Maghrebi Civil Society is standing up for Palestinians
Civil society in the Maghrebi region is standing up for Palestinians as a wave of renewed protests emerge against the resumption of Israeli military action in Gaza.
Protests in Morocco and Tunisia over recent weeks have signaled a reignited vigor of civil society with a broad support base demonstrating their anger towards both Israel and the United States.
Reported by Al Jazeera on April 6th, tens of thousands of Moroccans took to the streets to protest the 18-month long war. Protestors filled areas of the capital on April 6th, holding banners of Hamas leaders, trampling on Israeli flags and waving posters of Donald Trump and displaced Palestinians.
“Trump has made the war worse,” one protestor, who travelled from Casablanca said.
Many Moroccans remain angered by the 2020 decision to normalize ties with Israel in the Abraham Accords which also saw the UAE, Bahrain, and Sudan normalize relations, a move which sparked controversy at the time and continues to fuel discontent amongst the people of Morocco who have been historically and staunchly pro-Palestinian.
However, it is not just Morocco where protests have re-erupted to new scales. In neighbouring Tunisia pro-Palestinian rallies have also emerged.
The New Arab reported on April 7th that from embassies to universities, the Tunisian people have been denouncing the renewed Israeli onslaught, and American support, of the Gaza Strip as well as the bombing of Syria and the US-UK bombing campaigns in Yemen.
On April 5th, chants were heard across the country including, “one demand from the masses: close the American embassy, expel the ambassador,” as well as “no US embassy on Tunisian soil,” to “resistance, resistance, no peace, no compromise.”
In particular, student unions have declared general strikes and protested in the Tunisian capital. RFI spoke to one student who said, “In recent days, there has finally been a surge in mobilization around the world, including in the Arab world. But given what happened in Gaza—the genocide and the latest bombings especially—it was impossible not to react.”
The protests in Tunisia are spearheaded by a growing coalition of civil society groups, particularly those opposing the prospect of Tunisian normalization with Israel.
In November 2023, Parliament came close to criminalizing normalisatioon before President Kais Saied stepped in, citing “negative consequences for Tunisia’s external security and interests.”
The rise in civil society groups empowering broader society to come out and protest the war in Gaza is remarkable given the crackdown on the ability to protest in the region.
Maghrebi has recently reported on the Moroccan strike law which introduced fines as much as $20,000 following an historic general protest by labour unions. Whilst the government said it would help provide business confidence and increase investment in the country, opposition groups have depicted the move as essentially a restriction on the right to protest in Morocco.
In Tunisia, Maghrebi has also reported on the government clampdown on freedom of expression. The state has arrested political opponents and activists, some of whom have been accused of “conspiring against state security.”
Since Saied’s power grab in 2021 there has been an escalation of repression of free speech with the shrinking of the civic space a result of fear of imprisonment or punishment.
Thus, the mobilization of thousands of people in Morocco and Tunisia to protest the Israeli operations in Gaza, and particularly the US complicity in the war, sparks renewed hope for the civic space in the Maghreb. Particularly in Morocco where protests against Israel involve criticizing the state for the normalization deal.
Al Jazeera, RFI, The New Arab, Maghrebi
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