright (c) by the authors.
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