Jewish Moroccan Official Expresses Solidarity With Palestinians
“It is this Judaism I’ve learned in Morocco that I identify with, and today my neighbor is, before all Palestinian, and as long as this Palestinian is denied his most basic rights, an essential part of my Judaism is questioned.”
—Andre Azoulay, advisor to King Mohammed VI of Morocco
What the hell is he on about? That sentence makes no sense at all.
I can’t speak to Azoulay’s notion of Judaism, but as a Jew it should be relatively easy to understand that if we wish our national rights to be universally respected as legitimate, it is only reasonable that we respect those of the Arabs of former British Mandatory Palestine as well. Or, as the soud bites: two peoples, two states.
Additionally, we should understand that Azoulay is speaking as a Sephardi. Going back to Saadia Gaon and his opposition to the Karaites, Sephardic tradition has historically acknowledged and emphasised the national component to Jewish identity moreso, generally speaking, than Ashkenzim.