Mawazine Festival or Solidarity with Gaza? Morocco Faces a Critical Moral Test
The boycott campaign against Mawazine is a battle of awareness.
Amid Israeli bombardment and ruthless extermination, several residents of Gaza issued a plea to the organizers of Morocco's music festival, Mawazine, urging for the cancellation or postponement of the event out of respect for their feelings and in solidarity with them.
At a time when Gaza is enduring unprecedented aggression, forced displacement, and genocide for the eighth consecutive month, this remarkable gesture from Gaza's residents to their brethren in Morocco reflects a "great and mutual appreciation" between them.
For Gaza's Sake
A widely circulated video on social media depicted a group of Palestinians appealing to Moroccans to boycott the activities of the 19th edition of the international Mawazine festival, scheduled to take place between June 21 and 29, 2024, in solidarity with them, chanting the phrase: "How can you celebrate while we suffer?"
The clips feature poignant messages from women, youth, girls, children, and elders alike, with phrases such as "Don't dance on our sorrows," "Boycott for the sake of Gaza," "For every child who has lost his family," and "How can you celebrate while we suffer?" "Boycott for all the martyrs," "Is it easy for you to celebrate while we are amidst death and injury?"
The video trended as a group of Moroccan activists called on the Minister of Culture, Mehdi Bensaid, to intervene and cancel the festival.
Meanwhile, another faction urged Moroccan audiences not to attend its concerts and leave the theaters empty, arguing that it comes at a challenging period for Palestinians.
On his part, the Secretary-General of the Justice and Development Party, Abdelilah Benkirane, called for the cancellation or at least postponement of the Mawazine festival's edition due to the ongoing aggression on Gaza.
Benkirane added, in a live broadcast on his page on May 22, "I am not pleased with scheduling Mawazine concerts again in Morocco under these circumstances; this issue is a disgrace and a shame."
He emphasized that "Israel does not only oppose Hamas but also the Arab and Islamic nations, and they also oppose Morocco."
"In my estimation, the kingdom should reconsider organizing this event, and while I also appreciate certain types of clean music, it is unreasonable for us to rejoice and sing while our brothers are being amputated, unable to find treatment, with their hospitals destroyed, lacking sanitation, food, and nourishment."
"In these circumstances, we should at least not display joy and celebration," he added.
"Our people in Jerusalem, the West Bank, and Gaza are being killed, starved, and thirsty and here we are rejoicing as if we are indifferent to all this; we are essentially telling Israel to continue its crimes."
He stressed that "our enemy is one, and the Zionists want destruction for the entire Islamic nation, indeed for all humanity," adding, "It suffices to remember that they described Palestinians, Arabs, and Muslims as mere human animals, so their stance towards is clear."
"I call on those concerned in our beloved country to cancel this edition of the festival, or at least postpone it until the Israeli war [on Gaza] stops, then we can discuss further,” he concluded.
Boycotting the Festival
Moroccan activists launched a widespread campaign on social media to boycott the Mawazine music festival due to its substantial financial budget and the extravagant fees paid to artists.
"Do not dance on the wounds of your brothers" became the hashtag used by many activists in this campaign, urging the boycott of the festival, which is expected to witness the attendance of top Arab and international music stars, and to keep the theaters empty of audiences.
Participants in the boycott campaign believe that priority should be given to directing funds to help the victims of the al-Hoceima earthquake; they believe such funds can be used for improving the quality of education, and advancing the healthcare sector and infrastructure, rather than spending it on singing, dancing, private jets, luxurious hotels for participants, and the fees paid to performers.
In a massive evening protest on May 5 in the city of Tangier, northern Morocco, demonstrators chanted slogans including "Listen, listen, O Muslims the scales have tipped in the land of normalization, our brothers in Gaza are perishing, what will you say singers."
On his part, content creator Zouhair Moutime stated, "It is shameful and disgraceful that voices of truth are raised in Western countries for our brothers while we argue among ourselves and ask citizens to boycott Mawazine."
He added in a series of Facebook posts, "Even if you are neglectful of prayers and a smoker, let him sing alone, be a man, many are watching this boycott campaign, it will succeed because of you, beware, do not attend Mawazine and be a man."
"Only those whose scales are skewed attend the Mawazine festival, and their day of judgment will come."
Moutime emphasized that "the boycott campaign against Mawazine is a battle of consciousness, look at the world, those who have nothing in common with us in terms of ideology or creed support our brothers in Gaza, while we Muslims want to dance at the festival."
On the other hand, journalist Younes Meskin said, "In the context of all the turmoil around us, we cannot bury our heads in the sand and act as if we are on an island where only the breeze and migrating birds reach."
He added in an article published on the Sawt el-Maghrib website on May 27, "What is currently brewing in our society regarding this year's edition of the Mawazine music festival cannot be ignored or treated as we did years ago when it was merely a channel for ideological agendas."
He observed that "what is happening this year is different, and we must read it in its context, as it concerns the choices of nations and peoples in their historical positions. The scheduled festival is no longer merely a domestic matter, especially after Moroccan and Palestinian voices emerged calling for refraining from dancing and rejoicing over the bodies of the new massacre victims, which will answer the question of who we are? in the near future."
“We must pay attention to what we are currently committing to, as signing on to choices will jeopardize all of our futures, as they will be engraved in the minds of entire generations, showing how 'we behaved' in a pivotal humanitarian moment, and how our country behaved."
He continued, "We must be aware that we are employing the name, weight, and symbolism of the King [Mohammed VI], Chairman of all-Quds Committee, in a festival that both near and far will record for us, a mockery event of dancing over the Palestinian people's remains."
He pointed out that "the real scales are not those on which we dance to the rhythms on platforms in the cities of Rabat and Sale, but those being shaped by the resilient resistance of the people in Palestine, setting traps for the invaders underground, and embracing the flames and bombs above them."
He affirmed that "we must pay attention because what can be adjusted or corrected or rectified now may not be possible tomorrow. The real scales are made in Gaza, not in [the cities of] Taza or Rabat!"
On his part, the writer Ahmed Fitri stated, "The timing of this year's Mawazine festival coincides with the suffering of the steadfast Palestinian people in Gaza, where the Zionist machine of destruction has not ceased for months in killing, exterminating, starving, and displacing this noble people; in contrast to the strange official international reactions, which range from participation and blessing to indifference and silent condemnation!!"
He added in an article published on the Justice and Development Party website on May 26 that “amidst these gloomy atmospheres, and the blood of our Palestinian brothers being shed daily, we await those who hold the reins of power to fear God, respond to the pricks of their consciences, the calls of their citizens, and the desires of their brothers from the Arabs, Muslims, and sympathizers; and to announce the cancellation of the festival that has lost its balance.”
"With the hope that there will be a reconsideration -- at least -- of many of its formal and substantive components in the future, if it is not completely canceled."