In a Controversial Visit, Moroccan Media Delegation Hosted by Zionist Army Propagates Occupation’s Falsehoods as Civilian Deaths Soar in Gaza

BY: Dr. Hana Saada

Algiers, Algeria | November 07th, 2024 — As Gaza endures one of the most harrowing genocides in modern history, a Moroccan media delegation has sparked outrage by traveling to the Zionist entity in a visit coordinated by the Zionist liaison office in Morocco. This highly contentious trip, occurring amid a brutal onslaught on Gaza that has left over 43,000 civilians dead, exposes Morocco’s deepening ties with the occupation regime, even as global condemnation and calls for accountability against the Zionist state grow louder in light of unprecedented war crimes against women, children, and the elderly.

The Moroccan news platform Hespress, notably enthusiastic in its coverage of the visit, highlighted the journalists’ direct flight via Zionist airline El Al from Paris to Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv on Monday. Hespress celebrated the delegation’s arrival, branding the trip with hashtags linked to Avichay Adraee, the Arabic spokesperson of the Zionist army. Upon arrival, the Moroccan journalists were welcomed warmly by occupation officials before attending a private dinner hosted by Gilad Shadmon, the Director-General of the Zionist Ministry for Regional Cooperation.

The visit’s itinerary includes several controversial stops, including the Kerem Shalom border crossing. This site, which has been infamously closed by the occupation forces to restrict humanitarian aid to the besieged Gaza Strip, was falsely depicted in Hespress’s reporting as an open channel through which “humanitarian aid flows into Gaza.” This baseless narrative mirrors the Zionist propaganda efforts aimed at masking the ongoing humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, where residents suffer daily bombings and starvation under an unyielding blockade. The Moroccan delegation’s itinerary also includes a visit to the site near the October 7 attack, which the occupation authorities continue to falsely frame as a deliberate civilian assault, despite numerous testimonies and evidence showing that the majority of casualties at the scene resulted from the Zionist army’s own misdirected fire.

By amplifying such narratives, Moroccan media is seen as directly serving the Zionist entity’s agenda, which faces increasing scrutiny even in Western media outlets and among some sectors of the Zionist press, as coverage of the regime’s massacres against civilians erodes the occupation’s international legitimacy. This blatant embrace of the occupation’s viewpoint has drawn widespread condemnation from pro-justice activists, Moroccan civil society, and leading figures from across the political spectrum in Morocco, who have been unwavering in their support for the Palestinian struggle and who continue to organize mass demonstrations to denounce the genocide in Gaza.

The Justice and Development Front, a party in Morocco that initially signed the normalization agreement with the occupation, issued a searing response. In a statement, the party denounced the visit as an “unprecedented disgrace,” adding that those involved “sell their souls for the lowest price, betraying Islamic and Arab values and our shared destiny as human beings.” The party further emphasized the gravity of aligning with a “genocidal entity,” asserting that those who participate in such events become “complicit in the occupation’s war crimes” against Gaza’s defenseless civilians, and risk judicial accountability for supporting “new Nazis.”

The Justice and Development Front also warned of the accelerating “Zionist penetration and cultural manipulation” taking root in Moroccan society, especially in media, arts, and tourism—sectors increasingly used as conduits for “soft infiltration and propaganda.” This troubling pattern is encapsulated in the recent emergence of the “We Are All Israelis” movement, whose attempts to gain traction within Morocco have met fierce public resistance. Activists in Morocco remain steadfast in their opposition to normalization, with solidarity protests erupting in cities nationwide in support of Gaza and against the Zionist regime.

Prominent anti-normalization advocates, including Aziz Hennaoui, Secretary-General of the National Action Group for Palestine, strongly criticized the delegation’s visit, calling it a “brainwashing campaign” designed to condition Moroccan youth to parrot Zionist narratives about the October 7 events. Hennaoui highlighted how such initiatives serve as thinly veiled propaganda exercises, aimed at drawing Moroccan sympathies toward the occupation’s security interests while systematically erasing the Palestinian narrative.

This is not the first time Moroccan delegations have engaged in normalization activities with the Zionist entity. Just last summer, the so-called “Moroccan Coexistence” association organized a similar trip, funded by the German government in cooperation with a Tel Aviv-based foundation. During this visit, young Moroccans met with senior Zionist officials, including Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana and former National Security Advisor Meir Ben Shabbat. These officials are closely associated with policies of forced displacement and military aggression against Palestinians, with Ben Shabbat playing a prominent role in “Operation Shield of Generals,” which resulted in the deaths of over 1,800 Palestinians in northern Gaza in a single month.

Despite these state-driven efforts to promote normalization, the Moroccan people continue to distance themselves from these policies. Grassroots movements and civil society organizations remain vocally opposed to any form of collaboration with the Zionist regime, viewing such actions as a betrayal of Morocco’s deep-seated support for the Palestinian cause. As a result, pro-justice advocates emphasize that these delegations represent only a marginal segment of Moroccan society, a “shameful minority” who betray Morocco’s historic commitment to liberation and anti-colonialism.

From Morocco’s war heroes who fought in Palestine in 1948, to those who martyred on the battlefields of Sinai and the Golan in 1973, the enduring solidarity between Moroccans and Palestinians runs deep. Many Moroccans see these normalization efforts as an insult to their forebears who resisted colonialism, with the Justice and Development Front’s statement affirming, “These shameful collaborators who dance on the graves of Palestinians do not represent Morocco’s true spirit, which stands firmly for justice and human dignity.” The steadfast commitment of Moroccan civil society to Palestine remains unshakable, even as official policies veer toward normalization with the occupier.

In the eyes of Morocco’s principled majority, this latest visit underscores the widening gulf between the state’s political maneuvers and the unwavering solidarity of Moroccan citizens with Palestine.

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