In reading Kosansky’s text, what I found extremely interesting was the role in which Judeo-Muslim pilgrimages played during colonialism. The sacredness, sanctity and tradition surrounding these ancient pilgrimages connects Jews and Muslims and links them to their nationalist pride of being Moroccan. Despite the differences between the two religions, the holiness surrounding the pilgrimages, many of which both religions share, is respected and seen as the true Moroccan symbolism. Even though Jews were not particularly seen as equals to Muslims in Morocco, they were a protecting minority in the country, and the two religions interacted relatively well for a long period of time before the French invaded.
When the French colonized Morocco, they used Jewish shrines as a means for political aspirations, as well as having power and influence over the Jews. Roads were built to Jewish pilgrimage sites as well as sanitation facilities and security at these saint shrines. This may seem as though the Jews are obtaining more advantages and more independence, however, by gaining independence from the Moroccan Muslims they pledged loyalty to France and thus became dependent of on the French instead of the Moroccans. Similar to most historical accounts of colonialism, most colonies were not given freedom, they were manipulated and under the influence of the colonial power, much as the Jews were to the French.
Before colonialism, Jews and Muslims lived in harmony, and the presence of Jews and Jewish pilgrimage not only showed the diversity of Morocco, but also “the Real Morocco itself” (p.346), which dates back to its pagan roots, the origin of saint worship. Similar to the history of Muslims and Hindus living in accordance with each other before English colonialism, Jews and Muslims lived side by side patriotically in Morocco. By the time nationalism came into being in Morocco, several hundreds of thousands of Jews had left the country, leaving only a few thousand to stand beside the Muslims for the tolerance, inclusiveness and pluralism the country represented, especially seen through the pilgrimages. The Jews as well as the Muslims reject French authority and shift towards feeling as equals in Morocco. Although only few Jews remain the uniting of the two religions against a common enemy (the French), in order to protect their homeland and symbolic history of protecting their culture could be the reason for the shift towards religious equality in the country.