The magnitude 6.8 quake that struck late on Friday southwest of the city of Marrakesh has killed nearly 2,681 people and injured 2,501 others, many seriously, according to official figures.

Rescuers in Morocco have been using their bare hands as desperate search efforts continue for survivors of Friday’s powerful earthquake.

Fortunately food supply can never a problem in Morocco❤️#earthquake #Maroc #moroccoearthquake #Morocco #earthquakemorocco #pray #hope #god #Marrakesh #MarrakeshEarthquake #Solidarity #مراكش pic.twitter.com/u2sdySaI21

— Maaz ShaheenⓂ️ (@MaazShaheen4) September 11, 2023

A mother cries in pain after she received the news of the tragic loss of her children in the devastating earthquake that struck #Morocco. 🇲🇦💔 pic.twitter.com/yrPrmDZ0V1

— PALESTINE SUNBIRD 🇵🇸 (@SBPal_Eng) September 11, 2023

Morocco’s government is under pressure to accept more international aid, as rescuers battle with exhaustion.

So far, it has accepted help from only four countries – Spain, the UK, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.

In Bahamas after horrible Hurricane Dorian in 2019, we did this across many islands…drop off food & water and bring back to hospitals the people that were injured. We can maximize the resources and take care of food and medical together! 🙏#ChefsForMorocco pic.twitter.com/XNZWUvlPiL

— José Andrés 🇺🇸🇪🇸🇺🇦 (@chefjoseandres) September 11, 2023

Here are some organisations that are collecting donations to help the people of Morocco.

As heroic rescue missions continue around the clock, sometimes with people digging through rubble with their bare hands in towns and villages that are virtually demolished, there are organisations collecting donations to accelerate lifesaving efforts.

#Maroc #Morocco #Marruecos #Fas #earthquakes #المغرب pic.twitter.com/Xy0yWdEOcm

— Neslihan Atagül Fan (@kneslihanatagul) September 11, 2023

This video just sent to me by the @WCKitchen team in Morocco.. WCK will always be getting meals to people after disaster in whatever way needed.. cars, food truck, boats, helicopter… and at the same time as bringing meals we can also help with necessary evacuations for people… pic.twitter.com/t7TDY0by9Z

— José Andrés 🇺🇸🇪🇸🇺🇦 (@chefjoseandres) September 11, 2023

Here are some of them:

Bank Al-Maghrib

Mohammed VI of Morocco called for the creation of a bank account supported by the country’s Treasury and Bank Al-Maghrib, the Moroccan central bank, to receive relief contributions from citizens and the global community, including private and public institutions who wish to help.

pic.twitter.com/5pqGVTuX4g

— Bank Al-Maghrib (@BankAlMaghrib) September 10, 2023

Banque Alimentaire du Maroc (Morocco Food Bank)

The non-profit collects food from various donors and redistributes it through a network of associations and social protection institutions. They shared their bank details on social media, encouraging people to support their efforts.

Donations are also possible through their website here.

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Une publication partagée par Banque Alimentaire (@banquealimentaire)

Doctors Without Borders (MSF)

The independent organisation is providing medical care and equipment to affected areas and is mobilising teams to assess needs in the aftermath. It is accepting donations here.

GlobalGiving

The US-based non-profit agency that connects donors with grassroots projects around the world is also raising money for victims. According to the organisation, the funds will be allocated to provide food, water and medicine to survivors, in addition to shelter and temporary housing.

International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent (IFRC)

The IFRC, which has a Morocco-based team, is also accepting general donations for its Disaster Relief Emergency Fund, as they “assess the need for an emergency appeal” in grief-stricken Morocco.

In a statement, the organisation said that it disbursed one million Swiss francs (more than $1.1m) from their Disaster Response Emergency Fund to support Moroccan Red Crescent activity on the ground.

UNICEF USA

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres confirmed that the United Nations is ready to assist the government of Morocco.

According to the UN, consultations are ongoing to identify areas where the UN and its partners can provide support in the coming hours and days.

UNICEF, the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund, is working to support affected children and families in Morocco.

World Opinions + Aljazeera

L’article How to support Morocco’s earthquake victims.. Video est apparu en premier sur زوايا ميادين | Mayadin Columns.

Le bilan provisoire du violent séisme qui a frappé le Maroc dans la nuit de vendredi à samedi est monté à 2 122 morts et 2 421 blessés, a annoncé dimanche le ministère de l’intérieur dans un communiqué.

Le nombre de victimes du séisme au #Maroc atteint désormais 2 122 décès et 2 421 blessés, selon le dernier bilan provisoire du ministère de l'Intérieur marocain. 🇲🇦🚨#Morocco #Marrakech #tremblementdeterre #moroccoearthquake pic.twitter.com/B5gaVHR7FQ

— Héraut Du Jour (@HerautDuJour) September 10, 2023

L’écart entre les dommages causés par le tremblement de terre meurtrier au Maroc et les biens effectivement assurés risque d’être considérable, de nombreuses maisons n’étant pas couvertes, a jugé le réassureur Scor.

