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The Message of Morocco
Story by SUSAN TAYLOR MARTIN, Times Senior Correspondent Photographs by JAMIE FRANCIS of the Times staff
© St. Petersburg Times
But consider these more topical scenes: • During the 38-year reign of the late King Hassan II, Moroccans never once saw a picture of his wife. So when the new king, Mohamed VI, tied the knot in March, Moroccans were amazed to open their newspapers and find big color photos of his bride -- a striking red-haired computer engineer. "I hope she'll serve as a model for other women," said Fouzia Rhissassi, a leading proponent of women's rights. "If the king's commitment to women's issues stays the same, the future is full of hope." • In the capital of Rabat, five days after Sept. 11, hundreds packed a Roman Catholic church whose altar was bare but for an American flag. Among the many in attendance: the head of Morocco's main Islamic party and other Muslim politicians. "It was quite remarkable," recalled Margaret Tutwiler, who had become U.S. ambassador to Morocco only five weeks before. "It took courage for these people to walk into a Catholic cathedral to pay respects to the U.S. And they have not wavered since." •
"We've never faced religious problems here," said Serge Berdugo, head of the Jewish community in Morocco. "The Jews fully respect Islam and Islam respects the Jews." Outsiders rarely hear this sort of thing -- or much at all about Morocco -- because it is an odd duck among Arab nations. It is not a major oil producer, a state sponsor of terrorism or a front-line player in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Since King Hassan died three years ago, Morocco rarely has made headlines even though it is among the largest Arab countries. More people live here than in Iraq or Saudi Arabia. Instead, Morocco moves at its own pace, a moderate Muslim nation strengthening its ties to the West, promoting women's rights and savoring its reputation as a place of religious tolerance.
"Morocco is different," Tutwiler said. "Moroccan people are a tolerant people. It is in their veins, it is in the water here, it is in the mother's milk here. They really, sincerely reject terrorism. This is the only Arab country where Jews and Muslims and Christians have lived together for centuries. I don't know what to attribute it to, but there is something unique about Morocco." To be sure, Morocco has a small cadre of Islamic fundamentalists who would like nothing better than to see it become an Islamic state. Moroccans have trained at al-Qaida camps in Afghanistan and Zacarias Moussaoui, the alleged 20th hijacker awaiting trial in the United States, is of Moroccan descent. And Morocco remains very much a developing country with all the problems of such: high rates of illiteracy, joblessness and poverty. Although he got off to a laudable start, critics say, the new king has failed to follow through on social and economic reforms, partly out of fear of arousing the Islamists' wrath. "We could have become a beacon for this region after Sept. 11," said Aboubakr Jamai, director of publication for Le Journal, a weekly Moroccan newspaper. "We could have challenged the idea that Islam and Arabs are terrorists and antidemocratic. I still think Morocco can do that but it needs a stronger vision. This vision has been blurred."
