MIXED REVIEWS ON MOROCCO'S LEVEL OF RELIGIOUS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 06 RABAT 000221

SIPDIS
NOFORN

STATE FOR DRL/IRF, DRL/NESCA AND NEA/MAG
LONDON AND PARIS FOR NEA WATCHER

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/19/2029
TAGS: PHUM KIRF PGOV PREL SCUL SOCI KPAO MO
SUBJECT: MIXED REVIEWS ON MOROCCO'S LEVEL OF RELIGIOUS
FREEDOM

Classified By: CDA Robert P. Jackson for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (C) Summary: A range of government, religious, and
education leaders told EmbOffs and visiting DRL/IRF officer
that while tolerance is broadly observed in practice, some
problem remain. Government forbearance for perhaps 150
foreign Christian missionaries was being stretched, they
said, as proselytizing was not formally legal and not
socially acceptable to the vast majority of Moroccans, who
are Muslim. They believed there was freedom of religion for
foreigners in Morocco, but there no freedom of religion for
Moroccans, who officially are assumed to be Muslim or Jewish.
Converts to Christianity and their Christian church
advocates were able to function but desired official
legitimacy. The Jewish community wanted the government to
educate other Moroccans about its existence. Government
officials desired recognition and support for Morocco's
relatively high degree of religious tolerance. End summary.

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Converts Growing In Number
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2. (C) Office of International Religious Freedom (DRL/IRF)
Foreign Affairs Officer Warren Cofsky visited Morocco in late
2008 and, together with Poloff and other mission staff, met
with a range of government, religious and education leaders
involved in religious freedom issues. Reverend Jack Wald,
Pastor of the Protestant Rabat International Church (RIC)
since 2000, estimated to PolOff and Cofsky that there are
between 3,000 and 4,000 Moroccan Christians who attend "home"
church services every week and many more who have had a
personal Christian conversion experience. He observed that
most of these Moroccan Christians do not feel secure
worshipping publicly and fear societal harassment. According
to Wald, 99 percent of Moroccan families do not accept an
individual's decision to convert from Islam to another faith.
"To be Moroccan is to be Muslim," Wald said. He estimated
that 90 percent of the Moroccan Christian population
converted to Christianity from Islam as a result of local
Moroccan Christians sharing their faith and viewing Christian
television broadcasts via satellite. Only 10 percent, he
believes, converted as a result of foreign missionary
activity.

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Claims of Persecution against Convert Christians
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3. (C/NF) Cofsky and PolOff also met with local Moroccan
Christian leaders Abdelaal Boualou and Yassine Sghiouiri El
Idrissi who shared how frustrating it was to see the GOM
officially recognize the Moroccan Jewish community and yet
refuse to recognize the Moroccan Christian community, now in
its third generation. They reported that they have been
trying for the past 10 years to register their Christian
social development association with the government as an
official non-governmental organization (NGO); however, their
application has been repeatedly denied. Government officials
did not explicitly say it, but the group felt the reason for
their denial was that they were a Christian group.


4. (C/NF) Boualou and Idrissi reported that the Moroccan
laws that forbade them from sharing their Christian faith
with others were not strictly enforced. However, they also
asserted that it was impossible for Moroccan Christians to
attend regular church services publicly and that they felt as
if they were always being followed by agents of the Moroccan
security services. The converts stated that the rejection
they experienced came mostly from family and friends and only
secondarily from government officials, although they were
aware that some Members of Parliament have publicly stated
that Christian evangelism is a threat to Morocco's national
security.


5. (C/NF) The two also described other examples of Christian
persecution in Morocco such as refusals to rent villas for
Christian-themed retreats in Ifrane, having their backpacks
searched randomly by unidentified agents, having passports
confiscated by the government, experiencing extensive delays
or refusals to renew passports, and not being allowed to
choose Christian names for their children. (Note: Berbers
have also protested the restricted list of names, essentially
from Arabic, but it is not universally enforced. End note.)

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Moroccan Christians Becoming Bolder

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6. (C) Pastor Wald opined that the local church was becoming
more aggressive. Wald felt that there was a movement among
some Moroccan Christians to become more open in their
activities and force the government to take action against
them, thus emboldening them to persevere and strengthen their
faith.


7. (C/NF) Boualou, once a member of the Moroccan gendarmerie
and now manager of a local media company, recounted the story
of when he approached Party of Justice and Development (PJD)
leader Abdelillah Benkirane on the occasion of winning his
party's leadership nomination in July 2008. Immediately
following his acceptance speech, Boualou approached Benkirane
explaining that he was a Christian and that he was praying
for him. Initially surprised, Benkirane looked Boualou
directly in the eyes and responded, "May God lead us all to
the right path." The PJD is Morocco's Islamist-leaning
political party.

