''Al-Wifāq'' ( ar, الوفاق) was a

Moroccan Jewish Moroccan Jews ( ar, اليهود المغاربة, al-Yahūd al-Maghāriba he, יהודים מרוקאים, Yehudim Maroka'im) are Jews who live in or are from Morocco. Moroccan Jews constitute an ancient community dating to Roman times. Jews b ...

nationalist Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: The ...

organization promoting coexistence between Jews and

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

communities in

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

. It was created January 1956, shortly before

the end The End may refer to: Films * ''The End'' (1953 film), a film by Christopher Maclaine * ''The End'' (1978 film), a comedy by Burt Reynolds * ''The End'' (1997 film), a Canadian film of 1997 * ''The End'' (1998 film), a skateboarding document ...

of the French protectorate, by members of

Istiqlal Party The Istiqlal Party ( ar, حزب الإستقلال, translit=Ḥizb Al-Istiqlāl, lit=Independence Party; french: Parti Istiqlal; zgh, ⴰⴽⴰⴱⴰⵔ ⵏ ⵍⵉⵙⵜⵉⵇⵍⴰⵍ) is a political party in Morocco. It is a conservative and ...

and the

Democratic Independence Party The Democratic Independence Party (french: Parti Démocratique et de l'Indépendance), also called the Democratic Party for Independence, is a political party in Morocco. History and profile The Democratic Independence Party was established in ...

to foster nationalist sentiment among Moroccan Jews and to discourage them from emigrating to Israel. It was announced in the , a center of Jewish activity, and soon opened chapters in other cities including

Rabat Rabat (, also , ; ar, الرِّبَاط, er-Ribât; ber, ⵕⵕⴱⴰⵟ, ṛṛbaṭ) is the capital city of Morocco and the country's seventh largest city with an urban population of approximately 580,000 (2014) and a metropolitan populati ...

Meknes Meknes ( ar, مكناس, maknās, ; ber, ⴰⵎⴽⵏⴰⵙ, amknas; french: Meknès) is one of the four Imperial cities of Morocco, located in northern central Morocco and the sixth largest city by population in the kingdom. Founded in the 11th c ...

Fes Fez or Fes (; ar, فاس, fās; zgh, ⴼⵉⵣⴰⵣ, fizaz; french: Fès) is a city in northern inland Morocco and the capital of the Fès-Meknès administrative region. It is the second largest city in Morocco, with a population of 1.11 mi ...

, and Asfi. Part of its program was social, in the service of Jewish-Muslim coexistence and familiarizing Muslims with Jewish culture: galas attended by Jews and Muslims, broadcasting Jewish songs nationally on Moroccan Radio and Television, adding

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

to the language offerings at the Arabic Department of the university in Rabat, and hosting public lectures about Jewish history and culture throughout Morocco. Part of its program was also working to prepare the country's Jewish population for "the responsibilities of citizenship in independent Morocco," especially promoting literacy in

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

among Jews. These efforts had only limited success. For example, '' La Voix des communautés'' (“the Voice of the Communities”), a monthly Jewish periodical, was published with an Arabic supplement, but just once. Jews wrote for some Moroccan nationalist publications in Arabic, but no Muslims were published in any Jewish publications. Marc Sabbah, close to the Istiqlal leader

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, was among the Jewish leaders of ''al-Wifāq''. Others included Joe Ohana and Albert Aflalo.

References and notes

Islamic and Jewish interfaith dialogue Jewish Moroccan history Moroccan nationalism Organizations established in 1956 Political organizations based in Morocco 1956 establishments in Morocco 1956 disestablishments in Morocco Organizations disestablished in 1956 {{poli-org-stub

See also

References and notes