Zionist Propaganda in Morocco during the Protectorate and Following Independence: Cinema as an Example

Abstract

This contribution starts from the observation that the Zionist movement, from the first Zionist Congress in Basel Switzerland in 1897, was well aware of the importance of cinema for propaganda and empowerment. A detailed plan was presented to that congress confirming the importance of this new art form for the Zionist project. This paper observes how cinema was used as one of the Zionist movement’s propaganda tools in Morocco, alongside the press, radio, books, and lectures. It suggests that cinema was the most successful tool in a society with a high rate of illiteracy where it formed a perfect medium to reach the public. The image thus became the main determining factor in the creation of public awareness. The author shows how the Zionist use of the power of the image caused a paradigm shift for Moroccan Jews, one that caused a change in their perception of themselves and their status as a minority among the Muslim majority, which they came to perceive from the standpoint of the colonizer. Among Moroccan Jews, the Zionist movement was able, by means of the cinema, to transform their connection with Palestine from a religious one to a political colonial one. This facilitated its task of uprooting Moroccan Jews and transferring them to the “land of milk and honey,” that of now occupied Palestine.