Palestine is in the heart of Tetouan, and Tetouan is in the heart of Palestine. This is the conclusion that I arrived at after I examined dozens of documents and memoranda, letters and statements, petitions and communiqués, newspapers and photographs preserved by the city of Tetouan that document events relating to the issue of Palestine and its just cause, affirming this city’s unflinching and constant attachment to the Palestinian issue.
Despite Morocco’s current positions which testify to its support of this important Arab cause, I preferred to revisit what has been silenced in history, things that took place decades ago and things that are chronicled in those documents and proofs as well as letters and memoranda that I mentioned and which we still preserve in Tetouan from the period when this city was the capital of the Khalifian region in Northern Morocco. These documents are, of course, numerous, but I would like to brief the audience on the measures that bear witness to fusion and interconnectedness that can be evidenced in eight sections:
1) The first encounter between Tetouan and Palestine - Tetouani Students’ Missions to the al-Najah National School beginning in 1928:
Perhaps the first initiative that reflects Tetouan’s inhabitants’ interest, or rather the interest of its intellectuals and scholars in Palestine and its people’s significance, its men’s diligence and importance of its educational institutions, was the initiative of the pioneer of Tetouan’s nationalism, the late Ḥāj Abdessalam Bennouna, who sent the first student mission from Tetouan to Nablus to continue their studies in the well-known al-Najah School, in 1928.
Al-Ḥāj Abdessalam Bennouna was aware of the intellectual renaissance that characterized studies in the Palestinian schools and he had a real desire for his children and their companions to receive a solid education that would turn them into men who master their language, cherish their religion, nation, history, and civilization. Thus, the idea of sending his young son Tayeb to Nablus was born so that Tayeb could continue his studies there. Indeed, Tayeb traveled as part of the first mission of students from the local school of Tetouan to the al-Najah school in Nablus in 1928. The mission included Mohamed Ben Mustapha Afilal alongside Tayeb bin al-Ḥāj Abdeslam Bennouna.
Perhaps what indicates the success of this initiative is the fact that the results achieved by the aforementioned mission encouraged Tetouan’s inhabitants to strengthen it with other members, such as Abdessalam Benjelloun, Mohamed Ben Abdessalam El Fassi Al Haflaoui, Mohamed Ben Mohamed El Khatib, Mohamed Ben Abdessalam El Khatib, and El Mahdi Bennouna. In 1931, the mission included all those students in addition to Mohamed Benjelloun, Abdallah El Khatib, and Ahmed Ben Abdelouahab and later al-Ḥāj Abdessalam Bennouna sent his two remaining sons Abdelkarim and Idriss. In 1933, the mission included more students, such as Mohamed El Hssissn, Mohamed Ben Hssayn, Ahmed Madina, and Ahmed Ben Aboud.
In fact, this mission was the first link between Tetouan and Nablus, even between Morocco and Palestine, that demonstrated the genuineness of the bonds between different parts of the Arab world, between its east and its west through the relationship between its diligent members and the children of Palestine; the collaboration and cooperation around publicizing the Moroccan cause, shedding light on the persecution to which the Moroccans were subjected at the hands of French authorities in Morocco; and also, through the contact and mutual support between Moroccans and Palestinians in solidarity with the Palestinian cause as the situation deteriorated in their beleaguered homeland.
In this regard, it is necessary to point out that the correspondence between Tayeb Bennouna, his father al-Ḥāj Abdessalam Bennouna, and also, his uncle Amhamed reveal a great deal of Palestine’s news from 1929. They also inform us about the position Moroccans took vis-à-vis the ordeal of Palestine then not only in Tetouan but also in other Moroccan cities. The details of this stance are drawn, for instance, from al-Ḥāj Abdessalam Bennouna’s letter to his son Tayeb on September 17, 1929, in which he explains that Moroccan Jews have already sent assistance and subsidies to the afflicted Moroccan Jews in Palestine. He continues,
Muslims in Fes, Rabat, Sala, and Tetouan collected subsidiaries for the Muslim victims, but the French government has adamantly and brutally opposed these efforts, banned meetings and threatened the masses, and brought several young men for interrogation at the Intelligence Bureau many times. Among the youth interrogated, were our friends Hassan Benjelloun and Allal El Fassi who held their honorable stance in front of the General governing the region. The stances of Mohamed El Yazidi in Rabat, Abderrahman Hijji’s in Sala and your uncle Amhamed’s in Tetouan were also honorable… (Bennouna, 2010, 7).
