Countries turning their backs on their history weaken their own destiny, Moroccan King’s advisor

Countries that turn their backs on their history and that cannot resist the tragic illusions of amnesia compromise and weaken their own destiny.

 

The remarks were made by André Azoulay, advisor to King Mohammed VI of Morocco at the opening session of an international webinar held under the theme “Preserving and Transmitting Memory to Anchor Otherness”.

 

“If we don’t remember our history, who else will remember it for us? We all need the past to build our future,” he stressed, deeming that history is “irrefutable” and that it “is not written according to the vagaries of the moment. One day or another it imposes on everyone the truth of its facts”.

 

“Morocco is experiencing an exceptional momentum when it comes to the refoundation and reappropriation of the depth of all its diversities and the resilience of all its histories,” Azoulay pointed out.

 

Recalling the visit of King Mohammed VI to Bayt Dakira, in Essaouira, on January 15, 2020, Azoulay described this visit as “a historic moment in our history,” adding that this space has now its place in the annals of history and modernity of great civilizations.

 

“It is in Bayt Dakira and from Bayt Dakira that our mixed memories and our summed up histories tell about the closeness, the intimacy and the exhilarating complicity that Islam and Judaism have lived, forged and carved over more than two centuries in Essaouira”, Azoulay pointed out.

 

The international webinar aims to reflect on the contribution of memory, its safeguard, its transmission as well as on the strengthening of the capacity of individuals and the collective community to anchor and maintain a serene relationship with otherness and diversity.

The opening session was attended by several high-profile figures, including Salim ben Mohammed Al-Malik, Director General of ICESCO; Amina Bouayach, President of the National Human Rights Council; Driss El Yazami, President of the Council of the Moroccan Community Abroad; and roving ambassador Serge Berdugo, Secretary General of the Council of the Israelite Community of Morocco.

 

This webinar is organized by the Rabita Mohammadia of Ulema in partnership with the US embassy in Morocco, the Fondation “Mémoires pour l’Avenir”, and “Archives du Maroc” (ADM).