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These last days a video and photos of former Al Jazeera Correspondent in Gaza Wael Al Dahdouh surfaced in which he appeared with two female Polisario activists holding the flag of the self-proclaimed Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) during a pro-Palestine meeting in Spain.
In the video it seemed that the two activists were looking for a photo-op in what appeared more of a concern to propagandize than show support for Al Dahdouh and all the suffering he and his people have been through for the last two years. However, the footage was enough for some Moroccans to lash out at the journalist and Palestinian cause in general.
Even though Al Dahdouh explained later on he did not pay attention to the flag the two Polisario members were holding, and that his focus was only on the plight of his people, the clarification was not enough for those who, in the name of Moroccan nationalism, have been advocating in recent years for a dissociation with the Palestinian issue.
‘Not My Cause’
For decades the Palestinian cause seemed to be something the overwhelming majority of Moroccans are united around, from the most conservative, to the most liberal and the far left.
In solidarity marches with Palestine, especially during the recurrent Israeli Occupation Force (IOF) campaigns against the civilians in the Gaza strip, it was normal to see heads and figures of political parties, from those represented in the government to the ones dreaming of establishing a republic or even a theocracy, hand in hand and chanting with one voice: “We will trade our hearts and souls for Palestine”.
In academia, public and private media, and among ordinary citizens – support for Palestine seemed a given.
But in recent years a trend has emerged in which more and more Moroccans are turning their backs to Palestine in the name of an increasingly expressed national sentiment that is drifting to chauvinism and all the narrow-minded isolationism that comes with it.
Catch-phrases such as ‘’Palestine is not my cause’’, ‘“Morocco first’’ and “Taza has priority over Gaza’’ have become the favorite slogans for those who adhere to this trend. While seemingly the majority of Moroccans are not part of this minority, as shown through the endless pro-Palestine marches since the Israeli campaign to make Gaza unlivable started in October 2023, this anti-Palestinian trend in needs to be discussed, dissected and called out.
Palestine vs Western Sahara
Since Morocco reignited diplomatic relations with Israel in late 2020 and the ensuing US recognition of the Kingdom’s sovereignty over Western Sahara, the issue of Palestine and effects of normalization has become a hot topic for debate in the country, with people holding opposing or similar opinions with varying degrees.
Though this may not be exhaustive, one can point to four different groups:
The first, those from the far left who are opposed to normalization because of their pan-Arab beliefs, and are explicitly or implicitly support Polisario for ideological reasons and hold anti-monarchy stances;
The second, those who reject normalization for religious reasons because Palestine is the home of Islam’s third holiest site, Al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.
The third, those who recognize Israel’s crimes against the Palestinians but see normalization as a necessary evil. They find an excuse for it for it in Morocco’s need to put an end to the Western Sahara issue amid Algeria and Polisario’s hardening stances and belligerent rhetoric in recent years.
The fourth, those who fully support normalization in the name of Morocco’s interest while being totally un-preoccupied with the fate of the Palestinians.
Both the first and last group’s attitudes are problematic as the two want to make the Palestinian and Western Sahara issues, both very dear to most Moroccans, as necessarily opposed, with each group leaning on one side or the other.
Those who don’t care about Western Sahara, either because of Pan-Arab ideals or because they are dreaming of the day Morocco becomes a republic, as is the case with some opposition figures both in Morocco or in exile, probably have a misguided calculation.
They seem to think that losing Western Sahara will deprive the monarchy from an issue that makes the Moroccan people united around it. By doing so, they are simply going against the country’s key interests, knowingly or unknowingly ignoring all the geo-political and domestic ramifications that such a scenario entails, which makes all their claims about wanting what is best for Moroccans appear to their fellow citizens as a load of crap.
Misguided, narrow-minded and dangerous
On the other hand, those who champion a dissociation with the Palestinian issue in the name of Moroccan interest, or under the guise that Morocco is mainly an Amazigh country and that it has nothing to do with the problems of the Middle East or the so-called Arab World, are also adopting an attitude that go against the Kingdom’s interests and many of the values that the country and its people stood for over time.
Morocco is a majority Muslim country with a long history with Palestine. From the key role played by soldiers from modern-day Morocco and other parts of the Maghreb region in Sultan Salahudin’s efforts to regain control of the territory from the Crusaders, to Moroccan migration to Palestine over the centuries, joining the Palestinian Liberation movement and fighting Israel alongside other Arab armies in 1973, this is a history that cannot be erased with a stroke of a pen.
It is baffling that those nationalist zealots advocating for a Moroccan isolation in the name of a misrepresented exceptionalism, or an exclusive Amazigh identity, often take pride in Morocco’s glorious periods of history shaped by the Al Moravid and Almohad empires.
Yet, part of what made these empires what they were is the fact that their rulers were not isolationists. Arguably Morocco’s two greatest sultans, Youssef Ibn Tachfine and Abdelmoumen Ibn Ali, both of whom were Amazigh, did not sit by as the Christian armies were advancing against Muslim Spain and Portugal. They did not say these were Iberian problems that they had nothing to do with.
If the war on Palestine and other conflict zones in the Middle East and North Africa are of no concern to Moroccans, by the same logic the issue of Western Sahara should not be of concern to other countries in the region. The Gulf Cooperation Council countries, which have for decades actively supported Morocco’s territorial integrity, might as well say these are North Africa problems and we have nothing to with it.
Let us also not forget that Polisario and its backers’propaganda relies on drawing a parallel between the Palestinian struggle for liberation and Western Sahara. Morocco might be succeeding in convincing Western powers of its claims over the territory, but changing the perspectives of pro-Polisario civil society is apparently still a long road ahead. Appearing to be an Israeli ally is not a good PR for the kKingdom in that regard.
For God, Country and Palestine
Lastly, it is important to note that people are entitled to their opinions.
But those Moroccans who have been denigrating the Palestinian cause and Palestinians in recent years need to know two things: First, they don’t have a monopoly over patriotism. Caring about Palestine does not make people less Moroccan. And because most Moroccans identify as Muslims, Palestine’s religious significance as the home of the Al Aqsa Mosque makes it a sacred cause for the Moroccan people.
Moroccans also have a deeply rooted pride in and attachment to the country and the ruling monarchy, which means that normalization with Israel puts them in a situation where their religious, national and political identities, represented in the Kingdom’s motto ‘’Allah, Al Watan, Al Malik” (God, Motherland, King), seem at odds.
Only a doubling of efforts from the Moroccan government to advocate for Palestinian rights and a Palestinian state can help alleviate this dilemma many Moroccans are faced with.
Second, Palestine detractors in Morocco are not expected to go on hunger strike for the sake of starving Gazans, or take part in a flotilla to break the siege over the strip or host war-fleeing Gazans in their homes, but at least they can have the decency to recognize the suffering the Palestinian people have been enduring for decades while feeling they have been abandoned by their fellow Arab and Muslim nations and the entire world.
If some people do not want to show sympathy and support, at least they could abstain from adding insult to injury
