Moroccan Foreign Minister to speak at event organised by pro-Israel lobbying group AIPAC

Moroccan Foreign Minister to speak at event organised by pro-Israel lobbying group AIPAC
Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita will be the first Moroccan official to speak at an event hosted by AIPAC, the US's biggest pro-Israel lobbying group.
2 min read
29 April, 2021
The foreign minister will attend an event hosted by AIPAC [Getty]
The Moroccan foreign minister, Nasser Bourita, will attend an event hosted by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), on the 6 May, the Anadolu news agency has reported.  

Bourita will be the first Moroccan official ever to participate in an event organised by AIPAC, the United States' biggest pro-Israel lobbying group.

AIPAC recently had to call off its 2021 annual conference due to the Covid-19 pandemic, but the "Spring Break" event on 6 May will proceed.

Bourita will speak via a video-link, according to a statement published by AIPAC on Wednesday. A source at the Moroccan foreign ministry confirmed the news to Anadolu.

The event follows the controversial normalisation of relations between Israel and Morocco, which took place in December 2020.

The previous US administration of President Donald Trump sponsored the normalisation deal, and recognized Moroccan sovereignty over the disputed Western Sahara region in the same month.

AIPAC was established in 1951, originally under the name the American Zionist Committee for Public Affairs. It has in recent years staunchly supported Israel's right wing and its plans for settlement in and annexation of large parts of the Palestinian West Bank.

Palestinians saw last year's normalisation agreement between Morocco and Israel, which followed similar agreements reached by Israel with Bahrain and the UAE, as a betrayal of their cause.

Morocco's Prime Minister Saad Eddine El Othmani, a member of the moderate Islamist Justice and Development Party (PJD) tried at the time to distance himself from the deal, saying that the decision was taken by King Mohamed VI.

The decision to normalise relations with Israel is still highly contentious in Morocco. In March, Moroccan police suppressed pro-Palestinian protests in Rabat and a legal appeal has been launched against the 2020 deal.

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