BO18

Some Moroccan politicians do have brains and guts to approach Israel normally.
The Mayor of Marrakesh for instance. He signed a trilateral accord with Marseille (Fr.) and Haifa in Israel. He didn't sign it directly with Haifa though. Everything went through Marseille, which is the sister-city of both Haifa and Marrakech.
But the mayor did go on a picture with Haifa's mayor:


(Moroccan mayor is on the right, the Israeli one on the left)

The accord is nothing special really, it "provides for tourism training for students from Marrakesh and Haifa in Marseille".
But it's still remarkable.

But ofcourse, Morocco also has its share of Israel-haters and religious wackos. The local PJD threatened the mayor with an "intifada" against this scandalous decision. How dare they normalize ties with a zionist city! Bad mayor, bad mayor!

(via MEMRI)

Last week I read this most touching story on Israellycool about a Moroccan guy who ended up living in Israel.

You can read the story here.
To summarize the whole thing, Fayce from a Casablancan (poor) suburb ends up studying in Israel. In Casablanca he went to a Jewish school and from there he succeeded in entering an Israeli university.

Now this story is very remarkable, since it is quite unusual. When I read it I was astonished by the simplicity of the story. How "easy" it is to adapt in Israel, to enter Israel and succeed there, even as a Moroccan muslim.
It also shows how normal everything actually should be.

In the article Fayce is quoted saying that Tel Aviv and Casablanca are two sides of one large Mediterranean culture.
In my opinion, he couldn't have said it better. Without trying to sound as an überhipster, but I did my share of travelling in the Middle East. And the 3 most remarkable cities are Tel Aviv, Casablanca and Beirut.
All three share a thriving Middle-Western community, as I like to call it.
People claim that Istanbul is the main East-West gateway, but personally I think that that title should go to these 3 cities.
Walking around in Beirut, Casablanca or Tel Aviv makes you feel like you're in Europe but in a "Middle Eastern" way.

But still, the 3 cities are divided by political and psychological borders.
Borders that shouldn't exist. I'm of course talking about the fact that Morocco and Lebanon are not recognizing Israel as a state.
I can't talk about the whole Israel-Lebanon thing, thats a problem between those 2 countries.
But Morocco-Israel is a different story.

It's kind of a known fact that the ruling elites in both countries are pretty close.
Something Morocco should be proud of.
A lot of times people claim that, as an "Arab" country, Morocco shouldn't foster good relations with Israel until the Palestine-question is settled.
Well up yours and nonsense. The Palestine-question shouldn't play a major role in how Morocco defines its relationship with Israel.
I would like to note here that European countries, who dó recognize Israel, have done more for the Palestinians then the so-called Arab brethern states.
Recognizing Israel doesn't mean that Morocco neglects the Palestinian cause or wishes to see all Palestinians driven in to the sea.
In fact, it means that Morocco wishes to act as a responsible state and wishes to look for a responsible solution.
Not recognizing Israel is a childish, easy way of acting and a disgusting way of pretending that Morocco cares about the Palestinians.

So no half-hearted liasion-offices and semi-official relations but the real thing! I want to see a Moroccan flag in Tel Aviv and an Israeli flag in Rabat.
And I hope and expect that soon it will happen.