What would the Maghreb countries’ role and positions inspire following the al-Aqsa Flood Operation? In fact there is no Maghreb countries’ governments homogenous position toward the Palestinian cause, though the tragic carnage taking place in the Gaza Strip is creating a dynamic of consensus within each government of the five Maghreb countries. Algeria-Palestine relation for instance, one should remember those immortal pictures in 1974 at the U.N. General Assembly in New York city, PLO chairman Yasser Arafat was invited to the 29th session of the United Nations General Assembly. In a historic moment President Houari Boumediènne with PLO chairman Yasser Arafat hand to hand stood together on the U.N.G.A podium, followed by a speech of PLO leaders praising the Algerian government for showing support to Palestinian cause.
This happened in 1974, when the U.N.General Assembly elected Algeria to the U.N. Security Council as a non-permanent member to serve at U.N.S.C, half a century later, Algeria serves for a two-year term that began last month. This is Algeria’s fourth term on the U.N.S.C, where it will hold one of three African seats and will be the only country representing the Arab region.
To better understand Algeria-Palestine relations in last three decades, in June 1988, Algeria held an Arab leaders Summit named “al-Intifada Summit” led by President Chadli Bendjedid, in this summit there was only one issue on its schedule that is supporting the Palestinian Intifada in the occupied Palestinian territories, later in November 1988, Palestinian National Council met in Algiers, and announced the declaration of independence, which proclaimed the Palestinian state.
In the 75th U.N.G.A session, President Abdelmadjid Tebboune in his first U.N.G.A international speech from his Office in al-Mouradia Palace, strongly criticized Abraham Accords launched by Ex-U.S. President and GOP front runner for 2024 presidential election Donald Trump in 2020 between Bahrain, the UAE, Sudan, and Morocco, Sudan with Israel, emphasizing that Algeria will never trot very fast to join the normalization process.
Following all these elements, Algeria did position itself as a credible facilitator between rival Palestinian factions, who have been splitting for decades which has given Israel to capitalize on this ideological division, and leaving the Palestinian cause a wild card in the hands of Arab and non-Arab states in the region.
In 2022, President Abdelmadjid Tebboune invited Mahmoud Abbas Palestinian Authority (PA) president and Ismail Haniyeh Hamas’ political bureau chief to attend Algeria’s celebrations, marking the anniversary of its independence from France’s harsh colonization and acculturation processes, hoping this would give an opportunity to end the two main Palestinian factions (Hamas) and the PLO) division.
Both leaders were among several foreign and national dignitaries who took a part at a military parade to mark Algeria’s Independence Day, July 5 — the time and the narrative were meaningful and highly symbolic for Palestinian leaders in their just struggle for freedom, a parallel that one can link to October 7, 2023 al-Aqsa Flood Operation with November 1, 1954 Algerian liberation war night against the colonial French army and European settlers in occupied Algeria.
Quest Of Normalization
Moroccan-Israeli relations go back to the 1960s and 1970s. Late Moroccan King Hassan II wanted to play a key role in Arab-Israeli normalization, in July 1986 when Shimon Peres, then Israeli Primer visited Morocco in a much-publicized trip. His meeting with King Hassan II caused consternation in Arab states, notably with Syria, and cleaving ties between Rabat and Damascus. It appears that André Azoulay, close adviser of King Hassan II and current King Mohammed VI, helped pave the groundwork for the Casablanca Middle East-North Africa Economic Summit of October 1994, in which Israel played a dominant role.
In the aftermath of the 1993 Israeli-Palestinian stillborn Oslo Accords, when King Hassan II appointed Serge Berdugo, minister of tourism. His appointment was attributed to the Moroccan King Hassan II who wished to attract investors, including Jews from Europe and the United States.
In 1999, Mohammed VI ascended to the throne. Close ties weaved through which the Palace and the security intelligence services collaborated with Israel, while Moroccan left, progressive opposition forces, and Islamist parties had mixed feelings about the Jewish state policies in Palestine. This sentiment has increased in light of the ongoing al-Aqsa Flood battle that Palestinian resistance is leading against the Jewish state defense forces, and the atrocities caused by the latter on civilians in the Gaza Strip.
Morocco which has direct diplomatic relations and security cooperation agreements; thousands of Moroccan protests have been marching in Rabat following the daily massacres in Gaza Strip in support of Palestinians and their just cause. These protests are the largest anti-Israeli protests since the 2020 normalization of relations, which ironically was signed by an Islamist Premier of the PJD party. A sign from the Palace to humiliate the Islamists in Morocco and across the region. Yet continuing protesters in general and Islamists’ base and leaders are saying now: “Palestine is resisting” and “all against normalization” as they burned Israel’s flag.
