MANIFESTO IN FAVOR OF HISPANIC-MOROCCAN RELATIONS

A GROUP OF WRITERS, UNIVERSITY PROFESSORS AND THINKERS SIGN A MANIFESTO IN FAVOR OF SPANISH-MOROCCAN RELATIONS.

In response to the current crisis in the relationship between Spain and Morocco, a group of writers, university professors, thinkers and citizens, in general, from Spain and Morocco have prepared and signed a MANIFESTO that aims to value, above any other consideration, the spirit of harmony and coexistence that must reign at all times between the two countries, calling for the recovery of Spanish-Moroccan relations based on mutual trust and respect, to build a joint future where peace, cooperation and prosperity must prevail.

MANIFESTO

“The current Spanish-Moroccan crisis has provoked a worrying verbal escalation tinged with reproaches and discrepancies, which takes us back to past times, completely alien to the circumstances of a globalized world, as well as to the bilateral relations that unite the two shores of the Strait of Gibraltar since ancient times. For weeks, from both sides, we listened to speeches, references and prejudices of yesteryear, which we did not think could appear again on the public scene. The vastness of the media space, especially in social networks, has provided these speeches with a vast diffusion, which endangers the coexistence between two brotherly and friendly peoples, and which exceeds even the diplomatic nature of the current conflict, to reach a phase of confrontation totally out of place.

Recovering the times of warlike conflicts of our common history and highlighting only hostility is a dangerous path that goes against human logic and the heritage of interreligious coexistence and cultural exchange that the riparian peoples have built during our historical stages. We are facing a radical and unnecessary discourse that intends to put an end to the great effort of dialogue, research and mutual understanding that the civil society and the intellectual class of Spain and Morocco have developed.

The current situation does not fit at all, from a scientific point of view, with the result of years of humanistic research in Moroccan and Spanish universities, which offered a new vision of this shared history founded on the fertile overlapping of the Iberian and Maghrebi civilizations. A rigorous academic work in the fields of history, literature, language and codicology, which led both to strengthen intellectual and cultural links and to promote common values between the two shores of the Strait of Gibraltar. A contrasted historical reality, to such an extent that it has come to be reflected in the current Moroccan Constitution in force since 2011, and in which the Kingdom of Morocco recognizes the Andalusian culture with its two Arab and Sephardic branches, as the main elements of the country’s identity.

In the same way, cultural, artistic and creative cooperation between Moroccans and Spaniards has intensified in recent years to heights never reached before. It is the personal interrelationship of the civilian population that has achieved this spirit of twinning. We are of the opinion that politics cannot become an obstacle for this spirit to continue growing; on the contrary, it must be an instrument to develop it more and more.

The spirit of concord and coexistence must reign at all times between our countries and be at the epicenter of any political conversation in order to ensure sovereignty and internal stability in Morocco and Spain. Therefore, we invite civil society on both sides of the Strait of Gibraltar to deploy its great intellectual capacity and wield its inventiveness to propose new alternatives for coexistence and make constructive contributions for a fruitful heritage that benefits the two societies as a whole.

We urge the good people on both sides of the Strait of Gibraltar to join the efforts to recover Spanish-Moroccan relations based on mutual trust and respect, which will propel us towards a future where peace, cooperation and prosperity must prevail. To this end, we must stand up to the Spanish and Moroccans to this erroneous and poisoned discourse that some media groups and social networks are using, based on hoaxes and perverse manipulations, which only aim to raise the xenophobic backdrop and feelings that we must firmly eradicate.

Finally, we are committed to a solid cooperation between civil society organizations on both sides of the Strait of Gibraltar, so that our contribution is consensual, collective and useful for a wide range of coastal citizens who converge in the Strait”.

This manifesto was drawn up by ABDERRAHMAN EL ANJERI, director of the Entrerritmos Festival of Larache; VÍCTOR MORALES LEZCANO, historian, member of the Royal Spanish Academy of History; SAID EL GHAZI EL IMLAHI, doctor in History and Political Sciences and researcher; JOSÉ SARRIA CUEVAS, poet and general secretary of the Collegiate Association of Writers in Andalusia; MOHAMED CHOUIRDI BOUHARMA AKHRIF, Hispanist; AZIZ KANJA, writer and historian; ABDELMUNIN EL AMRANI, journalist; IMAM LAJJAM, translator and interpreter; and SERGIO BARCE, lawyer and writer, winner of the Three Cultures Novel Prize.

