Jabalia massacre triggers nationwide protests in Morocco

Israel's new massacre in Jabalia, Gaza, has triggered nationwide protest in Morocco, with hundreds of activists demanding the revokement of normalisation and the immediate closure of the Israeli office in Rabat.

 

On Tuesday night, 31 October, hundreds of Moroccan citizens and activists took to the streets following the widespread scenes of death and destruction shared from Jabalia camp, one of the most crowded parts of the Palestinian enclave.

 

Gaza's interior ministry said that Israeli aircraft dropped at least six bombs on the neighbourhood, each weighing around 1,000 kilograms, killing over 400 people in "a heinous Israeli massacre."

 

From Rabat to Tangier, the angry crowds rallied at night, chanting to end Morocco's normalisation with Israel and closing Tel Aviv's office in the kingdom. Rabat has yet to react or comment on the Jabalia massacre officially.

"Today, we are here to call for the end of silence on this massacre. It's a shame. And we will go down in history as accomplices if we don't do something," Al-Arbi Findi, a member of the Moroccan group against normalisation, one of the NGOs that called to the protest, told The New Arab.

 

During the protest, the pro-Palestine group also deemed the normalisation accords a "failing peace accord" since Rabat and other signatories remain incapable of mediating aid entry and ceasefire in Gaza after almost a month of ongoing bombarding of the stip.

 

On 18 October, the Israeli representative in Morocco was reportedly evacuated to Tel Aviv along with other Israeli officials who were working at the liaison office in Rabat amid reports on a soon closure of the office.

 

A spokesman for the Israeli Foreign Ministry has denied the closure of the Israeli liaison office in Rabat, arguing that Tel Aviv "took measures related to temporary circumstances."

 

"Israel assures all Moroccans that relations between Tel Aviv and Rabat are built on strong and solid foundations and will not allow any party to harm them," he added in a statement to Moroccan local news website Hespress.

While Rabat has called for the end of violence on both sides, It has yet to comment on the current status of its ties with Tel Aviv. The two states are set to celebrate their third normalisation anniversary in December.

 

Local pro-Palestine activists are hoping that the streets' pressure will push Rabat to revoke normalisation with Tel Aviv or, at least, freeze all the cooperation agreements with the Israeli state.

 

Following the Oslo Accords, Morocco normalised ties for the first time with Israel "to maintain dialogue and understanding." But Rabat had to walk away from the peace deal due to Israel's brutality during the second Intifada in 2000 and the Moroccan street's rising opposition to Tel Aviv.

 

Morocco and Israel re-normalised ties in December 2020 under the US auspices. While the opposition to normalisation with Israel remained always present in the kingdom, it was limited to a few dozen activist sit-ins.

Today, Morocco is witnessing rallies of tens of thousands of angry citizens who travel for hours with their families and children to voice their positions.

 

"We can't remain silent forever. The state should know that we have a voice, and we will use it to stand for the right causes," Omar, a protester who came to Rabat protest Tuesday.