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Abdelilah Benkirane, Secretary General of the Justice and Development Party (PJD), has described Morocco’s campaign of solidarity with Gaza as lacking in strength and political impact.
“The solidarity of Moroccans with Gaza expressed through protests and sit-ins remains weak and without political impact,” Benkirane said on Monday during a PJD meeting on Monday.
Benkirane also expressed dissatisfaction with the ongoing hosting of the Mawazine Festival across the Rabat region.
“Those celebrations as part of the so-called Mawazine [are happening] amid intensified attacks on Gaza,” Benkirane said, adding that the deepening tragedy of Gaza should be a time for mourning and outrage.
Read also: Abdelilah Benkirane Calls on Morocco to Cancel Mawazine as IOF Continues Gaza Massacres
He further took issue with the global community’s failure to adequately address the humanitarian collapse in Gaza, stressing his pessimism that such a collective failure will only embolden the Israeli government to continue its genocidal campaign in the Palestinian enclave and the occupied West Bank.
“We will see in the future more strikes and violence against Gaza, even worse than what is happening so far. We have nothing to do. It is to ask for forgiveness for being helpless to address this situation. All we can ask for is to pray for mercy from God for the population of Gaza,” he lamented.
Benkirane and his party have been vocally critical of both Israel’s murderous Gaza war and the world’s lukewarm, inadequate response to the continued plight of Palestinians.
In addition, the former head of the Moroccan government has consistently urged the North African kingdom to demonstrate the depth of its solidarity with Palestine by severing ties with Israel over its invasion and relentless bombing of Gaza.
He also advocated recently for the cancellation of festive events like the Mawazine festival amid the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza, arguing that such celebrations are inappropriate while Gaza faces intense bombardment.
In May, weeks before Mawazine kicked off, Benkirane urged Morocco to take a much bolder position in support of Palestine by canceling the festival.
“This situation is not honorable for us as an Arab and Islamic nation,” he said.
