south of marrakesh: memories of jewish life in the sahara and anti-atlas

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By the mid-20th century, 260,000 Jews called Morocco home. Today, fewer than 5,000 Jews remain in the country. While the dozens of Jewish settlements that once existed between Marrakesh and the Sahara are often forgotten they trace their establishment to the destruction of the First Temple. Chris Silver, Acting Director of the Inter-Agency Task Force on Israeli-Arab Issues at the Join Distribution Committee traveled across Morocco in 2008 to document the remnants of these now vanished communities and to capture the stories of those who remember them. Using photos, video and rare music recordings, Chris will present a rarely seen picture of Jewish life in southern Morocco. (See his blog at jewishmorocco.blogspot.com.)