Nationalism and Jewish Identity in Morocco: A History of a Minority Community

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Moroccan Jews can trace their heritage in Morocco back 2000 years. In French Protectorate Morocco (1912-56) there was a community of over 200,000 Jews, but today only a small minority remains. This book writes Moroccos rich Jewish heritage back into the protectorate period. The book explains why, in the years leading to independence, the country came to construct a national identity that centered on the Arab-Islamic notions of its past and present at the expense of its Jewish history and community. The book provides analysis of the competing nationalist narratives that played such a large part in the making of Moroccos identity at this time: French cultural-linguistic assimilation, Political Zionism, and Moroccan nationalism. It then explains why the small Jewish community now living in Morocco has become a source of national pride. At the heart of the book are the interviews with Moroccan Jews who lived during the French Protectorate, remain in Morocco, and who can reflect personally on everyday Jewish life during this era. Combing the analysis of the interviews, archived periodicals, colonial documents and the existing literature on Jews in Morocco, Kristin Hissongs book illuminates the reality of this multi-ethnic nation-state and the vital role memory plays in its identity.

Author Bio

Kristin Hissong is Assistant Professor of Middle East North Africa at the Air War College's Culture and Language Center in the U.S. She was previously an instructor at Teachers as Scholars in Cambridge Massachusetts and Associate Lecturer at the Department of Politics, Birkbeck, University of London. She received her PhD in Middle Eastern Studies from King's College London, U.K.