Through this letter we learn about the first initiative launched by the Moroccans to support and assist the victims of Palestine.
Perhaps the most striking manifestations of coalescence and solidarity between Palestine and Morocco during this period, and thanks to the aforementioned mission, is the pain the Palestinians felt for Moroccans as a result of the publication of the Berber Decree on May 16, 1930. In this respect, the Association of Muslim Youth in Nablus issued a statement on September 11, 1930, denouncing the issuing of such an inauspicious decree that seeks to discriminate between different components of the Moroccan people united under the banner of Islam. This is affirmed in the end of the statement:
In conclusion, the Association of Muslim Youth in Nablus contests the French government’s actions strongly and condemns the series of crusading campaigns, which Islam has repelled and will always stand firmly against them. Peace ز hear and understand and those who are instructed and takes lessons from their learning. 17 Rabia Tani 1349. (Bennouna, 2010, 6).
2) The Establishment of the Syro-Palestinian-Moroccan Bureau in Tangier in 1930[1] as a result of Emir Chakib Arsalan’s visit to Tetouan
Because of the great Arab leader Emir Chakib Arsalan’s visit to Tetouan in mid-August 1930, and given what the aforementioned Emir represented as a pioneer of the Arab and Islamic renaissance in the East and the West, and given the importance of this visit in presenting issues that concern the Arab world and its political problems, one of the outcomes was the establishment of a bureau that advocated for the rights of the Moroccan people alongside the defense of Syrian and Palestinian rights. Thus, the Syro-Palestinian-Moroccan Bureau was established late in August. A note from the French Intelligence Bureau was issued in Tangier on August 31, 1930, stating that,
Emir Chakib Arsalan, the director of the Syro-Palestinian Bureau in Geneva, has announced the establishment of the Bureau’s branch in Tangier, which bears the name of The Syrian, Palestinian and Moroccan Bureau, and the director of this bureau is al-Ḥāj Abdessalam Bennouna, his secretary is al-Ḥāj Abdessalam El Masmoudi, the treasurer is Mohamed Daoud and may also include as members Abdellah Genoune and Idriss El Hrichi. Mohamed El Hadad, El Aarfaoui, and El Moukhtar Ahirdan were in charge of publicity and subscriptions.
It is not a secret that the aforementioned bureau had to nurture all the means to make the voice of the Moroccan people heard in order to defend the Arab ummah in these nations and to express positions that opposed anyone who aggresses the dignity of these people and humiliates their honor, sanctity, and pride.
3) The Collection of Subsidies in Tetouan for the Palestinian Cause in 1933, 1937, 1938, and 1939:
Tetouan was one of the first Moroccan cities that launched collecting subsidies for the Palestinians before great catastrophes befell them. The clearest evidence of this is the content of al-Ḥāj Bennouna’s aforementioned letter on the matter in 1929. We also find in Mohamed Daoud’s personal memoirs that on October 25, 1933, “the first committee that was assigned the collection of subsidies through subscriptions was established in Tetouan by the National Commission for the Palestinian Cause, which included the gentlemen Mohamed Essafar, Tahmi El Ouazzani, Ahmed Ghilan, Mohamed Daoud, Mohamed Tanana, al-Ḥāj Abdessalam Bannouna, and Abdelkhalq Torres.”[2]
Also, on October 4, 1937, the National Reformation Party devoted the proceedings of the annex of the 27th issue of Al-Hurriya, their media platform based in Tetouan, to support those martyred in Palestine. Many copies of the issue were printed in order to sell it without a fixed price to leave the amount of contributions open so that its revenues would be allocated for this noble purpose (Al-Hurriya, 1937).
