IN THE COURTS OF THE NATIONS - DataSpace - Princeton ...

complain about their muḥtasib, emphasizing that the Muslims of Meknes were equally harmed
by the muḥtasib’s actions. 131 These examples of how Makhzan officials also mistreated Muslims
suggest that further research in the Makhzan archives would reveal many more instances of such
claims. The fact that Makhzan officials also mistreated the Muslims under their authority
indicates that not all instances in which Jews experienced abuse were the result of anti-Jewish
sentiment.
In addition, certain kinds of abuse were almost certainly free of any prejudice. A
recurring theme in Jews’ complaints concerned the meddling of Makhzan officials in intra-
Jewish affairs, particularly in the functioning of Jewish law. As discussed above, Makhzan
officials agreed to hear cases that fell under the jurisdiction of Jewish courts—thereby
weakening the authority of Jewish judges. In such cases it is unlikely that the Makhzan officials
acted out of any malicious intention towards the Jews of their city. On the contrary, most
seemed motivated by personal gain. This is particularly evident in the case from 1880 in
Meknes, when Jews complained that their qā’id had accepted a bribe in order to judge an intra-
Jewish case in the plaintiff’s favor. 132 Nonetheless, there is little doubt that at times Makhzan
officials did target Jews, possibly related to some sort of anti-Jewish sentiment.
* * *
In 1877, Joseph Halévy, an instructor for the Alliance Israélite Universelle, noted that
Jews’ most important recourse against “suffering” was to petition the sultan for justice. Halévy
was certainly correct in identifying appeals to the state as central to Jews’ strategies for resolving
131
DAR, Yahūd, 33481, Jews of Meknes to Muḥammad b. Aḥmad al-Ṣanhājī, 28 Ramaḍān 1304. See also: DAR,
Marrakesh, 17462, Yeshu‘a Corcos to Muḥammad al-Mufaḍḍal Gharrīt, 4 Dhū al-Qa‘da 1321, in which Corcos
reported that the Kharaza tribe entered Marrakesh and terrorized the city’s inhabitants, both Jews and Muslims. He
also noted that although the khalīfa successfully protected the millāḥ from being pillaged, the Jews are still unable to
move freely outside their quarter.
132
DAR, Yahūd, 32977, Rabbi Abnīr and the Jews of Fez to Muḥammad b. al-‘Arabī al-Mukhtār, 2 Dhū al-Qa‘da
1297.
269