But others say 2 1/2 years is too short a time to judge the 38-year-old king, especially when it comes to reforming laws and practices that are decades, even centuries old. "The pace of change is slow but the main thing is that change happens," Rhissassi said. "Patience is a virtue." A long, shared historyJust 8 miles from Western Europe via the Strait of Gibraltar, Morocco has a distinct, if sometimes deceptive, European feel about it. In the north, where Spain controls two tiny enclaves, many Moroccans speak Spanish. And decades of French rule, from the early 1900s until independence in 1956, have given it a decidedly Gallic air. In Casablanca, the big, noisy commercial center that bears little resemblance to its Hollywood version, much of the finest architecture dates from the French era. Most educated Moroccans speak fluent French, and the sidewalk cafes would not look out of place on the Champs Elysees But the ties to the United States are what distinguish Morocco from other Muslim countries. Geographically, it is the closest Arab nation to America -- only the Atlantic Ocean separates Marrakech from Miami. In 1777, Morocco became the the first country to recognize the infant United States. Tangier, in northern Morocco, is home to the only building on foreign soil that is listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places (a former diplomatic post that is a museum). "In the immediate aftermath of Sept. 11, among people from every walk of life, there was general shock and sympathy for the people of the United States," said Tutwiler, the ambassador. "One of things I've learned is that most Moroccans know they have a 225-year history with the U.S. You could ask 10 Americans and they wouldn't know that. "I think Morocco is very proud to heave to the West and the U.S. They are surrounded here by countries that have chosen different paths," among them, Libya and Algeria. But like people in other Arab nations, most Moroccans think U.S. policy in the Middle East is too skewed toward Israel. In April, 500,000 Moroccans turned out for a pro-Palestinian rally in Rabat, and smaller demonstrations have become routine. "I don't enjoy what Bush is doing" said Dr. Najat Mjid, a pediatrician who founded an organization that helps Moroccan street kids. "I am very, very sad about what's happening in Palestine, not because I am an Arab but because I believe in children and what is happening is a big tragedy. All the world will pay a big cost." Tutwiler, a former State Department spokesperson, was surprised at how much America's image had deteriorated in the region since the 1991 Persian Gulf War, especially among younger people whose view of America is largely based on TV shows replete with sex, drugs and violence. The United States, she says, has not done a good job of stressing its basic democratic values. To that end, the U.S. Embassy here now has 18 teams of volunteers who go into Moroccan high schools to talk with students, many of whom have never met an American. While Moroccans might disagree with the U.S policies, "you cannot translate that into saying we're a bad people and a bad nation," Tutwiler said. 'If Americans do a good job -- and we are a likable people -- it's going to make it a lot more difficult if somebody in the neighborhood says to hate us."
'We have no Jews and no Muslims'Despite the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, relations between Muslims and Jews in Morocco remain the warmest in the Arab world. A few weeks after Sept. 11, a Jewish humorist gave a soldout performance in Casablanca -- 95 percent of his audience was Muslim. In the past few years, only two incidents have had even hints of anti-Semitism. Stones were thrown at a Jewish school and a Jewish man was slashed with a knife. Police quickly arrested the attacker. The Jewish presence in Morocco dates back 2,000 years. But the bond between Jew and Muslim was cemented in the Middle Ages when people of both faiths fled Spain to escape Christian persecution during the Spanish Inquisition. "The Jews were expelled and the Muslims were expelled because they didn't want to betray their religions," said Berdugo, head of Morocco's Jewish community. "When they came here, they showed that they are two strong religions that cannot be one against the other." In more recent times, Morocco's Muslim kings have been the Jews' biggest protectors. Jews love to tell the story of how King Mohamed V, grandfather of the present king, stood up to French Nazi collaborators during World War II. When France announced that Jews in Morocco would have to start wearing yellow stars, Mohamed asked for 50 extra stars -- one for himself and each member of his family. "We have no Jews or Muslims, only Moroccans," the king purportedly told the French.
After Israel became independent in 1948, thousands of Moroccan Jews moved to the new Jewish state. That began an exodus, as much for economic as religious reasons, that has seen Morocco's Jewish population dwindle from 250,000 during the war to about 5,000 today. "They go where they can find jobs," said Attias Sion, whose son and daughter live in Paris. Sion, 70, is one of 125 or so Jews left in Fez, an ancient seat of Jewish learning where the world's first Hebrew-Arabic dictionary was written. Since 1940, Sion has been repairing typewriters -- "I am an old man and these are old machines." Despite, or perhaps because of, their small numbers, Sion and other Moroccan Jews have many Muslim friends. In general, Jews appear well-integrated into Moroccan life: One of the king's top advisers is Jewish, and two Jewish colonels are in the army. The government has helped restore several old synagogues and it pays the salary of a curator at a Jewish museum that opened four years ago in Casablanca. "Our history