Other donations were collected for Palestine in 1938. The Al-Hurriya newspaper published an article entitled “Palestine Relief Reached its Recipients through Mr. Daoud” detailing that,
the executive committee seized the opportunity of the great nationalist Mr. Mohamed Daoud’s journey to Cairo to hand him donations that it collected to support our Palestinian brothers so that he could discuss the safest ways of handing over the subsidies while in Egypt. Mr. Daoud is the best nationalist that can be commissioned by the nation for such services. When he reached Egypt, he informed us that he sent the relief funds to our victimized brothers. During this week, the party’s president received the letter of the Central Committee for the Relief of the Palestinians Victims from Damascus. The party’s secretary has also received a similar letter. Here is the content of the first letter:
‘In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate
Your honor Mr. Abdekhaleq Torres, the chairman of the National Reform Party
Peace be Upon you,
The esteemed brother Mr. Mohamed Daoud has sent us from Cairo a check worth of 100 British pounds to assist the afflicted Palestinians and required us to inform you. On this occasion, we send our great thanks and greetings to our fervent brothers who contributed compassionately in support of their victimized brothers of Palestine.
Undoubtedly, such brotherly emotions are among the factors that help alleviate the pains and suffering of the Mujahedeen and affected Palestinians. May Allah reward you for your noble deeds and accept my sincerest respect on their behalf. Muharram 1, 1357, signed by the secretary of the Central Committee, Mr. Mohamed Aizza Drouza.’ (Al-Hurriyya, 1938).
Thus, subsidies poured in to the extent that a new call for contributions to support the Palestinian cause was launched in 1939. A reference to this call for contributions was made in Mr. Mohamed Daoud’s personal agenda of July 16, 1939, saying that, “A call for contributions for Palestine: the preliminary list of the general contributions in support of Palestine was published and it contains more than ten thousand pesetas in addition to Al Khalifa’s donations of 400 liras and the Resident-General [Juan Luis] Beigbeder contributed 15.000 pesetas. The committee is non-partisan.”[3]
One of National Reform Party’s documents[4] mentions that the party itself launched a call for subsidies for the Palestinian cause:
Thousands of Moroccan scholars, dignitaries and youth, who met today upon a call from the National Reform Party to support the Palestinian cause and collect donations for its affected citizens, decided after having listened to the speeches of the Party’s chairman, his deputy and Palestine’s deputy to protest against the unjust policies towards Palestine and to hold Britain responsible for its outcomes. They also pay tribute to Palestinian martyrs and express their support for the Arab Higher Committee in its legitimate claims and send their greetings to his Honor the great leader Mr. Mohammed Amin al Husseini. They urge the generous Moroccan people to financially relieve the afflicted Palestinians. All glory and eminence to Morocco. This decision has been endorsed by the party’s committees in Ksar el-Kebir, Larache, Asilah, and Chefchaoun during its meetings held to support the Palestinian cause, and this decision was communicated to Britain’s Consul in Tetouan.
New donations were collected for the Palestinian cause in 1941. Mr. Abdelkhalek Torres received a letter on 14 Di al-Hijja from Mr. Mohammed Amin al-Husseini on behalf of the Arab Higher Committee in which he thanked him as well as the Sultan’s deputy for the considerable support they provided for Palestine and urged him to deliver the collected funds in the Spanish currency to the German consulate in Tetouan which would transfer them to the Arab Higher Committee in the desired currency.[5]
4) Tetouan’s Contribution to the Arab Parliamentary Congress for Palestine in Cairo in 1938:
In July 1938, the Egyptian parliament and senate members intended to hold a parliamentary conference to debate the Palestinian cause. Thus, the chairman of the National Reform Party in Tetouan, Mr. Abdelkhalek Torres, received a letter from the Egyptian Parliamentary Committee requesting his presence together with those who were meant to be at the conference intended to take place on October 7, 1938. Effectively, Mr. Torres traveled to Cairo in early October 1938, preceded by Mr. Tayeb Bennouna (the general secretary of the party). The party’s chairman made a statement in which he affirmed that the purpose of his presence in the conference consists in seeking the effective ways that may lead to the rescue of Palestine from the threat of Zionist occupation.[6]
In this conference, Mr. Torres spoke in the name of the three components of the Arab Maghreb (Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia), and he gave a seminal speech on October 7, 1938 in which he explained that the collaborative action on the behalf of Palestine is considered one of the highest religious and earthly duties and that the solidarity of all Muslims in support of Palestine is the only means that may save the situation and spare the guardians of the Jerusalem and God’s shrine the nightmare of distress and pain.
