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Friday, November 20, 2009
Deep Unease Over the Future Gnaws at Moroccans in
Spain
By LIZETTE ALVAREZ
Published: Monday, March 15, 2004
MADRID, March 14 ? Ali Mrazl, a Moroccan who has built a
tranquil, solid life in Spain over the course of 16 years, wishes he
could turn back time.
"People think less of you here now if you are Moroccan," said Mr.
Mrazl, a 32yearold store worker who lives in the Lavapies
immigrant quarter in Madrid. It was there that the police arrested
three Moroccans on Saturday in connection with the train bombings
here on Thursday that killed 200 people.
"They criticize us because of who we are and it hurts," he said. "After Sept. 11, it got much
worse. If this is Al Qaeda now, it will be so much worse ? much, much worse."
The release of a videotape by a man calling himself a military spokesman for Al Qaeda,
and the arrest of the three Moroccans, have left Spain's Muslim population in a state of
profound unease. The hardest hit by this news have been the hundreds of thousands of
Moroccans in Spain, who walk a fine line between acceptance and rejection.
Muslims say they have been bracing for a backlash.
Stand at the tip of Spain, and Morocco is sometimes visible in the haze, seven miles across
the Strait of Gibraltar, a reminder of the complicated history that has bound Spain to
Islam for centuries as both conquered and conqueror.
For nearly 800 years, the Moors ruled Spain from its southern stronghold, El Andalus,
ushering in a period of enlightenment and relative tolerance while the rest of Europe
thrashed about in the Dark Ages. In 1492, the Spaniards reconquered the nation, forcing
Muslims to convert, persecuting them and finally driving them back to where they came
from.
Yet contemporary Spain is considered the most tolerant among its large European
neighbors, the country most willing to take in immigrants. There were 1.5 million
immigrants in Spain as of 2002, about a third of them Muslims.
Many Muslims here describe themselves as outsiders ? most are not citizens and could not
vote today, they point out ? who coexist with little fuss and few problems. In Madrid, they
work in construction and clean houses. Beyond the capital, in the rural towns of Andalusia
where most of them live, they work on the farms and in the greenhouses.
So far, no militant antiimmigrant parties have taken root here, and while racial attacks
are increasing, they remain relatively rare.
"Until now, there has been no reason for fear," said Muhammad El Afifi, the spokesman
for the Cultural Center and Mosque in Madrid. "Spain has always been a friendly country
for the Arab people."
Yet there are signs that is changing. In the last few years, Spain, newly prosperous and
more accustomed in the past to export its own people than to import foreigners, has
experienced a marked increase in immigration and is getting choosier about who it will
welcome.
North Africans ? most of them poor and with little education, who make up the bulk of
immigrants ? are finding it increasingly difficult to get permission to live and work here.
Thousands of Moroccans and other Africans try each year to cross the strait on rubber
rafts, and dozens die along the way.
Nor has Spain been immune to the sort of Islamophobia that has spread in Europe and
elsewhere since the Sept. 11 attacks, many Muslims here say. Less than two years ago, in
the first such episode in recent memory, Spaniards rampaged through a Moroccan
neighborhood in southern Spain after a deranged Moroccan killed a Spanish woman.
That is why, when Ali alMessery stood before 1,000 worshipers at the M30 mosque in
central Madrid on Friday and prayed ? for the victims of the terrorist attack, for the
stability of Spain, for peace in the world ? he also beseeched God for something else. "The
people who did this are ignoramuses who have stones for hearts," he said. "Please God,
please God, let it not be Muslims!"
Mr. Messery, an Egyptian imam, and the others here for Friday Prayers expressed horror
over the attacks, which killed about 40 immigrants. They declared five minutes of silence
out of respect for a man identified only as Assad whose simple wooden coffin sat in the
room.
"It was an alliance with the devil to do such an act against humanity," Mr. Messery said
after the prayer session. "This was an act of hate, not only against Spaniards, but against
humanity regardless of color or nationality or religion."
Muslims say they are as fearful as others in Spain in the aftermath of the attack. "I told
my wife not to go out today," said Abdul Raudi, 37, a butcher from Morocco.
On the streets of Lavapies, people say they felt a powerful kinship with Madrileños, as the
people of Madrid are called. The prospect that Al Qaeda could be behind the attacks, said
Fouad AitArouss, a restaurant worker, "fell on us like a bucket of cold water."
Underscoring the complexity of the Muslims' relationship with their adopted country, he
added that when the bombs exploded, "we all felt like Madrileños."
Elaine Sciolino contributed reporting for this article.
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Friday, November 20, 2009
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Deep Unease Over the Future Gnaws at Moroccans in
Spain
By LIZETTE ALVAREZ
Published: Monday, March 15, 2004
MADRID, March 14 ? Ali Mrazl, a Moroccan who has built a
tranquil, solid life in Spain over the course of 16 years, wishes he
could turn back time.
"People think less of you here now if you are Moroccan," said Mr.
Mrazl, a 32yearold store worker who lives in the Lavapies
immigrant quarter in Madrid. It was there that the police arrested
three Moroccans on Saturday in connection with the train bombings
here on Thursday that killed 200 people.
