Tens of thousands protest Israeli stepping foot in Morocco

I noted on Friday that many Arabs were upset at the presence of an Israeli at the Mediterranean Parliamentary Assembly in Rabat, Morocco this past weekend.

That is an understatement.

From YNet:

Several days prior to the Global March to Jerusalem, thousands of Moroccans took part in a mass rally in Rabat "in support of Jerusalem." Israeli diplomat David Saranga, who was in the city for a conference, was taken out of the building through a side door as demonstrators protested his presence there, Yedioth Ahronoth reported Monday. Palestinian flags were flown and Israeli flags were burned during the march.

A Moroccan Islamic organization that organized the march claimed that 100,000 participated in the rally. "The people want to free al-Aqsa," the protesters chanted. "A million martyrs are going to Jerusalem."


Arab media reported Sunday that Saranga's participation in a Euro-Mediterranean Partnership (EUROMED) meeting at Morocco's parliament stirred uproar among citizens and legislators. The country's ruling party [PJD] boycotted the meeting.

At the end of the session, thousands of Moroccans stormed the building and it was feared Saranga would be attacked, Yedioth Ahronoth reported. He was therefore taken out through a side door and taken to the airport under heavy security.

At the session itself:

Israel is a member of the UFM, so the Knesset was therefore represented in Rabat by one of its members, a presence that sparked the ire of the PJD parliamentarians, headed by Abdelaziz Amari, chairman of the parliamentary group of the PJD in the room representatives:

"Our position is clear and unwavering vis-à-vis any normalization of relations with the Zionist entity ... I will ask the government to clarify the exact circumstances of the arrival on the national territory of that individual Israeli."