This report was presented on behalf of the Rabat-Salé chapter of the National Movement Party to the emissary of the French socialist party following the events beginning with the publication of the "National Pact" in 1937 and the repressive wave that hit the National Movement Party during which its leader, Allal El Fassi, was sentenced to nine years of exile in Gabon in French Equatorial Africa.
Dear Sir,
The sympathizers of the Franco-Moroccan detente welcome you and seize the occasion of your fact finding mission to express to you and to the members of the socialist party in France as well as in Morocco their deep appreciation for your moral support for better ties between Moroccans and Frenchmen based on mutual understanding and the desire for frank and sincere cooperation. Your visit to the different regions of our country, the concerns of your investigation of the situation in each region so as to better understand the events that transpired recently and your review of the causes by contacting in situ the people's representatives are the best service one can provide to your party and to our common cause. If all the French emissaries granted the same attention to Moroccan issues, if they made direct contact with the people to hear their grievances, as you have done, the tension that exists in the French-Moroccan relations would dissipate. The turbulent eddies would settle down and the Moroccan people would sense a lightening of their material and mental suffering. Furthermore they would have put an end to the mendacious allegations propagated by those who seek to create an unhealthy atmosphere from which only they can draw profit.
The Moroccan issues that have mobilized the services of well intentioned patriots and the liberals of the Republic of France is clear and unequivocal. However its detractors use every opportunity to give free rein to invented allegations and spare no effort to distort the truth about our demands for knowledge and aspirations for progress. We seek to pull the Moroccan nation away from its inertia and to drive it towards a modern and civilized lifestyle in the manner that France has been engaged within the framework of its protectorate mission here. The proponents of the Moroccan cause insist that priority be given to education. Its dissemination could be entrusted to either the public or the private sector. They support a free press able to echo the suffering of people who often find themselves at the mercy of agents of authority. They demand the adoption of justice based on our era's notions of fairness and they wish to obtain the necessary authorizations to create social organizations to develop a spirit of cooperation within the Moroccan society.
These are currently the key demands of the Moroccan people. It is fought against by reactionary forces who spread noise that the National Movement is hatching a conspiracy with intentions to chase the French out of Morocco. Instead of a government that reflects on the means to follow up on the legitimate demands submitted for its approval and thus soothe the tension across the country, it has chosen a path of confrontation. It has called on the police and the army to take on an unarmed population with orders to shoot protesters on sight. Some were thrown in jail while others suffered the worst humiliation, torture by flogging. The authorities believed these methods would overcome the will to live a like according to the wishes of all Moroccan people. But neither these hostile acts nor measures taken contrary to the spirit of fairness and justice have bested the firm determination of the people. It only reinforced their commitment to the national cause and intensified their struggle to get their legitimate demands addressed. The Moroccan people await the day when their rights and justice are finally triumphant. The government will have changed its policies towards harmony with the true patriots known for their devotion to the country and not with those with sordid personal affairs. But for now, the unjust acts we have experienced concern us. We do not fear as much the suffering we have to endure as a consequence of these acts as we do their impact on the reputation of France as the despair of the popular masses grows and leads to a resurgence of hatred against the rulers whose authority is derived from the power of the protectorate. Were it not for the presence of freedom loving Frenchmen confronting these reactionaries it would have been almost impossible to find common ground between our two communities. The freedom loving Frenchmen have taken up our cause and defend it with passion and conviction.
Hence we have placed our confidence in this group of liberal Frenchmen who strive by example for a good relations between our nations. They understand our the justness of our cause and they are ready to provide justice no matter the resistance of the reactionary forces that try to stifle our voices and never stop stressing our lives.
