The play, the rumor and the riot : About an event in the Spanish zone of the Moroccan protectorate (Qṣar al-Kabīr, 1933)

What happened in Qṣar al-Kabīr on June 28th, 1933 ? In this city of the Spanish zone of the Moroccan protectorate, a theater play planned by the Hispano-Israelite school for the end of the school year gave rise to protests from the Muslim notables of the city, and to a popular riot. The different sources, be they archival, periodical or oral, offer different versions of the event. This article studies its causes and unraveling, by crossing the sources available and interviews. It also intends to grasp its meaning and scope by inserting it into a wider geography, considering the circulations of rumors and news in North Africa, between Morocco and the Middle East, between Morocco and Europe. Drawing from “global micro-history”, it shows how the event fits into both connected and social history, rooted in the local level. The peculiar chronologies of Qṣar al-Kabīr and in its specific social and political configuration prove essential to be taken into account. Based on an accusation of blasphemy, the riot is thus analyzed as a form of nationalist mobilization, against the colonizers and a form of transcommunal social life.