Women’s group calls for boycott of Morocco forum over Israeli participation

The Women’s Organisation of Morocco’s opposition Justice and Development Party (PJD) announced Monday its decision to boycott the upcoming World Forum for Women for Peace, set to take place in Essaouira from 19 to 21 September, in protest against the participation of Israeli representatives.

In a statement the group urged women’s organizations, human rights defenders, and civil society bodies in Morocco and abroad to reject involvement in a “normalising” event. It called instead for active engagement in initiatives that support Palestine and stand against normalisation with Israel.

The organisation denounced Israel’s inclusion in the forum as a “provocative step” that undermines Morocco’s long-standing solidarity with the Palestinian cause. It said the move legitimises “the war of genocide being waged by the Zionist entity in Gaza and across Palestine.”

“The participation of Israeli representatives is a blatant affront to the conscience of the Moroccan people and all free peoples worldwide,” the statement added, condemning what it called Israel’s ongoing crimes of “genocide, starvation, siege, and forced displacement — particularly against defenceless women and children.”

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