Another 241 personalities, artists, intellectuals and members of civil society from both shores have expressly adhered to this manifesto:

-TAHAR BEN JELLOUN – writer, winner of the Goncourt Prize for Novels and Order of the French Legion of Honor

-ANTONIO HERNÁNDEZ – poet, National Poetry Award and National Critics Award

–HOSSAIN BOUZINEB – Corresponding Member of the Royal Spanish Academy for Morocco and Professor Emeritus of the Faculty of Letters and Human Sciences of the Mohammed V University of Rabat.

-RAFAEL GUILLÉN – poet, National Prize for Literature

-ADELLATIF LAABI – writer, Goncourt Prize for Poetry

-JUANA CASTRO – poet, National Critics’ Prize and Medal of Andalusia

-RAFAEL SOLER – writer and vice-president of the Spanish Writers’ Collegiate Association

-MALIKA EMBAREK – translator and National Translator of the Year Award winner

-FRANCISCO MORALES LOMAS – writer, president of the Andalusian Association of Literary Critics

-MANUEL GAHETE – writer and president of the Writers’ Association (Andalusia)

-ANTONIO MANUEL RODRÍGUEZ RAMOS – writer, professor at the University of Cordoba and vice-president of the Federation of Andalusian Athenaeums

-IBRAHIM HERNÁNDEZ MARTÍNEZ – president of the Seville Mosque Foundation

-RAFAEL BALLESTEROS – poet, Andalusian Literature Award and Andalusian Critics Award

-AHMED BENREMDDANE – president of the Moroccan Association of Iberian and Ibero-American Studies (AMEII), University of Fez

–MARÍA ROSAL – writer, Andalusia Critics’ Prize, Director of Equality at the University of Cordoba and Director of the Leonor de Guzmán Chair of Women’s Studies.

-AZIZ TAZI – professor of Spanish language and literature Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah University – Fez

-MOHAMMED DAHIRI – professor Universidad Complutense de Madrid

-ALEJANDRO LORCA CORRONS – honorary professor of Fundamentals of Economic Analysis, Jean Monnet Chair (UAM)

-RAJAE BOUMEDIANE EL METNI – translator, teacher, Book Award for the Best Translation in Morocco

-ANTONIO ÁLVAREZ DE LA ROSA – translator and professor

-AHMED EL GAMOUN – hispanist University of Oujda

-LUISA MORA VILLAREJO – librarian, responsible for the AECID Islamic Library

-MIGUEL ÁNGEL MORETA-LARA – writer

-ABDELKHALAK NAJMI – researcher at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid

-REMEDIOS SÁNCHEZ – professor at the University of Granada and director of the Granada International Poetry Festival

-MOHAMED ABRIGHACH – hispanist University Agadir

-CARMELO PÉREZ BELTRÁN – Professor at the University of Granada, Area of Arabic and Islamic Studies

-SUSANA GISBERT GRIFO – writer and prosecutor

-ABDELKERIM TABBAL – poet

-ANTONIO BRAVO NIETO – professor of art history

-ABDELHAY KORRET – journalist

-ANTONIO RAMÍREZ ALMANZA – poet and director of the Fundación Juan Ramón Jiménez

-MOHAMED EL-MADKOURI MAATAOUI, Professor Universidad Autónoma de Madrid and President of the (Spanish) Association of Trainers, Researchers and Professionals of Translation and Interpreting in the Public Services

-IÑAKI MARTÍNEZ – writer

-ABDERRAHMANE BELAAICHI – hispanist

-JULIO NEIRA – university professor

-RANDA JEBROUNI – university professor and researcher

-ALBERT TORES – poet and Andalusia Critics’ Prize winner

-ABDELLATIF LIMAMI – hispanist University Rabat/Casablanca

-FERNANDO VALVERDE – poet, Andalusia Prize for Criticism and professor at Emory University (USA)

-BOUCHRAIL ECCHAOUI – ambassador of the Women’s News Agency in Spain, writer and poet

-ALBERTO GÓMEZ FONT – linguist and writer

-JUAN COBOS WILKINS – writer

-KHADIJA KARZAZI – professor of Hispanic literature and literary theory Hassan II University Casablanca

