Morocco’s Royal Advisor Highlights Muslim-Jewish Shared Identity at Belgian Senate Conference

We could note at this meeting the presence of many diplomats accredited in Brussels, including the ambassadors of the United States, France, Germany, Russia and several other Arab, Asian and Latin American countries. But also present at this conference were the Chief Rabbi of Brussels, Albert Guigui, several imams of mosques in Belgium, the President of the European branch of the World Jewish Congress and eminent personalities from the world of politics, culture as well as a strong presence of the media.

The theme of living together in the 21st century chosen for the occasion has no doubt inspired Azoulay, who delivered a message that caught the attention of the entire audience, who were also seduced by the Advisor to the King’s speech. André Azoulay indeed highlighted the singularity of Moroccan Judaism and its resilience, through a three-thousand-year history, "nourished and shaped over time by a rarely denied proximity and intimacy with Berber and Arab-Muslim civilizations", he detailed to revisit the history of these two peoples.

The King’s advisor notably observed that "Beyond an international news that would tend to encourage them to turn their backs on each other and a culture of identity withdrawal that has neither borders nor passports, Muslims and Jews in Morocco have together chosen to resist amnesia by reclaiming their common history while cultivating, under all latitudes, a shared memory that has become the foundation of their contemporary destiny and identity". This speech by the King’s Advisor moved more than one.

André Azoulay also explained that Morocco has reached this reality which has been built over time, thanks to "the leadership carried by our Sovereigns in a voluntarism and continuity that we must inscribe in the pantheon of humanity and the universality of citizenship". He also called on the audience "not to forget the historical role of Their late Majesties Mohammed V and Hassan II and the unprecedented momentum given by HM King Mohammed VI, who has marked with His seal the preamble to the Constitution, voted by the Moroccan people in July 2011, and which says the place of the Berber, Jewish and Arab-Muslim civilizations in the history and identity of Morocco".