Ashraf AboArafe
As it is known, the head of the Hamas political bureau, Ismail Haniyeh, is on a visit to Morocco on the evening of Wednesday, June 16, 2021, where he met with the Secretary General of the Justice and Development Party, Dr. Saad Eddin El Othmani.
What is worth noting in this context is the nature of this visit, which is considered an unofficial and ordinary party visit that falls within the framework of partisan exchange, like other Moroccan parties that communicate with their counterparts abroad.
During his meeting with Mr. Ismail Haniyeh, Dr. Othmani indicated that his party’s invitation to the Hamas delegation to visit Morocco comes in the context of the Moroccan constant position, the king, government and people in support of the Palestinian people and their struggle until they achieve their rights, and even build their independent state, with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital. This visit was scheduled 6 months ago, as indicated by Mr. Othmani.
The Secretary-General of the Justice and Development Party added that Morocco considers the Palestinian cause its cause as well, which has been translated in its millions of marches and in the continuous work of the House of Money of Jerusalem, in addition to the positions of His Majesty Mohammed VI, may God assist him, rejecting the deal of the century and the Judaization of Jerusalem, and also emphasizing the pivotal role Morocco, under the leadership of His Majesty the King, may God assist him, is doing in support of the Palestinian cause.
For his part, Mr. Ismail Haniyeh, on the same occasion, considered that the visit he is making to Morocco with a delegation from the movement, “comes under royal patronage, and by embracing the authentic Moroccan people, whom we look at with all its components as a strategic depth for our cause and our limits.”
Mr. Haniyeh also stressed that Morocco’s relationship with Palestine is not an emergency, immediate, or self-serving relationship, but rather a legitimate, religious, humanitarian and fraternal relationship, stressing also that “Morocco is far away in geography, but it is in the heart of the Arab and Islamic world, and in direct contact with Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa, In history, in the present and in the future,” and that Morocco “was, is, and will remain at the heart of the developments of the scene, whether at the level of the Palestinian cause or Arab issues in general.”
This visit did not result in any other dimensions except for its purely partisan nature. Rather, it is seen as another occasion to emphasize the pivotal role of the Kingdom of Morocco and its adherence to the constants of the Palestinian cause and its openness to all parties.
Although Hamas has previously criticized the resumption of diplomatic relations between Morocco and Israel, Mr. Haniyeh is visiting Morocco, expressing the merit and correctness of Moroccan choices.
