US Jewish Personalities Commend HM the King's Vision for Peace and Coexistence
Several US Jewish personalities have commended the vision of HM King Mohammed VI for peace and coexistence, while welcoming the United States' recognition of the full sovereignty of Morocco over its Sahara and the decision to resume official contacts and diplomatic relations between Morocco and Israel.
"The policies of King Mohammed VI have long made Morocco - a key country that links Africa and Europe, North Africa and Asia and the Muslim and non-Muslim worlds - a major model of coexistence", said in an interview with MAP the executive director of the American Sephardi Federation (ASF), Jason Guberman.
The royal decision to "resume official diplomatic relations with Israel and accelerate cultural, technological and entrepreneurial cooperation, reflects the Kingdom's traditional leading role and sets an enlightened example to follow for others", noted, for his part, the vice-president of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, Malcolm Hoenlein.
Guberman and Honelein believe that "the solidarity and strong ties of more than 900,000 Moroccan-Sephardic Jews from Israel, the second largest Moroccan diaspora in the world, have been an important base of support for the Kingdom and are now committed to promoting these relations".
After highlighting the very strong ties between Jews of Moroccan origin and the Kingdom, Rabbi Joshua Bittan, for his part, praised HM the King's enlightened vision for peace in the region.
"We are delighted with the new developments. Peace, mutual respect and harmony among nations bring prosperity and blessings. In the case of Morocco and Israel, it makes even more sense for our community," the rabbi of the Sephardic Congregation "Em Habanim" in Los Angeles told MAP.
"We have very strong roots and we feel very linked to Morocco, our country of origin, its culture, its warmth and its spirit of tolerance and reason", said this native of Ouazzane, noting that seeing the Kingdom and Israel resuming diplomatic relations is "a source of great joy."
Referring to relations between Morocco and Israel, the American Jewish Committee (AJC) welcomes the strong attachment of Jews of Moroccan origin to the Kingdom.
"Morocco was home to the largest and one of the oldest Jewish communities in the Arab world. Today, Israel is home to over one million Israelis of Moroccan descent, whose culture has become prevalent in Jewish society," notes AJC associate director Benjamin Rogers, stressing that "in addition to important economic ties that the Normalization Agreement brings, relations between Israel and Morocco will create new understandings that have the power to be replicated across the Middle East and open up the region to new opportunities for peace and cooperation".
The American Jewish Committee "will continue to contribute in every possible way to strengthening these natural ties for the benefit of all the peoples of the Middle East and North Africa," he said.
MAP 18 December 2020