TANGIERS, Morocco (Dispatches) – More than 1,000 people have protested in the Moroccan port city of Tangier against the planned docking of a ship carrying fighter jet parts to the Israeli-occupied territories.
Dockworkers and organizations supporting Palestinians in Gaza said in separate statements that the Maersk vessel was transporting spare parts for F-35 warplanes from the United States to the occupied territories, and was due to dock in Tangier.
A crowd of around 1,500 people chanted, “The people want the ship banned,” and “No genocidal weapons in Moroccan waters” as they marched down a road alongside the Tanger Med container port, according to AFP correspondents at the scene.
Contacted by AFP, port authorities and Maersk did not comment on the vessel.
The Danish company has said it does not transport weapons or ammunition to conflict zones, though it has a contract with the U.S. government and has previously acknowledged shipments that “contain military-related equipment” derived from “U.S.-Israeli security cooperation.”
The protesters in Tangier also called for the severing of diplomatic relations between Morocco and the Zionist regime, which were normalized in 2020 as part of the U.S.-led so-called Abraham Accords.
There have been several large-scale demonstrations in Morocco demanding ties with the Zionist regime be cut since the start of its war in the Gaza Strip in October 2023.
The North African kingdom has officially called for “the immediate, complete and permanent halt to the Israeli war on Gaza,” but has not publicly discussed reversing normalization.
Also on Saturday, demonstrators filled the streets of Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad, to voice their anger at the continued Israeli atrocities against Palestinians in Gaza and the regime’s genocidal war there.
The “Solidarity with Gaza” demonstration was organized by Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan (JIP), the largest religious political party of the country.
The rally drew thousands of people from different walks of life, who chanted slogans against the Zionist regime and the main supporter of its war on Gaza, the United States.
Hafiz Naeem ur Rehman, leader of the Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan, was the main speaker at the rally. He said that the Pakistani people will continue protests aimed at seeking justice for “brave Palestinians.”
He called for boycotting Israeli products and all the goods produced in the countries “complicit” in the regime’s crimes in order to cut off vital arteries of the regime.
The Saturday protest in Islamabad was the latest in a series of rallies in the capital and other major cities in Pakistan, including Karachi, over the past months in solidarity with the people of Gaza.