-ANTONIO GARCÍA VELASCO – professor University of Malaga

-AHMED KSIRI – writer and president of Ateneo de Manilva

-MARTA CEREZALES LAFORET – translator

-HASSANBOUTAKKA – professor of Spanish, Hassan II University of Casablanca

-JUAN JOSÉ TÉLLEZ – writer and journalist

-ANA RODRÍGUEZ-TENORIO SÁNCHEZ – Journalist

-JAVIER VALENZUELA – writer and journalist

-AICHA EL MAATI – hispanist Hassan II University Casablanca

-LEONOR MERINO – Dr. Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, poet, writer and translator.

-HASSAN ARABI – Full Professor at Mohamed I University of Oujda

-INÉS MONTES MARTÍN – writer and winner of the Andalusia Critics’ Prize

-ENCARNA LEÓN – writer

-RAJAA DAKIR – professor Mohamed V University of Rabat

-JUANMONTERO DELGADO – professor University of Seville

-MEHDIMESMOUDI – professor at the Universidad Autónoma de Baja California Sur (Mexico)

-JOSÉSOLÍS DE LOS SANTES – professor Universidad de Sevilla

-MUSTAPHA ADILA – hispanist Abdelmalek Essaadí University

-CONSUELO HERNÁNDEZ – painter and professor of the Spanish language

-CRISITIÁN HORACIO RICCI – professor of Iberian and North African literature at the University of California

-JOSÉCABRERA MARTOS – poet, professor and literary critic

-NABIL TEGRAOUI – professor of Philosophy and Bachelor of Arts in Hispanic Studies – Casablanca

-ANTONIO PORRAS CABRERA – retired professor of the University of Malaga

-KHALID RAISSOUNI – translator

-FERNANDO DE ÁGREDA – Arabist, retired professor of the Universidad Complutense de Madrid

-LAILA KARROUCH – writer and nurse

-HERMINIA LUQUE ORTIZ – writer and teacher

-JAVIER SANCHO MAS – writer and journalist

-YALILA AHMED LIAZID – politician

-PEDRO ENRÍQUEZ – poet and academician

-JOSÉ MARÍA GARCÍA LINARES – professor and writer

-AHMED LIAZID – Magnet

-JUAN ANDIVIA GÓMEZ – writer and retired professor

-ISMAIL EL ALAOUI – teacher and poet

-ANA ISABEL ALVEA SÁNCHEZ – writer

-AZIZ AMAHJOUR – writer and professor of Hispanic Studies Faculty of Nador

-PEDRO LUIS IBÁÑEZ LÉRIDA – writer and delegate in Seville of the Collegiate Association of Writers (Andalusia)

-ALICIA MUÑOZ ALABAU – writer and teacher

-RACHID CHDID – secondary school teacher

-JUAN CLEMENTE SÁNCHEZ – writer and member of the Board of Directors of the Asociación Colegial de Escritores (Andalucía)

-MERCEDES VEGA TORO – curator-restorer of the Museum of Fine Arts of Seville

-AMINE BOURAZZA- banker

-AURORA GÁMEZ – writer and delegate in Málaga of the Association of Writers (Andalucía)

-ANA AÑÓN ROIG – writer

-EL ARBI EL HARTI – writer

-JUAN ANTONIO PALACIOS – writer, psychologist and pedagogue

-MOHAMED LAHCHIRI – writer and teacher

-LUIS SALVAGO – writer, winner of the Vargas Llosa Novel Prize, and historian

-CHAKIB CHAIRI – researcher, secretary general of the Club of studies and cultural relations between Moroccans and Spaniards of ATA

-DRISS CHAHBOUN – professor of History, University Hassan II Casablanca

-INMACULADA GARCÍA HARO – poet

-SAHIDA HAMIDO – poet

-ANTONIO ABAD – writer

-DRISS AFARA – writer

-ROCÍO ROJAS-MARCOS – professor at the University of Seville

-ABDESLAM KELAI – filmmaker and producer

-JOSÉOLIVERO PALOMEQUE – writer and Human Resources professional (retired)

