Posted on 03/01/2005 6:55:46 AM PST by concrete is my business
After more than five centuries, Muslims of Al-Andalus (now Spain) still mark every year in anguish the mass exodus of their ancestors by Spanish authorities to North Africa.
The Moriscos, the name given to Muslims who were living in Spain after the fall of the last Muslim stronghold of Granada in 1492, were subjected to an array of persecution, torture, mass killings, forced conversions to Christianity, the notorious Spanish Inquisition and mass exodus that started in February 1502.
Today, up to four million grandsons of the Moriscos are living in North African countries like Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia.
“They used to commemorate every year these painful memories to keep the agonies of their forebears vivid,” Moroccan historian Bin Azouz Hakim, a specialist in the history of the Moriscos, told IslamOnline.net Sunday, February 27.
Morsicos’s descendants in Morocco, who are concentrated in cities like Tangier, Fes, Marrakesh and Rabat, mark every year the fall of Granada and Al-Andalus, which was regained in 1492 by Spanish troops in the long process known as the Reconquista under the Catholic monarchs Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon.
The descendants, many of whom still have Spanish surnames, mark the anniversary with symposiums, Andalusian music and shows portraying the sufferings of their ancestors.
The northern city of Shafshoun, which was built by the Moriscos when they were forced to Morocco, still have the Moriscan aura with its Andalusian architecture and traditional Moriscan costumes.
“Apology”
In 2002, Hakim sent a message, inked by an elite of Moriscos, to Spanish King Juan Carlos asking for a public apology to the descendants.
The message, however, fell on deaf ears.
Hakim; nevertheless, sent another message to the king, asking him to explain why he rejected his call while he apologized to the Jews in a visit to Israel in 1992 for the mass exodus from Al-Andalus.
“I think because we don’t have a powerful lobby like the Jews, who make the best use of the past to get financial gains,” Hakim said.
“But the Muslims only want a moral compensation and that’s why, ironically, Spain is adamant,” he added.
The expert also opposed a Moroccan mediation effort to get the much-hoped apology.
“It is an inalienable right to the Moriscos. It makes no sense that the Spanish king had apologized to the Jews of what is now Israel, who have nothing to do with the Sephardim (the Jews of Al-Andalus), while is reluctant to say sorry to the Moriscos’s descendants.”
After an absence of almost 500 years, the Adhan (call to prayer) and the muezzin’s cry of 'Allahu akbar' (God is greatest) rang on July 10, 2003, from the minaret of the Great Mosque of Granada.
The site of the mosque was bought 22 years ago, when it was still a small plot of farmland squeezed between a convent and a church on the crest of the Albaicin, the last Muslim quarter of Granada.
I understand a similar situation is present in France as well. Euro-weenies, indeed.
"Maybe they should apologize for ravaging and occupying Spain."
Exactly my thought. Since when are repelled invaders owed an apology from the people who kicked them out of their country?!
I guess China and Korea need to apologize to Japan for kicking its soldiers out.
We need to apologize to England, of course.
I would say France needs to apologize to Germany, too, but I'm quite sure that's already happened.
Spain IS a backwater.
It's even more pronounced in France by 2040 the muslims will be the majority, the netherlands will also go in 2040 or even 2038 depending on which pop. rate is cited.
The Spaniels surrendered. Hadn't you heard ?
Here Here!!!!!!!!!!
It's been 500 freaking years; GET OVER IT ALREADY!!!!!!!!;)
Here Here!!!!!!!!!!
sorry sorry!
It's been over 500 years, get over it.
The "inalienable right" to an apology could be from the Jesse Jackson School of Rights. :)
The coat of arms of one of the branches of our family tree has seven fish on it. Each fish represents an Islamic Moor killed in combat by our ancestor during the Reconquista.
In 711 AD, the Muslims invaded the Iberian Peninsula and destroyed the ancient and then Christian society of much of Hispania. The Great Mosque at Cordoba was built over the rubble of a Christian church the Muslim completely destroyed. The Christian survivors fled behind the mountain strongholds of Asturias and Galicia and later embarked on the 800 year Reconquista to reclaim the land of their ancestors from the Muslim invader.
The Muslims do not apologize for 711 AD so why should they get an apology for 1492?
It's not just Spain, most of Western Europe has the same problem.
They could've persued a more balanced immigration policy by ethnicity, but they opted not to.
If you import a lot of Orientals they take over your neighborhood shopping center to sell ethnic goods. OK, so I can't get meatball & pasta, but I can live with curry shrimp fried rice.
If you import a lot of Muslims, they have many children and take over your country, declare Islamic Republic and impose the Sharia. Nope, can't live with that.
TROP is a cult of mass delusion, it would appear.
I guess we'll have to apologize to the NAZIs for running them out of France. And maybe India can apologize to the Macedonians for turning back Alexander's armies...
Only the old cockers..
If it is that painful, they should put some panties on that!
How about this: We're really sorry about kicking your butts 500 years ago, and we're going to be really, really, really sorry 500 years from now about the butt kicking we're giving to you today.
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