The PJD "has never associated Judaism with Zionism," Bankiran

Mariam Al-Tigy, IOL Correspondent

RABAT, September 7 (IslamOnline.net) – Morocco's Justice and Development Party (PJD) has no objection to enlist Moroccan Jews, a leading member of the Islamic party told IslamOnline.net.

Abd el-Illah Bankiran, a member of the PJD general secretariat, stressed that "the party has never associated Judaism with Zionism. Several party leaders have, in fact, maintained there was no problem to welcome Moroccan Jews into its fold."

"The Justice and Development Party (PJD) is a political and not a religious party," he stressed, asserting that PJD membership is not based on religious affiliation but rather conviction with its political platform."

Bankiran lashed out at some media outlets accusing them of trying to suggest that the PJD adopted negative stances with respect to the kingdom's Jewish community.

"This is absolutely ungrounded. Moroccan Jews have been integrated with Muslims ever since the coming of Islam. Even when Jews fled Al-Andalos (Spain) they only found protection in  Islamic countries, particularly Morocco."

The partisan asserted, however, that the Justice and Development Party (PJD) only takes negative positions with respect to "the Zionist state that kills innocent Muslims and usurps their properties."

"The state must protect Moroccan Jews  and treat them on equal footing with Muslims and other  - but not give them special privileges," Bankiran maintained.

In a three-hour live dialogue with IslamOnline.net audience Monday, August 25, Rabbi Yisroel Dovid Weiss, of a leading figure of Neturei Karta, drew a clear line of separation between Judaism and Zionism, regretting that "Jews have been misled by the tremendous power of the propaganda machine of Zionism."

The distinguished speaker and lecturer on Zionism said the "forefathers of Zionism were known atheists and heretics and the whole ideology of Zionism is a heretical ideology and rebellion against God."

Putting it in a nutshell, Rabbi Weiss said, "Judaism is a Godliness, Zionism is materialism. Zionists try to clothe their materialism in the cloth of religion, but it is false and criminal."

Ill-Timed

In a related development, the PJD official criticized the latest visit by Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom to Morocco on September 1, dismissing it as "ill-timed".

"The visit came while the (Palestinian and Lebanese) peoples were still suffering from incessant Israeli crimes," he remarked.

Bankiran accused Israel of waging war on the Islamic nation. "We must never forget that and should always oppose any normalization of ties before the Palestinian cause is settled."

Commenting on statements by Moroccan officials that the re-opening of the Israeli liaison office in Rabat was only a matter of time, he said : "This is unacceptable. But again this is the same old story of the Zionist state dragging Arabs to give more concessions for hollow promises."

Meanwhile, Bankiran attributed the low-profile participation of the Justice and Development Party in the upcoming municipality elections to the repercussions of the Casablanca bombing attacks.

Recognizing a party policy of limited participation, he admitted "had it not been to the May 16 incidents (bombings) may be our participation would have been bigger."

"After Casablanca blasts some people unleashed a vicious campaign against the PJD and tried to associate between the perpetrators and the party."

"Aware that Casablanca hosts the biggest and most important investments and is a tourist destination, we concluded that any major PJD wins would stir its enemies. We decided not to increase the number of our candidates in Casablanca to avoid such escalation," Bankiran concluded.

The Moroccan Islamic party has won 44 seats in the Moroccan legislative elections held last September, 30 seats more than it had in the 325-member outgoing parliament.