Marrakech – Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita received Palestinian Ambassador Jamal Al-Shobaki this week to mark the close of his diplomatic mission in Morocco, ending a posting that began in early 2018.
During the meeting, Bourita recognized the ambassador’s work to consolidate the fraternal ties between Rabat and Ramallah. The two officials also reviewed developments linked to the continuing Israeli attacks against the Palestinian people.
Bourita used the occasion to restate Morocco’s constant position in support of the Palestinian cause and the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people.
The Foreign Ministry then held an official farewell ceremony in Shobaki’s honor. Ambassador Khalid Ben Cheikh, the ministry’s director of the Levant, the Scientific Council, and Arab and Islamic Organizations, presided over the event.
In his remarks, Shobaki thanked Morocco – King Mohammed VI, the government, and the people – for its support and principled backing of the Palestinian cause. The ceremony closed with an exchange of commemorative gifts.
The departure ends a long stay in Rabat. Shobaki was appointed ambassador to Morocco on November 1, 2017, and presented his credentials on January 26, 2018. By the close of his mission this year, he had served roughly eight and a half years in the post.
Shobaki is a veteran Palestinian political and diplomatic figure. He belongs to the Fatah movement and sits on its Revolutionary Council, and he previously represented the Hebron district in the Palestinian Legislative Council.
His exit from Morocco follows a recent rise within Fatah. After winning a seat on the Revolutionary Council at the movement’s eighth conference in May, he was elected secretary of the council in June. According to the Palestinian news agency WAFA, he drew the highest number of votes among four candidates for the position. The Palestinian embassy in Rabat welcomed the outcome as recognition of his long diplomatic and political record.
His career spans both government and diplomacy. Shobaki held the local governance portfolio in successive Palestinian governments between 2003 and 2005, and he served as minister of youth and sports. He then moved into foreign service, representing Palestine as ambassador to Saudi Arabia from 2006 to 2013, before serving as ambassador to Egypt and permanent representative to the Arab League from 2014 to 2017.
The mission he led in Rabat dates back several decades. The embassy was established in 1988, after Morocco recognized the State of Palestine following its declaration at the Palestinian National Council in Algiers that same year. It represents Palestinian interests and promotes bilateral cooperation in political, cultural, and economic affairs, while providing consular services to Palestinian nationals.
He leaves his post at a moment of heightened focus on the situation in the Palestinian territories, a theme that ran through both his farewell talks with Bourita and the ministry’s ceremony. For Morocco, the meeting served to reaffirm a policy line the kingdom has maintained toward the Palestinian cause, even as Shobaki now turns to his expanded organizational role within Fatah.
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