At a reception hosted by the U.S. Consulate General in the presence of members of the Jewish community in the Kingdom, Lipstadt also highlighted Morocco’s leadership in the fight against anti-Semitism.
“This is a valuable opportunity for me to interact directly with the Jewish community in Morocco, especially given the importance of this community and its history,” she said in a statement to the press.
Morocco has an important role in the long history of the Jewish community, the U.S. diplomat said. Although the size of the community is not as large as it once was, “the number of synagogues, cemeteries and existing Jewish institutions is still very impressive,” she noted.
She stressed that since the restoration of Moroccan-Israeli relations, Jews from all over the world and others of Moroccan origin living in the United States “have come to Morocco to discover the development that the country is experiencing”.
Expressing her delight at being in Morocco as a representative of U.S. president Joe Biden and Secretary of State Tony Blinken, Lipstadt said her visit is an opportunity to discuss strategies and exchange ideas with government officials and civil society actors on ways to work together to combat anti-Semitism and all forms of hatred, to build on the positive exchanges that have already taken place, and to honor the deep history between Moroccans of the Jewish and Muslim faiths.
For his part, the Consul General of the United States of America in Casablanca, Lawrence Randolph, expressed his pride in hosting Lipstadt in Morocco, in order to learn more about the Moroccan model in the field of intercultural and interfaith dialogue, “which is one of the foundations of long-standing relations linking Morocco and the United States for more than 250 years of common history”.
