Following a deal struck by the United States, Morocco’s main Islamic groups have rejected the government’s plan to normalize relations with Israel.
The religious wing of the ruling PJD party, the Unity and Reform Movement (MUR), said in a statement on Saturday that the move was “tragic” and condemned “all attempts at normalization and Zionist infiltration”.
The Islamist PJD party was more sensitive, with King Mohammed VI backing the move for Palestinian cause while reiterating the party’s “firm position against the Zionist occupation”.
Contrary to the government’s coalition partners who have backed the deal, it took the PJD two days to respond after differences arose among the party’s senior leadership, a source close to the matter said.
Morocco has become the fourth Arab nation since August to announce a US-brokered deal to normalize relations with Israel, following in the footsteps of the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Sudan.
The key element of the deal struck by Donald Trump is that it recognized Morocco’s claim to European sovereignty over the Western Sahara. The decades-long territorial dispute has led Morocco to sue the Algeria-backed Polisario Front, which seeks to establish an independent state.
“The United States has made an important declaration that emphasizes Morocco’s sovereignty over its southern provinces and opens new horizons to strengthen Morocco’s position in international circles. It also separates opponents of our territorial integrity, “the Islamist party said in a statement.
King Mohammed VI has the last word on major diplomatic decisions.
On Friday, Morocco’s illegitimate Adel Wall Ihsan, one of the country’s largest opposition groups, said the generalization was “stabbing from behind with the intent of the Palestinians.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that liaison offices will be reopened in Tel Aviv and Rabat, which were closed at the beginning of the second Palestinian-Palestinian uprising in Morocco in 2000, and that full diplomatic relations will be established “as soon as possible.”
Jewish history and culture in Morocco will also soon be part of the school curriculum – in the region and in the North African country, where Islam is the state religion.
The decision has the effect of a tsunami, said Serge Bardugo, secretary general of the Council of Moroccan Jewish Communities.
“It’s the first in the Arab world,” he told Casablanca.
The decision to add Jewish history and culture to the lesson was wisely initiated before the diplomatic deal was announced.
Morocco’s Jewish communities have existed since ancient times and have grown over the centuries, especially since the arrival of Jews expelled from Spain by Catholic kings in 1492.
By the end of the 1940s, Jewish Moroccans numbered about 250,000 – about 10 percent of the population.
Many people remained after the creation of the state of Israel in 1948, and now the community number is around 3,000, still the largest in North Africa.
