Propaganda against Casablanca rally serves Zionism and Israel

Several political, ideological and cultural disagreements in Morocco have led parties, groups and social movements to polarise. While the heat of the recent local and regional election results has not abated, some skirmishes have characterised the public sphere, such as cancelling the first beer festival, opposing Al-Arifi’s visit to the country, reviving debates on the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), and suggesting complete gender inheritance equality. These frictions have busied public opinion, though the depth of their social effect is still yet to be tested.

Meanwhile, the Israeli escalations against Al-Aqsa in Jerusalem and Palestinians, as well as Al-Sisi’s continued flooding of the Gaza border with Egypt, have been received a bit coldly, to the surprise of observers. Their surprise, or disappointment, relies on the level of activism Morocco witnesses when Israeli assaults target the Gaza Strip, for example. Thus, it seemed legitimate to question the slow advocacy for the Palestinian cause.

Possibly, the Rabat million-participant marches have been substituted by weekly sit-ins in front of the parliament because of the political discrepancies over the situation in Syria, Libya and Egypt. Also, the inability to serve Syrian refugees in Morocco and the general atmosphere of democratic regression after the Arab Spring may have discouraged the organisation of nationwide rallies and festivals to denounce Zionist complacency and coerciveness.

To counter the superficial impression on Moroccans’ waning interest in supporting Palestine, branches of about 35 political and civil organisations joined together to organise a popular march in Casablanca on 25 October. The event gathered different parties, labour unions, NGOs and thousands of participants, expressing the need to regain the strength and popularity of pro-Palestine events.

During the march, participants did not content themselves with chanting slogans, raising Palestinian flags or burning Israeli symbols, but also sang for Palestine and acted short scenes that depict Zionist atrocities. The Israeli media reacted to the characterisations in such skits, accusing both the organisers and participants of anti-Semitism, ignoring not only that Arabs are themselves Semites, unlike many Israelis who have migrated from Eastern Europe, but also that many anti-Zionist Jewish activists often join the pro-Palestine rallies on Morocco’s streets.

Furthermore, an unknown group — “Moroccan citizens united against incitement to kill Jews in Morocco” — protested against the march by organising a petition requiring the ministries of justice and the interior to hold the organisers accountable for the “terror” and “insecurity” Moroccan Jews felt due to the depiction of Jews in the rally. The petition recognises Moroccan youth’s freedom of speech, but condemns the theatrical acts for threatening the principles of co-existence, tolerance and pluralism, as if Moroccan youth do not differentiate between Jews and Zionists, or as if the petitioners view pluralism and tolerance only in the absence of difference and freedom of speech.

The scene that attracted their attention featured men dressed as Orthodox Jews being led at gunpoint by other men dressed as Palestinians. Yet, the same media coverage overlooked the previous scene in which the two Orthodox-like men took axes to a model of the Dome of the Rock Mosque, indicating that Zionists are attacked in retaliation for the humiliation they inflict upon Palestinians and their holy shrines. The scene in no way refers to non-Zionist Jews in Morocco who have co-existed with Muslims for many centuries, especially after they fled from Spain following the fall of Granada in 1492.

Mainly, the “Al-Aqsa Intifada” march purported to thaw the recent freeze in Moroccans’ support for Palestine. Its key message in this respect is that Palestine unites Moroccans and vivifies their coordination efforts, despite their different ideologies and interpretations of the developments in Morocco or other Arab countries.

Moreover, the rally aimed to encourage other countries to organise similar events, given that most MENA peoples are busy tackling their internal affairs or fixing their own situations. Possibly, the march aimed to indicate that Palestine holds the same importance for all MENA peoples. When some undergo a crackdown by a dictatorship, those who have more freedom can fill the void and express the will of the rest in denouncing the Zionist Israeli occupation. Total silence or bringing the whole region under control seems quite unreachable.

A third message is to show the Zionists’ inability to curb the MENA people’s interest in Palestine. By supporting the self-appointed coup-leader Al-Sisi, Israel may have been able to silence Egyptians, temporarily. Yet, it is also understood that Israel fears democratisation in the region, since part of the democratic process has been proved to be supporting Palestine, as was seen on the streets of Tunisia, Morocco and Egypt, among others, during the Arab Spring.

I think that it is these strategic and similar messages that have aroused Zionist media anger and mobilised the petitioners, but their propaganda will simply serve Zionism and the state of Israel, instead of solidifying the values of tolerance. Tolerance and plurality also mean that Moroccans enjoy their freedom of speech, but more importantly that they maintain their support for the causes they consider to be important.

On the other hand, two key points deserve more attention in the Moroccan relationship with Palestine. The first is the role of the Al-Quds Committee that the Moroccan king presides over. The committee certainly needs to be more active, since Al-Aqsa falls at the heart of its concerns and activities. The second is to ask whether the 30 — or maybe more — Moroccan soldiers trained by Israel last summer have joined the IDF in the current assault on Islamic shrines.

It is through non-stop advocacy and posing questions about the involvement of public institutions that Moroccans can show the true meaning of Palestine for them, not petitions that cloak the Israeli media’s attempts to silence Moroccans or break their consensus.

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.