Moroccan police assaulted and arrested activists who were demanding an end to the normalization of ties with Israel in the city of Salé. The activists are part of the Front Against Normalization with Israel.
The activists were participating in a march organized by the front in solidarity with the Palestinian people and Gaza on Sunday, November 26, in the city located in the north of the country. Thousands waved Palestinian flags and shouted slogans in support of people of Gaza.
The march was attacked by the police in front of the Carrefour market in Salé. The police assaulted organizers and arrested some of the activists on the spot.
The Front Against Normalization issued a list of arrested activists, and claimed that they were kept in detention in the security department of Garabliya in Salé.
The names of the arrested activists are Khaled bin Saka, al Tayyib al-midmad, Abdul Ilah Ben Abdel Salam, Radwan Al-Rifai, Abdul Wahid Rashad, Abdullah Al-Maluki, Abdul Majeed Shahiba, Sufyan Al Mansouri, Saladin Al-Tayeb, Badr al-Din Jabbar, Omair Al Marzouqi, Muhammad Sahnoun, and Anas Al Bustani.
Since October 7, close to 15,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have been killed in Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza. Israel’s indiscriminate bombing and ground offensive has also destroyed most of the residential buildings and civil infrastructure, displacing the majority of its population.
Israel agreed to a temporary ceasefire deal with Hamas on November 24, 48 days after its bombings began. The Qatari-mediated ceasefire deal is set to expire on Monday.
Following the footsteps of Bahrain, the UAE and Sudan, Morocco in 2020 became the fourth Arab country to sign a normalization deal with Israel. The deal, better known as the Abraham Accords, was promoted by the US.
By signing the deal, Moroccan king Mohammed VI violated his country’s commitment under the Arab Peace Initiative of 2002 of not recognizing Israel until a separate Palestinian state was created. The decision was also massively unpopular domestically. The Moroccan government signed the Accords in return for the US recognizing its occupation of Western Sahara.
Morocco has seen several protests in solidarity with Palestinians since the beginning of the Israeli offensive. On Sunday, protests were also organized in Tangier and Casablanca in which thousands marched in solidarity with the Palestinians and demanded a permanent ceasefire.
Due to intense domestic pressure, the Moroccan government participated in the Arab Islamic Summit held in Riyadh earlier this month which rejected Israeli claims of the right to self-defense and demanded an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.
Source: Peoplesdispatch