This guy is driving from London to Morocco to go help ppl. Wow! 🙏 https://t.co/vcwkCOIwJe

— ₿outaina Ali (@BoutainaAli) September 10, 2023

Cette catastrophe est d’autant plus “dramatique”, selon Thierry Léger, directeur général de Scor, dont le rôle consiste à assurer les assureurs contre les événements de grande ampleur, qu’en plus des nombreuses vies perdues, beaucoup de maisons n’étaient pas prévues pour résister à un tremblement de terre et étaient donc difficilement assurables contre ce risque.

@ZinebElRhazoui depuis #Dubai qui se la raconte comme si elle n'était pas détestée unanimement au #Maroc plus qu'en #France.
Si l'opportunisme, l'indignité, l'hypocrisie étaient fait femme : la voilà 👇🏾 #ZinebElRhazouiGate #TirerABallesRéelles https://t.co/f9vJclSnO2

— Nadia El-Mansour (@nadia_debailly) September 10, 2023

Selon Jean-Paul Conoscente, directeur général de la branche dommages du groupe, le taux d’assurés est ainsi plus faible qu’en Turquie, qui a été frappé par un tremblement de terre en février dernier, et “l’écart entre les dommages économiques et les biens assuré devrait être plus important”.

Merci un peu de vérité dans cette propagande des médias français.#maroc https://t.co/jUTZw5ZNJE

— 🦁Let the Banzai grow (@BanzaiGrow) September 10, 2023

Selon une estimation préliminaire de la Banque mondiale, les pertes économiques engendrées par la catastrophe survenue en Turquie et en Syrie sont évaluées à 34 milliards de dollars mais les frais pour les compagnies d’assurance ont été estimés à 5,3 milliards de dollars par le réassureur Swiss Re.

Au Maroc, “les pertes pour les assureurs seront bien moindres qu’en Turquie”, a souligné Jean-Paul Conoscente, sans avancer de chiffre précis.

L’ONG CARE lance un appel aux dons

L’association CARE a fait savoir dimanche qu’elle a lancé un appel aux dons pour venir au secours des Marocains frappés par le tremblement de terre. « Des centaines de milliers de personnes ont dormi dehors et sont beaucoup trop effrayées pour retourner à l’intérieur » des habitations, souligne l’association. « Chaque heure, le niveau de dévastation augmente », selon son équipe sur place.

« Les besoins humanitaires sont très importants, les opérations de sauvetage sont une priorité immédiate mais les populations affectées qui ont survécu ont tout perdu et sont en état de choc », ajoute CARE, qui s’inquiète en particulier pour les personnes les plus vulnérables, dont les mères célibataires.

L’association fait savoir qu’elle se consacrera en premier lieu à la fourniture de repas chauds, d’eau potable, d’abris d’urgence et de soutien médical avant d’apporter par la suite « une aide de long terme pour aider à la reconstruction ».

World Opinions + Agences

L’article  Le bilan du séisme au Maroc monte à 2 122 morts et l’ONG CARE lance un appel aux dons.. Vidéos est apparu en premier sur زوايا ميادين | Mayadin Columns.

Au moins 632 personnes ont trouvé la mort dans un puissant séisme qui a dévasté le Maroc dans la nuit de vendredi à samedi, selon un bilan officiel provisoire. La secousse a semé la panique à Marrakech et dans plusieurs autres villes, provoquant d’énormes dégâts.

‼️ [ 🇲🇦 MAROC ]

🔸 Au moins 296 personnes ont été tuées dans le tremblement de terre. pic.twitter.com/Q3VuXxXXGY

— (Little) Think Tank (@L_ThinkTank) September 9, 2023

“Selon un bilan provisoire, ce séisme a entraîné la mort de 296 personnes dans les provinces et communes d’al-Haouz, Marrakech, Ouarzazate, Azilal, Chichaoua et Taroudant”, a indiqué le ministère dans un communiqué. Selon la même source, 153 personnes ont été blessées et hospitalisées.

L’épicentre du tremblement de terre se trouvait au sud-ouest de la ville touristique de Marrakech, à 320 kilomètres au sud de la capitale Rabat, a indiqué l’institut de géophysique américain (USGS). La secousse tellurique a été enregistrée à 23h11, heure locale (00h11 en Suisse). La profondeur du séisme a été évaluée à 18,5 km, selon l’USGS.

