Historic
Battlegrounds
» » Aghmat Idrissids v
Almoravids;
Independence
Movement v French
protectorate
» » Sijilmassa
Almoravids v
Almohads; Alawites v
Aït Atta Amazigh
» » Chefchaouen
Rifians v Portuguese;
Rifians v Spanish
» » Western Sahara
Spanish v Polisario;
Polisario v Morocco
when his buddy Moulay Ismail aided and abetted the many British and Barbary pirates who
harboured in the royal ports at Rabat and Salé – for a price.
But pirate loyalties being notoriously fickle, Barbary pirates attacked
Ireland, Wales, Iceland and even Newfoundland in the 17th century.
Barbary pirates also took prisoners, who were usually held for ransom and
freed after a period of servitude – including one-time English allies.
Captives were generally better off with Barbary pirates than French
profiteers, who typically forced prisoners to ply the oars of slave galleys
until death. Nevertheless, after pressure from England secured their
release in 1684, a number of English captives were quite put out about the
whole experience, and burned the port of Tangier behind them. But other
English saw upsides to piracy and kidnapping: when the Portuguese were
forced out of Essaouira in the 17th century, a freed British prisoner who’d
converted to Islam joined a French profiteer to rebuild the city for the
sultan, using free labour provided by European captives.Troubled Waters for Alwawites
After Moulay Ismail’s death, his elite force of 50,000 to 70,000 Abid, or
‘Black Guard’, ran amok, and not one of his many children was able to
succeed him. The Alawite dynasty would struggle on into the 20th century, but the country often
lapsed into lawlessness when rulers overstepped their bounds. Piracy and politics became key
ways to get ahead in the 18th and 19th centuries – and the two were by no means mutually
exclusive. By controlling key Moroccan seaports and playing European powers against one
another, officials and outlaws alike found they could demand a cut of whatever goods were
shipped through the Strait of Gibraltar and along the Atlantic Coast.
2000 YEARS OF MOROCCAN JEWISH HISTORY
By the 1st century AD, Jewish Berber communities that were already well established in Morocco included farmers,
metalworkers, dyers, glassblowers, bookbinders and cowboys. The Merenids established the first official Jewish quarter in
Fez, where Jewish entrepreneurs excluded from trades and guilds in medieval Europe were able to conduct business. Jewish
Moroccans were taxed when business boomed for the ruling dynasty and sometimes blamed when it didn’t, yet they managed
to flourish under the Merenids and Saadians, while European Jews faced the Inquisition and persecution.
Under Alawite rule in the 17th to 19th centuries, the official policy toward Jewish Moroccans was one of give and take: on the
one hand they had opportunities as tradespeople, business leaders and ambassadors to England, Holland and Denmark in the
19th century; on the other they were subjected to taxes, surveillance and periodic scapegoating. But in good times and bad,
Jewish Moroccans remained a continuous presence.
By 1948, some 300,000 Jewish Moroccans lived in Morocco. Many left after the founding of the states of Morocco and Israel,
and today only an estimated 3000 to 8000 remain, mostly in Casablanca. A Jewish community centre in Casablanca was a
bombing target in 2003, and though no one was harmed at the community centre, trade-centre blasts killed 33 and wounded- Yet the Casablanca community remains intact, and Casablanca is home to the recently expanded Museum of Moroccan
Judaism.
Under the current king, Jewish schools now receive state funding, and a few Jewish expatriates have responded to a royal
invitation to return, contributing to the revival of Essaouira’s mellah . Yet the everyday champions of Jewish heritage in Morocco
remain ordinary Moroccans, the one million people worldwide of Moroccan Jewish heritage, and culturally engaged travellers,
who together ensure Moroccan Jewish customs, festivals, and landmarks get the attention they deserve.