Morocco glimpse of hope for Iraq By ROBERT L. MOORE COMMUNITY VOICES
In our war with al-Qaida and its allies, we need to keep in mind what a victory would look like. If we emerge triumphant from this struggle, the Middle East should look something like Morocco does today, at least insofar as it is a peaceful and harmonious country that does not seethe with ethnic hatred or violent anti-Americanism.
Alejandro Inarritu's Oscar-nominated film "Babel" features Morocco prominently as the site where a stray gunshot hits an American tourist traveling in a tour bus. This incident immediately panics the busload of tourists and then goes on to disrupt the entire globe as the shooting traumatizes the world with media-stoked talk of a new terrorist gang rising to wreak havoc on civilization.
But in fact there are no terrorists in "Babel." The terror it describes is purely homemade and rooted in our own ignorance, self-absorption and failure to understand each other. The film makes a valid point: Failures of understanding do underlie much of the distrust between Arabs and Americans today.
Morocco, however, is one of the most friendly and pro-American countries in the Arab world, a country where the watchwords are hospitality and gentleness, not violence and danger. I experienced this hospitality last month on a study tour of this country with a group of my colleagues from Rollins College.
Not only was I pleasantly surprised at the warmth with which we were received by our Moroccan hosts, I was amazed at the ease with which Moroccans talked of the Jewish communities that for centuries thrived in their midst. It seems that every city and town in Morocco has a historic Jewish quarter with synagogues that only went into decline in the 1950s when many Moroccan Jews chose to emigrate to Israel.
I spent one evening as a dinner guest at the home of Ms. El Idrissi, a pleasant young woman who lives in the old walled quarter of Rabat. She proudly showed me an album with pictures she had collected over the years of dozens of American visitors to Rabat whom she had befriended. Then, to my surprise, Ms. El Idrissi indicated two students who were not Americans, but Israelis. "This one," she beamed, "is the granddaughter of Ariel Sharon's brother!"
Since that was the first time I have ever heard the name "Ariel Sharon" spoken by an Arab citizen with pride instead of contempt, it is a moment I will not soon forget.
For centuries, hundreds of thousands of Jews had lived in harmony with their Muslim neighbors in cities all over Morocco. Many of them were descendants of the Jews and Muslims who were driven from Spain 500 years ago. It is a point of pride among Moroccans that they never instituted an inquisition like that of 15th-century Spain that targeted Jews or other religious minorities.
Serge Berdugo, the President of Morocco's Jewish Community Council, writes of an incident during World War II when the Vichy French tried to force Moroccan Jews to wear yellow stars. But Morocco's King Mohammad V resisted, insisting that if Moroccan Jews were to be so marked, he would require the members of his own royal family to follow suit.
The positive attitude that Moroccans show toward Jews and Israelis, is matched by their friendliness toward Americans. During our two weeks of travel from urban neighborhoods to desert campsites, our delegation enjoyed unfailing hospitality.
But as in the rest of the Arab world, friendly feelings toward Americans recently have been tested by the invasion of Iraq. Two members of our group while visiting a household in Rabat were confronted by a middle-aged woman who pleaded with them to do something about President Bush. "You must understand that we Arabs love our children," she explained. "The war in Iraq has to stop. Please do something."
The ongoing fighting between Israel and the Palestinians also puts a strain on the traditionally friendly attitude of Moroccans toward Jews. These current tensions aside, Morocco demonstrates what a Muslim country with open attitudes toward the West and Israel looks like. It is a model that we Americans would do well to encourage.
Our so-called "war on terror" will not be won if we cannot convince the Moroccans and others in the Arab World that we respect Islam, we treasure the lives of Muslims and we see this struggle as an essentially moral one. Unpopular wars, like the one in Iraq, work against us because they breed distrust and hostility among the very people whose support we need.
Moore is a professor of anthropology and the Coordinator of Asian Studies at Rollins College and Director of International Affairs at the college's Holt School.
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