Al Jazeera provokes the anger of Moroccans again over heritage – falsification of facts
The Qatari Al Jazeera television network has sparked controversy and anger among Moroccans after publishing a picture depicting Ecodar, the world’s oldest banking system.
Al-Jazeera.com says that “Ecodar is the oldest banking system in the world, famous for the Amazigh of North Africa”. While this system was created by the Amazigh of Morocco specifically and not the Amazigh of North Africa in general. This infuriated Moroccans, who considered that the Qatari channel insists on falsifying facts every time.
Moroccan social media users confirmed that Ecodar exists only in Morocco, and was created by the Berber community in Morocco. They wondered why the Amazigh of North Africa were involved, considering that the island used to popularize the Moroccan heritage as Maghreb, Arab or Islamic.
In response, Moroccan journalist Abdelsamad Nacer wrote: More correctly, Ecodar is the oldest banking system in the world, created by the Amazigh of Morocco in particular and not the Amazigh of North Africa in general. The first of its kind was the Amtadi Oasis, located between the foothills of the small Atlas Mountains deep in the Moroccan Southern Sahara, to save, store and protect the money and properties of the families living in the oasis.
المعلومة الأصح أن إيكودار أقدم نظام بنكي في العالم وأنشأه أمازيغ #المغرب تحديداً وليس أمازيغ شمال إفريقيا بشكل عام.
وأول ما من أقامه سكان واحة أمتضي)الواقعة بين سفوح جبال الأطلس الصغير في عمق الصحراء بالجنوب المغربي لادخار وتخزين وحماية أموال وممتلكات الأسر التي تعيش في الواحة. https://t.co/wqHqrpPUY1— عبد الصمد ناصر (@NacirAbdessamad) April 24, 2022
Another tweeter said: The Qatari Al Jazeera channel once again uses the phrase “Amazigh North Africa” in order to engage Moroccan heritage with Algeria and others.
The oldest bank in the world, Ecodar, is just a Moroccan heritage! The Moroccan political system is called “The Warehouse” because it was the first to use this system!
????| قناة الجزيرة القطرية مرة أخرى
تستعمل عبارة “أمازيغ شمال إفريقيا” من أجل إشراك التراث المغربي مع الجزائر وأخرين ..
? يا جزيرة الفتن .. إن أقدم بنك في العالم “إكودار” هو إرث تاريخي مغربي وفقط!
والنظام السياسي المغربي يسمى “المخزن” لأنه هو أول من استعمل هذا النظام!
— H A S S A N ?? (@HMeghribi) April 24, 2022
Another Moroccan wrote: Al Jazeera documentary insists on fabricating facts.. It is a legacy of Amazigh-Moroccan heritage that does not belong to North Africa, a heritage specifically related to the Amazigh of Souss. It exists in this form, design and administrative system only in the Souss region – central Morocco geographically – in a way that blends reality with fiction and the use of words such as “Maghreb” and “North Africa”.
الجزيرة الوثائقية تُصر على تزييف الحقائق.. الإيگودار تراث أمازيغي مغربي ولا يخص شمال أفريقيا، تراث يخص أمازيغ سوس تحديدا، موجود بهذا الشكل والتصميم والنظام الإداري في منطقة سوس فقط -وسط المغرب جغرافيا-
أسلوب مزج الحقيقة بالخيال واستخدام مفردات مثل “مغاربي” و”شمال أفريقي” pic.twitter.com/vTaKAc1ZEK— Amal Ines (@AmalInes3) April 25, 2022
Another added: wrong. This is only in Morocco not in North Africa. The heritage and history of the Maghreb is very different from the rest of North Africa.
غلط . هدا يوجد فقط فى المغرب وليس فى شمال افريقيا.
تراث وتاريخ امازيغ المغرب مختلف كتيرا عن باقي أمازيغ دول شمال افريقيا. https://t.co/dHHHOJ4Dnt— ⵜufItry (@Tuftry) April 24, 2022
Ecodar, a collective store, is Ecudar or Ikidar, the collection of Akadir, the impregnable fortress. It has played important roles as banks for storing supplies and grains, especially barley, and precious items, in periods when the tribes are experiencing drought or war, in addition to its defensive role; They were settled in high and remote locations, easily able to repel external attacks, as well as sunbathing, i.e., the possibility of the sun reaching them all day long, in order to prevent the corruption of grains in particular, and constitute a manifestation of the Amazigh man’s adaptation and taming of nature.
Many studies and research have been carried out on the collective stores in Morocco, which have dealt extensively with their knowledge, their roles, their unique architecture, the extinction and theft of their ancient documents, manuscripts and folklore, the historical, touristic and human significance, their social, economic and security role and their multiple functions, as a mirror that reflects the economic, social and cultural fabric of the population in a certain historical period.
Khaled Al-Ayoudh, a heritage researcher, said, “The Ecodar is a genuine architectural treasure, a rich Moroccan-Amazigh heritage that played security, economic and social roles in those ancient eras. It has now become the focus of attention of researchers, state institutions and civil society interested in cultural issues”. Therefore, Khaled Al-Ayoudh says, “The classification of collective stores as a world heritage will elevate Morocco among the countries with a long history in its culture, traditions, customs, systems and methods of management”.
