Hamas Invitation: Will It Spark a Crisis at Morocco's JDP Conference?

The Moroccan Justice and Development Party (PJD) sparked widespread reactions across the country after revealing the list of invitees to its upcoming national conference, scheduled for the end of April 2025.

The event will see the election of a new Secretary-General and leadership for the party, which has been led by Abdelilah Benkirane since the last exceptional national conference held in late 2021.

Idriss Azami al Idrissi, head of the conference's preparatory committee, announced that Prime Minister Aziz Akhannouch would not be invited to the event, citing courtesy in order to spare him direct reproach as a guest of the party.

In a press conference on April 16, 2025, he revealed that the party had invited guests from Palestine, Tunisia, Syria, Turkiye, Jordan, Mauritania, Senegal, as well as the Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas.

Obstructing the Conference

In an unusual statement, the Moroccan Organization for Human Rights and the Fight Against Corruption called on Interior Minister Abdelouafi Laftit to withhold permission for the Justice and Development Party’s ninth national conference, scheduled for April 26-27.

According to Achkayen on April 18, 2025, the organization expressed deep regret over the party’s recent remarks at a press conference regarding the preparatory committee's work, particularly its announcement of an invitation to Hamas to attend the conference.

The organization firmly rejected the participation of a Hamas delegation, urging members of the Justice and Development Party to "fully assume their responsibilities towards the nation," as stated in their statement.

It also called on the Interior Minister to "withhold permission for the conference and take all necessary measures to protect national sovereignty."

Khaled Mashal, head of Hamas abroad, previously attended the Justice and Development Party’s national conference in 2014, where Abdelilah Benkirane was re-elected for a second term.

He also participated in 2017, alongside other leaders, and met with the party's parliamentary team and then-Prime Minister Saadeddine el-Othmani.

In 2021, the party invited the late head of Hamas' political bureau, Ismail Haniyeh, along with other members of the movement, to visit Morocco.

During his visit, Haniyeh met with the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the President of the House of Councillors, several political party leaders, and heads of public institutions.

The Ministry of the Interior requires political parties to hold their conferences within specific timeframes, as stipulated by the parties' regulatory law, and on a periodic basis. 

Failure to do so results in the withdrawal of financial support for the conference. However, the ministry lacks the authority to prevent a national conference for a legally recognized party, unless a state of emergency is declared in the country.

Morality Reversed

In response to the organization's calls, Mohamed Awam, a researcher in the field of maqasid al-sharia and a rights activist defending Palestine, described its statement as "a clear symbol of misery and disgust."

"How is it possible for an organization that claims to be human rights-oriented to condemn the invitation of Hamas to a party conference, while remaining completely silent in the face of the Israeli entity's crimes on the ground in Gaza, not to mention Israel's expanding presence in Morocco through endless agreements?" Awam said in an interview with Al-Estiklal.

"I don't know which rights these people are defending – the rights of a people being annihilated and burned in their land, Palestine? Or are they defending the brutal, godless criminals of the Zionist entity?"

"Is this about rights, or about betrayal?" Awam added, "The balance has shifted for these Zionist sympathizers, as their perceptions have been completely clouded."

"Anyone who defends the Zionists and opposes resistance has lost their humanity and dignity. Therefore, there is no point in trying to convince members of this organization about the values of manhood, dignity, and ethics, for they are completely alien to them," Awam noted.

Benkirane asserted that the demand from a human rights association for the Interior Minister to block his party's national conference due to the invitation extended to Hamas was "a great lack of shame."

In an opening speech at the party’s weekly executive meeting on April 19, 2025, in Rabat, Benkirane emphasized that Hamas' presence was a great honor, stressing that Moroccans stand with and support the movement.

He argued that those who called for Hamas to be banned should be investigated, pointing out that His Majesty King Mohammed VI had declared that the Palestinian cause is of equal importance to the national cause. 

"Our anger for Palestine is the same as our anger for the territorial integrity of our country," Benkirane added, referring to Morocco’s stance on the disputed Western Sahara territory with the Polisario Front.

