Pro-Palestine marches planned in Morocco one year after Israel normalisation deal

Pro-Palestine marches planned in Morocco one year after Israel normalisation deal
Pro-Palestinian solidarity marches are planned for Wednesday across Morocco to mark the one year anniversary of the Israel normalisation deal.
2 min read
21 December, 2021
Morocco and Israel have signed numerous deals, especially in security and defence, in the past year [Anadolu Agency/Getty-file photo]

A pro-Palestine organisation in Morocco has called for protests across the nation on Wednesday to coincide with the first anniversary of a normalisation deal signed between the kingdom and Israel.

The National Front to Support Palestine and Oppose Normalisation (NFSPON) has dubbed Wednesday - marking one year since Morocco and Israel signed the US-mediated agreement - as the "national day against normalisation" and called for demonstrations across the country.

Protests are expected to take place at 6pm local time (5pm GMT).

The movement said it will continue its battle "until the normalisation and military cooperation agreement are dropped".

Morocco announced that it was establishing ties with Israel after three other Arab countries - the UAE, Bahrain and Sudan - did the same last year.

In return, Washington recognised Rabat's sovereignty over the disputed Western Sahara territory.

Israel and Morocco have since signed multiple agreements on trade and defence since then.

The agreement's anniversary comes amid "exceptional circumstances" with increased cooperation between Israel and Morocco and an uptick in Israeli violations against Palestinians, the movement said.

"It [the anniversary] comes in conditions characterised by the escalation of Zionist tyranny and a tsunami of normalisation [deals]… Morocco has fallen in disgrace in the arms of Israel, through the consolidation and deepening of relations in all fields, and this normalisation disregards national sovereignty," it added.

The front’s national coordinator, Tayeb Madmad, said that the government was imposing the normalisation deal on the country by force, without taking into account the Moroccan people's views on the issue "or their martyrs who fell for the sake of the Palestinian cause".

Speaking to The New Arab’s Arabic-language sister site, Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, Madmad said he was amazed by just how fast Morocco-Israel relations have developed since the signing of the deal.

He noted that the kingdom went from opening liaison offices, to signing memorandum of understandings on military and intelligence coordination.

Moroccan security forces last month violently dispersed pro-Palestine solidarity marches organised by the front in more than 30 towns and cities across Morocco.