in Morocco is not a history of terror but of a normal life between Muslims and Jews," said Simon Levy, the museum's director. "We think it is useful to speak about this now when Muslim civilization is perceived as a terrorist civilization." Among the few signs that Muslim-Jewish relations are not quite as rosy as they seem came in a recent front-page interview that Le Journal, the weekly newspaper, ran with a well-known Muslim imam. Among his comments: "I have always preached the assassination of the Jewish establishment in Palestine." Aboubakr Jamai, the paper's director of publication, caught flak from both sides: from Jews, who accused him of stirring up anti-Semitism; and from his father, who accused him of playing into the hands of Zionist extremists who want to make Muslims look bad. Nonetheless, Jamai defends publishing the interview. "The Moroccan people aren't anti-Semitic," he said, "but I am a Muslim and I do think it is my duty as an editor and a journalist to point out the beginning of intolerance and make noise about it. He (the imam) is supported by a political party represented by 14 members in Parliament. If I were a Jew, I would have sued this guy." It was not the first controversy involving Le Journal. Twice since April 2000, the government has banned the newspaper for stories considered harmful to Morocco's national interest. The first was for an interview with a rebel leader seeking independence for the Western Sahara, a bleak but phosphate-rich area claimed by Morocco. And a few months later, the paper was banned for a story linking the current prime minister to a long-ago coup attempt against King Hassan. The clamp-downs fueled concern that Morroco's new ruler was not as progressive as he first appeared. After Hassan died in 1999, most Moroccans agreed that his son had gotten off to a positive start. He sacked the hated interior minister, known for his brutal suppression of human rights, and freed many political prisoners. But critics say the momentum has lagged. New elections for parliament will be this September -- the last ones, in 1997, were widely thought to have been rigged. But Le Journal's Jamai and others say Morocco can never be a true democracy while the king, not an elected prime minister, has the power to fill the most important government posts. "In a real democracy the social leader of the country is accountable to the people," Jamai said. "But here the king is sacred -- he is not only reigning but governing." Among the most closely watched attempts at reform are those involving women. Soon after taking the throne, Mohamed VI voiced a strong commitment to women's rights and set up a commission to study changes, including a ban on polygamy. But Islamic fundamentalists have opposed divergence from sharia, the traditional Islamic law. The commission has met only a few times and none of the proposed reforms has been adopted. "Women are becoming impatient," said Rhissassi, a dean at the University of Kenitra and founder of the women's studies program. But, she added, "The king is doing his best and I think he's genuinely committed to women's issues and women's rights. In his speeches, he has repeatedly stressed the point that women form more than half of society and that the emancipation and development of women is more than necessary." By most measures, Moroccan women are far better off than those in many other Muslim countries. They have the right to vote and don't need a husband's permission to travel. They hold jobs in all walks of life, including the government. (Mohamed VI appointed Morocco's first female cabinet minister.) Many urban women shun traditional clothing in favor of Western-style dress: Rhissassi, in a smart beige linen suit, said she has never worn a head scarf in her 54 years. "There are so many erroneous interpretations of Islam on the part of those who want to see women as always second best and who even teach that they are inferior," Rhissassi said. "One of our aims is to try to free women's minds from the subtle but damaging inferiority lessons." But, she acknowledged, change might be slow. "We have to try to strike the right balance between modernity and Islamic heritage. I'm not saying they're diametrically opposed but you have to find a balance." Tutwiler, the U.S. ambassador, also thinks it is wise to tread slowly. "There's an element (in Morocco) that would like to see more and fast public reform, and there are those who don't want to see any reform and want a pure Islamic state," she said. "Too rapid change can cause instability, dislocation and confusion. Calibrating the rate of change is as important as the change itself." Morocco has shown enough progress in certain areas and proved to be such a good friend to America that President Bush has offered a coveted reward: free-trade status. If Congress agrees, Morocco would join only a few nations, including Israel and Jordan, that are allowed to sell their products duty-free in the United States. It would be a huge economic boost to a country where even university graduates have a hard time finding jobs. Whether Morocco can become a true beacon for the rest of the Arab world remains highly debatable. But despite the criticisms of the current regime, most Moroccans agree they could have found themselves with a far less promising ruler. "The monarchy is the glue in this country that truly holds everything together," Tutwiler said. "This king is referred to as the king of the poor, the king of the people. That tells you volumes."
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From the Times wire desk
From the AP |
RABAT, Morocco -- Morocco will always be the land of sirocco winds, Saharan dunes and the city immortalized by Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman in Casablanca.
