Moroccans wave Palestinian flags at a demonstration in support of Gaza

More than 10,000 demonstrators marched in Rabat on Sunday in solidarity with Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, denouncing a “war of extermination” and the normalization of relations between Morocco and Israel.

Called by a motley crew of supporters of the Palestinian cause, including left-wing groups and militants from the Islamist Justice and Charity movement, the demonstrators marched along Avenue Mohammed V, the beating heart of the capital, under the slogan “stop the war of extermination in Gaza, stop normalization”.

Many of the protesters held up banners denouncing the “destruction of hospitals” and the “colonization” of the Palestinian territories.

“Free Palestine” and “Save Gaza” were also proclaimed on placards.

Chanting slogans saluting the “resistance of the Palestinian people”, demonstrators notably criticized US support for Israel in its war against Palestinian Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

“When you bomb massively and indiscriminately between military targets and civilians, including babies, that’s genocide. We have to call a spade a spade”, condemned Jihan, a 27-year-old demonstrator.

The war in Gaza was triggered on October 7 after an unprecedented attack on Israeli soil by the Islamist movement Hamas, which left 1,140 Israelis dead, according to the authorities.

According to the Hamas Ministry of Health, the Israeli army’s retaliatory operations resulted in 20,424 deaths.

In Rabat, Hachimi Damni, a demonstrator in his sixties, “came to express his rejection” of the bombing of civilians and “normalization with Israel”.

Since the end of 2020, the kingdom has forged all-out relations with Israel in return for US recognition of Morocco’s sovereignty over the disputed territory of Western Sahara.

Since the beginning of the war, several large-scale demonstrations have taken place in Morocco to demand a repeal of normalization, whereas before October 7, opposition to this process was limited.

This normalization is a “betrayal”, chanted demonstrators on Sunday.

The kingdom officially denounced “flagrant violations of the provisions of international and Moroccan law”.