Thousands rally in Morocco against US Jerusalem move

Rabat, Morocco | AFP | Tens of thousands of protesters rallied in Morocco’s capital Rabat on Sunday as demonstrations against US President Donald Trump’s declaration of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital continued to spread.

Waving Palestinian flags, a sea of demonstrators marched from Rabat’s Bab el-Had square to Morocco’s parliament building, down Mohammed VI Avenue, the city’s main thoroughfare.

“Jerusalem, capital of Palestine!” read a banner carried by the protesters, who included families, Islamist sympathisers, trade unionists and local activists.

“The Palestinian people have suffered so much and continue to suffer because of Israel’s barbaric colonisation,” said one of the protesters, 43-year-old Mustapha.

“We must, more than ever, make our voices heard against this decision by Trump that will deprive the Palestinians of their land,” said the lawyer from Casablanca, accompanied by his six-year-old daughter.

Morocco’s King Mohammed VI earlier expressed his “deep concern” over Trump’s move, acting as head of the 57-member Organisation of Islamic Cooperation’s Al-Quds Committee, which lobbies on issues related to Jerusalem.

Trump’s decision — which upended decades of US diplomatic practice — has drawn global condemnation, sparked demonstrations across the Muslim world and led to days of unrest in the Palestinian territories.