Protests in Morocco as US-flagged ship carrying arms to Tel Aviv docks at Tangier

Hundreds of people have protested in the northwestern Moroccan port of Tangier against docking there of a United States-flagged ship carrying weapons for the Israeli regime, which is engaged in a genocidal war on the Gaza Strip.

“Whoever welcomes Israel’s ships is not one of us,” the protesters chanted during the rally on Monday, two days after the vessel, Maersk Denver, docked at the port.

The ship headed towards the port after Spain refused to let it dock at any of its ports, with the country’s foreign ministry asserting that Madrid has not and would not grant docking permits to the vessel.

Maersk, the shipping company that sails the vessel, however, denied that its cargo includes “any military weapons or ammunition.”

The National Secretariat of Moroccan Front in Support of Palestine, a pro-Palestinian group, said that Moroccan authorities had ignored all calls from various parties not to accept the ship.

“This ship, loaded with weapons shipments, will unload its cargo onto another ship, which will then continue its journey towards the port of the occupied city of Haifa,” added the secretariat.

‘Shameful decision’

It reminded that this was the second time that Rabat had opened up its ports to such vessels after welcoming the military ship INS Komemiyut that belongs to the Israeli army.

The secretariat called the country’s continued contribution to provision of weapons to the Israeli military “a shameful decision.”

“The Moroccan authorities have colluded with the US, which is the source of these weapons, and with the Zionist enemy army, which is committing the genocide against the Palestinian people and the brutal aggression against Lebanon.”

The comments came on the 402nd day of the war on Gaza that has claimed the lives of more than 43,600 Palestinians, mostly women and children, since its onset on October 7, 2023 following a retaliatory operation staged by the coastal sliver’s resistance groups.

They also concerned the Israeli regime’s escalated aggression against Lebanon that has killed at least 3,136 Lebanese people.

Such actions “encourage the occupation entity to commit its genocide and aggression, disregard the position of the Moroccan people, and is a flagrant violation of the relevant UN resolutions, as well as being considered participation in the crime of genocide against the Palestinian people.”

The remarks echoed warnings by various human rights and civil defense groups that have said Rabat’s decision amounted to violation of a United Nations Human Rights Commission resolution and another resolution issued by the world body’s General Assembly.

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) and numerous rights bodies have called for a military embargo on the Israeli regime due to its ongoing atrocities.

More than 50 countries press UN for arms embargo on Israel

More than 50 countries have issued a joint letter calling on the United Nations to impose an arms embargo on Israel.

By contributing to provision of weapons for the regime, Rabat might have also acted in violation of the ICJ ruling and the Genocide Convention, UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese said earlier this year.

The country’s decision comes while it joined more than 50 other countries earlier this year in signing a letter addressed to the UN General Assembly that demanded “immediate steps to be taken to halt the provision of arms, munitions, and related equipment to Israel, the occupying power.”

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