Rabat lawyer seeking to join Islamists says he’s not Jewish

JTA -– A Moroccan attorney who sent an open letter to the country’s Islamist party asking to join is not Jewish, as reported by JTA and other news outlets.

Isaac Charia of Rabat sent his letter to the Islamist Justice and Development Party requesting to join the party, the Morocco World News reported. The news outlet and others identified Charia as Jewish, responding to reports on the party’s website indicating that he was Jewish.

Arab- and French-language news websites picked up the story, as did Jewish and Israeli media websites.

In the letter, Charia asked whether the party would welcome Moroccan Jews or if it was only for Muslims. He also wrote that “the honest citizen who wants to participate in the political life of the country has no other alternative” than the party. He said he wanted to fight corruption and encourage reforms through the party.

“I am a Muslim because my father is. My full name is Ishaq Ben Taib Ben Mohammed, my family is well-known. It is Muslim, of Andalucian origin and resides in the city of Tetouan,” he told the Sahifat Ennass daily following reports posted by the Justice and Development Party on its website that said he was Jewish.

Charia in his letter also called for political parties in Morocco to stop mixing politics and religion.