ABSTRACT
Spanish colonialism in Morocco, which had long been confined to the margins of history, has recently been brought centre stage in a number of monographs and articles (Balfour; Jensen; Martín-Márquez). While this new wave of scholarship has addressed the question of Spanish Orientalism and racism, it has largely ignored the attitude of Spanish authorities towards the Jews of Morocco. Scholars in Jewish Studies have also overlooked the topic and have tended to amalgamate the history of the Jews of the Spanish Protectorate with that of their coreligionists in French Morocco. The intent of this article is to fill some of this lacuna. It discusses how the philosephardic movement strove to utilize the Jews to advance Spain’s colonial expansion in Morocco and manipulated Spain’s Jewish past to justify its imperial designs. It also investigates the developments of two triangular relationships that developed in Spanish Morocco: one involving the Spaniards, the Moroccan Muslims and the Jews; the other involving the Spaniards, the French and the Jews.