La moschea Koutoubia a #Marrakech durante il terremoto 6.8 che nella notte ha sconvolto il #Marocco .Epicentro a 70 km da Marrakesh. 300 vittime. Paesi isolati pic.twitter.com/NhGPCgortk

— Jeanne Perego 🥨 (@jeperego) September 9, 2023

Le centre national pour la recherche scientifique et technique (CNRST), basé à Rabat, a pour sa part indiqué que le séisme était d’une magnitude de 7 degrés sur l’échelle de Richter et que son épicentre se situait dans la province d’Al-Haouz.

D’après les médias marocains, il s’agit du plus puissant séisme à frapper le royaume à ce jour.

Débris d’habitations et voitures écrasées

Selon des images circulant sur les réseaux sociaux et des témoins, la secousse a provoqué d’importants dégâts matériels.

Outre à Marrakech, le séisme a été ressenti à Rabat, Casablanca et Essaouira, semant la panique dans la population. De nombreuses personnes sont sorties dans les rues de ces villes, craignant l’effondrement de leurs habitations.

Sur des photographies et vidéos publiées par des internautes, on peut voir d’importants débris d’habitations dans les ruelles de la médina de Marrakech, mais aussi des voitures écrasées par des pierres.

Fas’ta 6.8 büyüklüğünde bir deprem meydana geldi. Rabat’tan Marrakeş’e kadar sarsıntı hissedildi. İlk belirlemelere göre yaklaşık 300 kişi hayatını kaybetti.#Morocco #Marrakech #Fas #Deprem https://t.co/H065kFKH0D

Deprem, 840,000 nüfuslu bir şehir olan Marrakeş’e yaklaşık 72… pic.twitter.com/Fb142QlUEY

— C savunma (@CSavunma) September 9, 2023

A.E + Agences

L’article Un puissant séisme fait près de 632 morts dans le centre du Maroc..Vidéos est apparu en premier sur زوايا ميادين | Mayadin Columns.

Saad Lamjarred, a star Moroccan singer, has been found guilty of raping a young woman in France and sentenced to six years in prison.

Lamjarred, 37, showed no reaction after the verdict was announced by a court in Paris on Friday, French media reported. He was immediately detained.

During a short trial, he denied raping the woman in a Paris hotel in 2016.

Lamjarred is famous in the Arab music world. His hit LM3ALLEM has been viewed more than one billion times on YouTube.

When Lamjarred was arrested in 2016, the king of Morocco – who has awarded Lamjarred the country’s highest national honour – intervened to cover the singer’s legal fees.

Many of the singer’s fans alleged at the time that he was the victim of a “plot” by neighbouring Algeria, which has strained relations with Morocco.

And the first song he released after his arrest, which he dedicated to the king, showed just how popular he remained, gaining over 140m views.

It was not immediately clear if he planned to appeal against the verdict.

World Opinions – BBC News

L’article Saad Lamjarred: Moroccan star singer convicted of rape in France est apparu en premier sur زوايا ميادين | Mayadin Columns.

The world’s biggest party took place at Education City stadium in Doha on Tuesday night when Morocco upset Spain in the 2022 Fifa World Cup round of 16.

The vast majority of the 44,000-strong crowd was overwhelmed by emotion after Morocco defender Achraf Hakimi sealed victory with a cheeky panenka penalty kick.

Moroccans poured out into the streets of Casablanca, Rabat, Marrakesh, and practically every capital city in Western Europe to celebrate.

Even King Mohamed VI joined the jubilant crowds.

After the team danced, hugged and cried in the dressing room, coach Walid Regragui made an extremely important declaration in his post-match press conference.

“At some point in Africa, we have to be ambitious and why not win the World Cup, even if it’s going to be hard,” he said.

The declaration was a sign of a paradigm shift in how African nations approach the World Cup, and it is fitting that it came from Regragui, who represents a paradigm-shift in African coaching.

Not only did he cut his teeth on the continent, spending his formative years coaching domestic football in Morocco, he is also part of the inaugural Caf Pro Licence class of 2018 – the very first group of coaches who secured football’s highest coaching diploma entirely on the continent.

He represents everything that is right in African football: He’s young, competent, cosmopolitan, fearless and a pan-Africanist at heart.

Senegal’s Aliou Cissé, Algeria’s Djamel Belmadi, Tunisia’s Radhi Jaidi and South Africa’s Benni McCarthy are other examples of the new African coaching prototype.

It is no coincidence that the 2022 World Cup was the first time all five African nations had African coaches to lead them.

But is Regragui right? Should Africa be asking itself if it can win a World Cup?

As an African football journalist, I often dread the week ahead of World Cups because, without fail, at least one Western media outlet will ask me about Pele’s apocryphal mid-1970s prediction that an African team would win the tournament before the year 2000.

In the past, I mostly offered a cursory shrug of the shoulders, and replied that Pele said a lot of things that did not necessarily mean much, and left it at that.

This year, however, I re-considered my dismissive response.

