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Marrakech – Hundreds of Jews from around the world gathered in Essaouira this week for the annual Hiloula ceremony commemorating Rabbi Haim Pinto, where explicit prayers were made for the victory of the Israeli Occupation Forces while they continue their brutal assault on Gaza.
The four-day event, held from September 17-21 and organized by David Pinto, grandson of the deceased rabbi, saw the shocking presence of both Israeli officials and Moroccan religious authorities at a time when Palestinian blood still flows.
Yossi Ben David, head of Tel Aviv’s liaison office in Rabat, attended the ceremony alongside Mohamed Menguit, president of the local Ulema Council of Essaouira, Governor Mohammed Rachid, local officials, and elected representatives.
According to “Kikar HaShabbat,” a Hebrew news website specializing in ultra-Orthodox Haredi Jewish news, government officials and royal representatives were also present while attendees offered prayers for IOF soldiers and Israeli hostages held by Hamas.
What stands out this year is the notable absence of coverage by official Moroccan media. Prior to October 7, 2023, the Hiloula of Rabbi Haim Pinto regularly received extensive coverage by state media outlets.
Since that date and its repercussions, Moroccan media has distanced itself from the event, leaving Hebrew-language outlets as the primary sources reporting on the ceremony’s details.
The event’s blatant normalization of Israel’s war crimes triggered immediate backlash across Morocco. Aziz Hanaoui, Secretary-General of the Moroccan Observatory Against Normalization, directly confronted Religious Affairs Minister Ahmed Toufiq over the glaring double standard in dealing with religious officials.
Hanaoui, in a public statement, questioned the inconsistency: how could the president of the Ulema Council of Figuig be dismissed “for expressing a personal opinion about the genocide in Gaza,” while the head of the Essaouira council attended a Hiloula ceremony sponsored by Rabbi Pinto, where “prayers were raised for the Israeli army to defeat its enemies”?
Notably, Mohamed Benali, the dismissed head of the Figuig Ulema Council, had posted on Gaza saying: “We are all complicit in the genocide in Gaza,” holding scholars more responsible than rulers for their silence.
The Ministry of Islamic Affairs later responded to the controversy, stating the dismissal followed “legal and institutional procedures” due to “repeated absence” – a fact the scholar himself acknowledged – and described critics as “either malicious or hasty.”
The Observatory has also recalled a similar grave incident from November 2021, when a Moroccan rabbi recited military-political prayers alongside then-Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz during his visit to a synagogue in Rabat.
The prayer included explicit calls to “destroy our enemies who attack us” and “subdue their enemies,” a scandal the Observatory called a “state disgrace” that showed Morocco’s “complete surrender to Zionist bullying.”
Observers warn of normalization disguised as tolerance
Digital activists blasted the participation of a senior religious figure in rituals that included prayers for the “Zionist forces” responsible for killing tens of thousands of Palestinians. In the same vein, they challenged how an official religious institution could betray national principles that consider the Palestinian cause a fundamental pillar of Moroccan values.
The Democratic Moroccan Organization for Human Rights raised the same concern in a Facebook post, denouncing what it called unequal treatment: “Not long ago, the president of the Figuig Council of Ulema was suspended simply for expressing support for Gaza and echoing scholars’ positions on the issue.”
“Yet today, the president of the local Council of Ulema of Essaouira takes part in the Hiloula in Essaouira, where prayers were offered for the victory of the Zionist army,” they added.
According to observers, this contradiction exposes not just inconsistent ministerial decisions but strikes at the very credibility of Morocco’s religious institutions.
Citizens now openly contest whether these bodies exist to defend the nation’s principles or if they have surrendered to normalization with the occupation state, while Palestinians face ongoing genocide.
The Observatory had previously condemned the “great scandal” when the image of the “Zionist temple” was displayed at a “Jewish” festival in Essaouira with authorities and Ulema Council members present on the anniversary of Palestine’s occupation.
It also demanded a clear distinction between respecting Moroccan Jews as a religious minority and supporting “Zionist terrorism” that has massacred more than 65,000 Gazans, including women, children, and journalists.
Even as these troubling events unfolded in Essaouira, Moroccans across the country continued their weekly marches and sit-ins supporting the Palestinian people, condemning both the Gaza genocide and international complicity with Israel’s Netanyahu-led extremist government.
The annual Hiloula of Rabbi Haim Pinto is a four-day pilgrimage in Essaouira drawing over 2,000 Jews worldwide. It honors the anniversary of the rabbi’s death, unites diaspora communities, and expresses attachment to Morocco through prayer at his tomb and heritage celebration.
The timing of the pilgrimage this year, however, coincides with protests in Essaouira denouncing Israel’s participation in the International Women’s World Forum for Peace.
Several civil and human rights organizations have called for a boycott of the forum scheduled for October 19-20, considering it “an initiative aimed at polishing the image of the Zionist entity and covering up its crimes against the Palestinian people.”
