The streets of Morocco’s historic coastal city of Essaouira were filled with chants of “Free Palestine” on Saturday, as hundreds of demonstrators rallied against a conference that hosted representatives of the Israeli occupation regime.

The large and passionate protest sent a clear message: Morocco’s people reject normalization and stand firmly with the oppressed people of Gaza and the entire occupied Palestinian land.

Gathering near the venue where the conference was being held, protesters waved Palestinian flags and held banners condemning the ongoing occupation, siege, and massacres perpetrated against Palestinians. The demonstrators’ chants reverberated through the city, calling attention to what they described as decades of ethnic cleansing, land theft, and systemic oppression at the hands of the Zionist regime.

“This invitation is an affront to Morocco’s conscience and to the legacy of our people’s commitment to justice,” one protest organizer told the crowd. “Every handshake with the occupier is a betrayal of the martyrs of Palestine. We will not stand silent while Gaza is bombed and its people starved.”

Organizers described the presence of Israeli delegates as an unacceptable step toward normalizing relations with an apartheid regime. They argued that inviting Israeli figures undermines Morocco’s historic and religious duty to stand with Al-Quds and the Palestinian resistance.

The demonstration remained peaceful but highly charged, lasting several hours as participants reiterated their demand that Moroccan authorities and civil society institutions reject any form of cooperation with the occupation. Protesters called for a complete severing of ties, declaring that true solidarity with Palestine requires refusing to legitimize Israel’s crimes.

“We will continue to raise our voices until the blockade is broken, until the occupation ends, until Gaza is free,” one demonstrator vowed. “Even if world leaders choose silence, the people of Morocco will not abandon Palestine.”

The Essaouira rally reflects a growing wave of public anger across Morocco over diplomatic and economic engagements with Israel. Civil society groups have pledged more protests, cultural boycotts, and public campaigns to ensure that the cause of Palestine remains a national priority and that normalization with the occupier is decisively rejected. (ILKHA)