At approximately 10 P.M. on May 16, 2003, a series of five synchronized assaults—perpetrated by 12 suicide bombers—rocked Morocco’s largest city. The most horrific terrorist attack on Moroccan soil to date came less than 18 months after the events of September 11, 2001, the most devastating American equivalent up to that point in time. The aftermath of both events would ensure that both countries—contemporary partners in fighting terrorism—would never be the same.
At around 10 P.M. on the night of May 16, the Farah Hotel, La Casa de Espana Nightclub, El Positano (French-Moroccan Jewish-owned) Pizzeria, a Jewish cemetery, and the Belgian consulate endured a series of tragic events which would render 33 dead and over a hundred wounded in Morocco’s economic capital.
Upon a detailed examination of the two series of events, one can find various commonalities and yet several differences. The overwhelming evidence presented has shown that both were perpetrated by al-Qaeda—the de facto leader of whom, Osama bin Laden—claimed that there should be no moral distinction between military and civilian targets in resisting American interests.
On February 23, 1998—some three-and-a half-years prior to the successful execution of the 9/11 attacks on the U.S.—bin Laden was specifically quoted as declaring what he considered to be the following fatwa: “The ruling to kill the Americans and their allies—civilian and military—is an individual duty for every Muslim who can do it in any country in which it is possible to do it…”
Indeed, in an audiotape released a mere three months prior to the Casablanca bombings, bin Laden had described Morocco as one of several U.S. allies “ready for liberation.” As the U.S. invasion of Iraq as a purported response to 9/11 was met with controversy even with respect to some of its Western allies, it no doubt served as a powder keg of motivation for fundamentalist factions in Morocco to justify their aggression against American interests, largely symbolized in Casablanca by the cosmopolitan hotel and nightclub, and the Jewish-owned pizzeria and cemetery as targets of contempt. (A Hebrew social center was also attacked but there were no reported casualties).
Furthermore, as the Moroccan government was one of the first to condemn the unprecedented attack on U.S. soil and began to synchronize efforts with the U.S. in an effort to step up security-related issues in response to 9/11, the Moroccan Islamic Combat Group (GICM)–thought to be the logistical local operative of al-Qaeda, largely by virtue of the arrest of its military boss Saad Houssaini in connection with the May 16 events–epitomized the fundamentalist forces arising out of the increasingly marginalized Casablanca slum of Sidi Moumen, and no doubt became even more motivated to act.
Much like the U.S. Patriot Act’s purported passage as a knee-jerk reaction to the events of 9/11–enabling the government to detain suspects indefinitely and without formally charging them with terrorist activity, and increasing the power of various governmental agencies with respect to immigration, banking, and overall surveillance–a Moroccan version of its own “Patriot Act” followed the events of 5/16.
The events of September 11, 2001 also demonstrated the undeniable handiwork of al-Qaeda in the synchronization of its multiple attacks: the commandeering of four civilian commercial jetliners almost simultaneously, three of which reached their intended targets, the hijackers of the fourth of whom were foiled only by a systematic passenger rush on the cockpit to drive the airplane into the ground in unpopulated rural Pennsylvania instead of into the U.S. Capitol or the White House. The final tally of the events of 9/11 is now believed to stand at 2,977 victims.
Perhaps most interestingly, though–and surely the most emotional comparison which tied the two nations together in their brotherhood against terrorism–was the common theme of the statements provided by the leaders of Morocco and of the United States on the evening of their respective nations’ darkest, most vulnerable hour. King Mohammed VI responded as such following the May 16 atrocities:
“This terrorist aggression is contrary to our tolerant and generous faith. Moreover, its sponsors, like its executors, are vile scoundrels who can in no way claim to be from Morocco or authentic Islam, as they ignore the tolerance that characterizes this religion.”
Likewise, President George W. Bush on the evening of 9/11/01 ended his response to the horrific events of the day also by eliciting religious overtones:
“…tonight I ask for your prayers for all those who grieve, for the children whose worlds have been shattered, for all whose sense of safety and security has been threatened. And I pray they will be comforted by a power greater than any of us, spoken through the ages in (Psalm 23, an excerpt of the bible): “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me.”
The surprisingly theologically-based official response by the president of a nation whose founding principles were based on the separation of religion and state was and remains a profoundly uniting force between the United States and Morocco in their common commitment to peace and stability across the world.
Though secular efforts to combat the forces of evil were undoubtedly strengthened by the commonalities of the two events, it also became evident to all but the most hardened atheists of the international community that a higher power is truly needed to counter the abominable stench of terrorism, and those who justify it in a warped attempt to advance their own agenda. May eternal peace be upon those who suffered and continue to suffer today because of these tragedies.