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Official Evangelical Church Asks for
Legislation to Legitimize Converts
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8. (C) Rev. Jean Luc Blanc, head of the Council of Christian
Churches in Morocco, related that the Council began religious
freedom discussions with King Mohammed VI in 2000 out of a
desire to regularize the status of Moroccan converts to
Christianity who attend church. "We have Moroccans who
worship with us who we don't want to hide," Rev. Blanc
declared. Rev. Blanc stated that during his eight years in
Morocco, he had not witnessed police action against such
converts, who "do not actively evangelize but who respond if
asked about Christianity." Rev. Blanc said that the Council
had sought a "statute for Christians" and in that regard met
with Ahmed Toufiq, Minister of Endowments (Habous) and
Islamic Affairs, and Ahmed Abaddi, former official at the
Ministry and current Secretary General of the Association of
Ulemas (religious scholars). Rev. Blanc said that Abaddi
informed him in the summer of 2008 that no progress had been
achieved.

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Religious Freedom in Morocco: A Catholic Perspective
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9. (C) Monsignor Vincent Landen was born in Meknes, Morocco,
and has served as the Catholic Archbishop of Morocco for the
past eight years. Meeting with Cofsky and PolOff in his
Rabat office, the Archbishop said that there certainly was
freedom of religion for foreigners in Morocco but no freedom
of religion for the Moroccan citizen who was obligated to be
Muslim. Monsignor Landen claimed that Moroccans were
prohibited from regularly attending mass and catechism
classes but they were allowed to attend Easter and Christmas
Mass as long as they were the invited guests of expatriate
Catholic friends. Television programs via satellite served
as the only means for local Moroccan Catholics to receive
Catholic instruction. According to the Monsignor, if a
Moroccan decided to convert to Catholicism, s/he was
considered "dead" by the family and was obligated to quit
his/her job and leave town. For this reason, Monsignor
Landen refuses to baptize local Moroccans into the Catholic
Church. He felt that while Christian Protestant Evangelicals
talk about a growing "house church" movement in Morocco, the
same was not true for the Catholic who must attend mass and
catechism classes in an official Catholic church building in
order to practice his/her faith. Monsignor Landen added that
the open proselytizing of Protestant evangelicals in Morocco
was hurting the Catholic Church because most Moroccans did
not differentiate between the two Christian groups.


10. (C) The Archbishop felt that the GOM spoke often about
practicing religious tolerance but did little to show support
for other faiths. He suggested that the GOM could send
official representatives to attend important events in the
church such as Christmas and Easter Masses. However, since
he has been the Archbishop in Morocco, this had never
happened. He claimed that his personal cook was frequently
asked by the local police to give them details about who
comes to meet with him and what they discuss.


11. (C) The Archbishop showed deep concern about the family
legal issues faced by Christians in Morocco and felt that the
judicial system was weak in protecting the rights of

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individuals. He pointed out that internet-arranged marriages
were a growing phenomenon, attracting many European men and
women to find spouses among local residents. When these
foreigners arrived in Morocco, many were surprised to learn
that they must "convert" to Islam before the marriage could
take place. Furthermore, any children born from the union
must also be Muslim if they remained in the country. The
Monsignor claimed the French Consulate in Morocco conducted
20,000 marriages last year for French citizens wishing to
marry local Moroccans, and that one year later, 50 percent of
these marriages had ended in divorce. He personally felt
that most of these unions were simply a means for the
Moroccan partner to obtain a French visa but when divorce
occurred, lingering marriage and child custody issues
remained for the expatriate which often went unresolved in
the Moroccan judicial system. Archbishop Landen estimated
there were presently 5,000 Muslim/Christian mixed marriage
couples living in Morocco.

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GOM Forbearance of Foreign Missionaries Being Tested
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12. (C) According to Rev. Wald, there were roughly 150
American evangelical Christian missionaries serving
throughout Morocco, and their numbers were growing. He
stated that the GOM generally tolerated their presence as
long as they were engaging in activities to benefit the
country/society, not actively proselytizing, and did not pose
a threat to the monarchy. Wald opined that as the number of
Moroccan Christian converts increases, so did the threat of
Islamic militant activity.


13. (C) The Director of the American Language Center in Fes
observed that the number of Christian missionaries in Fes and
the mountain areas was increasing. He stated that the
Moroccan culture should not be influenced by the
missionaries; he feared it would lead to a security problem;
and the Embassy should prevent American missionaries from
evangelizing. He related that he had informed the Moroccan
security services of his observations and concerns. He also
noted his chagrin that missionaries have opened their own
language school, and that missionary students, who had
formerly enrolled in his school, now attend the new one run
by missionaries.


