Moroccan University Halts Classes to Block Pro-Palestine Event Amid Israel Tensions

Focused on the theme "For the nation, for Palestine, all against normalization", this conference was to be held from April 12 to 14. On the eve of the event, the presidency of Ibn Tofail University in Kenitra announced the suspension of classes at the university for three days. "It has been found that this activity has a national dimension and is organized in partnership with a non-student body that has nothing to do with the university," the university said in a statement to justify its decision. This non-student body is Al Adl Wal Ihssane (AWI). The university also justified this decision by "the epidemiological situation in the country and the state of health emergency, and in order to avoid the tensions that this meeting could leave within the university, in the interest of the safety of its students, staff and facilities".

On Tuesday, the first day of the scheduled conference, the police violently dispersed several students who had gathered to protest the university’s decision. In total, more than 20 students were arrested, before being released, according to the National Union of Moroccan Students (UNEM). "They [the police] failed to arrest me, but they beat me, as well as many other students who were there. [...] Unfortunately, we don’t even have the right to express our opinion on the Palestinian cause. They want to force Zionism on us," said Mohammed, a student witness to the demonstration, to The New Arab.

The Islamist group Al Adl Wal Ihssane (AWI), officially banned by the Moroccan state, and Attajdid Attolabi, the youth wing of the Justice and Development party, condemned the incident. They accused Ibn Tofail University in Kenitra of "serving the Zionist agenda with twisted methods and bad decisions". The Moroccan Front for Support of Palestine and Against Normalization also condemned the university’s decision. It describes this decision as "the shameful level reached by the state in its defense of Zionism and its hostility towards the supporters of the Palestinian cause in the country".