In November, Cameroon football federation president Samuel Eto’o Fils declared that he was expecting Cameroon to beat Morocco in an all-African final.

He was immediately ridiculed online, mostly by his own compatriots, but his statement elicited a different response from me – it piqued my curiosity.

“What stopped an African team from winning a World Cup in years past?” I asked myself.

It begins with the colonisation of the continent.

The unfortunate reality is that throughout the seven World Cups that took place from 1930 to 1962, Egypt in 1934 was the continent’s sole representative.

That is partly down to the brutal colonisation of the continent by Western European nations, and partly down to Fifa’s former bosses refusing to grant Africa an automatic place at the tournament, even for countries that had gained independence.

In 1966, the African continent boycotted the World Cup in England to send a message to Fifa that it demanded a guaranteed place at the tournament, which it then secured in 1970.

Over the next three decades, African teams managed brilliant upsets, including Algeria defeating West Germany, Morocco dispatching Portugal, and Cameroon bludgeoning Argentina (in more ways than one).

Despite this, Fifa continued to drag its feet, awarding African nations only two places in 1982, three in 1994, and then five in 1998.

So one reason Africa is yet to win a World Cup is that it has barely been participating.

Some might point to poor results in the last 12 years, but who is to say that increased participation would not have led to increased competition and improvement?

The prize money for simply participating in the World Cup could have been injected into grassroots football around the continent, significantly improving the quality of play.

Nearly a century after the inaugural World Cup was hosted in Uruguay, Africa will finally be awarded a more equitable number of places, when we will have 9.5 places in 2026 – inching us a bit closer to global parity.

The 2022 World Cup has also shown us that a lack of representation, not only in the form of qualification slots, but also in the form of hosting rights, can be extremely influential.

South Korea made the semi-finals in 2002 when they co-hosted the tournament, while the Black Stars of Ghana were a penalty-kick away from the semi-finals in 2010 in Africa’s first World Cup in South Africa.

Is it merely a coincidence that Africa and Asia’s best ever finishes came the only time the continents have hosted the tournaments?

The 2022 World Cup has shown us that the answer is: probably not.

Three Asian sides qualified for the knockout stages this year, and the Qatar World Cup has been, by far, the most successful tournament ever on the pitch for African countries.

The 24 cumulative points out of their 15 group stage matches smashed a previous record of 15 points set in the 2002 tournament.

Maher Mezahi

Morocco believe that they are 270 minutes from being champions of the world. Maybe it is time that we also believe them”Maher Mezahi
Journalist

Cameroon became the first African nation to beat Brazil at a World Cup tournament, Tunisia scored a victory over reigning champions France, and Morocco became the first African nation to win a group, with seven points to their name.

Watching droves of Saudi, Moroccan and Tunisian supporters spur their teams on to historic victories has been a breath of fresh air.

The cherry on top of this “World Cup of upsets” would be if Morocco could speak Regragui’s words into existence and win the competition.

When considering how stoutly they defend and how good their goalkeeper Yassine Bono is, they will always have a chance in tournament play.

Morocco believe that they are 270 minutes from being champions of the world. Maybe it is time that we also believe them.

World Opinions – BBC News

L’article Analysis. World Cup 2022: Could Morocco win for Africa? est apparu en premier sur زوايا ميادين | Mayadin Columns.

The moderate Justice and Development Party may have lost control of Parliament, according to early results, in the latest defeat for Islamists in the region.

Morocco’s moderate Islamist party suffered major losses in parliamentary elections on Wednesday, a stinging setback in one of the last countries where Islamists had risen to power after the Arab Spring protests.

Moroccans cast ballots in legislative, municipal and regional races, the first such votes in the country since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

Despite turnout figures showing nearly half of Moroccans didn’t cast a ballot, the results were clear: The Justice and Development Party, the moderate Islamists known as the PJD, who have held power since 2011, faced steep losses up and down the ballot — enough to lose control of Parliament.

With most of the votes counted, the winners included the National Rally of Independents (with 97 seats, according to the Interior Ministry) and the conservative Istiqlal party, both seen as closely aligned with the monarchy. The PJD had 12, according to early results.

Any changing of the guard, however, is unlikely to herald major policy shifts in a country where the royal palace has long been in command. While Morocco is officially a constitutional monarchy, its Parliament lacks the power to overrule the will of Mohammed VI, said Saloua Zerhouni, a political science professor in the capital, Rabat.

“The monarchy will continue to control political parties, undermine the powers of government and the Parliament, and position itself as the sole effective political institution,” Ms. Zerhouni said.

But the result did show one thing: the diminishing space that Islamists now find for themselves in the Middle East and North Africa.

