Students arrested in Morocco for having 'free Palestine' printed on soccer shirts

Two students, along with the owner of a printing shop in Morocco, have been taken into custody for purportedly “displaying provocative slogans” after they adorned two national football team shirts with messages advocating for Palestine and the social demands of GenZ 212 youth movement protesters. 

According to local news sources, the univeristy students living in Rabat acquired two Atlas Lions jerseys last Saturday and subsequently visited a store, where they had the phrases “Free Palestine” and “Education and health are a right for all” printed on them.

The students were apprehended shortly thereafter on a well-known avenue in the capital and placed under arrest, along with the owner of the printing shop.

All three individuals were presented to the prosecutor's office at the Rabat Court of First Instance and are currently facing prosecution while in custody for “carrying incitful slogans.”

The arrests come amid a volatile situation in the North African kingdom, which has been rocked for nearly two weeks by major social protests led by GenZ 212, calling for reforms in the education and health sectors as well as an end to corruption and an independent judiciary.

GenZ 212 said its demands were unchanged, citing “accountability for the corrupt” and government responsibility for worsening social and economic conditions.

The young demonstrators are especially critical of the considerable financial resources allocated to the construction of advanced stadiums for the 2025 African Cup of Nations and the 2030 World Cup, in contrast to the severe underfunding faced by local health and education systems.

Established in late September, GenZ 212 has cultivated a substantial online presence, boasting over 200,000 members on the Discord platform.

The authorities initially prohibited the gatherings and have detained hundreds. In Rabat, 179 individuals were granted bail, while six remain in custody pending trial, as reported by the Moroccan Association for Human Rights.

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Said Boukioud, 48, posted Facebook messages in the last days of 2020.

Despite the movement's insistence on its non-violent nature, clashes occurred on the periphery of the demonstrations over two consecutive nights last week, resulting in the deaths of three individuals who were shot by police during altercations near a gendarmerie base. A film graduate, who had come to record the events, was one of the fatalities.

While pro-Palestine demonstrations are typically permitted and Morocco frequently issues statements endorsing the Palestinian cause, pro-Palestinian activists have condemned the growing repression by the authorities in the nation over the last two years, resulting in multiple arrests.

In March, an appellate court upheld a six-month suspended prison sentence for 13 members of the Moroccan Front for Support of Palestine and Against Normalization, who had been arrested while taking part in a peaceful sit-in outside a Carrefour store in the city of Sale.

In reaction to an urgent request made by MENA Rights Group on behalf of six individuals, UN experts reached out to the Moroccan government to express their concerns regarding the detentions, concluding that “the actions undertaken by human rights defenders ... represent acts of civil disobedience consistent with international human rights law.”

GenZ 212 has made a direct appeal to King Mohammed VI for the implementation of reforms.

In a speech delivered on Friday, the monarch called upon the government to hasten progress in the fields of education and health, while not explicitly addressing the protests.

He said Morocco was "paving a steady path toward greater social and territorial justice", and called for special attention to the country's poorest regions.

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