Coexistence, moroccan-style

At 65, Jamal Amiar retains the youthful allure of a globe-trotting student. He was born and grew up in Morocco at a time when it had recently attained independence, but remained open to Europe, to the world, and particularly to France, his second homeland. He has devoted much of his life to the study of relations between Moroccan Judaism and Israel. He travels often to Israel and has many friends there. His two most recent books are “Le Maroc, Israël et les Juifs marocains” (with a preface by Dale Eickelman, an American Middle East expert), éditions Bibliomonde, 2022, and “Le Maroc et les Palestiniens, 1960-2024” (preface by Yehuda Lancry, former Israeli ambassador to France and the United Nations), 2025.

F. T.

Florence Taubmann — Jamal Amiar, you are a Moroccan journalist and historian. You have written several books on Judaism and Jews in Morocco. Where did this interest come from?

Jamal Amiar — I was born and raised in Casablanca in the 1960s, which meant living in a fairly mixed society where it was natural to have friends called Mohammed, Alain or Elie, without really wondering whether they were Jewish, Christian or Muslim. People only discover and affirm their personal identities later in life. Later my path took me to Tangier, where I studied and have lived ever since. It’s a city known for its cosmopolitanism, and its Jewish and Spanish communities. Even in exile, people remember this specific aspect of Morocco, like the journalist Elie, whom I met to talk about one of my books, and who heads the Sephardic community in Montreal. It’s essential to recognize that there is a Jewish strain in Moroccan culture, yet it’s also true that there’s a Moroccan strain in Jewish culture, and of course in Israeli culture. Just one example: Mimouna, the festival of the end of Passover, is derived from a Judeo-Muslim festival in Morocco. Another Moroccan tradition is the tombs of the saints, where Jews and Muslims go to pray and ask for blessings. The richness of Jewish life in Morocco has been described by Haïm Zafrani, who published a book called Mille ans de vie juive au Maroc, and then went on to write Deux mille ans de vie juive au Maroc! (1) To come back to your question, it was this deep, very subtle affinity that motivated my research into Moroccan Judaism. So today, of course, I’m haunted by the question of why my Moroccan Jewish compatriots and my Palestinian Muslim co- religionists are at war. Why can’t they achieve the kind of treasured coexistence that we have in Morocco?

F. T. — Leaving aside the current conflict, do you really think that some form of reconciliation is possible?

J. A. — It will undoubtedly be difficult, but I see a sign of hope in Morocco’s valorization of our shared cultural heritage, on both a political and a human level. Our country has always cultivated friendship with both the Israelis and the Palestinians. Unofficial relations between Morocco and Israel have always existed, and on September 1, 1994, a year after the Oslo Accords, official liaison offices were set up in Rabat and Tel Aviv, as well as in Gaza. But most importantly, in December 2020, the normalization of Morocco’s diplomatic relations with Israel was enshrined in the Abraham Accords, and this has led to numerous agreements in the economic, commercial, tourism, agricultural and technological spheres. On the cultural front, “Jewish Days” in celebration of Judaism have been organized in Tangier, Agadir and Marrakech, and events and trips to and from Morocco and Israel have been organized.

F. T. — Has this dynamic been permanently broken since October 7, 2023?

J. A. — The massacres of October 7, followed by the brutal Israeli reprisals against Gaza and its inhabitants, have greatly damaged relations between Israelis and Palestinians. The war has been going on for a hundred years, but I am convinced it will end one day. Levels of hostility and public distrust are certainly very high on both sides, in Israel and on the West Bank. As for Morocco, it has remained relatively neutral, resisting the impact of the war on its long-standing relations with Israel.

F. T. — So much for Realpolitik, but what about the human angle?

J. A. — In human terms, it’s a disaster. I went to the Gaza border, to the martyred kibbutzes of Zikim and Mefalsim. What happened on October 7th was the result of criminal delirium, it was absolute madness, and the reprisals have been just as mad. Pain generates pain, madness generates madness. No one can be anything but shocked and outraged. This is bound to have an impact on the minds and opinions of the peoples concerned. Human, cultural and political relations have been slowed down, even paralyzed. We Moroccans are on the dividing line between Israelis and Palestinians. I myself am in touch with both sides. During my last two visits to Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, in April and November 2025, I could see that some, though not all, of the Israelis I talked to had noticeably stiffened their positions on the two-state solution. Inversely, on the Palestinian side, the elites seem to be positioning themselves more in the center and embracing the idea of sharing a future and a territory, and exploring avenues of cooperation and partnerships. We need to look to the long term, and build on the historical reasons for hope.

F. T. — Are there really any?

J. A. — The Arab world is much less hostile to Israel than it was thirty years ago, even at the height of the Oslo Accords. I’m talking, of course, about governments. Despite the terrible crisis that’s been underway since October 7, the Abraham Accords pointed us in a new direction. I think that the UN resolution on the Palestinian state is a positive development, and that the Franco-Saudi initiative (2) has cleared some of the deadlock. I am pleased to note that Morocco has not deviated from its course with regard to Israel, and I am delighted that it continues to maintain solidarity with both the Israelis and the Palestinians. Need I remind you that, as early as 1958, King Hassan II, then Crown Prince, declared at the Mediterranean Conference in Florence: “The Jews have a right to the land of Israel, to be shared with others in accordance with international law, and we Arabs must accept this. ” He repeated this view in Beirut six months later, in the face of objections, ignoring Arab nationalism, and it remained his line. And his son Mohammed VI continues in the same vein.

You see, without seeking to minimize past and present crises, what gives me hope is that there were Israelis and Palestinians working together before October 7, and there still are. Israeli- Palestinian life is possible. Solutions exist: the Germans and the French fought atrocious wars, then made peace and built Europe. There’s no reason why Arabs and Jews shouldn’t do the same. It’s actually a fratricidal conflict, as if the Arab didn’t want to recognize his Jewish part, and the Jew his Arab part. It’s going to take a lot of work. But it’s not impossible, in fact it’s essential to ease the tensions, otherwise war will destroy us all. Shalom Salam, the Jewish-Arab dialogue movement I take part in, is committed to publicizing the organizations and personalities, both Israeli and Palestinian, who have been working together with renewed energy since the terrible events of October 7, 2023. They include the It’s Time coalition; the ALLMEP (3) management; Standing Together; duos such as Ehud Olmert and Nasser al-Kidwa; Yossi Beilin and Hiba Husseini; Maoz Inon and Aziz Abu Sara; Gershon Baskin and Samer Sinijlawi. Not to mention the invaluable mission of Givat Haviva, the Jewish- Arab international educational center, which has been laboring untiringly for good in the heart of Israel since 1949. Two events I took part in at the end of November – a Shalom Salam “face-to- face” in Jerusalem, and a video-conference with Anwar Abu Eisheh, a former Palestinian minister residing in Hebron – made it clear that Jewish-Arab ties are real, both in Israel-Palestine, and elsewhere in the world, notably in Morocco.

Even after two years of this terrible war, we do not despair of our capacity to nurture the fragile flame of dialogue, mutual understanding, respect for others, and peace.