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Israel's Army Commander to Visit Morocco Next Week

In this file photo taken on June 21, 2021, Israeli army Chief of Staff Aviv Kohavi salutes during a US official ceremony in his honor at the Pentagon in Washington, DC. (AFP)
In this file photo taken on June 21, 2021, Israeli army Chief of Staff Aviv Kohavi salutes during a US official ceremony in his honor at the Pentagon in Washington, DC. (AFP)
    Ramallah, Rabat - Asharq Al-Awsat
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Israel's Army Commander to Visit Morocco Next Week

In this file photo taken on June 21, 2021, Israeli army Chief of Staff Aviv Kohavi salutes during a US official ceremony in his honor at the Pentagon in Washington, DC. (AFP)
In this file photo taken on June 21, 2021, Israeli army Chief of Staff Aviv Kohavi salutes during a US official ceremony in his honor at the Pentagon in Washington, DC. (AFP)

Israeli army Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Aviv Kohavi will visit Morocco next week, in the first trip by an Israeli military commander to the north African nation, said Israeli media.

On Friday, the army said Kohavi would make a three-day visit to an Arab nation, but it didn’t specify the destination for "security reasons".

The announcement was made following a security meeting with US President Joe Biden who visited to Israel’s advanced missile-defense systems at its main international airport on Friday. Israel showed off a multilayered system and the new "Light Shield."

An Israeli source said Kohavi will seek to develop military cooperation with Morocco.

Rabat has played a key role in the Israeli decision to give Palestinians around-the-clock access to the Allenby Bridge border crossing with Jordan.

Transportation Minister Merav Michaeli had been working with Moroccan officials, alongside US and Palestinian teams, for the past several months to find a solution to keep the crossing open around the clock.

Michaeli publicly thanked Biden, as well as King Mohammad VI and Morocco "for their continued commitment and efforts to promote peace and prosperity in the Middle East."

The Hebrew-language Channel 7 said this step was pushed further in the wake of Biden's visit, and it is expected to be implemented once the logistical conditions are met, including the recruitment of the required workforce.

It is part of a series of steps promoted by Michaeli to bolster regional ties and cooperation, shifting Israel into a major power in transporting passengers, workers and goods, as well as boosting its economy.

The two countries agreed in December 2020 to resume diplomatic ties and relaunch direct flights - part of a deal brokered by the administration of former US President Donald Trump that also included Washington’s recognition of Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara.

In the same year, Israel normalized ties with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain as part of the Abraham Accords.

Earlier this year, Kohavi traveled to Bahrain on a first official trip. Also during that visit, Kohavi reportedly met with his Qatari counterpart.

Kohavi’s term as chief of staff will end in January 2023.

Five Israeli ministers have visited Morocco recently, namely Defense Minister Benny Gantz, Foreign Minister Yair Lapid, Minister of Science and Technology Orit Farkash-Hacohen, Minister of Economy and Industry Orna Barbivay, and Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked.

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Arab World

Syrians Celebrate a Month Since Assad’s Overthrow With Revolutionary Songs in Damascus

People stand before the New Clock Tower along Quwatli Street in the center of the city of Homs in west-central Syria on January 8, 2025. (Photo by OMAR HAJ KADOUR / AFP)
People stand before the New Clock Tower along Quwatli Street in the center of the city of Homs in west-central Syria on January 8, 2025. (Photo by OMAR HAJ KADOUR / AFP)
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Syrians Celebrate a Month Since Assad’s Overthrow With Revolutionary Songs in Damascus

People stand before the New Clock Tower along Quwatli Street in the center of the city of Homs in west-central Syria on January 8, 2025. (Photo by OMAR HAJ KADOUR / AFP)
People stand before the New Clock Tower along Quwatli Street in the center of the city of Homs in west-central Syria on January 8, 2025. (Photo by OMAR HAJ KADOUR / AFP)

A packed concert hall in Damascus came alive this week with cheers as Wasfi Maasarani, a renowned singer and symbol of the Syrian uprising, performed in celebration of “Syria’s victory."
The concert Wednesday marked Maasarani’s return to Syria after 13 years of exile. While living in Los Angeles, Maasarani had continued to support Syria’s uprising through his music, touring the US and Europe, The Associated Press said.
The concert organized by the Molham Volunteering Team, a humanitarian organization founded by Syrian students, also marked a month since a lightning insurgency toppled former President Bashar Assad.
Revolutionary songs like those by Maasarani and Abdelbasset Sarout — a Syrian singer and activist who died in 2019 — played a key role in rallying Syrians during the nearly 14-year uprising-turned civil war starting in 2011.
Many opponents of Assad's rule, like Maasarani, had fled the country and were unsure if they would ever be able to come back.
In the dimly lit concert hall, the crowd’s phone lights flickered like stars, swaying in unison with the music as the audience sang along, some wiping away tears. The crowd cheered and whistled and many waved the new Syrian flag, the revolutionary flag marked by three stars. A banner held up in the hall read, “It is Syria the Great, not Syria the Assad.”
One of Maasarani's best known songs is “Jabeenak ’Ali w Ma Bintal,” which he first sang in 2012, addressing the Free Syrian Army. It was a coalition of defected Syrian military personnel and civilian fighters formed in 2011 to oppose Assad during the civil war.
“You free soldier, the Syrian eminence appears in his eyes, he refused to fire at his people, he refused the shame of the traitor army, long live you free army, protect my people and the revolutionaries,” the lyrics read.
Another banner in the audience read, “It is the revolution of the people and the people never fail.”
Between performances, Raed Saleh, the head of the civil defense organization known as the White Helmets, addressed the crowd, saying, “With this victory, we should not forget the families who never found their children in the prisons and detention centers.”
Thousands were tortured or disappeared under Assad’s government. After the fall of Assad, the White Helmets helped in the search for the missing.
After the concert, Maasarani told The Associated Press, “It’s like a dream” to return to Syria and perform his revolutionary songs.
“We were always singing them outside of Syria, experiencing the happy and sad moments from afar,” he said, adding that his role was to capture the atrocities on the ground through song, ensuring “they would be remembered in history.” He reflected on his years in exile and recalled surviving two assassination attempts before leaving Syria.
“We have not seen this state without Assad since I was born,” said Alaa Maham, a concert attendee who recently returned from the United Arab Emirates. “I cannot describe my feelings, I hope our happiness lasts.”
The future of Syria is still unclear, as the former insurgent group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, now the de facto ruling party, begins to form a new government and rebuild the country's institutions.
Whatever comes next, Maham said, “We got rid of the oppression and corruption with the fall of Assad and his family’s rule."