C.R. Pennell

A country with a government and a flag : the Rif War in Morocco, 1921-1926

This is a published version of the book ‘A country with a government and a flag : the Rif War in Morocco, 1921-1926’, published by Middle East and North African Studies Press (MENAS). This version is reproduced with the permission of MENAS Associates Ltd.

Law on a wild frontier: Moroccans in the Spanish courts in Melilla in the nineteenth century

The frontier between the Spanish enclave of Melilla and the surrounding territory of Morocco was disorderly for much of the nineteenth century. On the Moroccan side the control of the Sultan was often ephemeral, and the border itself was marked by raiding, and even more frequent smuggling. On the Melillan side, conflicts between individual Moroccans and Spaniards had to be mediated through the legal system. An examination of the particular cases illustrates the extent to which Spanish law was a tool that Moroccans used to protect their interests, rather than an ideological marker, or nationalist symbol.

The British Consular courts and Moroccan Muslim identity: ‘Christian’ justice as a tool

The use of law in pre‐colonial Morocco was a political and ideological weapon in the lands of both Moroccans and Europeans. Before 1912 Moroccans frequently made use of the Consular Courts in disputes with Europeans and exploited the system of consular protection to their own benefit. This process continued after the colonial regimes had been installed as a means of avoiding the colonial legal system which created a tripartite legal structure. It was only when the independent state took over the protectorate legal system that these opportunities for legal choice came to an end.

The Rif War: Link or Cul-de-sac? Nationalism in the Cities and Resistance in the Mountains

Indigenous resistance to colonial rule is usually categorised as ‘primary’ or ‘secondary’ resistance, the first being ‘the hostile reaction of unmodified tribal forms’ and the second, the ‘muter protest’ of indigenous movements including political parties created under colonial influence. In the Islamic world, this was often paralleled by a distinction between rural and urban movements. There is, however, a third category ‐ ‘post‐penetration resistance’ ‐ in which indigenous structures are modified as a result of the act of resistance itself. The Rif War falls into this category, largely because of the Salafiyyist views of its leader, Muhammed bin ‘Abd al‐Karim al‐Khattabi. At the same time the ambivalent links of his family with the makhzan and Spain also influenced the development of the movement he led. But the fact that, as he recognised, few of his followers appreciated the social and political changes he introduced undermined his achievement, as did his rejection by his ideological mentors such as M...

Women and Resistance to Colonialism in Morocco: the Rif, 1916-1926

This article attempts to investigate the role of women in rural society in Morocco, and by extension in the Muslim world of the Near and Middle East. It does so by examining the evidence thrown up by a major crisis, the Rif war of the 1920s. The mobilization and organization of tribal society by Muhammad bin ‘Abd al-Karī;m (Abdelkrim) to fight the war against the Spanish and the French extended to women as well as men, involving them in new tasks under new laws. In the end, however, the evidence points not so much to a revolution in womens lives as to the activation for the purposes of war of a traditional ‘female space’. In so doing, it points to the real importance of the womens sphere in a society which was sexually strongly segregated, confirming the impression derived from studies of more literate, urban and aristocratic Muslim societies of North Africa and the Middle East.

Tripoli in the late Seventeenth Century: The Economics of corsairing in a ‘Sterill Country’

AbstractThe economic poverty of Tripoli in the Seventeenth century was such that the piratical activities of its corsair fleet were of major importance to both the town and the Ottoman regime. An unpublished journal written by Thomas Baker (British Consul between 1679–1685) contains detailed information about the arrival and departure of both merchant ships and corsairs and about the value of prizes taken by the pirates and brought to Tripoli. These data are of great value in demonstrating the impact of the corsairs on the political and economic relationships of Tripoli with the European powers. If the corsairing was too successful, Tripoli was liable to be attacked by these powers. But on the other hand, when the authorities were constrained by treaties with the Europeans to limit the activities of the corsairs, the resulting economic hardship threatened the internal stability of the regime.

How and why to remember the Rif War (1921–2021)

ABSTRACT The centenary of the Rif War in Morocco (1921–1926) has nearly arrived. This article considers how accounts of the war have been transmitted as acts of memory. It surveys European and American publications on the war from the early military histories through to political accounts explaining the war from imperialist and anti-imperial perspectives. It then examines the first general histories and academic accounts, by anthropologists and linguists, both American and Moroccan. The release of the Spanish Army and French Foreign Ministry archives opened discussion up to historians trained in the western tradition. At the same time the first Arabic-language accounts were published by Moroccan local historians. Finally, it discusses use of the Rif War in modern Moroccan politics, particularly during the truth and reconciliation hearings at the beginning of the 2000s, and later during popular protest movements in the Rif. It concludes with an examination of how Islamists have used the war and compares the Islamist foundation documents of Islamic State with those of the Rifi state. When the centenary of the war comes round in 2021, the commentators and historians and politicians and polemicists will have to integrate all those perceptions.

Lineage, genealogy and practical politics: thoughts on David Hart's last work

Authority in Morocco has often been based on lineage. Thus genealogy has been a crucial part of dynasty and regime legitimation, as David Hart has shown. However, discourse based on genealogy is neither history nor an accurate description of sociopolitical order as the genealogical memory rarely extends beyond six generations. As a result, alongside this ‘great tradition’ of genealogical authority is a parallel little tradition based on power, as demonstrated by the role of ’arsh and sanctuary as well as by the maraboutic tradition of resistance to foreign occupation in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. For David Hart this linkage between ideology and practical politics was the key to his interests in Morocco and the wider Muslim world.

Law as a Cultural Symbol - the Gilford Murder Case and the Presentation of Saudi Justice

Abstract In 1996 two British nurses in Saudi Arabia were arrested for the murder of an Australian colleague. After they were tried and found guilty, one was sentenced to death and the other to be flogged. In the British and Australian press liberal commentators said that the case showed how human rights flaws were intrinsic to the Saudi legal system, and the sharīca on which it was based. The Saudi government asserted a different framework of rights, claiming that the imposition of western cultural values onto an Islamic society denied its cultural and religious identity. But the ‘clash of civilisations’ was not quite so stark: British right-wing commentators expressed admiration for the Saudi system and the Saudi governments Islamist opponents used the case to demonstrate that Saudi Arabia was tyrannical. The depiction of law on all sides became an emblematic one. Leaving aside the concerns of the family of the victim and the accused, general questions of law and identity were raised as systems of justice were caricatured into ‘licit’ and ‘illicit’, ‘true’ or ‘false’.

A. Review article the discovery of Morocco's northern coast

LE MAROC MEDITERRANEEN, LA TROISIEME DIMENSION. Edited by HABIB EL MALKI. Casablanca, Editions le Fennec, 1992. 175 pp. Charts, tables. Dh48 (pb). LE MAROC ET SON ESPACE MEDITERRANEEN. By FOUAD ZAIM. Rabat, Confluences, 1990. 216 pp. Maps, illustrations. Dh70 (pb). REVUE MAROC‐EUROPE. Special edition ‘Le Maroc et la Mer’, no 2, 1992. Rabat, Editions La Porte, 1992. 332 pp. Dh80 (pb). ON THE SPANISH MOROCCAN FRONTIER: A STUDY IN RITUAL POWER AND ETHNICITY. By HENK DRIESSEN. Oxford, Berg, 1992. x, 238 pp. 12 illustrations, 3 maps, 8 tables.