Moroccan Journalist Association condemns media normalisation with Israel

The head of the National Association of the Moroccan Press, Abdullah Al-Bakali, announced his rejection of the visit by a delegation of Moroccan journalists to Israel, considering that “paying the Zionist entity for the travel and accommodation expenses is an insult and humiliation.”

Al-Baqali said, in a statement reported on Wednesday by Moroccan media, that “only concealing the visit and announcing it at the last moment reveals its nature.”

He added: “It is a shame for journalists, media professionals, intellectuals or the elite to visit the Zionist entity hosted by the Israeli government, which will pay for plane tickets, hotel and others.”

He said: “We are not against visiting Palestine to carry out press coverage for the benefit of public opinion, but when the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs pays for travel and accommodation expenses, this falls within the depth of insulting and humiliating Moroccan journalists.”

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Al-Baqali concluded his statement by saying: “We reject this visit and these shameful forms of normalisation.”

Al-Baqali’s statements come after the official Israeli broadcast authority announced that a Moroccan delegation reached Israel last Sunday, after an invitation by the Foreign Ministry of the entity for a 6-day visit, without mentioning the names of delegation members, but it claimed that it was composed of media and representatives of the civil society.

Among the delegation’s members, according to a photo circulated on social media, is the former parliamentarian, Naima Farah, a former member of the political bureau of the “Free National Assembly” party, who was a correspondent for the “party” newspaper from Casablanca.

The official in charge of the Israeli Liaison Office in Morocco, David Govrin, said that he received the Moroccan delegation, which included 8 people, before heading to Israel.

Govrin wrote on Twitter: “After an invitation by the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, a delegation of Moroccan journalists and civil society representatives will visit Israel in the coming days.”

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He added: “This visit comes to strengthen and entrench cultural, media and social cooperation” between Morocco and the occupation entity.

On the other hand, the “Moroccan Front to Support Palestine and Reject the Normalisation” organised a protest sit-in today, Wednesday, in front of the Parliament building in Rabat, in refusal to the expected visit of the Israeli Minister of Security, Benny Gantz, who headed to Morocco on Tuesday night, and the visit will last for two days.

For his part, the coordinator of the Moroccan Authority for the Support of the Nation’s Issues, Abdel Samad Fathi, said that Israel has made Morocco a gateway and crossing for its ambitions in the countries of the Maghreb and in the rest of Africa, as it wants it to wage war by proxy in its alliance axis.