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Oberlin College

Publication Date

Spring 2023

Program Name

Morocco: Migration and Transnational Identity

Abstract

Morocco once had the largest Jewish population of any Islamic country, but in 1948 the creation of the Israeli state drew Jews out of Morocco in massive numbers. Since then the Jews have a ghostly presence, spoken about but hardly seen. Curiously, the void left by their flight has been filled by a conscious effort on the part of Moroccan historical institutions to retain the presence of Jews in collective memory. Well maintained sites, and spaces such as the Jewish quarter that are linked to Jewish presence continue to contribute to a discourse which presents Moroccan and Jewish histories as intertwined. Further, the character of this history is represented as a happy symbiosis, and institutions which remember the Jews are nostalgic for this time of peaceful coexistence. This project investigates the active re-affirmation of the Jewish component in Essaouira, a city in Morocco with a large historical Jewish presence. This research brings to light the question of what it means for Morocco to be a multicultural society. And to what extent has the Moroccan Jew become a politicized Identity?

Disciplines

African Studies | Islamic World and Near East History | Jewish Studies | Race and Ethnicity | Sociology of Religion

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