Young Moroccans Visit Israel Despite Threats Back Home
One traveler said, ‘I saw Palestinians playing in the streets. No one was aggressive toward them; they were being respected.’
By Shula Rosen
A group of young Moroccans arrived in Israel to discover more about the Jewish State in spite of anti-Israel feeling back home.
They toured Israel as part of the Sharaka program that brings young professionals from all over the Middle East to explore Israel.
One of the students, who called himself Ali to conceal his identity for fear of threats in Morocco, said his dream was to be ambassador to Israel from Morocco one day.
When he and the 22 others arrived in Ben Gurion, Ali told Times of Israel, “I thought we were in Miami.”
Sharaka took the travelers on a tour of the major sites, allowing them to get to know Israel on a “person-to-person” level.
The group toured the main sites in Jerusalem, including the Knesset, Yad Vashem, the Old City of Jerusalem, and Al Aqsa Mosque.
They traveled to see the devastated kibbutzim in the south and the site of the Nova festival massacre and then went to Tel Aviv.
Youssef Elazhari, Shakara’s director in Morocco, recruited the travelers, mainly young people working for non-profits, and praised the participants for coming to Israel during the Gaza war despite pressure in Morocco.
“They had no fear,’ Elazhari said.
Although Morocco normalized relations with Israel in 2020 as part of the Abraham Accords, anti-Israel feelings have spread in the country in the aftermath of October 7th and the Gaza war.
One participant, Layla, said she was pleasantly surprised to see Arabs living alongside Jews in relative peace in Jerusalem.
“On my way to Al-Aqsa,” she recounted,” I saw Palestinians playing in the streets. No one was aggressive toward them; they were being respected, and I think that this image gives hope that there can be coexistence and love between Israelis and Palestinians.”
Layla said it would be difficult to share these positive impressions of Israel with her home university friends.
“Anything that restores the image of Israel and that it is human, and not monsters that kill all Palestinians, is seen as propaganda,” she told The Times of Israel.
“This hate is real. People don’t want us to talk about how Israel wants peace.”
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