Amidst Israel's war on Gaza, Morocco's liaison office in Tel Aviv launches new services

Morocco's liaison office in Israel officially launches its services in Rabat's first public move vis-à-vis its diplomatic ties with Tel Aviv since the start of the Gaza war. 

"The Liaison Office of the Kingdom of Morocco in Tel Aviv announces to all Moroccan citizens living in Israel and to foreigners requesting visa entry to Morocco that starting from 22nd January 2024, all various consular services should be submitted through the online platform," reads a statement published Wednesday.

The announcement stirred wide controversy over social media, with many Moroccan users considering this step a doubling down on Rabat's refusal to acknowledge the rising anti-normalisation movement in the country. 

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— Morocco in Israel (@MoroccoInIsrael) January 10, 2024

Since the start of the Gaza war, thousands of Moroccans protested daily against normalisation with Israel, making Morocco the fifth country in the world with the most pro-Palestine protests last year. 

On Wednesday, 10 January, the Moroccan government declined to receive a petition, endorsed by 10,200 signatures, urging the reversal of normalisation with Israel. 

"We previously submitted a meeting request and were told we could return to submit the petition. However, when we arrived, we encountered heavy security and local authorities preventing our entry," Abdel-Kader Al-Aalami, a member of the petition organising committee, told The New Arab. 

Later the same day, Mustapha Baitass, the government's spokesperson and deputy minister in charge of parliamentary relations, argued that the activists had followed the wrong procedure. Therefore, they were denied entry to submit the petition. 

The minister did not mention the petition's cause or the organisers behind it, as Rabat continues to avoid wading into the anti-normalisation movement since the two states signed the normalisation accord three years ago. 

Nevertheless, the Moroccan group against normalisation has decided to launch an intense protest program to collect more signatures and raise awareness on the importance of boycotting pro-Israel products along with other local pro-Palestine groups. 

"What we faced on Wednesday exposes the twinning relationship between normalisation and the state of tyranny, lawlessness," says a press release by the anti-normalisation group on Thursday. 

"We will continue our battle in defence of the constitution and the law against the state of misery and institutional failure demonstrated by the government," added the release.