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Anti-normalization protests coincide with Land day in Morocco

Moroccans take part in a sit-in in Rabat to condemn the ongoing normalization with Israel and commemorate Land Day. (Photo by the New Arab)

Protesters have taken to the streets across Morocco to condemn the normalization deal between Rabat and Tel-Aviv which was inked two years ago, with the protests coinciding with the annual commemoration of Palestine’s Land Day.

The protests took place in 38 Moroccan cities on Wednesday. The scope of the protests reflects the fact that the Moroccan people reject normalizing ties with the Israeli regime.

In the capital Rabat, protesters from all walks of life and different political backgrounds took part in a sit-in in front of the Moroccan parliament, with policemen in riot gear surrounding them.

According to local sources, secular leftists and youth from Morocco’s largest Islamist association known as the Justice and Charity Group also participated in the demonstrations.

The protesters chanted “Colonization is terrorism, infiltrators of the Negev.”

Protesters also set the Israeli flag ablaze, chanting “Palestine resists and the regimes bargain,” and  “No normalization, no surrender of the resistance forward."

According to the New Arab, the Mohammed VI Theater was hosting a musical performance by Israeli and Moroccan artists a few meters away from the sit-in venue. This outraged the protesters, who attempted to take the demonstration to the theater’s front door but were prevented by the police.

The event took place only four days after the Moroccan foreign minister took part in the controversial Negev Summit in Israel, where he met with his Israeli counterpart.

The protesters signed a statement which condemned the "military occupation of Palestine" and demanded "to sever any relationship with the Israeli government and any relationship with the apartheid regime occupying Palestine."

"Such decisions will not only put Morocco on the side of justice and international legitimacy but will respond to the deep aspirations of Moroccans and their historical attachment to the cause of the liberation of Palestine," the statement read.

Moroccans have been resolute in their opposition to the normalization deal. The people of Morocco have also continued to voice their continued support for the liberation of Palestinian territories occupied by Israel, even at places like the Qatar World Cup where both, Moroccan players and fans showed strong support to the Palestinian cause.

Last week, human rights activists, academics and community figures in Morocco also called for an stop to the normalisation of Rabat with Israel and urged cut in ties with it.

Such protests come at a time of increased military, economic and educational agreements linking Morocco and Israel, at a time when Israeli operations against the Palestinian people are escalating.

For several months now, the Israeli army has continued to carry out operations in the northern occupied West Bank, concentrating in the cities of Nablus and Jenin, under the pretext of pursuing wanted persons, resulting in the death, injury, and arrest of dozens of Palestinians.

Israel and the Morocco government agreed on December 10, 2020 to normalize relations in a deal brokered with the help of former US president Donald Trump’s administration, making the North African country the fourth Arab state to strike a normalization deal with the regime. The others were the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Sudan.

 


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