"Indeed, Picard asserts that the colonialist legacy that the state’s
founding fathers brought with them trumped the push toward integration
that was so important to the national ethos. This was especially the
case when it came to the North African immigrants − especially, the
author notes, those from Morocco. Of all the groups immigrating, the
Moroccans seem to have terrified Israel’s founders more than any other;
they simply did not know how to contain them. It was said about the
Yemenites that they were obedient and sweet-natured, and about the
Iraqis that they were diligent and serious-minded − which was also the
perception of Iranians and other groups. But with the Moroccans, every
possible disgusting term was applied. It was as if 10 measures of
abhorrence and fear descended on the world, and nine were taken by the Moroccans."