The Ibn Tofaïl University of Kenitra closed its doors on April 12, 13 and 14, in order to prevent a pro-Palestine conference organized by the university’s student union. The latter oppose the normalization of diplomatic relations between Morocco and Israel.
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 Tofaïl University in Kenitra announced the suspension of classes at the university for three days. “It turned out 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 of the country and the state of a health emergency, and in order to avoid the tensions that this meeting could leave within the university, in the interest of the security of his students.
On Tuesday, the first day of the planned conference, police forces violently dispersed several students who had gathered to challenge the university’s decision. In all, 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 and 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,” Mohammed, a student who witnessed the protest, told 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 the Ibn Tofail University of Kenitra of “serving the Zionist agenda with crooked methods and bad decisions”. The Moroccan Front in support of Palestine and against normalization also denounced the university’s decision. He calls this decision “a shameful level reached by the state in its defense of Zionism and its hostility towards supporters of the Palestinian cause in the country”.
