Moroccan authorities’ normalization with Israeli entity is partnership in genocide of Palestinian people
SANAA, April 07 (YPA) – Amid mounting global calls to halt arms exports to the Israeli entity, widespread criticism is mounting against the Moroccan authorities, who appear to be deepening their normalization process with the Israeli occupation.
This normalization, as opponents describe it, has escalated to complicity in the crimes of genocide against the Palestinian people, particularly by allowing the use of Moroccan ports to transport military shipments destined for the Israeli occupation entity. One such instance is the arrival of the “Maersk” ship, loaded with F-35 aircraft parts, at the Tangier Med port.
This is not the first incident of its kind. The Moroccan Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement has documented the continued arrival of military ships at the Tangier Med port since last November, used to transport equipment to the Israeli military.
According to the movement, the “Maersk Detroit” vessel departed from Houston on April 5, carrying aircraft parts from the Lockheed Martin factory. It is expected to arrive in Tangier on April 20, where its contents will be unloaded and transferred to another ship, the “Nexoe Maersk,” for transport to the port of Haifa and then to the Nevatim base.
These steps sparked widespread public and societal reactions in Morocco. The BDS movement considered this cooperation to be tantamount to complicity in genocide and called on Moroccan authorities to refuse to receive this shipment out of respect for the will of the Moroccan people. It also called on Tangier Med port workers to refrain from unloading the company’s cargo in protest against the violation of national sovereignty.
The Moroccan Initiative for Support and Advocacy in Tangier also demanded official clarification from the relevant authorities regarding this shipment, calling for widespread protests against what it described as normalization tantamount to complicity in crimes against humanity.
The BDS movement in Morocco used more explicit language, stating that Moroccan authorities are complicit in the genocide of the Palestinian people and demanding a halt to the reception of these ships, which it described as “death ships.”
In the same context, the movement called on Tangier port workers to assume their moral and legal responsibilities by refusing to handle these shipments and supporting the cause of the Palestinian people, thus aligning with the popular position that strongly rejects normalization. This is accompanied by massive demonstrations in various Moroccan cities in support of Palestine and in rejection of the normalization that began with the signing of an agreement in December 2020 between Morocco and Israel.
According to a poll conducted by Moroccan researcher Hassan Hamouro in December 2024 and highlighted by local media, 95% of Moroccans expressed their rejection of any form of normalization with the Israeli entity, despite the authorities’ efforts to impose it at the popular level. This popular rejection remains a strong and ongoing position that affirms Morocco’s adherence to sovereignty and its support for the Palestinian cause.
YPA