A petition has been launched calling for Moroccan nationality to be granted to all children and grandchildren of Moroccan Jews living in Israel. The Ministry of Relations with Parliament has confirmed the receipt of a legislative petition asking for Moroccan citizenship to be extended to “all the descendants of Moroccan Jews.” The petition is currently collecting signatures on the “National Citizen Participation Portal.”
Addressed to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rachid Talbi Alami, and Nadia Bouaida, Chair of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, National Defense, Islamic Affairs, and Moroccans Living Abroad, the petition seeks to grant “constitutional, political, religious, cultural, economic, and social rights” to these individuals, while promoting their integration into Moroccan society.
Initiated by El Houssain Ben Messaoud, the petition, a copy of which was obtained by H24Info, argues that these “subjects of the Commander of the Faithful” should be granted nationality. Ben Messaoud points out that “Moroccan Jews living abroad have lost their right to Moroccan citizenship by descent, unlike those still residing in the kingdom.” He attributes this loss to factors beyond their control, such as distance from Morocco and challenges related to travel, as well as political, security, economic, and social circumstances in their host countries.
In this context, the petition calls for the restoration of Moroccan nationality (Article 2) under constitutional articles 14, 70, and 71, as well as the provisions of the Dahir (Royal Decree) No. 1.58.250 governing Moroccan nationality. The initiative challenges the current efforts by the Moroccan state for its Jewish community and adds a clause (Article 13) proposing that “the state must work to protect the Moroccan Jewish community and its interests against any form of discrimination or aggression, particularly abroad.”
It goes further in Article 14 by suggesting that Morocco should collaborate with international actors to recover the economic, political, and cultural rights of the Jewish community that were lost when they collectively left the country.
This petition arrives amid strong opposition from the Moroccan Observatory against Normalization, an NGO opposing diplomatic normalization with Israel.
