Moroccan Jews community always served as bridge between Palestinians, Israelis, community leader
Morocco-Palestine, Politics, 9/8/2003

The Moroccan Jewish community has always served as a bridge between Palestinians and Israelis, said secretary general of the Israelite communities council in Morocco and president of the Moroccan Judaic Rally, Serge Berdugo.

In an interview published August 28 by the Canadian paper Jewish News, Berdugo said "Moroccan Jews believe they still can help the two parties better understand each other for they have expertise in the ways of thinking of the issue's protagonists.

Moroccan Judaism has always been of great strategic importance to relations between Muslims and Jews and between Palestinians Israelis, he went on.

The community leader recalled the 20-year-old ties he has with Palestinian ambassador to Rabat, Abu Marwane. "We have worked hand in hand with Israeli leaders each time they visited Morocco."

On Jews' life in Morocco, Berdugo underscored that the Jewish community lives in security and has never sustained any pressures. "There are no second-class citizens in Morocco. King Mohammed VI's Morocco is applying a rule-of law democracy."

On the terrorist attacks that shook Casablanca May 16, Serge Berdugo said that by attempting to kill Jews, these criminals wanted above all to harm to the whole Moroccan society and affect the way of life of moderate Moroccan Muslims. Islam in Morocco is an open and tolerant Islam," he said.

Some 1,200 members of the Jewish community including 125 Israelite scouts have participated in the May 29 march slamming the blasts, he recalled.

Meantime, Palestine's ambassador to Rabat, Wajih Hassan Ali Kassem, lauded the efforts exerted by king Mohammed VI, president of the Al-Quds committee, to defend the Palestinian cause.

In a statement to Morocco's first TV channel, TVM, aired Friday, he added that Moroccan Jews, numbered at some 700,000 in Israel, still remember their life in Morocco and the perfect coexistence they have been enjoying with Muslims, and today, they aspire to live in a similar climate of brotherhood and counter the hostile atmosphere that the Israeli extremist military region is creating.

The Palestinian diplomat called the Moroccan Jews "who lived with Moroccan Muslims in dignity, brotherhood and harmony, to press the Israeli government into respecting Palestinians' basic rights so that brotherhood and friendship prevail in the region, without race, sex or religion discrimination."

Previous Stories:
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  Palestinian premier in Morocco   (7/29/2003)
  Palestinian PM to visit Morocco   (7/26/2003)
  Southern Morocco NGOs delegation meets officials, NGOs in london   (7/9/2003)
  Casablanca blasts: Jews 'feel more Moroccan than ever,' Royal Adviser   (5/22/2003)
  Moroccan Jews Celebrate in Essaouira Saint Festival   (5/20/2003)

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