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CHAPTER II The Political Activities of the Alliance in Morocco Before the Protectorate Era 1. Political Emancipation and the Emergence of the AIU in Morocco: Some Background on the Nature of its Activities "L'AlIiance n'est pas seulement Ie plus beau fleuron de gloire du judrusme contemporain , elle est toujours pour les juifs opprimes du monde entier une mere vigilante et devouee" Abraham Ribbi, on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the AIU During the first half of the nineteenth century Western European Jewry were determined to aid their less fortunate coreligionists. Although they were themselves in an inferior status for centuries following the dispersion, the age of the Enlightenment and a series of European revolutions elevated their position among Christians. Most of them began taking their place besides their fellow countrymen. It appeared that the Jews and Christians were leaving their conflicts behind once and for all. The French Revolution and its aftermath generated a new spirit of selfconfidence among liberated Jews which served as a guide for Jewish actions not only in Europe, but in dealing with the problems of their brethren elsewhere. In the postrevolutionary era, on an equal footing with their Christian compatriots, the Jews assimilated European culture and ethics. It was in this assimilated atmosphere that the Jews could present grievances to their newly elected organizations. Initial political and institutional strength in France was inspired by the Consistoire Central des Israelites de France headquartered in Paris which had branches throughout the country. As the supreme Jewish representative body, the Consistoire was originally organized by Napoleon in 1808 and consisted of several rabbis and lay members who governed the Jewish congregations , and who served as intermediaries between the French government and the Jewish communities. Similarly in England, the Jews were represented by the Board of Deputies of British Jews, founded in 1859 and 31 32 The Jewish Communities and the Alliance between 1862 and 1912 whose most influential member, Sir Moses Montefiore, was the renowned fighter for Jewish rights. The earliest action launched by European Jews on behalf of their brethren occurred in 1840 when a Capuchin friar in Damascus, Father Tomas, disappeared, and, at the instigation of Ratti Menton, an Italian serving as French consul, the blame for his disappearance was laid upon the Jews. A case of ritual murder was made out and subsequently, in conjunction with the Catholic clergy, the instigators were successful in organizing activities which led to the torture and imprisonment of many Jews. The tale of the event reached Europe and led to meetings of protest, inducing Montefiore, Adolphe Cn!mieux, and Salomon Munk (both of the Consistoire ) to travel to see Mul?ammad 'Ali of Egypt, who governed Syria at the time, to obtain redress from him. Their efforts succeeded in halting the antiJewish activities. This intervention had two implications: it revealed the lobbying strength of these Jewish leaders, and it set the pattern for future intervention of European Jewry on behalf of their counterpart in the Muslim world. Until 1860, the Jews of England and France had been represented by the Board of Deputies and the Consistoire, respectively. However, there was room for the diversification of political activities, and a multiplicity of organizations began to flourish, notably the Alliance Israelite Universelle in Paris (1860), the Anglo-Jewish Association in London (1870), the Wien Allianz (1873), and the Hilfsverein der deutschen Juden in Berlin (1901). On May 17, 1860" several idealistic French Jews- businessmen, political activists, and members of the free professions - founded the AIU in Paris. They included the illustrious Narcisse Leven, a lawyer who was actively involved in French municipal politics, Eugene Manuel, a celebrated poet, and a dozen other young distinguished or rising professionals of mid-nineteenth century France. Certainly the most important member of the newly created organization was Adolphe Cremieux, an antimonarchist lawyer who from 1848 onward advol~ated a Republican government. In 1870 Cremieux became Minister of Justice while serving as AIU president at the same time. He is widely known for his lobbying efforts to obtain French citizenship for Algerian Jewry, a p:rocess which resulted in the collective naturalization of Algerian Jews as French citizens in 1870. The naturalization decree was named after him. The decision to create the AIU, though certainly a move to diversify Jewish political activities outside France, was partly hastened by the controversy of the Mortara Case, a case of the abduction of a Jewish child by Catholic conversionists. On the night of June 23...

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