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Rabat – A 2015 video of Mahmoud Abbas speaking on Morocco’s steady commitment to the palestinian cause has re-emerged on social media and is going viral.
The footage shows the Palenstinian president recalling Morocco’s historic support to Palestinians, and their fight for independence.
During his speech, which he gave on the occasion of the 16th celebration of Throne Day in Morocco, Mahmoud Abbas recalled efforts by the late Hassan II in service of the Palestinian cause.
“We do not forget that in 1969, after the Al-Aqsa Mosque fire, His Majesty the late Hassan II called for an Islamic conference… and since then the King of Morocco has headed the Al-Quds Committee.”
<blockquote class=”twitter-tweet”><p lang=”ar” dir=”rtl”><a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/%D9%85%D8%AD%D9%85%D9%88%D8%AF_%D8%B9%D8%A8%D8%A7%D8%B3?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#محمود_عباس</a> يصدم <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AC%D8%B2%D8%A7%D8%A6%D8%B1?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#الجزائر</a> بمعلومة وقعها أشد من الكوارث التي يعيشونها حاليا…حيث قال أن لجنة دعم <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%82%D8%AF%D8%B3?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#القدس</a> كان إسمها لجنة دعم <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AC%D8%B2%D8%A7%D8%A6%D8%B1?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#الجزائر</a> نشرتها <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A3%D8%AD%D8%B2%D8%A7%D8%A8_%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%BA%D8%B1%D8%A8%D9%8A%D8%A9?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#الأحزاب_المغربية</a> لدعم <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AC%D8%B2%D8%A7%D8%A6%D8%B1?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#الجزائر</a> حتى نالوا استقلالهم ثم تم تحويل الإسم. <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/%D9%81%D9%84%D8%B3%D8%B7%D9%8A%D9%86?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#فلسطين</a> <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%BA%D8%B1%D8%A8?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#المغرب</a> <a href=”https://t.co/Zx6mFOhNAC”>pic.twitter.com/Zx6mFOhNAC</a></p>— M99TV (@M99_TV) <a href=”https://twitter.com/M99_TV/status/1427606034714185769?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>August 17, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src=”https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8″></script>
He also mentioned the Arab Summit Conference held in Rabat in 1974, saying:”[In that] historic summit, the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) obtained it as the sole and legitimate representative of the Palestinian people, thanks to the late Hassan II.”
Abbas commended the efforts of Bayt Mal Al-Quds Al-Sharif Agency in supporting the people of occupied Jerusalem, including through the construction and renovation of hospitals, schools, clubs, and many others.
Stressing what he described as Morocco’s long-standing efforts in solidarity with brothers in need, he pointed to the country’s support for the Algerian revolution during Algeria’s independence war.
The Moroccan people and government have always shown immense support to the Algerian revolution, Abbas argued, adding that the country’s Advocacy Committee shifted its focus from Algeria to Palestine after Algerians gained their independence.
The committee, still operational, convenes all Moroccan political parties. And “despite their [the parties’] disagreements on some matters,” Abbass said, “they are in complete agreement on the Palestinian issue.”
In recent months, many Algerian media outlets and officials have constantly called out Morocco for its “insufficient” support for palestine. These claims have gotten louder following Morocco’s agreement to re-establish diplomatic relations with Israel in December of last year.
After news emerged of the Morocco-Israel agreement, the Algerian state decried the decision and called it a “blantant betrayal of the Palestinian cause.”
Many Palestinians do not seem to agree, however.
Even as it agreed last year to establish diplomatic relations with Israel, Morocco maintained that its commitment to Palestinians’ rights would remain unchanged. As Abbass noted in his now re-emerged 2015 speech, Morocco has been a steadfast helping hand to the Palestinians.
Amid heightened concerns over COVID-19 in recent months, Morocco dispatched several humanitarian aid shipments carrying food products, blankets, and medicines.
Despite the visibly improving diplomatic ties between Israel and Morocco, King Mohammed VI has reaffirmed Morocco’s position in favor of a two-state solution. The King has said that Morocco would always place the Palestinian cause on the same footing as the question of the Moroccan Sahara, and that the country’s profound attachment to its southern provinces would never trump its equally strong wholehearted commitment to the Palestinian cause.
Even when hosting high-ranking officials in recent weeks – including Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid just last week – Moroccan officials have reiterated their country’s commitment to negotiations to reach a final, lasting and comprehensive settlement to the Israel-Palestine conflict.
On June 16 this year, Morocco’s Head of Government Saad Eddine El Othmani and other high-ranking politicians from the country ruling Justice and Development Party (PJD) received senior Hamas official Ismail Haniyeh in Rabat.
“We are honored in the Justice and Development Party to receive a delegation from Hamas led by the head of the movement’s political bureau, Ismail Haniyeh,” El Othmani said In a tweet following Haniyeh’s visit.
Just this week, on August 16, the Palestinian Red Crescent inaugurated the Al Quds specialized hospital, in the Gaza Strip. The hospital was initially destroyed during the Israeli aggression in 2008.
And the new facility, which is funded by a donation from King Mohammed VI, comes as yet another illustration of Morocco’s devotion to what the Moroccan government has long described as “the just Palestinian cause.”
Such instances of tangible support for and visible meaninful impact in Palestine are a clear contrast to the Algerian support of the palestinian people, which seems to only come in the forms of grand declarations, statements and condemnations of third parties.
Earlier this month, the Algerian delegation to the African Union fiercely protested against the inclusion of Israel as an observing member to the continental organisation.
The stance could be seen as commendable, noble even. But the Algerian attacks on Moroccan-Israeli relations quickly lose legitimacy once the fact of existing Algerian-Israeli commercial relations is factored in.
According to data by the World Bank and the United Nations Data and Statistics Bank COMTRADE, Algeria has exported approximately $2.57 million worth of chemicals to Israel.
Exports of these types of products have been steadily increasing since 2016 and have even doubled in volume, from $1.2 million to nearly $2.6 million in just two years.
Officially, Algeria has no relationship with what its political leaders call the “zionist entity,” no explanation is provided by the agencies under the World Bank and the UN about how these products have been exported.
By 2020, Algerian trade with the Israeli state amounted to $9.7 million in imported goods.
