Dakhla-Oued Eddahab: une délégation française explore les opportunités d'investissement    Grands chantiers: Les programmes prévisionnels des marchés publics présentés aux acteurs du BTP    Funérailles du Pape François : Arrivée à Rome du Chef du gouvernement pour représenter SM le Roi    La météo pour ce samedi 26 avril    Sahel : Le Niger dénonce les expulsions de migrants par l'Algérie    Les pays du Sahel annoncent leur plein soutien au Maroc et saluent l'initiative stratégique « Rabat – Atlantique »    Le Président français se félicite du lancement par S.M. le Roi des travaux de réalisation de la Ligne à Grande Vitesse Kénitra-Marrakech    Maroc Telecom. Près de 80 millions de clients et de nouvelles ambitions    Service militaire 2025 : Début de l'opération de recensement    Congrès du PJD. Le casse du siècle    Ligue des Champions CAF : Pyramids FC rejoint Mamelodi Sundowns en finale    Crans Montana. L'initiative atlantique Royale est historique et porteuse de paix    Averses orageuses avec grêle locale et rafales de vent, vendredi dans plusieurs provinces du Royaume    2èmes Assises du Féminisme, pour l'égalité économique    Résultats de la 9ème édition du Grand Prix National de la Presse Agricole et Rurale    Mawazine 2025 : Michael Kiwanuka, la soul britannique sous les étoiles de Rabat    Taghazout Bay célèbre l'humour marocain et l'âme d'Edith Piaf    Le Casa Fashion Show souffle sa 20ème bougie    PSG : Achraf Hakimi, troisième latéral le plus cher d'Europe    Gabon/Présidentielle: la Cour constitutionnelle confirme l'élection de Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema    Le baril continue de dévisser alimenté par les tensions commerciales et les incertitudes    France-Algérie : la tension continue de monter autour des expulsions et des visas    L'Humeur : Démission après chômage    L'Inspecteur Général des FAR effectue une visite de travail en Ethiopie    LDC.CAF : Aujourd'hui, les demi-finales égypto-sud-africains ''retour''    CAN(f) Futsal Maroc 25 / Ce vendredi, journée off : Le Maroc grand favori !    Championnat africain de football scolaire de la CAF : L'Equipe nationale (f) U15 en demi-finale cet après-midi    Les patronats marocain et égyptien explorent les moyens de booster les échanges commerciaux    Visa y Maroc Telecom firman una alianza estratégica para los pagos móviles en África    Ex-Raja Casablanca president Mohamed Boudrika extradited to Morocco for bad checks    Settat : Détention du suspect principal dans l'horrible affaire de meurtre à Ben Ahmed    Indignations après les actes de vandalisme au Stade Mohammed V    Banque mondiale : 83 % des entreprises au Maroc opèrent dans le secteur informel    DeepTech Summit : Comment l'IA transforme l'innovation    Algérie... La liberté d'expression à la merci des militaires    SIEL 2025 : Des illustrateurs marocains valorisent le patrimoine de Rabat    Comediablanca : Pour le meilleur et pour le rire    La FRMF choisit un partenaire stratégique pour la gestion de la billetterie    L'ONMT crée trois pôles stratégiques    ONU: Omar Hilale élu président du Comité de haut niveau sur la coopération Sud-Sud    Walid Regragui : Le Maroc offre aux joueurs binationaux un projet de cœur et de conviction    Le Crédit Agricole du Maroc et la société TOURBA s'allient pour promouvoir l'agriculture régénératrice    Effondrement... Trois éléments du "Polisario" fuient et se rendent aux Forces Armées Royales    La Chine dément toute négociation commerciale avec Washington : pas de consultations ni d'accord en vue    Quand le régime algérien fabrique ses propres crises : d'un simple hashtag à un règlement de comptes interne au nom de la souveraineté    Les prévisions du vendredi 25 avril    Mustapha Fahmi amène Cléopâtre et Shakespeare au SIEL 2025    Un chef patissier marocain bat le record Guinness, en réalisant le plus long fraisier du monde    







Merci d'avoir signalé!
Cette image sera automatiquement bloquée après qu'elle soit signalée par plusieurs personnes.



