In recent weeks, a national organization was established under the name “The Moroccan Association for the Support of the Struggle of the Palestinian People,” aiming to call for the Palestinian cause in Morocco and organize all forms of solidarity, both moral and material, for the Palestinian resistance and the struggle of the Palestinian people against abhorrent Zionism and its protector, global imperialism.
The founders of this association started from the premise that the Palestinian issue is a matter of colonialism; that is the colonization of Arab Palestinian land by foreigners, and that the only solution to the liberation of the Palestinian lands from the claws of Zionism lies, first and foremost, in the hands of the Palestinian people. This solution, chosen by the Palestinian people for their liberation, is embodied in the popular resistance waged within all the lands occupied by Israel before and after June 5 [1967].
By choosing the path of direct popular resistance, the Palestinian people have demonstrated their will to use all human and material means that would allow it to achieve its goal, rejecting all foreign tutelage and determined to move forward with its resistance.
In this context, every Arab is obligated to provide material and moral support to the Palestinian resistance, which is precisely what the founders of the Association for the Support of the Struggle of the Palestinian People have observed and have pledged to do within Morocco.
The founders, most of whom are among Morocco’s finest nationalists, including members of the resistance who fought directly against French (and Spanish) colonialism, members of the leadership of popular political organizations, jurists, professors, doctors, and lawyers, have decided to give this association a broad national character. This would enable the association and its branches throughout Morocco to gather all possible means of assistance and support for the Palestinian resistance.
The “Association for the Support of the Struggle of the Palestinian People” aims to achieve the following goals:
- To work towards achieving full and effective support from the Moroccan people for the Palestinian Arab people in its struggle for liberation against Zionist aggression until the sacred land of Palestine is liberated from Zionist colonial occupation and the Palestinian people regain full sovereignty over their ancestral land.
- To work towards realizing this solidarity materially and morally through all legal means and methods.
- To raise awareness about the Palestinian cause among Moroccan public opinion by using all forms of information, publication, and propaganda. In this regard, the association will resist Zionist methods within Morocco, thwart their efforts, expose, and denounce them.
- To work in the field of international public opinion to raise awareness about the Palestinian people's cause, unveil the true face of Zionist aggression in all media means, and, if necessary, and participate, if necessary, in international conferences and seminars, using all methods of communication, advocacy, and persuasion.
The association upholds in an article in its bylaws that it will avoid “any interference in the internal affairs of the Palestinian people and anything that might be considered or interpreted as interference in their private matters.”
Thus, through the goals of the Association for the Support of the Struggle of the Palestinian People, we see the nobility of its objectives and the necessity of supporting its work and encouraging all sincere Moroccan nationalists committed to the Palestinian Arab people’s cause and the sanctity of their armed struggle for liberation to join this militant association.
List of Founders of the Moroccan Association for Supporting the Palestinian Struggle:
Abdelkarim Benjelloun (lawyer) - Abderrahim Bouabid (lawyer) - El Hachemi Bennani (school principal) - Mohamed Tahiri (farmer) - El Hadi Messouak (doctor) - Boubker El Kadiri (school principal) - Abdelkrim El Khatib (doctor) - Mohammed Lahbabi (university professor) - El Mehdi Ben Aboud (doctor) - Idriss El Kettani (university professor) - Abderrahman El Kadiri (university professor) - Mohamed Benabdallah (teacher) - Abdessalam Ben Abdeljalil (school principal) - Mohammed Tetouani (scholar) - Mohamed Ejzoulit (teacher) - Mohammed Naciri (university professor) - Ahmed El Hilali (employee) - Abdelkrim Ghallab (journalist) - Abdelwahed Erraji (university professor) - Ben Abdellah El Ouakouti (resistance fighter) - Mohamed El Hamdaoui (school principal and scholar) - Mohamed El Habib El Ferkani (journalist) - Mohamed El Yazghi (lawyer) - Mohamed Ibrahim El Kettani (scholar) - El Bachir Ben El Abbas (lawyer) - Mohamed El Nasser El Kettani (Teacher) - Ahmed Belimni (Employee) - Omar Benouzakrir (school principal) - Amru Skirej (doctor) - El Hassan El Iraqi (employee) - Abdelatif Benjelloun (doctor) - Hassan Safi Eddine (merchant-resistance fighter) - Abdellah Guenoun (scholar) - Mohamed El Ouazani (farmer) - Mohamed Zniber (university professor) - Omar El Sahli El Metoukel (scholar) - Ibn Salem Lahlou (merchant).
The founders met and elected a provisional committee for the association to oversee its activities until the first general conference of the association. The committee consists of:
President: AbdelKarim Ben Jelloun
Vice President: Omar El Khattabi
Secretary General: Mohamed Tahiri
Deputy Secretary General: Abderrahman El Kadiri
Treasurer: Abdessalam Ben Abdeljalil
Deputy Treasurer: Mohamed Benabdallah
Advisors: El Mehdi Ben Aboud, Mohamed Ibrahim El Kettani, Fathallah Oualalou, Idriss El Kettani, Mohamed Tetouani, Mohamed Ejzoulit, Ibn Salem Lahlou, Ben Abdellah El Ouakouti, Mohamed El Hamdaoui.
We have learned that the association is in the process of establishing branches throughout Morocco and that its activities will begin in the upcoming October.
Source: Palestine, Issue 1, Year 1, 11/10/1968.
Translated from Arabic by Aomar Boum