After the pro-democracy protests of the Arab Spring in 2011, many Islamist parties were allowed to run in elections, in some cases for the first time. They swept parliamentary seats in some countries and took power in others, including in Morocco, where overhauls by Mohammed VI paved the way for the PJD to form a governing coalition.

But the tide eventually turned against the Islamists. In Egypt in 2013, a coup deposed the Muslim Brotherhood, leading to its current dictatorship. This year, President Kais Saied of Tunisia suspended Parliament, which was controlled by moderate Islamists, in what many countries described as a coup.

In Morocco, the moderate Islamists made little headway on any agendas of their own, with key ministries like foreign affairs and industry being controlled by other parties. When Morocco’s king decided to make a deal last year with Israel to normalize relations, there was nothing Islamists could do to stop a move they bitterly opposed.

“Most Moroccans across the country, across educational levels, have a pretty healthy dose of political skepticism” and saw that the Islamists had little real power, said Vish Sakthivel, a postdoctoral associate in Middle East studies at Yale University.

And as the pandemic swept through Morocco, the royal palace was seen as the main driver of relief programs.

“Most of the decisions aimed at alleviating the social and economic effects of the pandemic were associated with the central power, the monarchy,” Ms. Zerhouni said. “Whereas political parties and the Parliament were presented as inactive and awaiting directives from the king.”

The distrust has previously been reflected in low numbers at the polls, including in the past three elections, which averaged a turnout of just 42 percent. And this time, pandemic restrictions forced most campaigning online, alienating many voters without internet access.

A wall in Khemisset, Morocco, painted with the symbols of some of the political parties involved in the elections.

In March, Morocco overhauled its electoral laws, making it more difficult for any party to have a big lead in terms of seats. The leading party will now have to form a coalition government bringing together several parties with different ideologies.

To many, the moves have diluted the power of parties to govern and strengthened the king’s hand — and led some to not cast a ballot at all on Wednesday.

“The room for expression available to citizens to express their grievances has been reduced so much that the only way today to show discontent without repercussions is to abstain from voting because the regime is attentive to the participation rate,” said Amine Zary, 51, who works in the tourism industry in Casablanca and did not vote.

On Morocco’s streets, many pointed to the fact that elections had changed little in the past decade.

Cases of protest by self-immolation continue to make the news, a reminder of the one that set off the initial unrest of the Arab Spring after a fruit seller set himself on fire in 2010 in Tunisia. Beatings by police officers remain frequent. A Moroccan protest movement in 2017 was met with crackdowns. And the government has targeted journalists who have spoken out against oppression.

“I literally have a knot in my stomach because I have a feeling of déjà vu,” said Mouna Afassi, 29, an entrepreneur in Rabat who voted on Wednesday. “I recognize this feeling of hope too well. During five years, they allow us to find the strength to believe it before receiving another slap.”

She added, “I would like to stop thinking about leaving Morocco in order to give my daughter the life I dream of for her.”

The challenges were clear on a recent Saturday when, despite restrictions on campaigning imposed because of the pandemic, volunteers canvassed a residential neighborhood in Rabat. In a small office, members of the Democratic Leftist Federation, a coalition of different parties, convened to bolster their get-out-the vote efforts.

“You have to show the citizens that they are like you,” Nidal Oukacha, 27, a campaign director said to one of the volunteers. “We need to tell people that Morocco can still change.”

But as the team fanned out on bicycles across the district, getting the message out was easier said than done. Many people were not home, and many that were had already made up their minds. A few potential voters listened to the canvassers, but it was not clear whether they would cast ballots in the end.

Leila Idrissi, 59, a physiotherapist and a politician with the nationalist Party of Independence, said Moroccans must not give up on voting even if they are frustrated with political stagnation.

“A lot of promises weren’t kept, especially in the last eight years,” she said. “I tell young people that if they don’t vote, they’re letting people who aren’t competent or ill-intentioned people decide for them. They need to be in charge of their future.”

By Aida Alami and Nicholas Casey – nytimes.com

L’article Islamists See Big Losses in Moroccan Parliamentary Elections est apparu en premier sur زوايا ميادين | Mayadin Columns.

Many Moroccans, especially the youth, have high hopes that new horizons will be opened in this election, politicians from dozens of parties were campaigning trying to reach millions of Moroccans for a final day Tuesday. The outcome of the voting is difficult to predict as Morocco has wisely banned all political polls, something the U.S. could learn form one of its strong allies.

These elections also come to constitute an important turning point in the country’s history, as Morocco is on the verge of a development model that has caught the world’s attention with its enlightened proposal. It also reflects the desire of Moroccans to reconcile the historical dimensions of the monarchy in Morocco and the principle of democracy that Morocco has chosen as a path of development.

The Interior Ministry said polls had opened without any hitches in the vote for 30,000 local council seats and nearly 700 regional assembly posts among nearly 30 parties. First results were expected late on Friday.

