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Moroccans protest Arab 'treason' against Palestinians after Israel deal

Chanting "Palestine is not for sale," protesters in the capital Rabat wave Palestinian flags and urge their government not to follow UAE and Bahrain who signed diplomatic pacts with Israel.

AP

A young girl waves a Moroccan and a Palestinian flag during a protest against normalising of ties with Israel, in Rabat, Morocco, Friday, September. 18, 2020.

Despite a government ban on large gatherings to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, scores of demonstrators have protested outside the Moroccan Parliament to denounce Arab countries agreeing to normalise relations with Israel.

Protesters in Morocco's capital of Rabat on Friday waved Palestinian flags, decrying the deals as "treason" and chanting "Palestine is not for sale."

The protesters in Rabat also burned a mock Israeli flag. Dozens of police officers watched the scene from a distance.

Stab in the back

Israel on Tuesday signed diplomatic pacts with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain in a US-brokered deal.

Morocco was reported to be among other Arab countries considering a similar move, though the prime minister rejected the idea last month.

The Palestinians view the pacts as a stab in the back from their fellow Arabs in the Gulf and a betrayal of their cause for a Palestinian state.

Israel and Bahrain's agreements have been condemned by many across the Arab world.

Won't 'surrender to Zionist'

Organisers in Morocco interrupted the chanting occasionally to urge participants to wear masks and to respect social distancing rules.

"The normalisation deals are an attack on the Palestinian people and their cause," human rights activist Abdelhamid Amine told The Associated Press.

"We are calling on the Moroccan government not to follow suit and we urge it not to surrender to the Zionist and imperialist pressure like other Arab countries," said Amine, former president of the Moroccan Association of Human Rights and one of the rally organisers.

Last month, Moroccan Prime Minister Saad Eddine El Othmani said the kingdom rejects any form of ties with Israel.

"The Moroccan monarch, government, and people will always defend the rights of the Palestinian people and Al-Aqsa Mosque," he said in a meeting with his Justice and Development Party.