Representin–Notes from the Morocco Protest

Feb 20 Movement for Change, Ave Mohammed V, Rabat, Morocco

Better late than never: here’s what I have to say on the February 20 Movement for Change, Morocco’s first big organized demonstration in light of current events. I wrote my Rockin’ Morocco column in the Dickinsonian and it got cut down due to space and stuff like that (also wrote it last week, sorry for the late posting time) but lucky for you I’ve got a vast amount of space so I get to include plenty of pictures and my writing.

When rumors hit the net a couple of weeks ago that there was going to be a big political protest in Morocco, I was hit with a rush of nervousness and excitement, especially since these rumors came after awhile with no visibly large reaction among Moroccans to current events in neighboring countries such as Egypt and Libya.

As I have previously mentioned, most Moroccans who I have talked to have been quick to tell me that the political situation in Morocco is fundamentally different from those in other countries in the Arab world and the chances of any revolution manifesting in Morocco are minimal. With this in mind, and having heard that the protest would be in front of Parliament, directed at the government and not at the King, it was immediately noted that this protest was not going to be the revolutionary type with the aims of overthrowing the leadership.

But for a moment my friends and I waited in the center of Rabat with a mix of anxiousness and curiosity to see if anything would come to fruition after the first big organized response in Morocco to regional unrest and the Egyptian and Tunisian revolutions.

To my relief but not to my surprise the protest in the capital was peaceful with no major repercussions. It was a sunny and beautiful Sunday when I met my friends that morning to get coffee and watch the protest from a hotel across from the Parliament, a safe distance away. But when we saw that all that really was happening was a little bit of marching, some chanting, and even some people taking naps in the sun we decided to take a closer look with cameras in hand.

One of my Moroccan friends walked in to the crowd with me so we could get a photo shoot in and translated the different Arabic protest signs for me. Some signs explicitly said the protest was in no way directed at the King and he is viewed as the legitimate ruler, one sign said “Democracy Now” in English, and others demanded for a parliamentary system more akin to the United Kingdom’s.

When I asked my friend about his feelings on the protest, he said that he thought it was a good thing and that we should hold “the government” accountable for social problems and that there should be a new Parliament elected. When asked why he was not personally taking part in the protest, he responded that he thought the protestors had enough people, that they did not need him. Another one of my Moroccan friends looked upon the protest without much interest saying it looked small and that the turnout was significantly stronger for demonstrations against the wars in Iraq in Afghanistan awhile back (which might I add were not even protests against the Moroccan government). Other Moroccan friends of mine did not even go and expressed that they hoped nothing big would happen.

While the protest was calm in Rabat, an aftershock was witnessed in other cities around the country. Five people died who were trapped in a burning bank in the northern city of Al Hociema, McDonald’s was looted in Marrakech (as I’ve written on before, McDonald’s is contrarily a sign of the upper class in Morocco), a gas station was set aflame in Larache, cars were burned in Tangier, among other similar events. This aftershock, however, was not a part of the larger protest and seemed pretty minor in comparison to the rubber bullets shot at protestors in Cairo and open fire on opposition in Libya.

The protest, referred to as the Febrary 20 Movement for Change, was advertised on social networking sites like Facebook and there was a video circulating on YouTube with individuals explaining why they wanted to protest the corruption of the government and socioeconomic issues in Morocco such as lower food prices and the high unemployment rate.

The size of the protest both in Rabat and nationwide is unclear to me. Depending on where you get your news on the protest, there could have been a turnout in Rabat of about 3,000 to 5,000 according to reports from the New York Times, or over 2,000 as estimated by the Wall Street Journal. Time Magazine put the national turnout at about 37,000, the same number cited by the Wall Street Journal, while the New York Times kept it vague, reporting more than 10,000.

I am increasingly critical of the credibility of these reports when I see things like the mistranslation in an article featured on Time Magazine’s website calling Bab El Had, the massive entrance to the Rabat medina “Rabat’s el Had gate,” when it is actually a door/large opening, not a gate. Though I cannot completely discount this article because it aptly explains the general misnomer in its headline: “Protests in Morocco: Just Don’t Call it a Revolution,” and moreover cites my political science professor, Stuart Schaar in his explanation of why most Moroccans do not want to rock the political boat: “Why should they? [Current King Mohammed VI] seems so benevolent in comparison.”

This is in comparison to other regimes in the region but also too Mohammed VI’s predecessor and father, Hassan II whose reign is known as the “Years of Lead” for his harsh oppression and crackdown on political enemies.

A closer look at Mohammed VI’s reign is needed to understand why Morocco is not a place of uprising as The San Francisco Bay Guardian fallaciously characterized it as, where Morocco was listed as a place of uprising alongside Libya, Bahrain and Yemen. Mohammed VI took the throne in 1999 and since then has pushed forward some pretty liberal reforms for the country like improving women’s rights in the new family code, allowing some liberalization of the media and political protest and appointing a commission to look into the State’s indiscretions during the Years of Lead.

Protests in Morocco are not a rarity. I have seen a number in Rabat ranging from the young unemployed and university educated marching near Parliament to the older unemployed just down the street near some major areas of commerce. It still goes to say though that the monarch has the ultimate say in Morocco, appoints the prime minister and other ministers, though the Parliament is elected.

Only time will tell if ensuing protests in Morocco will be similar to the Movement for Change or if new things will develop. But for the meantime, even inside Morocco, the gaze is towards the rest of the region and Libya especially, a separate world with much unrest and craziness unfolding that Moroccans and myself say alhumdullah (Praise God), is not here.