"They criticize us because of who we are and it hurts," he said. "After Sept. 11, it got much
worse. If this is Al Qaeda now, it will be so much worse ? much, much worse."
The release of a videotape by a man calling himself a military spokesman for Al Qaeda,
and the arrest of the three Moroccans, have left Spain's Muslim population in a state of
profound unease. The hardest hit by this news have been the hundreds of thousands of
Moroccans in Spain, who walk a fine line between acceptance and rejection.
Muslims say they have been bracing for a backlash.
Stand at the tip of Spain, and Morocco is sometimes visible in the haze, seven miles across
the Strait of Gibraltar, a reminder of the complicated history that has bound Spain to
Islam for centuries as both conquered and conqueror.
For nearly 800 years, the Moors ruled Spain from its southern stronghold, El Andalus,
ushering in a period of enlightenment and relative tolerance while the rest of Europe
thrashed about in the Dark Ages. In 1492, the Spaniards reconquered the nation, forcing
Muslims to convert, persecuting them and finally driving them back to where they came
from.
Yet contemporary Spain is considered the most tolerant among its large European
neighbors, the country most willing to take in immigrants. There were 1.5 million
immigrants in Spain as of 2002, about a third of them Muslims.
Many Muslims here describe themselves as outsiders ? most are not citizens and could not
vote today, they point out ? who coexist with little fuss and few problems. In Madrid, they
work in construction and clean houses. Beyond the capital, in the rural towns of Andalusia
where most of them live, they work on the farms and in the greenhouses.
So far, no militant antiimmigrant parties have taken root here, and while racial attacks
are increasing, they remain relatively rare.
"Until now, there has been no reason for fear," said Muhammad El Afifi, the spokesman
for the Cultural Center and Mosque in Madrid. "Spain has always been a friendly country
for the Arab people."
Yet there are signs that is changing. In the last few years, Spain, newly prosperous and
more accustomed in the past to export its own people than to import foreigners, has
experienced a marked increase in immigration and is getting choosier about who it will
welcome.
North Africans ? most of them poor and with little education, who make up the bulk of
immigrants ? are finding it increasingly difficult to get permission to live and work here.
Thousands of Moroccans and other Africans try each year to cross the strait on rubber
rafts, and dozens die along the way.
Nor has Spain been immune to the sort of Islamophobia that has spread in Europe and
elsewhere since the Sept. 11 attacks, many Muslims here say. Less than two years ago, in
the first such episode in recent memory, Spaniards rampaged through a Moroccan
neighborhood in southern Spain after a deranged Moroccan killed a Spanish woman.
That is why, when Ali alMessery stood before 1,000 worshipers at the M30 mosque in
central Madrid on Friday and prayed ? for the victims of the terrorist attack, for the
stability of Spain, for peace in the world ? he also beseeched God for something else. "The
people who did this are ignoramuses who have stones for hearts," he said. "Please God,
please God, let it not be Muslims!"
Mr. Messery, an Egyptian imam, and the others here for Friday Prayers expressed horror
over the attacks, which killed about 40 immigrants. They declared five minutes of silence
out of respect for a man identified only as Assad whose simple wooden coffin sat in the
room.
"It was an alliance with the devil to do such an act against humanity," Mr. Messery said
after the prayer session. "This was an act of hate, not only against Spaniards, but against
humanity regardless of color or nationality or religion."
Muslims say they are as fearful as others in Spain in the aftermath of the attack. "I told
my wife not to go out today," said Abdul Raudi, 37, a butcher from Morocco.
On the streets of Lavapies, people say they felt a powerful kinship with Madrileños, as the
people of Madrid are called. The prospect that Al Qaeda could be behind the attacks, said
Fouad AitArouss, a restaurant worker, "fell on us like a bucket of cold water."
Underscoring the complexity of the Muslims' relationship with their adopted country, he
added that when the bombs exploded, "we all felt like Madrileños."
Elaine Sciolino contributed reporting for this article.
MOST POPULAR
Today's Headlines Daily EMail
Sign up for a roundup of the day's top stories, sent every
morning.
See Sample
|
Privacy Policy
1.
Well: Phys Ed: Why Exercise Makes You Less
Anxious
2.
OpEd Columnist: The Breast Brouhaha
3.
The Minimalist: 101 Head Starts on the Day
4.
Fitness: Is the Spirit of Competition in the Soul of
Yoga?
5.
OpEd Columnist: The Wrong Side of History
6.
Duck! It ’s the Holidays.
7.
State of the Art: No ‘System, ’ but Music
Housewide
8.
Editorial Observer: Individualism, Identity and
Bicycles in Northern California
9.
Regents Raise College Tuition in California by 32
Percent
10.
Personal Health: A Dental Shift: Implants Instead
of Bridges
Go to Complete List »
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ALSO IN BUSINESS »
Are you a Tigger, or an Eeyore?
Answers about divorce and money
A Surprise Gets Buzz for
Oscars
Is Competition in the Soul
of Yoga?
Bloggingheads:
Terrorist Show
Trials?
A video debate on
whether a highprofile
terrorist can receive a
fair trial in America.
Green Debate at The U.S.
Chamber of Commerce
Gelman, Silver and Lee:
Health Care Calculations
Minimalist Art and
Maximum Flavor
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