-MUSTAFA AKALAY – hispanist

-MARIO CASTILLO DEL PINO – writer and professor

-SALOUA EL ARFAOUI – Spanish as a foreign language teacher

-ANTONIO RUIZ CASTELLANOS – full professor of University Cadiz

-MOHAMED CHRIF TRIBAK – filmmaker and producer

-PAULA CARBONELL – writer

-REDOUAN ELAHMADI – writer and poet

-CARMEN SALAS DEL RÍO – writer and teacher

-JAMILA KAMOUR SMARTI – vice-president of the Association of socio-intercultural women of Andalusia ASIA

-ROBERTO J. MARTIN – writer

MOHAMED LAABI – professor and researcher

-IBÍRICO SÁEZ – plastic artist

-MOHAMED ANOUAR HAIDOUR – visual artist

-MERCEDES SOPHIA JIMÉNEZ RAMOS – writer

-MOHAMED EL GHRIB – writer and cultural activist

-ANDRÉS ARENAS GÓMEZ – translator

-RACHIDAZHAR – professor Hassan II University – Casablanca

-ERNESTO BLANCO – musician, professor, former director of the Professional Conservatory of Music of Córdoba.

-TOURIA MADJOULINE – poet

-PABLO MACÍAS – filmmaker, Award at the Malaga Film Festival

-NAJIB BENDAOUD – professor Abdelmalek Assaadi University Tetouan

-JESÚS FERNÁNDEZ PALACIOS – poet

-MOHAMMED ALAMI – journalist and writer (USA)

-CARMEN HERNÁNDEZ MONTALBÁN – writer and archivist

-ABDESSAMAD BENCHERIF – journalist and writer

-PABLO BARCE – filmmaker, Forqué Award

-ALI ZIYATI -Professor at West Virginia State University (USA)

-ALBERTO MRTEH – writer

-SALAH EL OUADI – poet

-ORYSIA RYNZHUK (LARISA SARRIA) – painter

-ABDELKADER CHAOUI – writer

-MUSTAFA BUSFEHA GARCÍA – writer

-LOURDES PRAT FERRER – journalist and author

-DRISS EL KENBOURI – writer and researcher

-VICTORIA ROBLES – administrative

-ABDELJABBAR EL ASRI – retired diplomat

-ALBERTO LLAMAS ROS – writer and journalist

-SANAE EL AMRANI – translator and interpreter

-EMY LUNA – writer, Onuba Novel Award winner, History graduate

-NOUREDDINE SINAN – physician and civil actor

-MERCEDES DEMBO BARCESSAT – poet

-ABDELMOUNIM EL AMRANI – Journalist

-ALEJANDRO SALAFRANCA VÁZQUEZ – anthropologist

-ABDELLATIF BEKOURI – teacher

-JULIA SÁEZ ANGULO – journalist and writer

-HASNA ETTAYEK – elementary school teacher

-AMPARO VICO CAMACHO – widow of Mohamed Chakor

-ABDERRAHMAN TLEMÇANI – civil actor

-TERESA PERIERA RODRÍGUEZ – historian

-M’HAMED EL AICHI – journalist in Qatar

-SERGI BELLVER – writer

-AIMANE ZOUBIR OUASSINI – journalist in Spain

-ANTONIO BARCE – photographer

-ABDERRAZAK FILALI – journalist in Qatar

-JOSÉ GANIVET – poet

-OMAR DAOUD – Territorial Governance Specialist

-CARLOS TAILLEFER DE HAYA – producer and filmmaker

-ABDESLAM SERROUKH – poet

-EMILIO GALLEGO – artist and curator of M’Zora Caravanne

-MOUNIR KEJJI – Amazigh activist

-JOSÉ ANTONIO FERNÁNDEZ – poet

-JALAL MAKHFI – journalist

-CORONA ZAMARRO – teacher and writer

-ENCARNA CABELLO – writer and translator

-DAVID FERREZ – professor and poet

-FRANCISCO CASTAÑO – poet and professor

-MARIA JESÚS RUIZ FERNÁNDEZ – writer and professor University of Cadiz

-ELADIO MATEOS MIERA – professor University Granada

-JOSÉ RAMÓN DA CRUZ – filmmaker

-CARLOS MANUEL LÓPEZ RAMOS – writer

-SUSANA DE UÑA – set designer

-JUAN CAÑAVATE – archaeologist

–ANGELES RAMÍREZ GUTIÉRREZ – school principal and cultural activist

-MAR GARCÍA – actress

-ALFONSO VÁZQUEZ – Journalist

-MARIBEL MÉNDEZ – Librarian

-EMILIO BALLESTEROS – writer

-MARICARMEN REVILLA – media

–ANGELA VALLEJO – communications manager technician

-ENCARNACIÓN SÁNCHEZ ARENAS – writer

-MAURO GUILLÉN GRECH – publisher

-ESTEBAN MOLINA VELA – writer

–PALOMA FERNÁNDEZ GOMÁ – poet and director of the magazine DOS ORILLAS.

