Khaberni - The incident of raising the Israeli flag next to the Moroccan flag in the area of Saidia city near the border with Algeria has sparked widespread condemnation in local and national circles in Morocco.
The incident occurred last Thursday and a widely circulated video on Moroccan and Arab social media showed a woman waving the Israeli flag near the border between Morocco and Algeria, which was met by Algerians raising both the Algerian and Palestinian flags. It is noted that the woman was part of an organized tourist group coming from Israel, while some reports mentioned that she was among the Moroccan Jews.
Anti-normalization entities in Morocco said that official policies supporting normalization “contradict the will of broad segments of society,” affirming that the Moroccan popular stance is “historically aligned with supporting the Palestinian cause.”
The Moroccan Front for Supporting Palestine and Countering Normalization in Berkane in northeastern Morocco expressed its strong rejection of this behavior, considering it a blatant challenge to the feelings of Moroccans and the national consensus against normalization, as well as a direct offense to the brotherly relations between the Moroccan and Algerian peoples.
The Front stated in a declaration that "this behavior reflects the racist nature of the Israeli entity and its continuous efforts to sow discord and tension among peoples," pointing out that the ongoing Moroccan state policies of formal and informal normalization pave the way for such practices described as "desecration of the border area."
During a rally held in front of the parliament in Rabat, Ahmed Wehman, head of the Moroccan Observatory for Countering Normalization, said that the National Working Group for Palestine intends to head to the border area tomorrow Sunday "in rejection of the incident" and to affirm Morocco’s sovereignty.
On the Israeli side, "Ynet" quoted Abraham Aviezemer, an Israeli tour guide, saying that the incident occurred during a tour he was leading which included 22 tour guides.
Aviezemer, who organizes regular trips to Morocco and continued doing so throughout the Gaza war period, said: "On our way to spend Saturday in Fes, we passed near the border with Algeria. There is no longer a crossing, but it's the closest point between Morocco and Algeria, maybe 50 meters between the Moroccan and Algerian fences."
He added: "We took out the Israeli and Moroccan flags, raised them, and sang the Israeli national anthem 'Hatikvah' and the Moroccan national anthem. Many Moroccans gathered and filmed us, and perhaps they were the ones who uploaded the video on the internet."
Aviezemer said: "There are Moroccan reactions expressing their support for Palestine. Since October 7th, the Moroccans have been divided; previously 70% supported us and 30% opposed relations with Israel, now the ratio is closer to 50-50 due to what happened in Gaza. They see that we are committing genocide there."
Aviezemer clarified that the woman shown in the video was one of the participants in the tour, saying: "She took the Israeli flag and ran with it. When the Palestinian flags were raised on the Algerian side), she ran towards them to wave the Israeli flag."
When asked if there was any concern about raising the Israeli flag in Morocco at this time, Aviezemer replied: "Not at all. Everywhere we raised the Israeli flag in Morocco, nothing happened. Only on this trip."
