Poll: 75% of Moroccans See Hamas October 7 Attack as Legitimate Resistance

A poll by the Doha-based Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies has zoomed into Arab and North African perspectives about Israel’s devastating war targeting civilians.

The poll features responses from 8,000 people during the period from December 12 to January 5, encompassing several countries, including Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Sudan, Yemen, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia among others.

The poll emphasized that the countries where the telephone survey was conducted on Arab public opinion about the Israeli war on Gaza represent more than 95% of the population across the Arab region

What do Moroccans say?

Respondents from Morocco have a consensus about the legitimacy of Hamas’ October 7 “Al Aqsa flood” attack on Israel.

According to the report, 75% of Moroccan respondents viewed the attack as a legitimate resistance operation, while as little as 9% saw the attack as a “somewhat flawed but legitimate resistance operation.”

Only two percent saw the attack as a legitimate resistance operation that “involved heinous” or “criminal acts, while only a few respondents saw the operations as illegitimate.

The report also cited data that 33% of Moroccans believe that the most important reason for Hamas to carry out the October 7 attack was due to the ongoing Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory, while 17% said that it was a defense operation to safeguard al-Aqsa against attacks.

Moroccan respondents also expressed rejection of the comparison between Hamas and ISIS.

According to the poll, 68% of Morocco’s respondents believe Hamas is entirely different from ISIS, against 12% who see Hamas as partially different from the terror organization. Only 4% agree that Hamas is no different than ISIS.

Data offered by the survey shows that 56% of Moroccans follow daily news about the Israeli occupation forces’ war on Palestinians, while 22% say they do it several times per week.

Only 11% said that they follow the news at least once per week, while 6% of responders said they rarely follow the updates on the war.

The chart with regards to the extent of psychological stress felt during the war on Palestinians shows alarming data, with the majority of Arab countries feeling distress and concern about the situation.

In Morocco, 90% of respondents indicate experiencing a high level of psychological stress characterized as “very much”, while only 7% reported feeling psychological stress to a “somewhat” extent.

Moroccan activism for Gaza

Throughout the devastating war on defenseless Palestinians, Morocco has been home to a series of protests condemning Israel’s relentless shelling and targeting of civilians in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.

All major cities, including Rabat, Casablanca, Tangier, and Fez have witnessed massive protests, with the participation of tens of thousands of protesters who chanted slogans demanding a ceasefire and an end to ties with Israel.

In December 2023 pro-Palestinian activists initiated a petition, calling on Morocco to end ties with Israel.

The petition, addressed to Head of Government Aziz Akhannouch, emphasized that Israel “persists in committing wholesale war crimes against humanity. It engages in policies of forced displacement and oppression in Gaza and the West Bank, targeting Jerusalem and the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque.”

On Thursday, government spokesperson Mustapha Baitas said that the cabinet will examine the petition, adding that the document should be officially submitted to his ministry since he heads the government petition committee.

In 2023, statistics provided by ACLED last year showed that Morocco was among the top five countries protesting Israel’s ongoing aggression in the Gaza Strip.