It suffices to cite only some paragraphs from the letter sent by Mr. Torres on this occasion to Lord Halifax, Britain’s Minister of Foreign Affairs[7] to grasp the noble purpose sought by the National Reform Party through its contribution to this important conference. One of the paragraphs states,
All the Moroccan people celebrated the 27th of Rajab, which is designated as the international day of Palestine throughout the world, and held large meetings in all the cities. During these meetings, they agreed to bring before your Excellency their protests against the establishment of a Jewish homeland in Palestine or its division for Zionist interests or allowing the immigration of strangers to it. Their wishes are:
Firstly, the preservation of England’s legacy friendship with the Muslim nations;
Secondly, the final eradication of the idea of a national homeland for the Jews in Palestine;
Thirdly, the restoration of security and peace to the Palestinian territories by liberating the imprisoned leaders and relaunching negotiations with them;
Fourthly, granting Palestine its complete independence based on a treaty similar treaty to the British-Iraqi agreement;[8]
When one reviews the National Reform Party’s files preserved in Tetouan, one finds numerous photographs, newspapers, and decisions relating to this conference that was a serious attempt to state the Arab countries’ positions vis-à-vis the deplorable conditions of the sister nation of Palestine.
5) The Visit of the Palestinian Deputy Taher al-Fitiani to Tetouan in 1939:
As part of cooperation to endorse bereft Palestinian people due to colonial intentions aiming at tearing apart its nation and slicing off chunks of it for uprooted Zionists across the world, the Arab Committee decided to collect relief assistance for the afflicted Palestinians in 1939 and to send a deputy to this distant part of the Arab World so as to brief its peoples on the suffering of the Palestinian people and to inform them about colonial humiliation and Zionist greed that befell the holy lands.
The deputy was a man of letters and esteemed journalist Mr. Mohamed Taher al-Fitiani who worked as an editor for The Arab League newspaper in Jerusalem. He arrived in Morocco in the beginning of July 1939 and was generously received by Mr. Abdelkhalek Torres and Mr. Mohamed Daoud. The National Reform Party organized a rally on his behalf at the national theater (Teatro Nacional) in Tetouan on July 14, 1939, to support the Palestinian cause. Abdelkhalek Torres, the great nationalist Tehami al-Ouazzani, the loyal young man El Mahdi Bennouna and, of course, the Palestinian deputy Mr. Taher al-Fitiani delivered resounding speeches, and al-Fitiani excelled in depicting the conditions of his people who strove to defend their holy places and exalted national values.
Perhaps even more noteworthy is that Mr. al-Fitiani’s visit was not exclusively limited to Tetouan as it was extended to other cities in the region. Specifically, he visited al-Ksar El Kebir, Larache, and Asilah. He was also honored twice by the reception of the Sultan’s deputy in the region, Moulah Hassan Ben El Mahdi, whose compassion and affection he earned. His Highness also offered the means to facilitate Mr. Al-Fitiani’s journey in the Rif and the eastern part of the region to accomplish his mission. He put a car and escorts (Mr. Mohamed Nadouri, Amhmad Aaziman and Tayeb Bennouna) at his disposal. Al-Fitiani visited Ketama, Targuist, the Beni Ouriaghel tribe, Villa Sanjurjo (Al Hoceima), Nador, Farkhana, Zeghanghane, Dar El Kebdani, and Melilla. Reception ceremonies, speech festivals, and homages were held for him and people generously donated their money to assist affected Palestinians during these visits.
6) An Overview of the National Reform Party’s Stances towards the Palestinian Cause
It is widely known that the majority of the leaders and presidents of the National Reform Party in Tetouan graduated from the first free national school in Tetouan, al-Madrassa al-‘Aliya school. The school’s first generation of graduates went to study in Nablus where they acquired exalted values of nationalism and patriotism which urged them, since the establishment of the mentioned party, to take necessary measures to publicize the Moroccan position toward national causes, foremost, the Palestinian cause.
