Morocco a country of religious freedom, interfaith dialog, US says
Morocco, Religion, 10/10/2002

"Although Islam is (Morocco's) official state religion, Jewish and Christian communities openly practice their faiths," US State Department's Bureau of democracy, human rights and labor said in its International Religious Freedom Report, released on October 7.

"There was no change in the status of respect for religious freedom in Morocco. Since 1999 when King Mohammed VI was enthroned, he has continued to uphold a tradition of respect for interfaith dialog," the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor said.

"The generally amicable relationship among religions in society contributed to religious freedom."

"The teaching of Islam in public schools benefits from discretionary funding in the Moroccan Government's annual education budget. The annual budget also provides funds for religious instruction to the parallel system of Jewish public schools, the report goes, adding that the Government has funded several efforts to study the cultural, artistic, literary, and scientific heritage of Jewish citizens."

"In 1998 the government created a chair for the study of comparative religions including the study of Latin and Hebrew at the University of Rabat."

"In 2000, the King declared that 100 mosques throughout the country would be used as teaching centers to fight illiteracy. In the first (and pilot) year of the announced program, 10,000 citizens between the ages of 15 and 45 were to receive literacy courses on Islam, civic education, and hygiene. The King designated 200 unemployed university graduates to administer the literacy courses during the program's pilot stages, which began in September 2000," the bureau said.

The report recalls how King Mohammed VI met with prominent Jewish figures and with leaders of the Conference of Presidents of the Major American Jewish Organizations during his April 2002 visit to the United States.

The King's party included several Moroccan Jews, notably Royal Advisor Andre Azoulay, Serge Berdugo, Secretary General of Morocco's Jewish Communities, and Robert Assaraf, President of the World Union of Moroccan Judaism, the State Department's bureau went on.

The document said "Each May the Government organizes the annual "Fez Festival of Sacred Music," which includes musicians from many religions. In the past, the Government has organized numerous symposiums among local and international clergy, priests, rabbis, imams, and other spiritual leaders to examine ways to reduce religious intolerance and to promote interfaith dialog."

"Each year during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, the King hosts colloquiums of Islamic religious scholars that, among other issues, examine ways to promote tolerance and mutual respect within Islam and between Islam and other religions."

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