Sarah Margles, Education Officer for American Jewish World Service ended the Guest Speaker Series for the 2007-08 Unity Program. She spoke about her work experiences for a Jewish agency which focuses on global issues and support in the developing world. Sarah also presented her personal experiences with individuals in both Jewish and Muslim communities abroad and locally relating it to her inner growth and mission.

Mark Rosenblum, History professor at Queens College and founder and political director of Americans for Peace Now visited Al-Iman to speak about his involvement in numerous Middle East conflict resolution initiatives. The students enjoyed hearing about the courses offered through his program in which Jewish, Muslim and Christian students act as the 'other' to develop peace making strategies.

Since biblical times, the land of Israel has belonged to various nations and has been the birthplace to the three main monotheistic religions. The debate over the ownership of the land has caused numerous conflicts between the three faiths and created problems that need to be resolved. Particularly, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has created spite and distrust between the Jewish and Muslim communities around the world. Although this divergence manifests differently in every community and varies from country to country, the issues of Muslim-Jewish coexistence has not been resolved. Many conflict-transformation programs, particularly the Unity course, attempt to bridge this gap and promote peaceful coexistence between Jews and Muslims in the United States and around the world. Finding creative solutions is the key to engaging both sides and working toward transforming the conflict. The purpose of this paper will be to examine the history of Jewish-Muslim relations in Morocco and to study the events that transformed this conflict into one of the greatest coexistence projects in the Arab world.

In a country of more then thirty million Muslims, the Jews of Morocco are indisputably a tiny minority. However, the tolerance and understanding practiced by both sides exemplify the potential of a successful transformation that has reversed centuries of detestation. In chapter one, lesson two, a conflict theorist and practitioner, John Paul Lederach provides a definition for conflict transformation, “Conflict transformation…does not suggest that we simply eliminate or control conflict, but rather recognize and work with its “dialectic nature.””1 According to his definition, a social conflict originates naturally from human interactions and then changes people’s perception of themselves and of the other, resulting in misunderstandings which fuel the disagreement. Thus, it is essential for both sides to have a dialogue and discuss the differences, address the origins of the conflict, and listen to the other group. King Hassan of Morocco has been a supporter of dialogue facilitation between the leaders of Jewish and Muslim communities for approximately forty years. A combination of friendly policies and dialogue has resulted in peaceful coexistence between the Jews and Muslims in Morocco.

Although there were periods of stability and peace for Jews in Morocco, since ancient times, Jews experienced discrimination and second class treatment. After the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE, a group of Jews settled in the area in the northern region of Africa called Mauritania – present day Morocco. Under Roman leadership, the Jews were treated on the same basis as their neighbors and were allowed to prosper. After the advent of Islam, in the 7th century, Morocco came under the control of the Caliph of Baghdad. Under the Arabs, the Jews were given the dhimmi status and were subject to the Pact of Omar. The dhimmi status enabled the Jews to retain their Jewish identity, religious laws and practices in exchange for a poll-tax, jizya. This status granted protection to the Jews, but also forbid Jews from holding high administrative positions, displaying wealth, testifying in a Muslim court, erecting places of worship and other restrictions.2 Although the dhimmi status enabled the Jews and Muslims to exist next to each other, the various prohibitions for dhimmis formed a class breach between the two groups, resulting in the second-class treatment towards dhimmis. For this reason, the dhimmi status can not be considered as a successful solution to the Muslim-Jewish conflict.

In 1492, the North African region experienced an influx of Jews escaping the explosion from Spain and Portugal. Many Jews settled in Morocco because it had a strong Jewish presence. In the beginning, the Jews had a positive contribution to the society because many had previously been doctors, poets, scientists, and other intellectual careers. However, as Jews began to settle in big cities and take jobs away from Muslims, the Muslim neighbor began to resent their Jewish friends. It resulted in series of pogroms and anti-Semitic sentiment in order to thwart the growth of Jewish expasion in Morocco. Although there were brief periods of peace and non-violence in the history of Morocco, there was no real progress in the Jewish-Muslim relations until the mid-twentieth century. In 1940s, the Nazi Vichy government issued a series of anti-Semitic laws against the Jews, forcing the Jews to wear the yellow Star of David and excluding Jews from holding administrative positions. In 1948, when the Jewish State declared independence, many of the 265,000 Jews immigrated to Israel. However, when Morocco declared independence in 1956, the emigration to Israel was halted until 1963. In 1961, when the Sultan Muhammad V died, he was replaced by his son King Hassan. After many efforts by Zionist organization and political pressure from the United States and France, the government allowed Jews to leave Morocco. This was the turning point of the Moroccan Jewish-Muslim relations.

The friendly attitude of King Hassan towards the Jews of Morocco and the State of Israel began the transformation of a century old conflict between the Jews and Muslims. Hassan has been an avid supporter of the Arab-Israeli peace process. He has passed various policies to preserve the Jewish community in Morocco and has facilitated interfaith dialogues between leaders of both communities. According to the Report on International Religious Freedom, “The Government continued to encourage tolerance, respect, and dialogue among the religious groups [in 2007].”3 There are two sets of laws and courts pertaining to marriage, inheritance, and family matters--one for Muslims and another for Jews. This report also revealed that over the course of past 13 years, the government organized the annual “Fez Festival of Sacred Music,” which gathers musicians from Muslim, Christian, Jewish, Hindu, and Buddhist spiritual traditions. Also, during the holy month of Ramadan, the King hosts a conference of Muslim religious scholars who discuss ways to promote tolerance and mutual respect between Islam and other religions. The success of Moroccan leaders, in transforming a thousand old conflict, is self-evident. In fact, Morocco is the only Arab nation with a Jewish museum.

The evolution of the Muslim-Jewish conflict in Morocco is a great milestone to the Muslim-Jewish relations around the world. It showed that with the proper desire and attitude, even a conflict as difficult as this can be resolved. The case of Morocco is extraordinary because in the country of over 30 million Muslims, a small religious group of approximately five thousand members enjoys the religious freedom to practice its traditions and worship their God. The conflict transformation groups can now study the successful tactics employed in the management of this conflict and help resolve religious conflicts around the world. The tools such as facilitation of dialogue, conflict transformation and creative communication, as introduced by the Unity course packets, have incredible potential to transform the mindsets of the conflicting groups and to resolve their disagreements. The success of Moroccan coexistence project showed that if those techniques are conducted properly, the possibilities for peaceful coexistence are infinite.

Film maker Laura Wiessen spoke to the Al-Iman students about her interfaith journeys throughout Israel and Africa. She also presented on her life as an American Jewish woman, comparing her experiences to those of Jews in the Middle East as well as referencing her encounters with Palestinian Israeli's while abroad.

Jo Hirschmann, Rabbinical student at Hebrew Union College spoke to the Al-Iman students about her experience as a Jewish female in the Reform tradition. She presented an activity which provided Biblical text depicting women and their roles in early Judaism as significant to the faith. The students thoroughly enjoyed hearing her unique perspective.