It should be noted that the Islamic Justice and Development Party is standing on the threshold of a resounding loss. Followers of the Moroccan political track confirm that one of the main reasons is the inability of this party to fulfill its electoral commitments and its failure to manage the country’s public affairs, which often led to the direct intervention of the country’s monarch to correct the internal policy, and respond to the aspirations of the citizens.

Morocco’s Islamist Justice and Development Party (PJD) that leads the governing coalition held only a few towns in 2009 elections and Friday’s vote will show to what extent they have made a difference at grassroots level after rising to power in the wake of the Arab Spring revolts.

The proactive steps taken by the King of Morocco early to confront the Covid-19 virus have spared the country great loss of life, and even led to Morocco becoming a source of medical equipment and virus tests for the rest of the African continent.

The elections on the eighth of September in Morocco also come to confirm to the world that judging the democratic experience in the North African region should not be limited to the model of military control, as is the case in Algeria, but rather it is supposed to give more support to other examples, especially Morocco.

World Opinions News – agencies

L’article Morocco’s Pivotal Elections See Dozens Of Parties Campaigning est apparu en premier sur زوايا ميادين | Mayadin Columns.

Algeria’s announcement this week that it was severing its diplomatic ties with Morocco came as no surprise — Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune had issued a statement Aug. 18 saying relations with Morocco were being reviewed. Still, the depth of accusations Algeria leveled against Israel Aug. 24 did surprise Jerusalem. For the moment, the Israeli government has issued no comment, preferring to keep a low profile.

Algerian anger at Israel is not new, and is mainly related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. As such, it has intensified since Israel signed the Abraham Accords with Morocco, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates. Soon after the agreements were announced, Tebboune said, “There is a mad rush among Arabs to normalize ties. We will not participate in it. We will not accept it. We will not bless it. The Palestine cause is sacred, and we will not give it up.” 

But more than the Palestinian issue, the Algerian anger against the Israeli-Moroccan rapprochement was fueled by the American recognition of Moroccan sovereignty of Western Sahara. In fact, it was the Trump administration’s agreement that the United States would recognize Moroccan sovereignty that opened the way for Rabat to join the Abraham Accords. Algeria has been supporting the Western Sahara independence movement Polisario for decades, and the new triple Israeli-American-Moroccan consensus on Western Sahara was perceived by Algeria as especially hostile.

In explaining his country’s decision to sever diplomatic ties with Morocco, Algerian Foreign Minister Ramtane Lamamra also pointed a finger at Israel.

Recently, Algeria accused Morocco of complicity in deadly forest fires where 90 people were killed. According to Algerian authorities, the fires were of criminal origin. Algeria blamed the August fires and a related lynching incident on the Kabyle independence movements MAK and Rachad, allegedly supported by the Moroccans. “The high security council has decided … to intensify the efforts of the security services to arrest the rest of the individuals involved in the two crimes, as well as all members of the two terrorist movements that threaten public security and national unity,” read the Aug. 18 statement. It further noted that Algerian authorities are aiming for the “total eradication” of the movements, “particularly the MAK, which receives the support and aid of foreign parties … Morocco and the Zionist entity.”

Algerian anger was further fueled by the Aug. 12 visit of Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid to Morocco. During that visit, Lapid expressed concerns over signs of rapprochement between Algeria and Iran. Speaking at a press conference in Casablanca, Lapid said he shared with his Moroccan counterpart Nasser Bourita “some concern about the role of the Algerian state in the region, which has drawn closer to Iran and is currently campaigning against Israel’s admission to the African Union as an observer.’’

Algeria was furious over this statement, as clearly expressed in the Aug. 24 declaration by Foreign Minister Ramtane Lamamra. “Morocco has turned its territory into a platform allowing foreign powers to speak with hostility about Algeria. … Since 1948, no Israeli official made a hostile declaration to an Arab country from another Arab country,’’ said Lamamra.

The issue of Lapid’s statement, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the Western Sahara disagreement are not the only grievances Algeria holds against Israel. Lamamra also denounced “massive and systematic acts of espionage” by Morocco. He was referring to the Pegasus affair, where Morocco allegedly used the Israeli-made software to spy on Algerian officials. While Rabat categorically denied these allegations immediately after their publication, Algeria obviously was not convinced by this denial.

By Rina Bassist – al-monitor.com

L’article Algeria partly blames Israel in decision to cut ties with Morocco est apparu en premier sur زوايا ميادين | Mayadin Columns.

“Morocco recognized the United States in 1777,” President Trump tweeted Thursday, invoking a letter circulated by the then-sultan allowing then-rebel Americans “free entry in his ports,” an edict that is sometimes seen as the first act of formal recognition of the United States.

The appeal to history was the prelude to a proclamation. “It is thus fitting,” Trump wrote, “we recognize their sovereignty over the Western Sahara.”

