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Moroccan Jews. 59 Most surprising is Bashan’s complete neglect of relevant documents from the
Moroccan archives, despite the fact that he was aware of Kenbib’s work. 60
In their 2011 book, L’exile au Maghreb, Fenton and Littman offer an even less nuanced
argument than in Littman’s original 1985 study. 61 Fenton and Littman’s bias is demonstrated in
their misunderstanding of a letter sent by Moshe Pariente on behalf of the Jewish community of
Tangier to international Jewish organizations; this letter describes the execution of the two
Jewish suspects in the Safi affair and requests their coreligionists’ intervention to save the two
suspects still awaiting execution (I discuss this letter at length further below). 62 The letter
repeatedly mentions a certain “S.E. le Ministre de S.M.C.” who demanded the execution of the
two Jews and staunchly resisted all pleas for mercy. Fenton and Littman misinterpret this key
abbreviation, rendering it as “S.E. le Ministre de S[a] M[ajesté] C[hérifienne],” that is, the
sultan’s minister. 63 However, the letter makes no sense with this interpretation; the abbreviation
clearly means “S.E. le Ministre de S[a] M[ajesté] C[atholique],” referring to the Spanish minister
(the Spanish queen’s title was “Catholic Majesty”). 64 Although Fenton and Littman undoubtedly
59
He begins the book by explaining that “local Muslims hate Jews and despise them. The source of this hatred is in
the Quran” (Bashan, Moshe Montefiore ve-yehudei Maroko, 2).
60
Bashan cites Kenbib’s Juifs et musulmans au Maroc in his bibliography (ibid., 185), yet he presents the entire
incident only as it was seen from the British archival documents, of which he includes transcriptions in an appendix.
In fact, much of the book consists of a short analysis of each document; Bashan nonetheless makes his position clear
by adding conclusions such as “there is no doubt that the Jews were found guilty, were arrested, and two of them
were put to death despite their innocence” (ibid., 36).
61
See especially Fenton and Littman, L’exil au Maghreb, 397-412. As the book is mostly a collection of primary
sources, Fenton and Littman refrain from extensive commentary on the incident. However, the selection of sources
they present clearly outlines an argument in which Moroccan Jews were powerless in the face of the Makhzan’s
oppression and their only hope was European intervention. For instance, in addition to a letter from the Jewish
community of Tangier to the AIU, Fenton and Littman include two other letters from the Jews of Chefchaouen and
Demnat describing the oppression they had suffered.
62
Stillman, The Jews of Arab Lands, 397-401. This letter is dated 17 September 1863.
63
Ibid., 398. “S.E.” stands for “Son Excellence.”
64
On the Spanish monarchs’ title, see Frederick Drummond, “Titles of Honor,” in Encyclopaedia Britannica, ed.
Spencer Baynes and W. Robertson Smith (Akron, OH: The Werner Company, 1907), v. 23, 445. The correct
interpretation is further clarified in the Spanish original, reprinted in Bashan, Moshe Montefiore ve-yehudei Maroko,
221-5, where the abbreviation is rendered “S. E. el Representante de S. M. C. a ,” in which “C. a ” clearly indicates
“Catolica” (223).
348