The New Frontiers of Jihad by Alison Pargeter

Author:Alison Pargeter [Pargeter, Alison]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Social Science, Sociology of Religion
ISBN: 9780812241464
Google: qx_0O9gDEVkC
Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press
Published: 2008-01-15T01:11:48+00:00

CHAPTER 8

THE MADRID BOMBINGS

While the Algerians launched attacks against France in the mid-1990s, it took another decade before a group of Moroccans were to do the same against their former colonial masters, the Spanish, when they launched bomb attacks in Madrid.1 Just like the Franco-Algerian relationship, Moroccan–Spanish relations have also been extremely fractious over the years and conflicts have arisen over issues such as immigration, fishing rights and the disputed territory of the Western Sahara in which Morocco accuses Spain of backing the Polisario independence movement which is seeking autonomy in the territory. Relations reached a particular crisis point in 2002 when the two states began squabbling over sovereignty of a tiny uninhabited Mediterranean island, known as Perejil (Parsley) to the Spanish and Leila to the Moroccans. Morocco sent a number of soldiers to occupy the island but met with an unexpectedly harsh response from Spanish forces who evicted the Moroccan troops. The row was only resolved when international powers stepped in. However, Spain’s stance was seen as overly aggressive by many Moroccans and viewed as yet another example of Spanish arrogance and hostility towards its former colonial possession. While many Moroccans dream of going abroad to Spain to make a better life, the cultural baggage of this relationship is not always easily discarded, including by those who succeed in making it across the Mediterranean to start a new life in Europe.

The Madrid bombings of 11 March 2004 which killed 192 people and wounded 2,050 were widely interpreted as being an assault by Al-Qa’ida in its bid to force Spanish troops out of Iraq just prior to the Spanish elections. Despite the assumption that Al-Qa’ida was responsible for the attacks, it is striking to note that the vast majority of those involved were in fact young Moroccans, many of them immigrants with strong links to their country of origin. This in itself came as a surprise, as Moroccans had not traditionally been associated with militant Islamism or jihadism. Moreover Moroccan communities in Europe, driven out of their home country primarily for economic reasons, had a reputation for being quiet and less politicized than their Algerian counterparts. Yet these bombings, as well as those that hit Casablanca in May 2003, revealed that there was a new and destructive brand of Moroccan radicalism that, as it turned out, had been brewing below the surface in the kingdom for many years and that had Spain in its sights as a target.

Moroccan Islamists

The Moroccan state has always achieved stability through its monarchy, which claims direct descent from the Prophet, and which bestows the title ‘Commander of the Faithful’ on the king. It has prided itself in following the Maliki school of Islam – a school known for its moderation and tolerance – and has fought hard against the forces of secularism that had come in the form of the left-wing and nationalist movements of the 1950s and 1960s. Therefore Islam has always been very much part of the identity of the Moroccan state. That

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