BDS condemns Morocco's hosting of 'war criminal' Ayelet Shaked, Israel's interior minister

"Israel's interior minister Ayelet Shaked is a war criminal and a terrorist known for her frequent calls to cleanse Palestinian people," said Morocco’s branch of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement (BDS) on Monday in reaction to the infamous far-right politician's visit to Rabat.

Ayelet Shaked arrived in Morocco on Monday for a series of high-level meetings, the fourth Israeli minister to visit Rabat as the two countries continue to strengthen their ties.

Shaked, a hard-right politician with a history of anti-Arab statements, is expected to meet with Moroccan Interior Minister Abdelouafi Laftit, Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita, Economy Minister Nadia Fettah and other key officials during her four-day-trip to the Moroccan kingdom.

Her ministry said on Sunday that she hopes to secure Moroccan workers to go to Israel to work in the construction and nursing sectors.

On Monday, BDS Maroc (Morocco), a Moroccan movement promoting boycotts, divestments, and economic sanctions against Israel, issued a press release exposing the politician's racist history.

"The interior minister of the Zionist entity Ayelet Shaked is a war criminal and a terrorist known for her frequent calls to cleanse Palestinian people," said BDS Morocco in a press release published Monday.

In 2021, a controversial Facebook status update by Shaked's surfaced on the internet causing a backlash against the newly justice minister-designate at the time.

"Behind every terrorist stands dozens of men and women, without whom he could not engage in terrorism. (…) Now, this also includes the mothers of the martyrs, who send them to hell with flowers and kisses. They should follow their sons, nothing would be more just. They should go, as should the physical homes in which they raised the snakes. Otherwise, more little snakes will be raised there. They have to die and their houses should be demolished so that they cannot bear any more terrorists," said Shaked in the deleted post.

Shaked has said that her statements had been taken out of context and mistranslated from Hebrew.

In an interview on Channel 2 interview program broadcast in January 2012, the 46-year-old politician was asked the following question: "When your husband the pilot, when he's up in the air, do you hope he'll be pounding the Arabs hard with bombs?"

Shaked responded first with a laugh and then said, "Yes," according to Haaretz's website.

In its press release, BDS Morocco has also condemned the Israeli plan to take Moroccan workers to Israel labelling it as "making Moroccans hostages for the Zionist entity."

Moroccan citizens and activists joined BDS' condemnation in a series of tweets and social media posts asserting their anti-normalisation positions under the Arabic hashtag  "Moroccans against normalisation."

Morocco normalised ties with Israel in late 2020 in a brokered deal with the US that granted Rabat the American recognition of Moroccan sovereignty over the disputed territory of Western Sahara.