The 1948 Anti-Jewish riots in Oujda and Jerada, the latter also known as Djerada or Jṛada, occurred on June 7–8, 1948, in the towns of Oujda and Jerada, in the northeast of the French protectorate in Morocco. In those events 43 Jews and one Frenchman were killed and approximately 150 injured at the hands of local Muslims. French officials argued that the riots were "absolutely localized" to Oujda and Jerada, and that it had been "migration itself - and not widespread anti-Jewish animosity - that had sparked Muslim anger".
Outbreak
, the French Commissioner for the Oujda region, stated that rioting began when a Jewish barber attempted to cross into Algeria carrying explosives. Brunel wrote that that atmosphere has "overheated" as a result of "the clandestine passage over the border of a large number of young Zionists from all regions of Morocco trying to get to Palestine via Algeria." The French Ministry of Foreign Affairs noted that Jewish emigration from Oujda to Palestine was a significant irritant to the localMuslim population, noting that "It is characteristic that those in this region near to the Algerian border consider all Jews who depart as combatants for Israel." Alphonse Juin, Resident General in Morocco, noted that "the clandestine departure of Jews for Palestine ignited the anger already inflamed by professional agitators." It has also been suggested that the riots were sparked by an anti-Zionist speech by Sultan Mohammed V relating to the ongoing 1948 Arab-Israeli War, although others suggest that the Sultan's speech was focused on ensuring the protection of the Moroccan Jews.
Riots
The riots began in Oujda, which was at the time the main transit hub for Zionist emigration out of Morocco, given its proximity to the Algerian border, in which 5 Jews were killed and 30 injured in the space of 3 hours before the army arrived. The mob riots in the neighbouring mining town of Jerada were even more violent, with 39 deaths.
Aftermath
At the time, Morocco was still a French colony, and the French commissioner for Oujda, René Brunel, blamed the violence on the Jews for leaving through Oujda and for sympathizing with the Zionist movement. The FrenchLeague for Human Rights and Citizenship blamed the French colonial authority for their relaxed control in the area. Several officials from the local mining federation were tried in court for instigating the massacres and several were sentenced to life imprisonment with hard labor, the others given lighter sentences. The emigration of Jews out of Morocco to Israel quickly became a flood after the incident. 18,000 Moroccan Jews left for Israel the following year and 110,000 out of a total of 250,000 Jews in Morocco left between 1948 and 1956.
