Toronto -Representatives of the Moroccan Jewish Community in Canada have paid vibrant tribute to HM King Mohammed VI for the tireless efforts of the Sovereign in favor of “peace and interreligious dialogue.”
At a gala dinner, held Tuesday in Toronto, as part of the festivities of the fiftieth anniversary of Canadian-Moroccan relations under the motto “2000 years of Jewish life in Morocco,” Andre Azoulay, adviser to HM the King and President of the Anna Lindh Foundation for dialogue between cultures, said “tonight in Toronto, Moroccan Jewry sign a new chapter in its history by proudly displaying its exceptional ability to keep itself in the heart of Ontario, in harmony with its host country and without abating the deep roots that underpin its identity.”
“By choosing to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of relations between Morocco and Canada under the sign of “2000 years of Jewish life in Morocco,” it is modernity, universality and richness of our added histories that you have the talent to put at the heart of the debate at the center of the American continent,” said Azoulay before several hundred persons gathered at the Cultural Center of the Moroccan Jewish Community in Toronto, welcoming the exceptional dynamism and the success story of the large Moroccan community living in Toronto for over half a century.
This evening also highlighted the key role by Morocco in the “peace and reconciliation” in the Middle East.
The history of Moroccan Jewry is one of the oldest Jewish traditions marked with an unmatched continuity of roots in Morocco, a very old nation, deeply attached to the beliefs and values of pluralism, tolerance, coexistence, diversity and respect for others, besides the commitment to dialogue and world peace, said, for her part, Morocco’s ambassador to Canada, Nouzha Chekrouni, recalling that “coexistence between Muslim and Jewish communities is the ferment of the Moroccan identity.”
“The Kingdom of Morocco is a country where Jews and Muslims coexisted in the most complete harmony for centuries,” said the diplomat at the meeting highlighted by the presence of leaders of the Moroccan Jewish community in Canada and several Canadian and Moroccan VIPs.
“Under the reign of HM King Mohammed VI, the Moroccan Jews are full citizens, voters and eligible. The Moroccan state established to them a legal space in accordance with the precepts of Judaism and the new Constitution enshrined the Hebrew culture as a component of its plural and harmonious cultural identity,” recalled Chekrouni before a large audience.
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