The Moroccan Mountains Conference and the Berber Policy

Arabic version (PDF).
French translation (manual).

Al Maghrib - 1st year - No 15 - May, 19 1937

In its last edition, Al Maghrib published a summary of the proceedings of the "Moroccan Mountains Conference" whose sessions were held in Rabat this week. When one examines closely the topics covered by the participants, one notes they appear to be the result of extensive research efforts. These efforts merit the focused attention of Moroccans if only to understand the expectations of the conference members. It is worth asking why it was held at a time when Moroccans and those interested in it's problems can only talk about the Berbers and about a policy that none of them seek to apply. For someone who searches for certain coincidences -- which perhaps may not be coincidences -- they will smell something fishy here. They will note that the proceedings of this conference were not aimed at studies and research in of themselves. Instead they are directed at the fertilization of a concept with a deeper knowledge of the social conditions of the majority of the Moroccan population. Their intention is to use these to prop up a political doctrine that the nation has (already) risen against and has reiterated its disavowal. That being the case let us at least see if these proceedings were confined in reality only to the narrow framework of studies and research. We wish to emphasize a set of observations relative to the conception of this conference so as to ask questions about their authenticity or about doubts that affect their credibility.This leads us to an analysis of the efforts by the conference members:

The conference held its session in mid-May, on the exact date of the release of the (Berber) decree seven years ago.
It was referred to as the "Moroccan Mountains Conference" and not as the "Berber Mountains Conference"
Amongst the researchers, there was only one Moroccan. He was of the Zayan Berber tribe and his research was confined to one Berber tribe.
The researcher is an assistant to a Cadi (an appointed magistrate)
Amongst the conference participants, there were a number of people deeply involved in the Berber policy and its execution.
Amongst the topics the conference selected to cover, there were issues relative to law and legislation, all in support of the aims of the Berber policy

These were some of the observations that came to mind while I reviewed the findings from the proceedings of this conference. You can derive from each a number of hypotheses and conclusions. We hope that the body of this work is not used to prop up the Berber Policy nor to strengthen its partisans in their chauvinism and sectarianism. The highest administrative authorities should be convinced of the danger from any policies that seek to juridically divide the Moroccan people into two ethnic groups, as well as policies that sanction to the Berber element a specific conference excluding the other constitutive element of the Moroccan population that is Arab.^[19]

^[19] Anxious to define the geographic boundaries of the Berber territory, the French occupiers unilaterally took the liberty to limit the areas settled by the Arabs to the plains and coastal cities. Hence they considered the mountainous Rif and the chain of Atlas mountains as lands exclusively inhabited by Berbers. Having done so, it was easier to introduce a separate legal system defined across this territory defined by the Decree of September 11, 1914. The latter acknowledged the right of Berber tribes to administer customary law known in Arabic as "orf" which is understood as "per past practices." This decree was further expanded on by the Decree of May 16, 1930 which (wrongfully impinged on Moroccan sovereignty and) gave authority to the French judiciary to adjudicate any criminal infraction committed by anyone inside the Berber territory.

The Moroccan Mountains Conference held its sessions in Rabat in mid-May 1937, seven years to the day after the promulgation of the 1930 Decree and over four years after the repeal of article 6 of this decree in July 14, 1933. Perhaps that is why they chose to name it the "Moroccan Mountains Conference" and not the "Berber Mountains Conference." Still one should ask why this so-called conference was devoted to Berber issues excluding the other constituent of the Moroccan population, i.e. the Arabic element.

Tribal justice in the Berber Territory was replaced by a new judicial system modeled after that in France that divested the Islamic courts of a major portion of their duties. This was especially the case for matters concerning real estate which the French administration considered as the workhorse of economic activity. This was done at a time when there was a systematic expropriation of agricultural land by public authorities in favor of the French settlers. The colonial bureaucracy strove to apply what it called the "Orf Legislation" or customary law into the Berber Territory, a territory unilaterally so declared by the French authorities. This opened the door for the Protectorate Authority to dismiss judges that applied Islamic law within the territory, even if the tribal councils desired to respect these laws.