14. (C) Rev. Wald claimed that tensions exist between
short-term and long-term evangelical workers. The long-term
workers are more discreet in their activities, tend to
appreciate and value the local culture, and understand the
sensitive issues that exist when introducing Christianity to
a predominately Muslim culture. On the other hand,
short-term evangelical workers are more overt in their
actions, attract unwanted attention, and risk endangering
themselves and those Moroccan citizens who may be receptive
to their message.


15. (C/NF) David Hutton, an American missionary with the
International Mission Board (IMB) of the Southern Baptist
Convention, exemplifies the long-term missionary. He
apprised PolOff and Cofsky that the IMB has many personnel in
Morocco. Hutton said he was officially here to facilitate
cultural and language exchanges for college-aged American
students who are also sponsored by the IMB. Hutton was
certain that the GOM knew the true identity and intentions of
himself and other evangelical workers but believed that it
was more concerned about much bigger issues. Hutton informed
Cofsky and PolOff that he did not fear the government but
that he and other IMB representatives were very discreet in
their work and tried to respect cultural sensitivities. He
stated that IMB representatives did not publicly proselytize
but did respond to Moroccans who ask them questions about the
Christian faith.

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Visa Issues with Christian Missionary Workers
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16. (C/NF) According to both Wald and Hutton, most
evangelical Christian workers had no problem obtaining
Moroccan visas. The only expatriate known to them in Morocco
with an official "missionary" visa was operating an
orphanage. Some of the many evangelical workers in Morocco
had 10-year residency visas. Others had 3-month tourist
visas but faced no difficulty getting them renewed. These
missionaries were working in Morocco as English teachers,
students of Arabic and Moroccan culture, social workers,

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tourist industry workers and pastors. Only rarely did these
Christian expatriates face visa difficulties. Wald reported
that an American pastor in Casablanca was facing some
difficulty in obtaining his residency visa.

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Jewish Moroccan Perspectives
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17. (C) Jews in Casablanca, such as Boris Toledano, the
leader of a Jewish community, stated that the Moroccan
society generally treats Jews with tolerance, and credited
the protection of the King. (Note: There are an estimated
4,000 to 6,000 Jews in Morocco, most of whom live in
Casablanca. End note.) However, several mentioned that
their existence had become unknown to the vast majority of
Morocco's citizenry, and stressed that the government needed
to educate the populace about the country's Jewish heritage
and current Jewish citizenry via television and school
curricula. Mr. Cohen, Director of the Maimoni School,
related that there was always a high demand among Muslim
citizens to have their children enrolled in his school
because of its known quality. He does not permit the
percentage of Muslim students to exceed 50 percent in order
to safeguard the school's "Jewish character." Dorit Benmoha,
a graduate of the Maimoni School, praised the spirit of
mutuality and friendship that characterized relationships
between Jews and Muslims who attended the school but bemoaned
the fact that such Muslim-Jewish relationships were not
otherwise replicated in society.


18. (C) Jacques Sebag, Director of the Neveh Shalom School,
related that Jews had the freedom to build synagogues, attend
services and celebrate Jewish holidays. Nevertheless, he
noted, two policemen were regularly posted at the entrance to
synagogues and at Jewish monuments to provide protection. He
also related that his assumption of societal tolerance was
shattered when, in April 2002, a man wielding an axe struck
him in the head. Drawing attention to a large jagged scar on
his face and gruesome photos from the time of the attack, he
stated his belief that the attacker assaulted him solely
because his kippah (skull cap) identified him as a Jew. He
believes that similar hatred seethes among a number of
Moroccan Muslims. "We aren't safe to wear kippahs in the
street," he said. "The message of tolerance must be given to
the young."

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Advice to the U.S. on Promoting
Tolerance and Religious Freedom
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19. (C) Secretary General of Rabita Mohammedia of the
Moroccan Ulema and former Director of Islamic Affairs at the
Ministry of Endowments and Islamic Affairs Dr. Ahmed Abaddi
told Cofsky and PolOff that the concept of having an Office
of International Religious Freedom in the U.S. Department of
State was a very "beautiful" thing. However, Abaddi asserted
that the IRF report was perceived as a tool of pressure that
sends the message, "I am making you come to where I am;
otherwise, I will punish you." Abaddi suggested that the
addition of a brief preface that explained the aims of the
report would go a long way toward removing the impression
that the U.S. had failed to understand the viewpoints of its
audience.


