| Event Model #1: “Maghribna - Our Morocco: Dialogue on Minorities” |
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 Summary: Lamiae, a Moroccan university student, organized a group of fellow students as well as a few Moroccans of the older generation, to discuss the country’s Jewish minority. Initially the event was designed to be an interfaith discussion. But when it became logistically complicated to include local Jewish high school students, she switched to Plan B and held an intra-Muslim dialogue about religious freedom over lunch and an outing to the park. Below are excerpts from Lamiae’s report:
Challenge Addressed: By the standards of most Middle Eastern countries, Morocco has a large Jewish minority: about 4,000 people. But 50 years ago, over 250,000 Jews lived in Morocco. While the older generation of Moroccan Muslims grew up with Jewish classmates, neighbors, and friends, most of the new generation has little if any direct contact with Jews. This event had an open discussion about how Moroccan Muslims can relate to Jewish neighbors in the 21st Century.
Participants: 12 Muslims attended the event. The group was made up of students, professionals, and four members of the Amnesty International chapter in Rabat.
Benchmarks: (1) To get 10 people to attend the event; (2) Have one person be inspired to hold a similar event in the future. I met my numerical benchmarks with a dozen participants. Also after the event, I was pleased to see that each person found the idea exciting and was willing to plan a similar event with their friends.
Event Description: I had first planned to do a tour through the Jewish Museum in Casablanca (the only such Museum in the Arab world) for Jewish and Muslim students. Unfortunately, the Jewish students were unable to attend, due to exams. Instead of doing no event at all, I came up with a Plan B. My Plan B was to hold a group discussion on prejudice toward Morocco’s Jewish minority. In order to persuade people to attend the event, I personally called each person and invited them for lunch. During lunch, the participants started share books they had read and movies on the discussion topic, such as “The Diary of Anne Frank” and the movie “Adieu Mères,” which shows the life of Jews in Morocco in the 1950s. Upon returning to Rabat, we decided to continue the conversation in Loudaya, an old fortress park. While walking near this monument, we talked a lot about Jewish people living in Rabat and Casablanca. At the end of the event each of the participants told me that they wished to hold a similar discussion with their friends. I think that the topic of discussion made the event a great success.
Lessons Learned: I learned that you should always have a Plan B and that providing refreshments is a great way to get participants to agree to attend. I do hope hold the first event that I planned in Casablanca next year before the exam time of the Jewish students.
Budget Report:
$44 - Transportation
$150 - Food and beverage:
$31 - Phone card
Is This a Model Event?
Though the event was simple, I was able to have a lasting impact on those that attended. I would say that this is definitely a model event, although many countries in the region only have a few Jews (if any) living there today. But there are some kinds of religious minorities in almost every country. The important thing is for people from the majority group to interact with or at least talk openly about their relationship to this minority. Here are the basic steps:
- Find an interesting religious minority group or religious freedom topic to discuss.
- Invite a diverse group of your friends and family members to lunch at a local cafe to discuss your topic. Ask your contacts for suggestions of other people to engage, in order to expand your network.
- Set realistic benchmarks on how many people will attend.
- Ask questions so that people tell personal stories.
- Keep the discussion focused and respectful. Not everyone has to agree, but the goal of the event should not be to increase divisions, but instead to build understanding.
- Ask participants to bring personal examples of how they relate to the topic. It was very helpful when people discussed books and movies that had influenced them.
Reviewers' Comments:
It is encouraging to find young Muslims who are looking for ways to create a place for Jews in their historical memory and in their self-understanding. Today’s Muslim community needs to better understand interfaith relations, and the initiative of such dialogue by Moroccans for Moroccans is valuable. While the student adapted well to challenges in scheduling, perhaps the original dialogue would have been carried with if there were better planning in advance.
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