Moroccans protest 1-yr-old normalization with Israel

Moroccans have staged a protest against the now-one-year-old detente between the country and Israel, saying they stand by Palestinians' rights.

The rally was held in front of the parliament building in the capital Rabat on Friday.

Morocco and Israel resumed their relations last December. Rabat had cut its ties with Tel Aviv two decades ago following the eruption of the second Palestinian Intifada (Uprising).

The detente came as part of the Abraham Accords, a series of rapprochement deals mediated by the United States between the occupying regime and some regional Arab countries, including the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.

The protesters shouted slogans against the Israeli regime and the country's authorities over the normalization.

The participants expressed outrage at Israeli forces and illegal settlers' near-daily violations against the al-Aqsa Mosque's compound -- located in the holy occupied city of al-Quds' Old City -- at which non-Muslim worship is forbidden.

They also denounced the occupying regime for its retaining its crippling all-out land, aerial, and naval blockade of the Palestinian territory of the Gaza Strip.

The protest had been called by Morocco's National Society of Endeavor for Liberation of Palestine.

"Today, we came together again to say Moroccans are still steadfast in their support for the Palestinian people," said Abdul-Qader al-Alami from the society.

"The Moroccans sympathize with the Palestinian people and what they (the Palestinians) experience in terms of [Israeli] violation and crime all over Palestine," he added. "We also express our opposition to normalization and normalizers, and consider it (the detente) to be a source of encouragement for the occupying regime to continue its crimes."

MG