20. (C) Abaddi asserted that the restoration of the positive
image of, and love for, the United States in the region was a
goal that was well within the U.S.'s reach. For example, he
advised that the U.S. sponsor competitions and offer prizes
in the domain of the arts, such as poetry, fine arts, music,
novels and especially movies for works that best promote
religious freedom and tolerance. He said that open dialogue
and having Christians, Jews, and Muslims work on projects
together were key to improving interfaith relations.


21. (C) In a meeting at the Ministry of Interior, Governor,
Migration Director and general America-watcher Khalid
Zerouali told Cofsky and PolOff that the IRF report was
perceived to be a product of the evangelical movement in
America. In order to have more credibility, Zerouali
suggested that more people of the Islamic faith work in the
Office of Religious Freedom.


22. (C) Zerouali opined that Morocco's King Mohammed VI is
the "Commander of the Faithful" referring to people of all
faiths: Jewish, Christian, and Muslim. He pointed out that

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Morocco did not wait until after September 11 to show
religious tolerance. Rather, Zerouali claimed, Morocco is a
melting pot of religions, sharing how Morocco protected the
Jewish community during World War II.


23. (C) Governor Zerouali suggested that the United States
give Morocco more encouragement in its efforts to promote
religious tolerance. He said that Morocco could be used to
promote the model of "protector of believers" to other
countries in the region. Round table religious tolerance
discussions featuring sponsored Moroccans, promoting the
Moroccan imam training model and scholar exchanges between
universities, were possible considerations.


24. (C) According to Dr. Mohsine Elahmadi, a Cadi Ayyad
University Political Science Professor and specialist
concerning Islamic extremism who is based in Marrakech,
religious tolerance in Morocco is a societal, not a political
problem, and reaching Moroccan youth during their early
education years is critical to making a difference. Elahmadi
suggested that the USG provide discreet support (not publicly
attributed as coming from the United States) for the King to
make changes from within and that efforts in the fields of
education and the arts could assist the monarchy in its
desire to slowly introduce a more moderate Islam to Morocco.


25. (C) Elahmadi shared that historically, Islam and Morocco
were very tolerant of other religions and lamented that both
should return to their roots. He suggested that the USG fund
a network of moderate Islamic authorities, such as Dr.
Abaddi, to promote their views and teachings from the Koran.
Elahmadi offered to conduct a study on Moroccan youth and
their religious beliefs if the USG would provide the required
USD 100,000.


26. (C) Cofsky and PolOff had the opportunity to meet with
several faculty members of the prestigious Dar Al Hadith Al
Hassania University in Rabat, known for its teachings of a
more moderate Islam and promoting the role of women as
mourchidat (female Muslim clerics). Students here study all
disciplines including logic, philosophy, Hebrew, French,
religious studies, psychology, sociology and law. University
Deputy Director Khalid Saqui explained how those who studied
at Dar Al Hadith Al Hassania left the university with an
openness to all ideas, faiths, and religions. He welcomed
the opportunity to participate in more cultural exchanges
with the United States, focusing more on the intellectual
level and less on political discourse. Saqui suggested that
it might be possible for the University to partner with the
USG via intellectual discussions on themes such as
"Differences and Pluralism" or "Can We Live Together Whether
We Are Alike or Different?"

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Department Encourages Muslim Scholars
To Exert Their Positive Influence
--------------


27. (C) In meetings with Muslim leaders and professors of
Islam, Cofsky explained the purpose and role of the IRF
Office and encouraged them to use their influence to promote
tolerance and co-existence with non-Muslims, including
internationally. These meetings included Dr. Abdellah Macer,
Chair of Islamic Studies at the University of Sidi Muhammad
bin Abdellah in Fes; Dr. Abdelhay Ammor, Director of the
Ulema Council of Fes; Mr. Hassan Taleb, member of the
Scientific Council of Ulemas and co-presenter of a religious
program on television; Dr. Abdellah Cherif Ouazzani,
President of the Moulay Abdellah Cherif Foundation for
Scientific Study and Research; and Ms. Fatema Sadiqi,
University Professor and Director of the Fes Festival of
Sacred Music.

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Comment
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28. (C) Morocco has a legacy of religious tolerance and
enjoys more religious freedom than many countries of the
region, but there is still much work to do. During Cofsky's
visit we heard repeatedly from leaders of all faiths that
they truly believe that the GOM wants to do more to promote
religious tolerance, but the real push-back seems to come
from society in general and threats from Islamic extremists.
The Mission feels that more efforts to promote religious
dialogue and round table discussions among people of
different faiths could be a positive step forward. End

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comment.


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Jackson