Not in My Name: Moroccan Campaign Condemns Extremism

Rabat – In 2014, Moroccans launched a movement called “Mashi Besmyti” (Not in my name). The campaign, which originated in the UK, aimed to condemn terrorism and ISIS for abusing the name of Islam to justify their acts of terrorism.

A video from the Moroccan campaign showed Moroccans speaking in Tamazight, Darija (Moroccan Arabic), English, and French.

In the video, participants carry banners which read “Not in my name” in English, Darija, and in Tamazight.

Read Also: British Ambassador: ‘Appalling Imlil Murder Doesn’t Change the Beauty of Morocco’

One campaigner says, “In Islam, there is honesty, but terrorism has no religion.”

Moroccans have shared the video widely on Facebook after the murders of two Scandinavian tourists, Louisa Vesterager Jespersen and Maren Ueland, killed near Mount Toubkal.

Authorities found the tourists’ bodies on Monday with knife wounds to the necks. The government and Moroccan citizens have strongly condemned the act of terror, emphasizing that terrorism has no religion.

On Saturday, dozens of Moroccans gathered in front of the embassies of Denmark and Norway in Rabat to condemn the terror attack.

Read Also: Terrorism: Morocco Safer Than Algeria, US, France

The participants of the humanitarian demonstration surrounded the embassies with flowers and candles in memory of Louisa and Maren.

In Imlil, people also gathered to condemn the terror attack. Expressing shock and sympathy towards the victims’ families, one local said in fluent English that the incident was unprecedented in a region where tourists come from across the world to “hike by themselves without a guide.”

“We are actually disappointed and we feel very sorry for what happened because originally it was not expected. Nobody was expecting that,” the local said about the crime.

He also spoke about the hospitality of people in the region. He said that locals ”sometimes invite” tourists to their home to offer them tea and food, without asking them for money.

After the murder “people were shocked and lost,” he said.

Morocco’s Central Bureau of Judicial Investigation (BCIJ) are investigating the case as  a terror attack. BCIJ has arrested 13 suspects in connection to the crime.

Moroccan officials returned Louisa’s and Maren’s bodies on Friday to diplomats from their home countries.