Algeria: Political parties condemn Morocco-Israel normalisation deal

The recent diplomatic agreement signed by Morocco and ‘Israel’ has been heavily criticised by numerous political parties in neighbouring Algeria. [1]

Brokered by the United States and signed on 10^th December 2020, the agreement between Morocco and ‘Israel’ on re-establishing diplomatic ties could potentially bring in bilateral trade that dwarfs the currently reported estimate of $30 million in annual business between the two states. [2]

Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune categorically stated on the national television station Télévision Algérienne that Algeria will never follow the likes of other Arab states in ‘normalising’ relations with ‘Israel’. Tebboune made it clear that neither he nor the country as a whole will give their blessings to Arab states that wish to take such a step.

One of the oldest and most influential political parties in Algeria, the National Liberation Front (FNL), “angrily denounced and condemned” the deal and stated via Facebook:

“Giving up the inalienable right of the Palestinian people in exchange for obtaining an illusory sovereignty over occupied Western Sahara is humiliating. It will remain a political, diplomatic and ethical stain on the forehead of the involved parties who have always bragged about supporting the Palestinian cause. Today, the truth is revealed after agreeing to sell the sacred cause based on a deceitful and fake tweet published in the last moment. It is a gift from the have-nots to the unworthy.” [2]

According to the Middle East Monitor, there have reportedly been mass protests by citizens in Morocco expressing their revulsion at the prospect of such an agreement signed by their leadership. Many previously believed the Moroccan government would always back the Palestinian cause, voicing concerns that even suggesting such a deal would merely prolong Palestinian anguish under the Zionists’ oppressive occupation of their lands.

Abderrazak Makri, the leader of the Movement of Society for Peace – Algeria’s largest Islamic party – laid bare the view that Morocco’s monarchy (and leadership) has for some time now been covertly developing relationships with the Zionists:

“The Moroccan regime did not decide to normalise only today, and anyone who knows the complications of the Palestinian cause will be aware of the old hidden and uncovered paths of normalisation between Morocco and the Zionist entity.”

It is becoming ever clearer that the people of Morocco and its leadership are proverbially reading from different hymn sheets, with the former continuing to voice the view that ‘normalisation’ with the Zionists is a stab in the back for the Palestinian cause.

Moreover, some have expressed their sheer disgust at the timing of the deal – 10^th December – which coincided with the global Human Rights Day, which remembers the same date in 1948 when the United Nations adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. [3]

It would appear that not only has the Moroccan government carried out severe injustice to the Palestinians, it has also rubbed salt in the wound by choosing to sign the tripartite agreement on Human Rights Day.