Moroccan lawyers demand arrest of Israeli minister in Marrakesh

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Al Mayadeen English
17 Feb 2025 22:28
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Moroccan lawyers have accused Miri Regev of committing war crimes against Palestinians, calling for her arrest once she arrives in Marrakesh.

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confers with Minister of Transport and Road Safety Miri Regev as lawmakers convene in the Knesset, February 20, 2023. (AP)

Moroccan lawyers have demanded that authorities arrest Israeli Transport Minister Miri Regev during her visit to Marrakesh, for war crimes and genocide committed by the Israeli government against the Palestinian people.

Regev is expected to travel to Morocco for an international conference held in Marrakesh, prompting several lawyers, including Khaled al-Sufyani, the general coordinator of the National Islamic Conference, to demand her arrest.

The National Secretariat of the National Working Group for Palestine stated that the lawsuit against Regev comes one day before Regev's participation in the Fourth Global Ministerial Conference on Road Safety, which will be held in the city of Marrakesh from February 18 to 20 of this year.

The lawsuit, according to the National Secretariat, "includes charges related to her criminal past and her role in the current Zionist government in committing serious human rights violations, including war crimes and genocide against the Palestinian people."

The National Secretariat considered that "Miri Regev's presence on Moroccan soil is a blatant provocation to the feelings of the Moroccan people, who have always stood by the Palestinian cause and supported the rights of the Palestinian people to freedom and justice."

For his part, Al-Sufyani said in a speech before the Court of Appeals in Rabat, "We expect the Moroccan authorities to arrest the Zionist minister when she arrives in Morocco tomorrow, as this involves the entry of an international terrorist who calls for the erasure of anything called Palestine, and considers the good Palestinian to be the dead Palestinian or the one expelled from his land."

"We hope that if the urgent order to prevent her from entering Moroccan territory is not implemented, the authorities will execute the arrest order," he added.

Moroccans growing opposed to normalization with 'Israel'

Analytical data from the Arab Barometer has revealed a significant shift in Moroccan public opinion regarding normalization with the Israeli occupation, largely influenced by the ongoing war in Gaza.

The survey, titled "The Future of Normalization and the War in Gaza," found that 48% of Moroccan participants support the "two-state solution" as the best resolution for the Palestinian issue.

The findings highlight a sharp decline in support for normalization between Rabat and Tel Aviv. According to the Arab Barometer, the war in Gaza has profoundly altered public attitudes toward normalization, with the harrowing images from Gaza turning previous supporters of "peace accords" with the Israeli occupation into opponents.

The data shows that Moroccan support for normalization plummeted from 31% in 2021 to just 13% in surveys conducted in 2023 and 2024. Additionally, only 9% of respondents expressed approval of normalization, with some describing the Israeli occupation's military campaign in Gaza as "genocide." Support for the two-state solution, meanwhile, increased by 7% compared to earlier survey cycles conducted in 2021 and 2022.