"Through its struggle and the martyrdom of its leaders, members, and tens of thousands from Gaza, the West Bank, Yemen, Syria, Lebanon, and beyond, Hamas has reshaped the dynamics of the Palestinian cause."

He cautioned that the Arab and Muslim world would never abandon the Palestinian cause, emphasizing that while it is geographically Palestinian, it is, in essence, a cause that unites the entire Arab and Islamic nations.

Benkirane remarked that the situation in Palestine, particularly in Gaza, is heart-wrenching, adding, "We are astounded by the immense capacity of this criminal, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, to kill every day, starve an entire people, deprive them of food and medicine, and murder journalists."

"The Muslim world is going through a phase of great shame that affects us all—leaders and citizens alike—in a painful, regrettable, and disgraceful situation," he stated.

Hamas responds

According to a party source cited by Assahifa, the leadership of Hamas has accepted the official invitation extended to them.

The newspaper reported on April 22, 2025, that Hamas will be represented at the conference by an official delegation led by the movement's spokesperson, Fawzi Barhoum, who is visiting Morocco for the first time.

A senior party source, speaking anonymously to Assahifa, argued that Hamas' participation in the conference "not only represents a natural extension of the Justice and Development Party's steadfast stance in supporting the Palestinian cause."

He added that it is also a powerful political message, reflecting the party’s independence in decision-making, free from the influence of any external parties or the pressure of certain groups attempting to fabricate ideological battles.

The same source clarified that "The invitation to Hamas was not an isolated or hasty move, but rather in line with the party’s long-standing support for resistance and its rejection of all forms of normalization."

"Those who claim that Hamas' presence poses a threat to national security are deliberately conflating the official stance of the state with the political position of a party that has been independent for decades, reflecting the values and beliefs of its base."

"Fawzi Barhoum's attendance at the conference is not a breach, but a gesture of solidarity with a people being slaughtered before the eyes of the world, and we do not apologize for that."

"What bothers some is not Hamas' presence per se, but the presence of the idea of resistance in a political space that, in recent years, has been reduced to mere technical calculations and electoral alignments," the source continued.

Political implications

Political sociologist Ahmed Balla stated that the rights organization’s statement reflects a disconnect from the collective sentiment of Moroccans and the national public opinion.

Speaking to Al-Estiklal, Balla pointed out that several recent Israeli reports confirm that Moroccans are among the most vehemently opposed to "Israel," with its supporters barely a blip in the wider population, and that Moroccans overwhelmingly support Hamas.

He added that these reports reflect the truth and moral duty toward a state that kills innocents without mercy, commits acts of genocide with no regard for ethics or law, and carries out massacres before the eyes of the world, bolstered by Western power and support.

The political sociologist emphasized that the rights organization's statement has, in fact, provided new momentum in favor of the Justice and Development Party.

This means that "the conference participants will seize the opportunity to reaffirm their rejection of normalization with the Israeli entity and their support for the legitimate and heroic resistance on the ground in Gaza."

As such, the conference will be the largest political gathering for the Justice and Development Party since the Operation al-Aqsa Flood, serving as an occasion to reaffirm that the party will not accept normalization, even if it was signed by its former secretary-general, Saadeddine el-Othmani, in his capacity as prime minister at the end of 2020.

"That signing was one of the key reasons for the negative results the party faced in the 2021 elections, as its core electoral base—composed primarily of religious voters and members of the al-Tawhid and al-Islah movement—did not support it."

Balla emphasized that the statement by the human rights organization, along with other statements, including one supporting the Ministry of Interior in the face of assaults on law enforcement officers and another condemning solidarity protests for Gaza outside some Moroccan ports, all reflect the type of rights they are advocating for.

It does not understand the true meaning of rights, and had it done so, all of its statements would have been in solidarity with the historical and humanitarian injustice occurring on Palestinian soil due to the occupation, he said.

"But it does not, because it has placed itself at the service of pro-Israeli factions, much to our regret," Balla said.