Moroccan Academics Call for Halt to Academic Normalization with Zionist Entity, Parliamentarian Urges Review of Bilateral Agreements
BY: Hana Saada
ALGIERS- In a joint statement, more than 160 Moroccan university professors have called on the Moroccan government to cease academic normalization with the Zionist entity. Simultaneously, they urged the academic community to boycott Zionist institutions in protest of the ongoing Zionist military aggression against Gaza. Additionally, opposition parliamentarian Fatima El Tamimi called for a review of the normalization agreements with the Zionist entity.
The academics asserted in their statement that Zionist universities are an integral part of the colonization and apartheid system, implicating them in continuous crimes against the Palestinian people and the Arab world. The statement emphasized that these universities play a crucial role in developing repressive military and security technologies in the Zionist entity, prompting Palestinian civil society to call for an academic boycott to increase Israel’s international isolation.
According to the signatories, these institutions play various roles in the ongoing genocide against the Palestinian people in Gaza, including the suspension or expulsion of dozens of Palestinian students due to their solidarity with Gaza or their demands for an end to the aggression. Some of the universities involved in normalization have also been accused of threatening Palestinian academics.
The signatories concluded that collaboration and partnership with these institutions do not honor Moroccan academics and researchers who continue to support the Palestinian people’s struggle for national liberation and an end to colonial settlement.
In a separate development, opposition parliamentarian Fatima El Tamimi addressed the Moroccan Parliament, stating that a reassessment of the normalization agreement signed between Morocco, the Zionist entity, and the United States is necessary. The announcement of the resumption of diplomatic relations between the Zionist entity and Morocco in December 2020 was met with opposition from various organizations, parties, and popular sectors in Morocco.
