TheCaisse d’Aide aux Immigrants Marocains[1] orCadima (Hebrew:קדימה, 'forward'[2]) was the clandestine[2]Zionist apparatus that arranged and oversaw the massmigration of Moroccan Jews to Israel from 1949 to 1956, during the final years ofFrench colonial rule in Morocco.[3][4][5][6]: 164 Cadima was administered byJewish Agency andMossad Le'Aliyah agents sent fromIsrael, with assistance from local Moroccan Zionists.[4] It was based out of an office in Casablanca and operated cells in large cities as well as a transit camp along theroad toal-Jadida, from which Jewish migrants would depart for Israel viaMarseille.[3]
Cadima was established through an agreement between Resident-GeneralAlphonse Juin of theFrench colonial administration in Morocco and theJewish Agency represented by Jacques Gershoni signed on March 7, 1949.[3][2] By this agreement, the French colonial administration would no longer interfere in the emigration of Jews from Morocco as it had been doing previously.[2]
Cadima established a main office in the European section of Casablanca and opened cells in large cities throughout Morocco, operating under the guise of providing social services and a library.[6]: 164 From these branches, they recruited Jews from rural areas and isolated villages and oversaw their departure.[5][3][6]: 164
Cadima started with communities in southern Morocco, citing "security reasons," withYitzhak Rafael, director ofaliyah of the Jewish Agency, declaring on October 18, 1951, that "absolute priority is being given due to their living conditions and current politics."[7]: 710 Georges Bensoussan has noted that "these motives concealed other matters," citing aWorld Jewish Congress rapporteur that said "We consider that, among the entire Jewish population of Morocco, those living in the villages of the South are the most capable—physically and morally—of adapting to Israel ... They are accustomed to a harsh life, to hard work, to agriculture, to sobriety, etc. ... All these reasons make the aliyah of these populations an urgent and absolute necessity.”[7]: 710 According to Bensoussan, theAmerican Jewish Joint Distribution Committee provided subsidies and aid, theORT supervised the departure of children 10–15 years old with vacations in France, and theŒuvre de secours aux enfants (OSE) accounted for the sick children withconvalescence trips.[7]
Initially,Mossad Le'Aliyah agents exploited poverty to motivate Jews to leave, though their economic situation would not significantly improve in Israel; most of the 30,000 Jews migrated between 1949 and 1951 were from poorer communities.[6]: 164
From mid-1951[8] to 1953,[3]Cadima restricted the migration of Moroccan Jews through a criterion known asseleqṣeya (Hebrew:סלקציה[9]) that included a strict medical examination and privileged healthy young people and families with a breadwinner.[3][8] Those who passed the medical inspection were sent to a transit camp outside Casablanca on the road to al-Jadida, from which they would depart for Israel by way of Marseille.[3]
| rate of emigration through Cadima | |
|---|---|
| 1949 | 2,709[3] |
| 1950 | 3,442[3] |
| 1951 | 6,677[3] |
| 1952 | 4,632[3] |
| 1953 | 2,561[3] |
| 1954 | 9,977[3] |
| 1955 | 26,555[3] |
| first 2 months of 1956 | 5,903[3] |
While emigration ran smoothly under French colonial rule,[4]Cadima sought to accelerate its activities by loosening its selection criteria in the period preceding Moroccan independence.[3]
Cadima's was shut down and its staff were expelled when the Moroccan government banned all Zionist activities within Moroccan territory on May 13, 1956.[3] The two thousand people who were inCadima's transit camp, unable to return home after having sold all their possessions and assets, were allowed to leave quietly after theWorld Jewish Congress negotiated with the Moroccan government.[3] AfterCadima, other agencies would facilitate the emigration of Jewish Moroccans clandestinely.[3]
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