Dozens of Moroccan activists demonstrated in Rabat on Wednesday evening, protesting the arrival of Israeli Knesset President Amir Ohana in the Moroccan capital. They raised slogans against his visit and the normalization of relations between the two countries, and burned the Israeli flag.
The protesters, who were activists from civil society organizations and human rights advocates, chanted slogans such as "No normalization with the occupier, resistance is the solution," "From Rabat and Palestine, one people, not two," and "Morocco is free land, Ohana get out!" They also burned the Israeli flag while shouting, "Crush, crush, underfoot the Zionists and Americans."
Ohana's visit comes at a time when the Israeli government is reportedly considering a possible announcement recognizing Morocco's sovereignty over the disputed Western Sahara region.
Aziz Elhanawi, a member of the Moroccan Initiative for Support and Advocacy, affiliated with the Unity and Reform Movement, told Reuters: "Today, this popular protest was organized in haste against this ominous visit of the Zionist Knesset President, which is the first of its kind in the history of the conflict with the Zionist enemy."
He added: "Through this demonstration, we reject that normalization is passed on through the issue of Moroccan Sahara, as what has happened over the past two and a half years is the passing of normalization through the Moroccan Sahara and attempts to whitewash normalization using the Sahara issue while bypassing the Palestinian cause and disregarding its constants."
Moroccan King Mohammed VI had previously contacted Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas immediately after normalizing relations with Israel, assuring him that Morocco always places the Palestinian cause on par with the Moroccan Sahara, which it considers an integral part of its territory. Morocco normalized relations with Israel on December 10, 2020, under U.S. mediation in exchange for recognition of Rabat's sovereignty over the disputed Western Sahara, which has been contested between Morocco and the Polisario Front since 1976.
