Arab Parliament Rejects EU Resolution on Morocco

A migrant climbs a breakwater after crossing the Spanish-Moroccan border in the presence of a Spanish civil guard in Ceuta, Spain, May 17, 2021. Reduan Ben Zakouor/El Faro de Ceuta/Handout via REUTERS
A migrant climbs a breakwater after crossing the Spanish-Moroccan border in the presence of a Spanish civil guard in Ceuta, Spain, May 17, 2021. Reduan Ben Zakouor/El Faro de Ceuta/Handout via REUTERS
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Arab Parliament Rejects EU Resolution on Morocco

A migrant climbs a breakwater after crossing the Spanish-Moroccan border in the presence of a Spanish civil guard in Ceuta, Spain, May 17, 2021. Reduan Ben Zakouor/El Faro de Ceuta/Handout via REUTERS
A migrant climbs a breakwater after crossing the Spanish-Moroccan border in the presence of a Spanish civil guard in Ceuta, Spain, May 17, 2021. Reduan Ben Zakouor/El Faro de Ceuta/Handout via REUTERS

The Arab Parliament on Saturday rejected the European Parliament’s resolution regarding Morocco’s policy on the migration issue.

During an emergency meeting held Saturday in Cairo, the Parliament stressed that EU's decision and the false criticism and baseless accusations contained blackmail and unacceptable politicization of Morocco’s efforts to tackle the migration problem.

The Arab Parliament denounced “the intervention of the European Parliament and its insistence on interfering in a bilateral crisis between Morocco and Spain, which can be resolved through diplomatic means and direct bilateral negotiations.”

It also praised the restless efforts made by Morocco in the fight against illegal immigration, which stems from a strong political will and the directions of King Mohammed VI, as leader of the African Union on the issue of migration.

The Parliament further urged the crystallization of a unified and integrated Arab action plan to counter such irresponsible positions of the European Parliament, and in a way that guarantees respect for the sovereignty of the Arab countries and non-interference in its affairs.

It also called on the Inter-Parliamentary Union, the Mediterranean Parliament, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Union for the Mediterranean and all regional parliaments to reject and condemn this decision, which contradicts the internationally recognized rules of parliamentary diplomacy.

President of the Arab Parliament Adel Abdel Rahmane Al-Asoumi recalled that the European Parliament’s resolution “included false criticism and false accusations,” and revealed a “blatant paradox,” as the EU depends heavily on Moroccan cooperation on its own immigration priorities.

“The Speaker of the Arab Parliament demanded that Arab reactions not stop at the limits of rejection, condemnation, and denunciation,” the statement affirmed.

Chairman of the Saudi Shura Council's Foreign Affairs Committee and member of the Arab parliament Assaf bin Salem Abu Thinain said that the European Parliament’s recent decision was a continuation of its irresponsible approach, which included baseless criticism and accusations.



Anxiety Clouds Easter for West Bank Christians

Residents of the West Bank town of Zababdeh say its church bells are often drowned out by the roar of Israeli air force jets headed for action nearby. - AFP
Residents of the West Bank town of Zababdeh say its church bells are often drowned out by the roar of Israeli air force jets headed for action nearby. - AFP
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Anxiety Clouds Easter for West Bank Christians

Residents of the West Bank town of Zababdeh say its church bells are often drowned out by the roar of Israeli air force jets headed for action nearby. - AFP
Residents of the West Bank town of Zababdeh say its church bells are often drowned out by the roar of Israeli air force jets headed for action nearby. - AFP

In the mainly Christian Palestinian town of Zababdeh, the runup to Easter has been overshadowed by nearby Israeli military operations, which have proliferated in the occupied West Bank alongside the Gaza war.

This year unusually Easter falls on the same weekend for all of the town's main Christian communities -- Catholic, Orthodox and Anglican --- and residents have attempted to busy themselves with holiday traditions like making date cakes or getting ready for the scout parade.

But their minds have been elsewhere.

Dozens of families from nearby Jenin have found refuge in Zababdeh from the continual Israeli military operations that have devastated the city and its adjacent refugee camp this year.

"The other day, the (Israeli) army entered Jenin, people were panicking, families were running to pick up their children," said Zababdeh resident Janet Ghanam.

"There is a constant fear, you go to bed with it, you wake up with it," the 57-year-old Anglican added, before rushing off to one of the last Lenten prayers before Easter.

Ghanam said her son had told her he would not be able to visit her for Easter this year, for fear of being stuck at the Israeli military roadblocks that have mushroomed across the territory.

Zabadeh's Anglican church was busy in the runup to Easter but across the West Bank Christian communities have been in sharp decline as people emigrate in search of a better life abroad.

Zabadeh looks idyllic, nestled in the hills of the northern West Bank, but the roar of Israeli air force jets sometimes drowns out the sound of its church bells.

"It led to a lot of people to think: 'Okay, am I going to stay in my home for the next five years?'" said Saleem Kasabreh, an Anglican deacon in the town.

"Would my home be taken away? Would they bomb my home?"

- 'Existential threat' -

Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967 and in recent months far-right ministers in its coalition government have called for the annexation of swathes of the territory.

Kasabreh said this "existential threat" was compounded by constant "depression" at the news from Gaza, where the death toll from the Israel's response to Hamas's October 2023 attack now tops 51,000, according to the Hamas-run territory's health ministry.

Work has been hard to find for Zababdeh's mainly Christian residents since Israel rescinded Palestinian work permits following the October 2023 attack by Hamas that sparked the Gaza war.

Zababdeh has been spared the devastation wreaked on Gaza, but the mayor's office says nearly 450 townspeople lost their jobs in Israel when Palestinian work permits were rescinded after the Hamas attack.

"Israel had never completely closed us in the West Bank before this war," said 73-year-old farmer Ibrahim Daoud. "Nobody knows what will happen".

Many say they are stalked by the spectre of exile, with departures abroad fuelling fears that Christians may disappear from the Holy Land.

"People can't stay without work and life isn't easy," said 60-year-old maths teacher Tareq Ibrahim.

Mayor Ghassan Daibes echoed his point.

"For a Christian community to survive, there must be stability, security and decent living conditions. It's a reality, not a call for emigration," he said.

"But I´m speaking from lived experience: Christians used to make up 30 percent of the population in Palestine; today, they are less than one percent.

"And this number keeps decreasing. In my own family, I have three brothers abroad -- one in Germany, the other two in the United States."

Catholic priest Father Elias Tabban insists the hard times his congregation has been going though have deepened their faith.

Catholic priest Elias Tabban adopted a more stoical attitude, insisting his congregation's spirituality had never been so vibrant.

"Whenever the Church is in hard times... (that's when) you see the faith is growing," Tabban said.