A political party in Morocco is proposing to remove citizenship from any Jews who live in “Israeli settlements.”
The proposal was created by Elias Ammari, secretary-general of the PAM party, after meeting with former Hamas head Khaled Meshal.
The PAM party (Parti de l’Authenticité et de la Modernité) is considered to be close to the monarchy, so this may be more troubling than if it was just some Islamist party – it looks like just another excuse to bash Israel.
No one seems to know how many Israelis still have Moroccan citizenship, and certainly no one knows how many live beyond the Green Line. About 250,000 Moroccan Jews have emigrated to Israel since 1948.
Simon Sacra, Secretary General of the Federation of Moroccan Jews in France, defended the right of Moroccan Jews to preserve their Moroccan nationality wherever they may be, whether inside Israeli settlements or in other areas.
“Despite the passage of about 70 years, Moroccans in Israel still love Morocco and the King, defend his interests and visit him annually to celebrate their holidays and theit common historical coexistence.”
As for the Moroccans living in the settlements, Sacra explained that these Jews did not go there for political reasons, but purely economic. “To buy a house in Tel Aviv, you must be a millionaire,” he said.
He also said that Moroccan Jews in the settlements have good relations with the Palestinians, although I’m not sure what evidence he has for that. Sacra is obviously concerned about a slippery slope of disenfranchising some Moroccan Jews now and opening up the rest for possible loss of citizenship later.
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