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Mellah, Oujda, Morocco
Mellah, Oujda, Morocco
Description
Oujda History: In the eastern region of Morocco, near the border of Algeria, lies a city known as Oujda, established in 994 c.e. The Jewish community is comprised of an array of diverse backgrounds, from Jews who fled the persecution in the Iberian peninsula in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, Amazighs (Berbers) who may have been Judaized, and Jews migrating from Algeria during the beginning of the Moroccan French protectorate in the twentieth century. In 1907, Jews were 20% of the total population (1,200 out of 6,000), most likely due to the influx of refugees during the time. In 1918, they were 11% of the population (2,000 out of 18,150). With the French protectorate taking charge in 1912, Jews in Oujda went from having dhimmi (protected) status under the Sultan, to becoming subjects of the Sultan, leading to Oujda Jews being more assimilated and westernized.1
Oujda Mellah: Many Jews of Oujda lived in the mellah (an established Jewish quarter, named after the salt marsh area in Fez where the first mellah was created2), as well as the quarter known as the Ouled Amran. Oujda’s mellah is much different from other mellahs throughout Morocco, as theirs allowed Muslim’s to reside within the quarter, and it lacked a wall which normally encased others.3
International League Against Anti-Semitism (LICA): In 1927 Bernard Lecache, a French journalist, created the International League Against Anti-Semitism with the hopes of raising awareness about antisemitism and to mobilize against it. Initially the goal was to influence France and other European powers, but in 1934 LICA began to branch out to North Africa, particularly in Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco.4 In 1934 antisemitic riots in Constantine, Algeria broke out, causing the death of many Jews.5 Due to Morocco being a French protectorate, LICA had difficulty working with the Muslim community, but LICA was able to meet with Jewish communities, such as the one in Oujda. They eventually established a section of the Moroccan Federation of LICA in Oujda.6
Oujda Emigration: Oujda was a center for Jewish emigration, with it being a point of passage into Algeria, in the hopes to successfully arrive at their end goal - Palestine. Antisemitic beliefs and violence permeated, especially with the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948. Most Jews found new homes in Israel, France, and Canada. In 1952, Jews made up 3.9% of Oujda’s population (3,175 out of 80,718).7
Oujda-Jerada Riots: Due to Oujda being a center for Zionist migration, there was a large conflation of Zionism and Judaism, causing antisemitic beliefs, violence, and boycotts against the Jewish community. This tension began to boil over on June 6th, 1948, when Oujda Jews informed the police of possible antisemitic violence, but their pleas went unattended to. Capitalizing on the fact that both the military and the chief of police were out of town, June 7th, 1948 marked the start of the Oujda-Jerada Riots.8 An array of accounts depict the event that led to the riot, with one stating that an argument in the marketplace led to a Jew stabbing a Muslim, yet another reports indicates that it was due to an altercation at the Algerian border between a Muslim guard and a Jewish barber, with the Muslim claiming the Jew had multiple grenades with the intention of killing Muslims.9 It was true that a Jew did kill a Muslim (who was a Jew who had converted to Islam) due to an accusation of Zionist activity, but the bomb incident was false.10 Nonetheless, both rumors spread, causing violence and antisemitism to permeate. Later on June 7th, a group from Oujda drove to the neighboring town of Jerada and continued the violence, with the riot finally ending on June 8th. Both towns were pillaged, property was destroyed (72,423,511 francs worth), hundreds were injured, and around forty Jews were killed.11 These two days of violence led to an increase in emigration and Zionist activity amongst Zionist Moroccan Jews, and it also influenced Communist Moroccan Jews to stay and fight against imperialism and Zionism.12 As of April 2021, descendants of the Jewish victims are asking the Moroccan government to recognize the Oujda-Jerada Riots of 1948 by establishing a monument, having a ceremony, and adding it to the education curriculum.13
Sources
[1] Jonathan G. Katz, “Oujda,” in Encyclopedia of Jews in the Islamic World Online, ed. Norman A. Stillman (Leiden, Netherlands: Brill), Accessed 20 July 2021.
[2] Emily Gottreich, “Mallāḥ,” in Encyclopedia of Jews in the Islamic World, ed. Norman A. Stillman, (Leiden, Netherlands: Brill), Accessed 20 July 2021.
[3] Katz, "Oujda."
[4] Aomar Boum, "Partners against Anti-Semitism: Muslims and Jews respond to Nazism in French North African colonies, 1936–1940," in The Journal of North African Studies 19, no. 4 (2014), 554, doi:10.1080/13629387.2014.950175.
[5] Boum, "Partners against Anti-Semitism: Muslims and Jews respond to Nazism in French North African colonies, 1936–1940," 556.
[6] Boum, "Partners against Anti-Semitism: Muslims and Jews respond to Nazism in French North African colonies, 1936–1940," 564.
[7] Katz, "Oujda."
[8] Alma R. Heckman, The Sultan's Communists: Moroccan Jews and the Politics of Belonging, (Redwood City: Stanford University Press, 2020), 120-121.
[9] Mohammed Kenbib, “Oujda - Jerrada Riots,” in Encyclopedia of Jews in the Islamic World, ed. Norman A. Stillman (Leiden, Netherlands: Brill), Accessed 20 July 2021.
[10] Heckman, The Sultan's Communists: Moroccan Jews and the Politics of Belonging, 122.
[11] Kenbib, “Oujda - Jerrada Riots."; Heckman, The Sultan's Communists: Moroccan Jews and the Politics of Belonging, 122.
[12] Heckman, The Sultan's Communists: Moroccan Jews and the Politics of Belonging, 124.
[13] "Moroccan Israelis Petition Government to Recognize 1948 Riots in Oujda, Jerada As Terrorism." JNS.org. https://www.jns.org/moroccan-israelis-petition-government-to-recognize-1948-riots-in-oujda-jerada-as-terrorism/.
[Photo] http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/ams/morocco_city_plans/txu-oclc-6543584.jpg