Thursday, October 29, 2015

3,000 Moroccans Sign Petition Condemning Palestinian Incitement to Murder Jews

(Algemeiner) At least 3,000 Moroccans signed a petition condemning what they said was incitement to murder Jews on full display during a Palestinian solidarity demonstration in Casablanca this week, Egyptian newspaper Youm7 reported on Wednesday.

The petition urged Moroccan authorities to hold rally organizers accountable for the mock executions of Jews and other inciting displays, which it called illegal. Also identified by the petition, which was titled “Moroccan Citizens Gathered Against Incitement to Kill Jews in Morocco,” were demonstrators dressed as Palestinians, with assault rifles pointed at others dressed as Orthodox Jews, and children trampling on the Star of David.

Video footage from the demonstration, reported by The Algemeiner, showed children marching and shouting “Death to Israel!” and “We will sacrifice our soul and our blood to you, Al-Aqsa,” in reference to the holy site also known as the Temple Mount.

Signatories expressed concern about the reaction of Morocco’s Jewish community, which today numbers under 3,000, and said the demonstration had offended many Muslims as well. They said antisemitism threatened the pluralism and tolerance enshrined in Moroccan law.

Sunday’s demonstration came in response to the spike in Israeli-Palestinian violence, which many in the Arab world claim is a reaction to Israeli crimes against Palestinians.

Clashes have been sustained since last month between Palestinian demonstrators and Israeli security forces in and around Jerusalem, also amid rumors that Israel was trying to change the status quo on the Temple Mount. Compounding this has been a terrorizing phenomenon of successful and attempted stabbing attacks across Israel, targeting Israeli civilians and security forces.

Some Arab media outlets have begun consistently claiming that Israeli security forces are executing unarmed Palestinians, or planting weapons by their dead bodies to fabricate attacks.