Change and continuity in the Moroccan solidarity towards Palestine: the state and civil society in the face of the normalization agreements and the Gaza war
Keywords:
Morocco, Palestine, Hegemony, Civil Society, Gaza WarCopyright (c) 2024 Alfonso Casani, Francesco Colin
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Abstract
This article compares the discursive practices of the Moroccan state and civil society in constructing a narrative of solidarity with the Palestinian cause in Morocco. In doing so, it emphasizes the role of discourse in producing hegemonic consensus and common collective identities. Specifically, the article analyzes the impact of the signing of the Morocco-Israel normalization agreements and the Gaza war (2023-2024) on this hegemonic consensus. Both events challenge the positions of the Moroccan state and civil society concerning the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. To this end, the article examines the practices of Moroccan civil society as agents of counter-hegemony, and the ways in which the State has navigated the ambivalence generated by the normalization agreements while maintaining formal solidarity with the Palestinian cause. Studying the Moroccan popular reaction to the Gaza war of 2023 allows for an exploration of the cleavages structuring the relationship between the Moroccan state and civil society.
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