The reactions were quick in the economic capital of Morocco as soon as the normalization of relations with Israel was announced. “Everyone talks about it, whether it is our Jewish customers, who represent half of our customers, or Muslims,” says Kevin Fhal, 36, grandson of the founder of the bakery “Madame Fhal”, an institution famous for its kosher pastries and in full rush on this Friday, the day after the announcement of the restoration of relations with the Hebrew state. “Since the normalization (with Israel) announced by the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, we had to be on the list. And finally, it came sooner than expected ”, notes the trader already impatient to see the opening of direct air links to Israel provided for by the agreement formalized this Thursday, December 10.
A shared enthusiasm
“After the announcement, the entire Jewish community in Morocco was in joy. It is a very strong and very courageous gesture on the part of King Mohammed VI ”, launches a client in her forties who came to collect some hallah, bread consumed during Shabbat. This Casablanca woman who prefers not to give her name believes that the decision “will have a positive impact on Moroccans in general, not only on Jews”. But she is worried since she “took a tour on social networks” where the comments of some “cooled”. “I am afraid that demonstrations will break out, that a cleavage will be created between the communities, that misunderstandings will take precedence”, she confides. “We have had very cordial relations for a very long time. We never had any problems. We work together with the greatest respect ”, tempers one of the employees of the bakery, aged about sixty.
At the “Amsellem” charcuterie, another culinary institution in central Casablanca, in the district that houses the last Jewish shops, the boss also says he is “very happy” with the development of relations between his country and Israel. Jacques Bitton “keeps receiving calls from Moroccans, Jews and Muslims, all satisfied with this decision”. “I have family in Israel, a first cousin is in the government. I spoke with him, he was ecstatic, ”said the 60-year-old.
An old bond officially reinvigorated
In Israel, the some 700,000 Jews of Moroccan origin have often kept very strong links with the kingdom, its Darija dialect, its culinary and musical traditions. Most left with their families in the early 1950s, after the creation of the Hebrew state. At the time, Morocco was home to the largest Jewish community in North Africa, with an estimated 250,000 to 300,000 souls. There are believed to be less than 3,000 today.
“Whether we Jews who were born there or our children and grandchildren are allowed to return to this land where our ancestors lived for more than 2,000 years is immense, it is a great day ”, comments Avraham Avizemer, reached by telephone in Cesarée, a small town on the Israeli coast. Originally from Casablanca, this enterprising septuagenarian imports Moroccan products, offers organized trips, writes books on Moroccan Jews and has already visited his native country “401 times”, which his family left when he was three years old. He also said he had “received lots of messages in Arabic from Moroccan friends” who said “mabrouk” (congratulations) since the announcement of the standardization agreement. “There will be direct flights, no need to go through Istanbul, Rome, Paris, Madrid or Amsterdam to go to Morocco, we will save time. And also money, ”he jubilates.
Currently, between 50,000 and 70,000 Jews of Moroccan origin, most from the Hebrew state leave each year for Morocco, on a tourist visit, on pilgrimage or for religious festivals. “Relations between Morocco and Israel took place behind the scenes. It was a kind of forbidden love, formalized today “, estimates Fanny Mergui, former kingpin of Zionist youth in the 1960s. This Moroccan Jew who presents herself as” an activist for Israeli-Palestinian peace “regrets however that “the Palestinians were not involved in this process”.
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