-MOISÉS PASCUAL POZAS – novelist

-JOSÉ ALBERTO LÓPEZ – artist

-JOSÉ MANUEL GARCÍA GIL – writer and professor of language and literature

-LEÓN COHEN MESONERO – writer and PhD in Chemical Sciences

-FÉLIX AMADOR – writer

-NURIA TAMAYO – journalist

-JOSÉ GUTIÉRREZ LLAMAS – writer

-FRANCISCO CHECA Y OLMOS – professor University of Almeria

-VIRTUDES ATERO BURGOS – professor of Spanish Literature University of Cadiz

-MARICRUZ GARRIDO – writer

-PILAR SALAMANCA SEGOVIA – writer

-SOLEDAD IRANZO BEL – Professor of Spanish Centro de Lenguas Modernas Universidad de Granada

-FRANCISCO ONIEVA – writer and Andalusia Critics’ Prize winner

-RICARDO REINA MARTEL – writer

-MARIA ANGELES LONARDI – poet and director Peace IFLAC SPAIN

-JOSÉ HIGUERAS – painter

-RAMÓN TARRÍO OCAÑA – musician and teacher

-SALVADOR BELLVER – writer

-JUAN EMILIO RÍOS VERA – professor and writer

-JOSÉ LUIS PÉREZ FUILLERAT – writer

-FUENSANTA MARTÍN QUERO – writer

-SANDRA LÓPEZ RODRÍGUEZ – dancer performer

-VÍCTOR PÉREZ – poet and professor

-FRANCISCO LÓPEZ BARRIOS – writer

-JESÚS GIL FUENSANTA – professor of Archaeology and Prehistory at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (UAM)

-RAFAEL VÁZQUEZ GARCÍA – professor at the University of Granada

-ISABEL FLUXA ROCA – retiree

-VLADIMIR MERINO BARRERA – writer

-ANTONIO HERRÁIZ – graphic designer

-MANUELA CORTÉS GARCÍA – full professor and researcher at the University of Granada.

-JOSÉ LUIS GARCÍA CLAVERO – poet

-CARMENSÁNCHEZ MELGAR – poet and narrator

-MERCEDES ESCOLANO – writer

–JAVIER PÉREZ BAZO – writer and professor

-RAFAEL ALVAREZ – History and Geography teacher

-MARÍA TERESA GARCÍA ROMERO – writer

-CARMEN MARCHANTE MORALEJO – researcher

-TERESA PACHECO INIESTA – poet

-SALVADOR ZOTANO – writer

-ISABEL MARÍN SÁNCHEZ – professor at the University of Granada

-ALICE WAGNER – poet

-HIGORCAGÓMEZ CARRASCO – writer and painter

-RAFAELA HERMES CASTILLO – poet

-JUAN CEYLES DOMINGUEZ – poet

-MARÍA JESÚS FUENTES GARCÍA – poet and secondary school teacher

-OLBIA LULA – painter

-SOLEDAD ZURERA – philologist

-IVONNE SÁNCHEZ – artist and poet

-ANTONIO CÉSAR MUÑOZ – representative of Musicians Without Borders for Andalusia and Morocco

-ISABEL REZMO – poet and teacher

-ROCÍO AGUILAR RUBIO – teacher

-RAÚL DUEÑAS MONTES – writer and public employee of the Consorcio R.S.U. Málaga

-ANA M. RICO MARTÍN – professor University of Granada

-JOSÉ LUIS GONZÁLEZ CÁCERES – writer

-LOLA BOÑÓN CASTELLÓN – journalist and professor of the University of Valencia

-CARLOS EGUÍA BRAVO – member of Ecologistas en Acción

-LOURDES ELÍAS SÁENZ – member of Ecologistas en Acción

-FERNANDO TRESVIERNES – writer and creative