Morocco’s King Mohammed VI reiterates support for Palestine cause

In a letter addressing Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas yesterday, Morocco’s King Mohammed VI reaffirmed his kingdom’s position with regard to supporting the Palestinian cause, despite his recent decision to re-establish diplomatic relations with the occupation state of Israel.

The letter, which followed phone calls with Abbas after Rabat normalised ties with Tel Aviv two weeks ago, reassured the Palestinian leadership of Morocco’s commitment to the Palestinian cause, based on the so-called two-state solution.

The message also came a day after a US-Israeli delegation, which included Jared Kushner, a senior adviser and son-in-law to US President Donald Trump, were received at the royal palace in Rabat having taken a historic Israel-Morocco direct commercial flight.

The king also reiterated that as Chairman of the Al-Quds Committee, which is an offshoot of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), he will “spare no effort to preserve the ancient historical identity” of Jerusalem as a holy site for the three monotheistic faiths.

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The agreement overseen by the Trump administration will offer recognition of Morocco’s sovereignty over the disputed Western Sahara in exchange for Rabat’s normalised ties with Tel Aviv. In his letter, the king added that Morocco’s stance on Western Sahara “will never be neither today not in the future at the expense of the Palestinian people’s struggle.”

Morocco has become the fourth Arab state this year to normalise relations with Israel under US-brokered deals, following Bahrain, Sudan and the UAE. However, Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita yesterday stressed that Morocco’s move was distinct from those of the other Arab states, noting that “we were pioneers” in recognising Israel in the 1990s. He also said that Morocco’s former monarch had called for Arab states to recognise Israel in the 1980s.

Following the so-called Abraham Accords between the UAE, Bahrain and Israel initiated in August, Morocco’s Prime Minister Saad Eddine El-Othmani rejected reports suggesting that Morocco would be among the next countries to normalise diplomatic ties with Israel, referring to the Palestinian cause as a “red line” for Rabat.

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A growing number of countries in the MENA region are normalising ties with Israel – Cartoon [Sabaaneh/MiddleEastMonitor]