Interfaith Virtual Ramadan Dinner Unites Moroccans Amid Pandemic

Initiated by the "Marocains Pluriels" association, this edition broadcast live on YouTube, focused on "fraternity and hope", virtues essential in the fight against the coronavirus which continues to rage around the world and does not distinguish between human beings. "Since the Ftours Pluriels exist, I have never missed this emblematic rendezvous of the richness of all our diversities and the depth of their anchoring in the national consensus," said André Azoulay, advisor to King Mohammed VI.

This year, although this breaking of the fast meal was shared virtually, "history will paradoxically record that it will have been the one that has brought together the largest number of participants eager to salute the exceptional convergence of the pioneering and visionary strategy implemented by the king with the maturity shown by the Moroccan people," stressed the king’s advisor. While paying tribute to the scientific and medical community, the security forces and all those who form the chain of resistance and resilience in Morocco in the face of covid-19, André Azoulay concluded by expressing "his pride to see his country recognized and saluted by the community of Nations thanks to the farsighted leadership of King Mohammed VI and the performance of the entire system put in place by Morocco in the face of this pandemic".

Ahmed Ghayet, the president of Marocains Pluriels, said that "it was out of the question that the virus prevent them from holding this rendezvous of living together more necessary than ever". Several people participated in this Ftour, organized in partnership with the SOC-Simon Pinto community center. These include "the religious authorities of the three faiths, pluralist artists and young people from grassroots associations in 10 cities of the kingdom". This meeting of sharing and exchange was "followed by hundreds of Internet users from Morocco, but also from many other countries".

Originating in Morocco, the idea of the Ftour Pluriel has "multiplied and has become a tradition taken up in Paris, Tunis, Beirut, Montreal," said the president of Marocains Pluriels. The virtual event was enhanced by the broadcast of video recordings from several national figures, such as Pierre Sibony, president of the SOC-Simon Pinto, Driss El Yazami, former president of the National Council for Human Rights (CNDH), Professor Jaâfar Heikel, specialist in epidemiology, Moulay Abdellah Cherif Ouazzani, Islamologist and trainer of imams, the Ambassador of the Apostolic Nunciature of the Vatican in Rabat, Monsignor Vito Rallo, and Cardinal Cristobal Lopez Romero, Archbishop of Rabat, according to the MAP.

The Ftour Pluriel was marked this year by "the launch of an unprecedented initiative consisting of depositing, in compliance with the rules of social distancing, a dish (specific to Ramadan or not) on the doorstep of a Christian, Jewish or Muslim family, migrants or the elderly".