Morocco: activists call on Rabat to take 'firm' position against Israel's 'genocide' of Gaza

In the wake of the Israeli war on Gaza, Moroccans are calling on Rabat to abandon its tame rhetoric of condemnation and take more firm actions against Israel's "genocide of Gaza", starting by cutting off ties with Tel Aviv.

Following the Jabalia massacre, during which over 400 people were killed and injured by an Israeli airstrike, the Moroccan foreign ministry reiterated "its great concern and its deep indignation following the escalation of military operations and the worsening of the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip."

Several Moroccan pro-Palestine activists deemed Rabat's statement "void and null" at a time when other states are actively distancing themselves from Israel.

"There is no meaning to any words without a complete cessation of all agreements and forms of normalisation with war criminals after a full month of genocide and barbaric massacres," wrote Hassan Benajeh, a pro-Palestine activist and a renowned figure in the Islamist movement of Justice.

All over the Kingdom, hundreds of protests took to the streets on Thursday, 2 November, in solidarity with Palestine and in once another attempt to pressure Rabat to revoke the normalisation deal with Israel.

Since 7 October, anti-normalisation protests in Morocco have grown louder as the death toll in the Gaza Strip skyrocketed, reaching over 9,000 dead people, mostly women and children. "How many dead people will it take for Morocco to acknowledge "the genocide in Gaza," said a protester in Rabat as the crowd chanted back, "The people want the annulment of normalisation."

Rabat, which first normalised ties with Israel after the Oslo Accords, cut off ties with Tel Aviv amid the second uprising in 2000 over the Israeli violence and the public opposition to normalisation in Rabat.

Late in 2020, Rabat and Tel Aviv re-normalised ties in exchange for the US recognition of Moroccan sovereignty over the disputed territory of Western Sahara and locating a US embassy in Dakhla city. Under Biden's administration, Washington has so far failed in delivering on its promises.

Rabat has also said its normalisation with Tel Aviv will strengthen its position as a peace mediator and its commitment to the Palestinian cause.

However, many Moroccan activists say the normalisation has, so far, only made Rabat's diplomacy vis-à-vis the Palestinian cause "weaker and shallow."

"All these cooperation and normalisation deals, and they could not pressure aid entry to Gaza, they could not lobby a ceasefire in Gaza," Fellouli, a protester in Rabat, said to The New Arab.

On Thursday, Mustapha Mouatassim, a leading figure of the pro-Palestine movement in Morocco, called on Rabat to follow the steps of Latin American states, which took "serious steps" to distance themselves from Israel amid its ongoing airstrikes on hospitals and churches in Gaza.

وقفة مساء اليوم أمام مقر البرلمان المغربي بالرباط احتجاجا على العدوان الصهيوأمريكي على غزة ومطالبة بوقف سلطات المغرب للتطبيع pic.twitter.com/XH1Sns6H8w

— hassan bennajeh - حسن بناجح (@h_bennajeh) November 2, 2023

"We are not asking you to move your army; we are only asking for serious diplomatic steps like those taken by Latin American states," said Moutassim, standing in front of the Moroccan parliament in Rabat as the crowd burst into chants after his speech.

On 31 October, Bolivia cut official ties with Israel over the war in Gaza. Meanwhile, neighbours Colombia and Chile called their ambassadors in Tel Aviv for consultations, condemning the deaths of civilians in Gaza and calling for a ceasefire.

Morocco was reportedly set to send an official envoy to Tel Aviv by December in honour of the normalisation's third anniversary. Meanwhile, Israel evacuated its representative in Rabat after the outburst of public rallies in the North African kingdom condemning Israel's war on Gaza.

Tel Aviv has denied fracture with Rabat amid the ongoing war, claiming that "Israel-Morocco ties are stronger than ever," said a spokesperson from the Israeli Foreign Ministry to local Moroccan media Hespress in October.

Rabat has so far refrained from commenting on the normalisation status amid the Gaza war.