Mimouna's Moroccan Jewish Caravan in New York

Tuesday, 28 October 2014

Named after the Moroccan Jewish celebration that marks the end of Passover, "Mimouna" is a non-governmental association (NGO) founded by a group of Moroccan Muslim students to preserve and promote Moroccan Jewish culture and heritage in 2007.

On October 22, 2014, the American Sephardi Federation is partnering with the Congregation Shearith Israel held an exhibition opening and panel discussion on Mimouna's Moroccan Jewish Caravan: "Preserving the Past, Connecting in the Present & Building the Future".

Speakers included Mohammed Benabdeljalil, General Consul of Morocco in NYC; Elmehdi Boudra, President Association Mimouna; Rabbi Benchimol, Rabbi of the Manhattan Sephardic Congregation; Zhor Rehihil, Director of the Jewish Museum of Casablanca; Josh Shamsi, Diarna Geo-Museum; Simon Keslassy, President of the Jewish community of Toronto; Hisham Aidi, Professor at Columbia University; Michael Siddoun, writer; and Kimberly Mann, Manager of the Holocaust and the United Nations Outreach Programme.

Other activities organized by Mimouna include a conference held in September 2011 at Al Akhawayn University in Ifrane commemorating the Jewish victims of the Nazi Holocaust. The goal of the event was to teach about the extermination of European Jewry and to pay homage to the courage of King Mohammed V, in resisting the orders of the Vichy French occupation government to round up and turn over the Jews.

In February 2014, Mimouna launched the "Mimouna Caravan" to engage both students and the general public in Morocco in celebrating Judeo-Moroccan culture via various activities, including kosher food workshops, musical performances, panel discussions on history and culture. The group also distributed the first Arabic language schoolbook on the Moroccan Jewish experience.

In May 2014, the Holocaust and the United Nations Outreach Programme partnered with Mimouna to provide a series of briefings for students and the public on the work of the UN's Holocaust Programme and the Jewish experience in Morocco. The events were held in Casablanca and Tangier, which was an international zone during the Second World War.

With Genocidewatch

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