In a series of tweets, he announced that Morocco had joined the growing list of predominantly Arab countries to establish open diplomatic relations with Israel, and in return, it appeared, the United States would formally recognize Morocco’s claims over the disputed Western Sahara region, becoming the only major world power to do so.

Whatever the centuries-old provenance of the U.S.-Morocco relationship, Trump couldn’t obscure modern cynicism over the transaction his government had engineered.

The Trump administration has prioritized strengthening Israel’s diplomatic position in the Middle East, helping burnish right-wing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s credentials as a regional statesman. For years, Morocco’s ruling monarchy maintained friendly yet covert ties with Israel, and Israeli passport holders are already able to obtain visas on arrival in Morocco. Yet the kingdom’s leadership needed a popular national victory, such as U.S. recognition of its Western Sahara claims, to assuage public opinion, which remains opposed to full normalization with Israel.

Morocco annexed Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony, in 1975. That sparked a bloody conflict, which left tens of thousands of refugees stranded in desert camps. A United Nations-brokered agreement in 1991 led to an uneasy truce. Some 38 nations recognize or maintain diplomatic ties with the Sahrawi Democratic Arab Republic, while Morocco’s neighbor Algeria backs and hosts the government-in-exile of the Polisario Front, the armed separatist movement fighting for Western Sahara’s independence.

Even though the United States supported Morocco’s military at the height of hostilities with the then-Soviet-backed Polisario Front, it along with the bulk of the international community maintained a position of neutrality on both sides’ political claims.

That is, until last week. The timing of Trump’s intervention is conspicuous. “Last month, the rebels ended a 29-year-old cease-fire and declared a state of war after they accused Morocco of launching military operations in a buffer zone in the Western Sahara,” wrote my colleague Sudarsan Raghavan. “Morocco said it acted because the rebels were allegedly stopping people and goods, and harassing U.N. peacekeeping troops, which the United Nations later denied.”

It’s unclear to what extent Trump can tip the scales of the current conflict. “What this does is it adds a major world power in support of Morocco’s claims, which is something that Morocco has lacked until now,” said Samia Errazzouki, a former Moroccan journalist and current doctoral candidate who closely tracks the Western Sahara issue, to Raghavan. She added that full American backing of Morocco’s claims complicates hopes for a referendum in the region on its status, as mandated by U.N. Security Council resolutions.

“Without a referendum, it’s going to have an impact on what future steps the Polisario Front and the refugees will take,” Errazzouki said. “And as we have seen in the past few months, war is not off the table.”

There’s no indication yet that other governments will duplicate Trump’s decision. Polisario officials condemned the move, while a statement from the Algerian foreign ministry said it “has no legal effect,” contradicts existing U.N. resolutions about the conflict and “would undermine” international efforts toward producing a “real political process.”

Trump, who is set to leave office next month, may simply be adding to the fires President-elect Joe Biden will try to put out. The declaration “puts the incoming administration … in a bind. Biden could face pressure from members of his own party and foreign allies to walk back U.S. recognition of Morocco’s control over Western Sahara,” noted the Wall Street Journal. “But any reversal of Mr. Trump’s declaration would create friction with both Morocco and Israel, adding to a long list of foreign policy problems Biden must tackle.”

While leaders in Morocco and Israel may hail diplomatic victories, Trump yet again exercised his power to make a determination about land far from the United States in whose inhabitants’ concerns Trump had little to no interest.

“Once again, Trump cedes territory (an executive action on his part without any debate in Congress) which he does not own without even a discussion with, let along an agreement from, the Sahrawi people who have fought long and hard for self-determination,” wrote Nabeel Khoury, a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, referring to Trump’s controversial adjudications over the status of territories contested by Israelis and Palestinians. “Trump has once again disregarded three decades of US and UN diplomacy that sought via referendum and consultation to come to a peaceful resolution of the Western Sahara dispute.”

Trump was wrong to abandon thirty years of US policy on Western Sahara just to score a fast foreign policy victory. An Israel-Morocco deal was possible without abandoning US commitment to Sahrawi referendum on WS future, as Sen. Jim Inhofe rightly said. https://t.co/AeVaML1HeQ

— John Bolton (@AmbJohnBolton) December 11, 2020

Some Palestinians and Sahrawis have found growing solidarity in a joint sense of abandonment. “Trump’s announcement will strengthen the bonds of solidarity between the Sahrawis and the Palestinians, who were deceived by the fake Moroccan support for the Palestinian cause,” Nazha el-Khalidi, a Sahrawi activist, told the Middle East Eye.

Ibtihaml Alaloul, a Sweden-based Palestinian activist, told the same website that Morocco’s overtures to Israel ought to disabuse Palestinians of whatever support they believe they have from other Arab nations. It also, in her view, highlights the link between the Palestinian and Sahrawi plight. “If not Palestinians, then who are the main nation who should understand this situation?” she asked.