Aicha al-Maslouhi, born and raised in Al Quds' Moroccan Quarter
Publié dans Yabiladi le 09 - 03 - 2021

Aicha al-Maslouhi is a Palestinian of Moroccan origin who still lives today in Harat al-Maghariba, in Al Quds. She tells Yabiladi about the district offered by Salaheddine El Ayoubi to the Moroccans who helped him free Al Quds during the Crusades.
Aicha al-Maslouhi was born in the Moroccan Quarter or Mughrabi Quarter in Jerusalem in 1946, only two years before the establishment of the State of Israel. Daughter of a Moroccan father and a Palestinian mother, the 770-year-old neighborhood housed, in the 1940s, 138 families from North African countries.
«My father is from Tameslouht, a mountain village near Marrakech», she told Yabiladi, referring to the origins of her family name. Before her father, hundreds of Moroccans had settled down in the neighborhood founded as an endowed Islamic waqf or religious property by a son of Saladin in the late 12th century.
Aicha's father came to Palestine as a young man, accompanying pilgrim caravans. Back then, Moroccan pilgrims used to visit the Al-Aqsa Mosque after performing the Hajj. However, the father refused to return to Morocco and decided to stay in Al Quds and work as a guard of one of the Al-Aqsa Mosque's doors. After a journey that lasted 51 years, he died at the age of 90.
Morocco as a refuge in the 60s
«After my father, Hajj Ahmed bin Mohammed bin Kacem al-Maslouhi, died, shortly before the 1967 war, they asked my mother if she would rather receive financial compensation or have one of my brothers replace my later father at work. One of my brothers accepted the offer and worked there for more than 30 years», Aicha explained.
Aicha recalls that before 1967 the Mughrabi Quarter used to be «a populous neighborhood, in which there was no distinction between Algerians, Tunisians and Moroccans». The Moroccan lived her whole life there until she got married in the 1960s.
But with the defeat of the Arabs in the 1967 war (also known as the Six-day war), Aisha's life went upside down. She was forced to leave Palestine. «We were moved like most refugees to Jordan, then my husband worked in Saudi Arabia for one year. We stayed in Jordan for another year and then we moved to settled down in Morocco», she sadly recalled.
«We stayed in Rabat, got jobs as a royal grant to help the displaced, and our situation was good. I worked at the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Social Affairs and I was in the social affairs department, and my husband who is from Boumalne Dadas worked in the accounting department».
Aicha al-Maslouhi
But after the death of her husband in a car accident in the city of Ouarzazate in 1974, she decided to return to Palestine. «A law called 'family reunification' was adopted, and since my mother stayed in Jerusalem and acquired documents proving her residency there, we obtained permission to return to our land and stayed there ever since», she said.
But since then, her hometown has changed a lot. «Do we still have a neighborhood ? There is a large empty lot and an area where they (Israelis, editor's note) hold their religious rituals. We have nothing left but a small area where we currently reside», she regretted.
She also recalls memories of the occupation of Al Quds. «I was married and had never witnessed an Israeli invasion of my neighborhood. Although we lived, my husband and I, in a remote area of the neighborhood, my siblings were there and my mother reported that on the morning of June 11, 1967, the Israelis started calling the inhabitants to evacuate the district, indicating that they were going to demolish it», she added. «After this operation, three bodies were discovered under the rubble. They were old people who hadn't heard the call», she regretted.
An attachment that persists through traditions
However, to this Moroccan-Palestinian, «the occupation could not destroy the memory of the inhabitants of the neighborhood, despite the destruction of their houses».
«When I was young, the inhabitants of the neighborhood maintained Moroccan customs and traditions, especially during Ramadan and the holidays. Thus, during the Holy month, the Moroccan Waqf organized a distribution of food to all the inhabitants two to three times a week. The men gathered on Thursdays to recite the Quran and a common meal was organized on Friday, during which an elderly woman from the neighborhood would prepare couscous».
Aicha al-Maslouhi
She adds that Harat al-Maghariba is currently home to only ten families. «Before 1967, wealthy Moroccans came with their alms or zakat money to give generous sums to families, but after 1967 people were prevented from reaching Palestine», she said.
She also said that the families still living in Harat al-Maghariba and those of Moroccan descent were «shocked» by the recent announcement of the normalization of relations between the Kingdom and Israel. «It was painful for me and for many residents of Al Quds. What does Morocco need in order for it to normalize its ties with a Zionist and occupying entity?» she pursued, recalling that Moroccans were the first Muslims to support the Palestinian cause. «It's ugly politics», she concluded.


Cliquez ici pour lire l'article depuis sa source.