Tokyo – The recent violent attack by a Moroccan diplomat on the Sahrawi delegation during the preparatory meetings for the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) underscores the deep desperation of the Moroccan regime following its failure to exclude the Sahrawi Republic from these crucial bilateral partnership meetings between the African Union (AU) and other international organizations.
This meeting is part of a broader series of partnerships involving the AU and various international actors, including the Arab League, the European Union, and other regional and international organizations. For years, and particularly in recent times, Morocco has made persistent attempts to sway the AU into adopting decisions that would reduce the number of participating African countries in these partnerships, with the ultimate goal of excluding the Sahrawi Republic.
Morocco’s exaggerated ambitions have driven it to promote blatant lies as diplomatic victories. This was evident during the AU Executive Council’s meeting of Foreign Ministers in July, where Moroccan media outlets, both official and unofficial, falsely claimed that the AU had made decisions to exclude the Sahrawi Republic from partnership meetings. However, these fabrications were quickly exposed, demonstrating the short-lived nature of Morocco’s deceit.
Throughout the preparatory phase for the Tokyo meeting, Morocco sought to convince its African allies and the host country of its position to exclude the Sahrawi Republic. All these attempts ended in complete failure, leading to a humiliating defeat for Morocco. The clearest evidence of this was the participation of the Sahrawi Foreign Minister, who not only attended the meeting with full rights but did so under personal security provided by the host country, Japan, which had grown tired of Morocco’s aggressive and violent diplomatic tactics.
The Moroccan regime suffered a double blow: not only did the Sahrawi minister participate in the Tokyo meeting, but he did so with personal protection from a country that Morocco claims does not recognize the Sahrawi Republic.
The incident at Tokyo, along with similar past occurrences, reflects a fundamental shift in Moroccan diplomacy, increasingly mirroring the tactics of the Israeli occupation, from which Morocco seems to be learning. In its frustration at failing to convince international and African stakeholders of its dubious claims, Morocco has resorted to violence and thuggery as a systematic approach to achieve its aims.
The image of the Moroccan diplomat physically attacking the Sahrawi ambassador is emblematic of Morocco’s deepening despair and its descent into what can only be described as diplomatic thuggery. This incident, alongside Morocco’s increasingly close ties with Israel, suggests that the Moroccan regime is adopting the tactics of repression, oppression, and illegal aggression that characterize the Israeli occupation’s treatment of the Palestinian people.
Moroccan diplomacy has learned from the Israeli occupation the art of shamelessness, arrogance, and the disregard for diplomatic, political, customary, or ethical boundaries. It has embraced the notion that the end justifies the means, no matter how vile or dirty those means may be.
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