Moroccan King Who Protected Jews from Nazis Recognized by Museum of Tolerance Jerusalem

No one had any idea that an earthquake would hit Morocco shortly after a memorable ceremony to honor the monarchy of Morocco on September 7th at the Museum of Tolerance Jerusalem (MOTJ). So the ceremony only featured solidarity and dignity.

André Azoulay, a Jewish advisor to King Mohammad VI of Morocco, received the The Torch of Abraham in the evening ceremony for his work in “the integration of tolerance among nations, Jerusalem to Rabat, Israel to Morocco.”

During his more than 30 years in diplomatic service in Morocco, Azoulay has been influential in creating interfaith dialogue between the country’s Jewish and Muslim communities. Azoulay oversees the preservation of Jewish heritage sites in Morocco, speaks at interfaith events such as the Muslim-Jewish Interfaith Coalition’s Conference and helped establish the historical and cultural center Bayt Dakira in 2020. Arabic for “House of Memory,” Bayt Dakira is a place to celebrate Jewish heritage in Morocco. Built around a synagogue, it’s located in Azoulay’s hometown of Essaouira, a coastal Moroccan port city which was once a thriving Jewish community until the 1950s.

“Every day, hundreds of visitors, hundreds of Moroccan children, students — Muslims, largely — they are sitting in the synagogue every weekend by the hundreds,” Azoulay said. “It’s more than emotion. It’s just a feeling that finally, it exists. And it’s easy to do so in so many places. And it’s a very, very marginal investment. But the return on this investment is so high.” 

Every fall since 2003, Azoulay also organizes the Atlantic Andalusia Festival which draws an interfaith crowd celebrating dance, music, food and arts from Jewish and Muslim communities from around the Mediterranean region. 

“You have thousands of Muslims coming from Morocco and from all over the world, thousands of Jews coming from Morocco, Israel, and from gathering to just enjoy being together,” Azoulay told the crowd at MOTJ. “Just tell me if anyone in the room could tell me if there is another country, another city, another place, whereby today you can have thousands of Jews and thousands of Muslim singing together, dancing together, I would say maybe kissing each other, but my wife don’t want me to say that. But in fact it’s a unique moment. And I invite all of you to come.”

Azoulay also spoke in his acceptance speech about the Israel-Palestinian conflict. 

“We have said very clearly that having a normal relation with the State of Israel is something which is a deep desire of Morocco to implement, to make it that as deep as possible, durable as possible. But it was also clearly said by His Majesty to pave the way for peace, Azoulay said. “Because we Moroccan Jews, we do care for the future of the children of Israel to be secure tomorrow, to be safe and to enjoy a normal life tomorrow. We do care also for the children of Palestine, for their future to enjoy safety, security, and to have a normal life. And I still consider after such a long journey for peace all along my life, challenges …that there is no plan B for the safety and the security of children of Israel tomorrow than peace with Palestinians, and there is no plan B for the Palestinians tomorrow for their children to be safe, to be secure, to have a different future than their parents, than having peace with Israel, living side by side.”

Azoulay was born to a Jewish family in Essaouira in 1941 and raised in Paris. He has been an advisor to the Monarchy since 1991, during the reign of King Hassan II, father of Mohammad VI.  On Tuesday, Azoulay received the Israeli Presidential Medal of Honor for 2023.

Rabbi Marvin Hier, who founded the Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles in 1993, spoke about what the king’s grandfather, King Mohammad V, did to protect the Jews of Morocco during World War II. 

Rabbi Marvin Hier, who founded the Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles in 1993, spoke about what the king’s grandfather, King Mohammad V, did to protect the Jews of Morocco during World War II. 

Rabbi Hier read from a letter sent by Israeli President Isaac Herzog in December 2022 to Mohammad VI, lauding his country for normalizing relations with Israel and praising the King for what his grandfather did for the Jews during his first reign over 60 years ago.  

“President Herzog wrote, “when millions of Jews faced the horrors of the Holocaust in the 20th century, King Mohammad V did everything in his power to protect them,’” Hier said to the audience. “‘Moroccan Jews recalled with pride, the affection, the memory of your grandfather, King Mohammad V, who was a brave protector and guardian of the Jews. However, it was during your rule, Your Majesty, after the Holocaust, that Jewish life in Morocco flourished when Jewish communal institutions, synagogues and cemeteries were renovated. And the Holocaust denial was absolutely denounced where you, Your Majesty played a critical role in building the foundations for peace, which our futures now depend upon.” 

Rabbi Hier read more from the letter, which highlighted that King Mohammad V insisted that Jewish property in Morocco, unlike Jewish property in neighboring Algeria, was never confiscated. The letter Hier read, also noted that even Pope Pius XI “sat on the throne of St. Peter in stony silence as trains crisscrossed Europe carrying millions of unsuspecting visitors, victims, Jews and non-Jews to the concentration camps and the gas chamber. Even though the Pope was one of the most informed leaders of what was happening in Europe, he never mustered the courage to publicly condemn Hitler like Muhammad V did in Morocco.” 

Mohammad V was born in 1909 in Fez, Morocco. His first reign was from 1927-1953, and then from 1955 until his death in 1961. His son and successor, King Hassan II, sought the consul of Azoulay beginning in 1991. When King Hassan II died in 1999, his son, King Mohammad VI took the throne.

Also speaking at the event were pairs of Jewish and Muslim officials who shared the podium together, taking turns speaking. They were Rabbi Shlomo Moshe Amar (Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem) and Imam Mohammed Amine Smaili (Professor Emeritus at Mohammed V University). Another pair that spoke was Avraham Elharar (Chairman of the Canadian Sephardi Organization) and Farid El Bacha (Acting President of Mohammed V University Rabat). There were also remarks by Jonathan Riss (Director of Operations, MOTJ) and Aaron Leibowitz (CEO, Sylvan Adams Family Foundation Israel), and a musical performance by Israeli musician Lior Elmaliach. The event was also attended by Australian philanthropist, business leader and Zionist activist Albert Dadon, who was born in Morocco and helped conceive the event.  

Morocco signed on to the Abraham Accords in 2020, which has led to a major increase in tourists from Israel as well as cooperation on many levels between the two countries.