Teaching Holocaust in the schools made mandatory in Morocco

Adam Eliyahu Berkowitz

Israeli officials praised Morocco’s King Mohammad VI for his decision to incorporate education about the Holocaust into his country’s curriculum. His decision was made public by Morocco’s Education Minister Said Amzazi in a high-level meeting at the United Nations General Assembly last week. Moroccan news website Le Desk ‎reported on the decision on Wednesday.‎

The message from Mohammad VI was that anti-Semitism it the “antonym of freedom of expression.” The king elaborated that anti-Semitism “manifests the negation of the other and is an admission of failure, insufficiency and inability to coexist.”

“The battle against this plague cannot be handled carelessly,” Mohammad VI’s message continued. “[The battle] is fought neither with the military nor with money; it above all depends on education and culture.” He added, “This battle has a name: education. And in the interest of our children, it is important for us to win it because they will be the beneficiaries and our ambassadors in the future.”

The decision was praised by Michael Oren, Deputy Minister in Prime Minister Netanyahu’s Office.

UNESCO director Audrey Azoulay, the daughter of one ‎of Mohammed’s chief advisers, Andre Azoulay, ‎welcomed the move.‎

‎“To address antisemitism, it is to defend the equal ‎dignity for all human beings,” Azoulay tweeted. ‎‎“Education is the best tool to prevent all forms of ‎discrimination.”

Audrey is the Parisian-born daughter of King Mohammed VI’s his personal adviser, Andre Azulay, who is Jewish.

Adam Eliyahu Berkowitz is a features writer for Breaking Israel News. He made Aliyah to Israel in 1991 and served in the IDF as a combat medic. Berkowitz studied Jewish law and received rabbinical ordination in Israel. He has worked as a freelance writer and two works of fiction, The Hope Merchant and Dolphins on the Moon, are available on Amazon. He lives in the Golan Heights with his wife and their four children.