This afternoon, students disrupted a lecture by Saad-Eddine El Othmani at the Faculty of Humanities in Tetouan. The former head of government was there to present his new book, Depression... Towards a Deeper Understanding and Better Management. The protesters, from the radical left wing of the National Union of Moroccan Students (UNEM), which is dominated by Al Adl Wal Ihsane, expressed strong opposition to El Othmani's presence. Despite their ideological differences, both Islamist and far-left groups share a common stance: rejecting the normalization of relations between Morocco and Israel, which was formalized in Rabat on December 22, 2020, under El Othmani's government. In a statement, UNEM condemned «the presence of symbols associated with the Zionist occupation at the university». The students also criticized the Justice and Development Party (PJD) for signing a 2017 statement by Moroccan political parties that accused the Rif Hirak movement of «separatism». For the record, in late March in Tangier, members of the PJD were prevented by protesters from the Moroccan Front in Support of Palestine and Against Normalization, a coalition where Al Adl Wal Ihsane and the far left coexist, from participating in a solidarity march with the people of Gaza.