Thus, following the announcement of the outcome of the British Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Palestinian issue, which decided to partition Palestine and submitted the idea of partition to the British Parliament, the president of the aforementioned party articulated concrete proposals to abort that infernal plan. Part of the proposal recommended boycotting British trade in all Muslim countries as well as raising awareness among Jews in the region about the negative effects that would arise from implementation of such a plan in the holy land regarding harassment and destruction of their interests within the Muslim countries where they lived so that they would, in turn, pressure Zionist agencies, which were most interested in partition.[9]
The president of the said party issued continuous position statements, correspondence, and protests exclaiming support for the Palestinian cause as the following documents of the General Secretariat of the National Reform Party archived in al-Ḥāj Tayeb Bennouna’s library testify:[10]
A. A letter from the party to al-Ḥāj Amin al-Husseini, the president of the Arab Higher Committee in Palestine on August 9, 1937, which announced the participation of the Moroccan nation in the protests and denunciations of the British Royal Commission’s decision on the portioning of the Holy Land and the willingness of the Moroccans to make sacrifices for Arab causes and the sacred lands of the Muslims;
B. A letter to the British Minister of Foreign Affairs on October 14, 1937, in which the party articulates its indignation and protest as well as that of the Moroccan people as a whole against the royal commission’s decision on partitioning Palestine. It also affirms that Britain’s insistence will drive the Arabs and Muslims to understand that it has waged another crusade on them;[11]
C. A letter of protest from the party to the British State via its consul in Tetouan, expressing the Moroccan people’s dissatisfaction with the British colonial aggression on Palestine and its deportation of its leaders; it also reiterated the unconditional solidarity with the Palestinian people and its willingness to make all sacrifices in defense of the Holy Land;[12]
D. The party’s decision to turn the commemoration of Al Mi’raj (ascension to the seven heavens)— every year on the 27th of Rajab— into Palestine Day in response to decisions made by the Arab Bloudan Conference[13] (it had been a tradition for the National Reform Party to celebrate Palestine Day since 1937);[14]
E. A letter from the party to Lord Halifax, the minister of British Foreign Affairs, on September 22, 1938;[15]
F. A letter from the party to the British minister of Foreign Affairs on Palestine’s Day dated September 12, 1939 to protest against the Zionist colonial politics pursued by Britain in the holy lands with the advice to England in the name of human justice to respect Islamic holy sites and grant Arabs their full rights so that peace may be restored in those territories;[16]
G. A letter of endorsement from the party on the same date and about the same issue to the president of the Arab Higher Committee for the protection of Palestine for Palestine Day on September 12, 1939;[17]
H. A letter from Mohammed Amin al-Husseini on the behalf of the Arab Higher Committee of Palestine to Mr. Torres, the chairman of the National Reform Party on December 4, 1948, in which he informs him about the decision of the United Nations to partition Palestine and it was decided that Mr. Abderrahman Mourad and Musa Hassan Abu Saud, in their capacity as the delegates of said committee to Morocco, to explain the reality of the Palestinian cause to the Moroccans with the help of Mr. Torres.[18] Effectively, the delegation visited the caliphal part of Morocco under the Spanish occupation, and it received important assistance and support from the National Reform Party, which made the Grand Mufti of Palestine and the chairman of the mentioned committee send a letter of appreciation to the president of the party, thanking him for his services to the Palestinian cause on November 7, 1949. [19]
Any researcher who goes back to the archives of the National Reform Party and also to Tetouan’s inhabitants’ positions, and even throughout Morocco regarding the Palestinian cause, will undoubtedly find a number of testimonies and other evidence that prove the feelings of brotherhood and solidarity shown by people in these regions towards their Palestinian brothers. The Palestinian cause was and will remain the cause for which the hearts of Arabs and Muslims will not be rest until Palestine’s nightmare ends through achievement of its independence and release from the yoke of Zionist usurpers.
Bibliography:
Abibaker Bennouna. The Interest of the National Movement in Northern Morocco in the Palestinian Cause since 1929. Tetouan 2010.
Al-Hurriya, Issue 27, October 4, 1937.
Al-Hurriya, Issue 2, March 24, 1938.
The citation for the original version of this piece is as follows:
Daoud, Hasnaa Mohammed. “al-qadiya al-falasṭīniya min khilāl al-dhākira al-tiṭwānīya.” In al-nadwa al-fikriya al-maghāribiya al-filasṭīnīyah: dawr al-maghāribīyin fī da‘m nidhīlīt
filisṭīn, al-mandūbiya al-sāmiya li-kudama’ al-muqāwimīn wa a‘dā’ jaysh al-tahrīr, ed. 199-
217. Al-rabāṭ: manshūrāt al-mandūbiya al-sāmiya li-kudama’ al-muqāwimīn wa a‘dā’ jaysh
al-tahrīr, 2019.