At the Jerusalem Strategic Tribune, we stand with our publisher, Ahmed Charai, against a dangerous statement of November 25 condemning him that was issued by the Moroccan opposition party PJD’s Secretary General, Abdelilah Benkirane. This statement responds to Mr. Charai’s recent column in the Times of Israel criticizing the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrants for Israeli leaders.
The Benkirane statement, in Arabic, calls on Moroccans “to mobilize to defend our issues” against Mr. Charai who “operates openly in the service of foreign parties and interests.” The statement accuses Charai of “adopting the Zionist-American narrative that no one has dared to use before in our country.” This is not the language of reasoned debate or even the language of heated rhetoric. It is the language of bullying and attempting to squelch debate; it’s also an explicit incitement to violence against Mr. Charai.
We at the Jerusalem Strategic Tribune welcome policy disagreements from positions taken on our pages, including that of the PJD secretary general. But threats of intimidation and calls to mobilize against any of our writers are not acceptable anywhere. Morocco’s constitution guarantees freedom of thought, opinion and expression (article 25) and freedom of the press (article 28). The PJD would be advised to respect differences of view in accordance with the constitution.
We call on all those committed to freedom of expression, in Morocco and the international community, to denounce this attempt at intimidation and incitement to violence.
Robert Silverman
Editor-in-Chief