Pressure for Re-Normalization
Mauritania, another Maghreb nation of about 4.5 million people, a quiet country seats between the Atlantic Ocean and the African Sahel, first established diplomatic relations with Israel in 1999, but decade later Nouakchott cut-off diplomatic relations, following Israel launched deadly assault on Gaza Strip, killing thousands of people.
Thus, Ex-U.S. President Donald Trump with Israel launched a normalization deal, called the deal of the century, with four Arab countries in 2020, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan, and neighboring country, Morocco.The Mauritanian government has been under pressure since 2020 from the UAE to join the Middle East normalization train for better economic developments and aids for Mauritanians – nonetheless, Mauritania’s leaders, political parties, media, and elite have categorically resisted this re-normalization deal with Israel.
Normalization is a red line
Tunisia, Libya, Algeria, and Mauritania are saying no to any normalization process. Tunisian leaders though went through pressures and provocations either by Western capitals, and Israel’s intelligence service Mossad to accept Israeli-Arab conflict’s fait accompli equation in post-Sabra and Chatila massacre in Lebanon in 1982, creating new parameters for the PLO organization resistants and the Palestinian cause to move to Tunis, later in 1988 Khalil al-Wazir Abou Jihad was assassinated by Mossad agents in Sidi-Bou Saïd, a seaside town in Tunis Department.In 2016 Mohammed al-Zouari, a Tunsian engineer who created the first viable attack drone used by al-Qassam Brigades, was assassinated by Mossad operatives on Tunisian soil.
Nevertheless, Tunisia like Morocco has had an important Jewish community, even after Tunisia’s independence in 1956. Influent Jewish lobby inside the country existed in pre-independence era, for instance, in 1950s at the initiative of Israeli government officials, including Mossad agents through third parties, such as intellectuals and businessmen, Israel sought to develop such contacts to split the Maghreb from the Machrek as a global strategy to implode the Arab World into pieces of influence’s zones and chaos.
President Kaïs Saïed said his country will never normalize with Israel; such a term does not even exist in Tunisia’s lexicon. Yet, President Kaïs Saïed like Mauritania’s leaders were under huge pressure from Paris, Washington, and Abou Dhabi to the point to push him to seize all constitutional powers and freeze the parliament activities in July 2021.
Normalization Attempt Fiasco
Libya, a fragmented country where its leaders have been in power struggle since 2012, in spite of international and regional powers rhetorically calling for a political solution to end their division. Last August, Libya’s Premier of GNU (Government of National Unity) in Tripoli sacked Foreign Affairs Minister Najla al-Mangoush as a result of un-official meeting in Rome with Israel foreign affairs minister.
Libya like Tunisia and Mauritania has been going through pressure from regional states to join the train of normalization for political gain for both camp’s rivals: West and East. Thus historically, Libya-Israel relations under late leader Maamar al-Qadafi who saw Israel is behind all Africa’s conflicts, he said at AU extraordinary summit session in 2009. While he made a bold suggestion in his “White Book” about the Arab–Israeli conflict to “solve” the Arab-Palestinian complex — Late Libyan leader suggested the creation of Isratine, a scenario that could lead to the South Africa model post-Apartheid, the question though there is no Frederik Willem de Klerk in Israel.
People in the Maghreb region are following the evolutive dynamic of change in Israel-Palestinian war, post-October 7, 2023 al-Aqsa Flood Operation that did reshuffle the Middle East geopolitics cards — opening a new page of Israel-Palestinian conflict, and game changer in any coming peace process talks between the Palestinains and the Israelis.
In sum, what happened on the dawn of October 7, 2023 did shake and shock the entire world, not just Israel, but all the world’s intelligence services and state armies’ military strategy, including the Maghreb and the Mashrek countries’ armies and intelligence — it’s a deep geopolitical shift in the region, ending all Arab states peace initiatives, changing the balance of power in the Middle East, non-actors states like Hezbollah, Ansar Allah, and the Palestinian resistance are playing a major role in the region’s geopolitics and geoeconomics affairs.
Tremendous changes are ahead, hence, the rapid normalization train driven by Ex-U.S. President and GOP 2024 presidential election Donlad Trump in 2020 stopped in the Gaza Strip, so that Maghreb leaders should worry like their counterparts in the Machrek about the consequences of the unjust war on the Palestinains in Gaza and the Occupied West Bank, an unprecedented Hirak is brewing on the horizon that neither Israel nor its allies in the region and in the global north would abort like they did for the 2011’s popular Hirak.