By Ishaan Tharoor – washingtonpost.com

L’article Analysis. Trump’s parting gift to Morocco est apparu en premier sur زوايا ميادين | Mayadin Columns.

Behind the announcement Thursday that Israel and Morocco will establish their first formal diplomatic ties, there lies almost six decades of close, secret cooperation on intelligence and military matters between two nations that officially did not acknowledge each other.

Israel has helped Morocco obtain weapons and intelligence-gathering gear and learn how to use them, and helped it assassinate an opposition leader. Morocco has helped Israel take in Moroccan Jews, mount an operation against Osama bin Laden — and even spy on other Arab countries.

The collaboration — uncovered in an array of interviews conducted and documents unearthed over many years — reflects a longstanding Israeli policy of building covert ties to Arab regimes where common interests — and enemies — could be found. In particular, Israel pursued a so-called periphery strategy, reaching out to more distant states that were far removed from the Israeli-Arab territorial dispute or that had hostile relations with Israel’s own enemies.

Moroccan Jews on the beach in Gibraltar in 1961 while in transit to Israel.Credit…Jack Garofalo/Paris Match, via Getty Images

The Moroccan-Israeli relationship stemmed in part from the large number of Jews in Morocco before the birth of Israel in 1948, many of whom would migrate there, making up one of the largest parts of Israel’s population. Some one million Israelis are from Morocco or descended from those who were, ensuring a deep, abiding interest in that country more than 2,000 miles away.

When Morocco gained independence from France in 1956, it banned Jewish emigration. Israel’s spy agency, Mossad, smuggled out many Jews, but the operation was exposed in 1961, when a Mossad ship carrying such migrants sank, killing most of those aboard.

The next month, a new Moroccan king, Hassan II, took power, and Israel made a highly successful effort to cultivate him. Israeli agents met with the Moroccan opposition leader, Mehdi Ben Barka, who asked for help overthrowing the king; instead, the Israelis told Hassan of the plot.

The king permitted mass emigration of Jews and allowed Mossad to establish a station in Morocco. Israel provided weapons and trained Moroccans in using them; it supplied surveillance technology and helped organize the Moroccan intelligence service; and the two shared information gathered by their spies — the start of decades of such cooperation.

King Hassan II of Morocco, right, confers with Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin of Israel, second from left, and Israel’s foreign minister, Shimon Peres, left, in Rabat, Morocco, in 1993.Credit…Nati Harnik/Associated Press

A crucial moment came in 1965, when Arab leaders and military commanders met in Casablanca, and Morocco allowed Mossad to bug their meeting rooms and private suites. The eavesdropping gave Israel unprecedented insight into Arab thinking, capabilities and plans, which turned out to be vital to Mossad and the Israel Defense Forces in preparing for the 1967 war.

“These recordings, which were truly an extraordinary intelligence achievement, established our feeling, of the top I.D.F., that we will win the war against Egypt,” Gen. Shlomo Gazit, who later become the chief of military intelligence, said in a 2016 interview.

Shortly after that intelligence coup, at the request of Moroccan intelligence, Mossad located Mr. Ben Barka, the opposition leader, and helped lure him to Paris. There, Moroccans and allied Frenchmen abducted him. He was tortured to death, and Mossad agents disposed of the body, which was never found.

A decade later, King Hassan and his government became the back channel between Israel and Egypt, and Morocco became the site of secret meetings between their officials, ahead of the 1978 Camp David accords and normalization of relations between the former enemies. Israel later helped persuade the United States to provide military assistance to Morocco.

In 1995, Moroccan intelligence joined in an ultimately unsuccessful Mossad plan to recruit Osama bin Laden’s secretary, to find and kill the leader of Al Qaeda, according to a former Mossad official who was a partner in that planning, and who asked not to be named when discussing intelligence operations.

For years, Hassan II’s successor, King Muhammad VI, has sought Israel’s help in winning American acquiescence to Morocco’s annexation of Western Sahara, which finally came to fruition in Thursday’s announcement. Since 2006, Serge Bardugo, a leader of the small Jewish community remaining in Morocco, has been the king’s ambassador in that effort, meeting with Israeli officials and American Jewish leaders.

Occasionally these meetings were attended by Yassin Mansuri, a longtime friend of the king’s who heads Morocco’s external intelligence agency. Mr. Mansuri, in turn, met directly with his Israeli counterpart, Yossi Cohen, the chief of Mossad, conducting some of the negotiations that led to the agreement to normalize relations.

By Ronen Bergman – nytimes.com

L’article Israel-Morocco Deal Follows History of Cooperation on Arms and Spying est apparu en premier sur زوايا ميادين | Mayadin Columns.