Sentinel
3rd June 2017, 03:56
The regime comes down hard on the rebellious Rif. The Moroccan spring rises again.
Last Friday, May 26th, the believers in the mosques in Al Hoceima were surprised and outraged when they heard the sermons of the religious leaders.
Those bribed civil servants of the state and not of God, made a very political use of the Friday prayer to launch an attack against the Hirak movement and its charismatic leader Alzfzafi, accusing him of organising ‘discord’ (Fitna) in the country. Many people left the religious places immediately in anger and to protest.
Alzfzafi himself held a speech afterwards to defend the ‘movement‘ (Hirak), which has been protesting unrelentingly for 6 months against marginalisation, the police and military repression, and the attacks against their justified popular demands. Remember how last year the brutal death of a fishmonger sparked a mass movement in the whole mountainous Rif region and the main cities of the Kingdom. The main demands are for jobs, hospitals, infrastructure, a university, ending the militarisation of the region (in place since 1959), ending the endemic corruption, and granting political freedom.
https://www.marxist.com/morocco-the-rif-rises-again.htm
The shocking murder - by crushing in a garbage truck - of the poor fish vendor, which is referenced, reminded a lot of the event in Tunisia at the end of 2010 - the self-immolation of vegetable vendor Mohammed Bouazizi after having having his only means of living confiscated - that sparked the Arab Spring whose effects still echo throughout the wider region. While those revolutions and struggles have so far failed to bring justice to the masses due to intervention from reactionary forces of different kinds, they will constitute valuable lessons in the collective consciousness of the masses, that will guide them in new battles - eventually to the path to socialist revolution.
Some called 2011 the '1905' (the year of the first, failed Russian revolution) of Egypt and the Arab world. Dialectical materialism teaches us both that masses learn from experience, and that the smallest spark, such as an outrageous attack on a single poor worker, can when discontent has been brewing long enough start a chain of events that leads to the overthrow the most seemingly powerful oppressors.
One day sooner than we think, the working class of the mighty arab nation will unite from the Atlantic to the Tigris and overthrow all the reactionary, rotten regimes oppressing them, be they feudalist or colonial remnants, pseudo-progressive tyrants, or religious zealots and create one of the most important building blocks of the future socialist world.
I'll end with another post from In Defence of Marxism, a solidarity appeal from the International Marxist Tendency:
Since last October, Al Hoceima and its neighboring regions have seen a big protest movement. The direct reason behind this has been the crushing of a young fish vendor (Mohsen Fikri) in a garbage container by local officials after protesting the confiscation of his goods. Behind the movement however there are other deeper reasons, such as dictatorship, exploitation, marginalization and unemployment: i.e Capitalism and its state.
This heroic mass movement, which has stood up against all forms of repression and harassment, has inspired the workers and revolutionaries in the rest of the Morocco, where a wave of solidarity struggles has started. This is a nightmare for the ruling class and its state.
After months of mixing repression with empty promises, the state has now moved to reveal its true nature and has increased the pace of repression. Recently, a large wave of arrests has been launched, including most of the leaders of the movement. The state has also resorted to thugs and criminals to attack peaceful demonstrations in many cities.
The detainees in the prisons of the dictatorship are subjected to torture and humiliation. The Moroccan youth and the masses throughout Morocco are attacked with brutal repression. It is our responsibility to struggle to stop this barbarity. We demand the immediate release of political prisoners, a halt on all repression and of the government to meet the demands of the protesters – that is, to punish those responsible for the killing of Mohsen Fikri, stop marginalization and instead build hospitals, schools, employment and other just and legitimate demands.
The International Marxist Tendency calls on all workers youth, revolutionaries and trade unionists to support the struggle of the Moroccan masses. We ask you to take up the struggle in your organisations and pass solidarity messages, to spread awareness about the repression and to expose the reactionary nature of the regime in Morocco.
An injury to one is an injury for all!
