Morocco: Nationwide Strike Across Universities Tomorrow in Rejection of Normalization

The National Union of Moroccan Students has called on all free students to actively participate in a nationwide strike scheduled for tomorrow, Wednesday, across Moroccan universities. This action seeks the cancellation of normalization agreements with the Zionist entity.

In a statement, the student union announced its plan to organize a national day of protest to commemorate the first anniversary of the Al-Aqsa Flood, which will take place in all Moroccan universities on Wednesday, October 9. The event will feature a comprehensive strike alongside protests and student marches in support of the resistance in Gaza and Lebanon, while calling for the annulment of these detrimental normalization agreements.

On Monday, students and faculty members from various higher education institutions in Morocco participated in a national strike to honor the “Battle of Al-Aqsa Flood.” They condemned the ongoing Zionist aggression against Gaza and Lebanon and renewed calls to sever ties with Zionist universities.

These protests are part of an intensified campaign to end academic normalization with institutions associated with the occupying power, coinciding with unprecedented public demonstrations opposing normalization agreements with Israeli universities and demanding the expulsion of Zionists from the kingdom.

It is important to note that following the normalization of relations between Morocco and the Zionist entity at the end of 2020, many government sectors in the kingdom, including higher education, became involved in this normalization process. Widespread opposition to this involvement has significantly intensified following the Zionist assault on the Gaza Strip on October 7, 2023.

Last June, approximately 1,200 students and graduates from Mohammed VI Polytechnic University submitted a petition to the university administration urging it to terminate its relations with the Zionist entity, leading to a series of initiatives aimed at ending academic normalization.

The Moroccan Union for Higher Education and Scientific Research had previously condemned the Ministry of Higher Education for “dragging higher education institutions into forums of normalization with the Zionist entity under the guise of academic and research partnerships.”