Moroccans Protest Knesset Member’s Visit

Moroccan activists organized a protest on Wednesday evening against the visit of Amir Ohana, Knesset speaker and Likud member to Rabat.

Demonstrators protested against the Knesset speaker’s visit and the normalization between Israel and Morocco. 

Protesters, who are activists in civil society organizations and human rights activists, also carried out slogans that read: “No normalization with the occupier, resistance is the solution,” “From Rabat to Palestine, one people, not two,” and “Morocco is a free land, Ohana go out.”

Nevertheless, Moroccan protesters also burnt the Israeli flag while chanting “Destroy the Zionists and the Americans.”

One of the protesters said that they refuse the government’s exploitation of the Moroccan desert conflict to normalize relations with Israel.

Knesset speaker shared a photo from Morocco on Twitter and wrote in three languages; Arabic; Hebrew and French: “سلاماً المغرب – Hello Morocco.”

Ohana also paid a visit to a synagogue in Rabat and shared photos from his visit on his account. He added that this was the place where his “beloved father, Meir Ohana, used to pray.”

Upon the announcement of the visit to Morocco, the Knesset speaker said in a statement: “History is being made in front of our eyes and announcing the strengthening of ties between the two countries, the closeness between the two peoples, and a widening of the circle of peace.”

Ohana will be meeting with the Moroccan parliament’s president, Rashid Talbi Al-Alami, as well as the chairman of the Israel-Morocco parliamentary friendship group and other Moroccan parliament members during his visit. He is also expected to meet with senior officials of the Moroccan government along with local Jewish leaders.