Moroccan king thanks Jewish singer who wrote song defending monarchy

King Mohammed VI of Morocco thanked a Jewish composer from Casablanca who had written a song in the monarch’s honor.

Albert Cohen, a novelist, composer and singer, earlier this week shared on Facebook a copy of the letter he received from the king for a poem entitled “Lay Off My King” that Cohen had written in support of the monarch, who for years has been engaged in a power struggle with politicians, including Islamists, seeking to transfer the royal house’s executive powers to elected representatives.

The poem, written ahead of Morocco’s official day of celebration of the monarchy, grabbed headlines in major newspapers, according to a report published Wednesday by the website Nieuws Marokko.

“I thank you for an initiative whose message is of loyalty and confidence,” the king wrote to Cohen.

On Facebook, Cohen on August 27 wrote: “I am deeply proud and very honored by the letter that His Majesty Mohammed VI, may G-d bless him, saw fit to address to me following the dedication to His Majesty of my recent song.”