Moroccan petition calls for annulling normalization deal with 'Israel'
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The Moroccan National Group for Action on Palestine holds a press conference in Rabat demanding the annulment of the country's normalization agreement with "Israel".
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Protesters shout slogans and wave a flag during a protest in solidarity with the people of Palestine in Rabat, Morocco, May 10, 2021 (AP)
The National Group of Action for Palestine in Morocco submitted a popular petition to demand Moroccan Prime Minister Aziz Akhannouch to cancel the agreements normalizing relations with "Israel" and permanently close the Israeli liaison office in Rabat, as well as withdraw the Moroccan liaison office in "Tel Aviv".
The group held a joint press conference on Wednesday in the capital of Rabat. The group of action decided to "launch a popular petition in parallel with field activities by utilizing the provisions of the organizational law 14.44 related to petitions and popular appeals."
National Group of Action for Palestine in Morocco also decided to present the collective popular demand to the government to urge for the implementation of the previously mentioned actions.
The petition also called for "the expulsion of the Zionist communication office and the cancellation of all normalization paths to rectify the major mistake by resuming official normalization, after a previous stage between 1995 and 2000 when the previous Israeli communication office was closed by the country's king after the enemy's massacres and crimes in Palestine during the Al-Aqsa Intifada"
According to the petition, "the issue of closing the liaison office today is even more urgent, even upon comparing the crimes committed in 2000 and the massacres committed in 2023 in Gaza, the occupied West Bank, and al-Quds."
This is not the first time Moroccan activists have demanded that ties be severed with the Israeli occupation.
Moroccan activists and intellectuals in late November called for "immediately ceasing normalization with Israel and severing all ties with the entity." This plea comes amid the war crimes committed against the Palestinians with the aim of eliminating them through genocide and forced displacement.
Over 180 signatories urged the Moroccan state in a statement to "officially and explicitly cease all ties with the Zionist entity, whose hands are stained with the blood of children, women, and youth victims."
The signatories underscored in their statement that the call is based on basic human values, condemning the genocide and war crimes perpetrated by the Zionist entity against the Palestinian people. The call also stems from the Palestinians' right to exist and the necessity of upholding the dignity of Moroccans and respecting their sentiments. The signatories affirmed their unwavering and unconditional alignment with the Palestinians, expressing full support for the Palestinian Resistance.
The statement emphasized that the ongoing normalization "represents a fatal blow to the Palestinian cause, insults Moroccans, and is detrimental to the interests of the country, which has consistently demonstrated openness."
Following the start of October 7's Operation al-Aqsa Flood, tens of thousands of Moroccans marched in Casablanca demanding a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and the suspension of diplomatic relations with "Israel".
Popular solidarity
Morocco, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain all normalized ties with "Israel" in 2020 as part of the so-called "Abraham Accords", which were brokered by former US President Donald Trump's administration.
An AFP correspondent reported that protesters waved Palestinian flags and demanded that Rabat cut relations with "Israel."
Last month, the official in charge of the Israeli liaison office in Rabat, David Govrin, left Morocco returning to occupied Palestine following demonstrations that swept the Moroccan capital denouncing Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital massacre committed by the occupation in the Gaza Strip.
Socialist MP Nabila Mounib told AFP that a permanent ceasefire is what is needed in order to pave the way for "peace, for the creation of a sovereign Palestinian state, with its capital in Jerusalem," adding that "the return of all those exiled in the Palestinian diaspora" was something she hoped to see along with the freedom of all Palestinian prisoners held by the Israeli occupation.
Hassan Bahadou of the anti-normalization alliance of leftist parties and Islamists that organized the protest expressed condemnation of the "negligent Arab regimes allied with the Zionist entity (Israel)."
Moroccan cardiologist Safae Abderazzak told AFP she condemned not only the aggression on "our Palestinian brothers" but also against "our fellow doctors who are being tortured and martyred in Gaza."