Workers of the world unite!
https://www.marxist.com/solidarity-with-the-moroccan-masses-down-with-dictatorship-and-oppression.htm
Last Friday, May 26th, the believers in the mosques in Al Hoceima were surprised and outraged when they heard the sermons of the religious leaders.
Those bribed civil servants of the state and not of God, made a very political use of the Friday prayer to launch an attack against the Hirak movement and its charismatic leader Alzfzafi, accusing him of organising ‘discord’ (Fitna) in the country. Many people left the religious places immediately in anger and to protest.
Alzfzafi himself held a speech afterwards to defend the ‘movement‘ (Hirak), which has been protesting unrelentingly for 6 months against marginalisation, the police and military repression, and the attacks against their justified popular demands. Remember how last year the brutal death of a fishmonger sparked a mass movement in the whole mountainous Rif region and the main cities of the Kingdom. The main demands are for jobs, hospitals, infrastructure, a university, ending the militarisation of the region (in place since 1959), ending the endemic corruption, and granting political freedom.
https://www.marxist.com/morocco-the-rif-rises-again.htm
The shocking murder - by crushing in a garbage truck - of the poor fish vendor, which is referenced, reminded a lot of the event in Tunisia at the end of 2010 - the self-immolation of vegetable vendor Mohammed Bouazizi after having having his only means of living confiscated - that sparked the Arab Spring whose effects still echo throughout the wider region. While those revolutions and struggles have so far failed to bring justice to the masses due to intervention from reactionary forces of different kinds, they will constitute valuable lessons in the collective consciousness of the masses, that will guide them in new battles - eventually to the path to socialist revolution.
Some called 2011 the '1905' (the year of the first, failed Russian revolution) of Egypt and the Arab world. Dialectical materialism teaches us both that masses learn from experience, and that the smallest spark, such as an outrageous attack on a single poor worker, can when discontent has been brewing long enough start a chain of events that leads to the overthrow the most seemingly powerful oppressors.
One day sooner than we think, the working class of the mighty arab nation will unite from the Atlantic to the Tigris and overthrow all the reactionary, rotten regimes oppressing them, be they feudalist or colonial remnants, pseudo-progressive tyrants, or religious zealots and create one of the most important building blocks of the future socialist world.
I'll end with another post from In Defence of Marxism, a solidarity appeal from the International Marxist Tendency:
Since last October, Al Hoceima and its neighboring regions have seen a big protest movement. The direct reason behind this has been the crushing of a young fish vendor (Mohsen Fikri) in a garbage container by local officials after protesting the confiscation of his goods. Behind the movement however there are other deeper reasons, such as dictatorship, exploitation, marginalization and unemployment: i.e Capitalism and its state.
This heroic mass movement, which has stood up against all forms of repression and harassment, has inspired the workers and revolutionaries in the rest of the Morocco, where a wave of solidarity struggles has started. This is a nightmare for the ruling class and its state.
After months of mixing repression with empty promises, the state has now moved to reveal its true nature and has increased the pace of repression. Recently, a large wave of arrests has been launched, including most of the leaders of the movement. The state has also resorted to thugs and criminals to attack peaceful demonstrations in many cities.
The detainees in the prisons of the dictatorship are subjected to torture and humiliation. The Moroccan youth and the masses throughout Morocco are attacked with brutal repression. It is our responsibility to struggle to stop this barbarity. We demand the immediate release of political prisoners, a halt on all repression and of the government to meet the demands of the protesters – that is, to punish those responsible for the killing of Mohsen Fikri, stop marginalization and instead build hospitals, schools, employment and other just and legitimate demands.
The International Marxist Tendency calls on all workers youth, revolutionaries and trade unionists to support the struggle of the Moroccan masses. We ask you to take up the struggle in your organisations and pass solidarity messages, to spread awareness about the repression and to expose the reactionary nature of the regime in Morocco.
An injury to one is an injury for all!
Workers of the world unite!
https://www.marxist.com/solidarity-with-the-moroccan-masses-down-with-dictatorship-and-oppression.htm