US, Moroccan NGO sign deal to fight all forms of antisemitism

The US State Department’s Office to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism on Friday signed a groundbreaking agreement with the NGO Association Mimouna of Morocco to combat antisemitism and efforts to strip Israel of its legitimacy together.Ellie Cohanim, the Deputy Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism for the State Department, told The Jerusalem Post that  “Morocco’s Jewish community dates back to antiquity. With thanks to the leadership of King Mohammed VI we are seeing Judeo-Moroccan heritage being taught in schools, we have witnessed a $1.5M center dedicated to Jewish culture built in Essaouira, and now with the signing of our memorandum of understanding (MOU) agreement comes a dedication not only to honor the Jewish past in Morocco but to create a future of harmony and tolerance for all generations to come.”The high-energy diplomat Cohanim, who was born in Tehran, Iran and was forced to flee the repression of the 1979 Islamic revolution, has played a role in a string of agreements with Arab countries in fighting contemporary antisemitism and advancing Jewish-Muslim relations. In October, after Bahrain agreed to diplomatic ties with Israel, a Bahraini institute signed an agreement with the US State Department to fight antisemitism, anti-Zionism and  the delegitimization of the Jewish State.Ambassador of the Kingdom of Morocco to the US Princess Lalla Joumala, said  “This new partnership is both timely and welcome as it extends the Government of Morocco’s firm commitment to combating antisemitism, Islamophobia and all forms of hatred, to the civil society sector, aptly represented here by Association Mimouna of Morocco.She added that “The MOU also reinforces the deep and longstanding partnership between our two countries in the fight against all forms of intolerance and the promotion of peace and mutual coexistence. It is an unwavering engagement spearheaded by His Majesty King Mohammed VI who leads by example and upholds the proud heritage of tolerance perpetuated by His Forefathers.”The MOU, which was reviewed by the Post, states that Mimouna and the State Department agree to combat  “all forms of antisemitism, including ant-Zionism and the delegitimization of the state of Israel.”In December, the state of Israel and Morocco reached a deal to normalize diplomatic relations. Mimouna Association is an organization of young Moroccan Muslim leaders that seeks to strengthen ties between Jews and Muslims. Mimouna also works to preserves Jewish heritage in the Muslim-majority North African country.

Jason Guberman, the executive director of the American Sephardi Federation, said that the “Association Mimouna’s extraordinary journey from a campus club to today’s MOU signing ceremony with the US Department of State is a testament to the ingenious Moroccanity of its founders and our friends, Elmehdi Boudra, Laziza Dalil, and their compatriots.”He continued that “As Moroccan Muslims committed to ‘resisting amnesia’ about Judeo-Moroccan heritage, Association Mimouna has faced antisemitism firsthand and overcome attacks to achieve a trio of firsts: organizing, with Kivvunim, the Arab world’s 1st Holocaust conference in 2011, leading the 1st delegation of young Arab Muslims to Israel in 2012, & more recently creating the 1st Holocaust curriculum ‘by and for’ Muslims. This MOU is another milestone and, moreover, an affirmation of Association Mimouna’s vital work helping keep Morocco an exception to the global trend of increasingly intolerance.”

Elmehdi Boudra, the president of the Association Mimouna who organized the first Holocaust conference in the Arab world in 2011, said he looks “forward to implementing the agreement to combat antisemitism and Islamophobia.” The Association Mimouna was founded in  2007.
Boudra and the association “created the first Holocaust curriculum by and for Muslims,” he said, adding that the MOU is an ”opportunity to formalize our relationship with Department of State.”
Elan S. Carr, who serves as the US State Department’s Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism,  said he started his role with a focus on combating antisemitism in the Arab world along with fighting philo-semitism in the Arab world. Carr’s has an Iraqi Jewish background. He noted the MOU is “very likely my last act” as Special Envoy. He praised Association Mimouna for “combating against antisemitism and its embrace of Jewish heritage. Mimouna has been transformative in its work.”
He termed the MOU a “historic agreement” because it is also adopts the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism. 


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