Jerusalem \u2013 The Moroccan Studies Chair at Al-Quds University opened the new academic year yesterday, Saturday, with a scholarly seminar entitled \u201cMoroccan Heritage Sites and Endowments in Jerusalem and Palestine: Testimonies to an Enduring Presence and Memory.\u201d The seminar was attended, among others, by Mohamed Salem Echarkaoui, Acting Director in of the Bayt Mal Al-Quds Asharif Agency (BMAQ), and Imad Abu Kishek, President of Al-Quds University.<\/p>\n
The participating researchers stressed the importance of documenting heritage sites and endowments associated with the Moroccan presence in Jerusalem and Palestine, highlighting their key landmarks, documentary sources and transformations over time. They also explored ways to preserve this historical legacy and make it accessible to future generations, thereby advancing systematic scholarly documentation of Moroccan memory.<\/p>\n
The seminar featured a scholarly discussion on the importance of documents, endowment deeds, records, photographs, maps and narratives relating to Moroccan heritage sites and endowments. It also addressed the challenges of documenting landmarks that have been altered or lost, as well as ways of harnessing archival and digitization tools and modern technologies to preserve material and documentary memory.<\/p>\n
The participants highlighted the importance of strengthening cooperation among academic, cultural and archival institutions and developing specialized research projects to catalogue and study Moroccan heritage sites and endowments in Jerusalem and Palestine. Such projects would help preserve this historical legacy and make it accessible to researchers and future generations, while fostering more structured initiatives that integrate heritage sites, endowments, documents and memory through digital archives and databases.<\/p>\n
On the occasion, Echarkaoui said that the focus on scholarly and cultural research relating to Jerusalem reflects the sustained attention that His Majesty King Mohammed VI, Chairman of the Al-Quds Committee, devotes to the city and its people, as well as His Majesty\u2019s commitment to safeguarding its civilizational identity and heritage.<\/p>\n
He noted that the Moroccan Studies Chair\u2019s distinctive strength lies in its location in Jerusalem, giving it a unique scholarly vantage point from which to address issues relating to the city and Palestine, while exploring Morocco\u2019s presence in the Levant and its historical and civilizational ties with the region.<\/p>\n
He expressed his hope that the Chair would continue to serve as a platform for knowledge production and the documentation of Moroccan memory in Jerusalem, Palestine and the wider Levant. He also looked forward to expanding the partnership between the Agency and the University through scholarly, educational and cultural projects that serve Jerusalem and its people and further advance research and knowledge about the city.<\/p>\n
For her part, Dr. Safa Nassereldin, Chair of the Moroccan Studies Chair at Al-Quds University, said that the seminar forms part of the Chair\u2019s efforts to document Morocco\u2019s presence in Jerusalem and Palestine and move from fragmented knowledge towards systematic, well-documented scholarship. She noted that this approach would pave the way for future research projects focused on cataloguing, archiving and digitization.<\/p>\n
She stressed that preserving memory goes beyond safeguarding landmarks to include generating knowledge about them and making it accessible to researchers and future generations. She noted that Moroccan heritage sites and endowments in Jerusalem and Palestine are not merely buildings or properties of historical value, but tangible and documentary evidence of an enduring Moroccan presence and its contribution to the religious, social, cultural and educational life of the Holy City.<\/p>\n
For his part, Dr. Imad Abu Kishek, President of Al-Quds University, underscored the seminar\u2019s importance in highlighting the historical Moroccan presence in Jerusalem and Palestine and strengthening the role of scholarly research in documenting and preserving this civilizational heritage. He noted that the seminar reflects the importance of the partnership and cooperation between Al-Quds University and BMAQ, as well as their shared commitment to supporting Jerusalem and strengthening its presence in scholarly and cultural research.<\/p>\n
Abu Kishek commended the Moroccan Studies Chair for organizing scholarly events that contribute to deepening knowledge of the Moroccan presence in Jerusalem, stressing the University\u2019s commitment to continuing to support academic initiatives that serve the Holy City, preserve its memory and advance scholarly research on it.<\/p>\n
During the seminar, the researchers addressed a range of issues relating to the Moroccan presence. Dr. Abdelrazak Matani delivered a presentation entitled \u201cThe Moroccan Presence in Jerusalem and Palestine \u2013 Heritage Sites, Endowments and People,\u201d examining its various manifestations and historical and social dimensions, as well as the endowments, landmarks and community roles associated with it.<\/p>\n
Dr. Samer Raddad also delivered a presentation entitled \u201cThe Geography of Moroccan Memory in Jerusalem: Between Presence and Exclusion,\u201d exploring the relationship between place and memory and the historical and cultural significance embodied in landmarks associated with the Moroccan presence.<\/p>\n
The Moroccan Studies Chair at Al-Quds University was established on March 2, 2025, at the initiative of BMAQ, in cooperation with the University and the Moroccan Cultural Center \u2013 Bayt Al-Maghrib Association.<\/p>\n
The Chair is dedicated to studying and documenting the historical, cultural and human ties between Morocco, Jerusalem and Palestine, and to turning this shared heritage into a structured field for research, education and knowledge production.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Jerusalem \u2013 The Moroccan Studies Chair at Al-Quds University opened the new academic year yesterday, Saturday, with a scholarly seminar entitled \u201cMoroccan Heritage Sites and Endowments in Jerusalem and Palestine: Testimonies to an Enduring Presence and Memory.\u201d The seminar was attended, among others, by Mohamed Salem Echarkaoui, Acting Director in of the Bayt Mal Al-Quds…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":12824,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12839","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-non-classifiee","category-26","description-off"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bmaq.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12839","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bmaq.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bmaq.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bmaq.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bmaq.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12839"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.bmaq.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12839\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12840,"href":"https:\/\/www.bmaq.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12839\/revisions\/12840"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bmaq.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12824"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bmaq.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12839"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bmaq.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12839"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bmaq.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12839"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}