20.04.2013 Views

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

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

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

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

Create successful ePaper yourself

Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.

The following two chapters examine how Jews turned to foreigners in their attempts to resolve<br />

legal disputes. Chapter Eight discusses Jews’ use of consular courts, arguing that Jews who<br />

acquired patents of protection did not definitively leave the jurisdiction of Moroccan courts<br />

(either sharī‘a or Makhzan), but rather moved fairly fluidly among the various legal institutions<br />

in Morocco, including consular courts. Chapter Nine looks at how Jews petitioned foreign<br />

officials and international Jewish organizations when they felt their collective rights had been<br />

denied, arguing that Jews appealed to foreigners alongside their petitions to the Makhzan.<br />

Overall, these chapters argue that the spread of consular protection and the increasing political<br />

influence of foreign officials did not signify a dramatic transformation in the day to day legal<br />

lives of Moroccan Jews. While there is no question that Morocco’s legal system underwent<br />

profound transformations over the course of the nineteenth century, I argue that Jews’ quotidian<br />

interactions with legal institutions were characterized more by continuity than by change.<br />

293

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!