The copy of this article did not include a date of issue. However information provided in the introduction allows one to situate its release in either late 1937 or early 1938. The newspaper, Al Maghrib, began circulating in mid-April 1937.
The rise of patriotism
Although the means of communication were quasi-nonexistent and a national Moroccan press had been in existence for only a few months, publicity about the Moroccan cause was unrelenting, encompassing little by little the whole strata of society. The nationalist ideals were spread throughout the cities and now were gaining the countryside.
We began to sense a patriotic breeze blowing across all regions of Morocco. Meanwhile the people grasped that the leaders of the liberation movement sought nothing other than to serve the nation's greater purpose to give it back its pride, its happiness and to shelter it from the calamities stalking it from all sides.
The Moroccan nation today is on the whole steeped in the nationalist ideals which have become its creed. The nation defends it with all its might, never hesitating to take up the cause and to put their total confidence in its leaders. Only a small group of folk have turned their backs on the national cause after seeing their interests threatened by the awakening of a people conscious of their rights and obligations.
This group is always in opposition to the nation's development, fearing to see its interests threatened and considers the movement as a source of lies and deceptions of the public, i.e. a conspiracy against the nation. It does not deserve to be taken into consideration; on the contrary, the national interest demands we fight mercilessly against it in order to sap its morale, to annihilate its honorable pretense and to denounce its anti-national behavior.
The people have outlined the path of their awakening and are resolutely engaged on it. Irrespective of whether the government assists per its duty and the respect for human rights or its fights against the people per the wishes of colonial ideologues influenced by private interest, these acts will henceforth only reinforce the people's momentum for their emancipation. They will show their increased commitment to those who are ready to make all sacrifices needed in their devotion to the cause.
It is in the government's interest to not oppose the liberation of the nation. Instead it must help those who acknowledge their rights, who know how to repay kindness with kindness, who refuse to be the object of contempt and who refuse to allow their vital interests to be trampled by tyrants or profiteers.
The people understand the realities of their circumstances and the objectives of the reforms pursued by the patriotic movement. They are mobilized for the national cause. It is now the people's cause. That is how nationalism has spread among the masses.
With regards to foreign nationals, there are those with a clear conscience who have come to appreciate the realities of our movement. They have read documents we developed to clarify our position. They have supported us and expressed their solidarity with our legitimate grievances.
On the other hand, there are foreign nationals, following the example of Moroccan profiteers, who have private businesses and interests and, of course, are against our cause. They know that our liberation will spell the end to their ambitions in this country. All things considered, this latter group is a negligible one for it owes its existence only to material gains. It is devoid of the moral force that lifts people when they aspire for their rights and fight for them.
This is the effect of the publicity of the movement on the national stage. As for the impact abroad, this will be the subject treated next.
Support for the Moroccan Cause Abroad
While the publicity of the national cause has been crowned a success inside Morocco, this success would have been of minor import outside our borders were it not for the efforts and means deployed by Moroccan patriots abroad. In just a few years, they successfully won over to the Moroccan cause several eminent political figures in France and obtained warmhearted support and admiration from the Islamic world for the struggle waged by the nationalist movement. The solidarity that the Arab-Islamic world demonstrated was further proof that the soul of Islam was sacred and based on a solid foundation.
In the early hours of the national movement, there was neither the press nor any other means of communication to sensitize Europeans or the Moslems of the Middle East. However when the youth of this country resolved to make the Moroccan issues known, they found many sympathizers to Eastern world issues so much so that the public relations effort for our cause found itself in friendly territory. Once the Moroccan bill of rights that was submitted to the French Protectorate authorities was disseminated abroad, it proved to the whole world that our youth had worked hard to push for a large number of national reforms and that those in charge were aware of the rise of importance of the movement and of the competence of its leaders.
Impressed by the text of the bill of rights some political circles have argued that it could not have been written by Moroccans and instead must have been the work of independent Frenchmen who supported our cause. Even by denying that the young patriots could have conceived and completed such a document which these same circles qualified as an academic masterpiece, it proves its value as a thoughtful document on how to improve the situation in Morocco. We know few who have seen a quick acknowledgement of their demands as was not the case for Moroccans. As of yet, the execution of these demands is at a very modest beginning due to the fierce opposition by the reactionary powers. But when the latter will no longer have the authority they have currently, the government will be able to conduct a thorough review of the demands and to proceed to enact them to the minutest detail.
Moreover we have observed that the colonialist press takes every opportunity to denigrate our movement and tarnish it with the worst accusations. This does not imply that these newspapers are not aware of the objectives we pursue nor that they do not believe our innocence relative to their accusations. Rather they resort from time to time to these fabrications to deceive the French public. Their aim is to lead it to act in their profit seeking interest and to counter any sympathetic response of the movement (especially) amongst the liberal French. They know that implementation of our demands would be a detriment to the colonialists and to the power they have in our country. A power which they hope to continue to exercise to keep the Moroccan people lethargic and weak.
