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An Arab media delegation, including five Moroccan journalists, has been highly criticized for visiting Israel. The trip, which was scheduled and organized by the Israeli Foreign Ministry, made headlines all over the internet, accused for provoking the Moroccan public opinion. Responding to that, Israeli spokesman for the hosting ministry, Emmanuel Nahshon, tweeted denouncing the wave of criticism targeting the Moroccan journalists.
«Nothing can stop the freedom of journalists to visit Israel», he wrote as reported the Algemeiner, a New York-based journal that covers Jewish and Israel-related news.
Nothing can stop the freedom of journalists to visit #Israel . The world is becoming increasingly free and open to all . Closing their eyes is no longer an option for those who seek the truth. We invite all journalists from the Arab world to visit us!?? https://t.co/s7d6evwNjP
— Emmanuel Nahshon (@EmmanuelNahshon) 11 février 2018
«The world is becoming increasingly free and open to all. Closing their eyes is no longer an option for those who seek the truth. We invite all journalists from the Arab world to visit us», argued the official, referring to critics.
The criticism
Indeed, governmental departments in both Morocco and Israel disapproved the infamous visit to Israel. Last week, the Palestinian Information Ministry urged the Federation of Arab Journalists «to penalize the Arab media delegation in a communiqué» published on its official website.
Hosted special guests from the Arab world in Jerusalem today - a delegation of Moroccan, Lebanese, Syrian, Kurdish & Yemeni journalists, visiting in order to get to know Israel, its history and its society from up close.
— Israel Foreign Min. (@IsraelMFA) 5 février 2018
Welcome - اهلا وسهلا بكم pic.twitter.com/yOZbwyoHZ9
Meanwhile, Mohamed Laaraj, Minister of Culture and Communication, stated while speaking to the Justice and Development Party’s website that this visit «contradicts the official and Moroccan position, regarding that Israeli-Palestinian conflict knowing that the country supports the Palestinian cause and sees it as a common struggle».
He, furthermore, confirmed that his ministry reacted quickly to the visit, and contacted the professional press organizations these journalists work for, urging them to restrict such initiatives.
The Palestinian and Moroccan communication ministries were not the only bodies that denounced the delegation’s visit. In fact, the National Union of the Moroccan Press issued a communiqué indicating that the visit «is part of a propaganda carried out by the Israeli government» and which targets Moroccan journalists.
On the other hands, journalists took their anger to social media where they launched a couple of hash tags, rejecting normalization.
An underdeveloped world
Facing criticism, Noura al-Farawi, a journalist who works for Assabah newspaper and who was a member of the Arab press delegation, defended her position on Facebook all while blaming the way Moroccans think. «I belong to Mankind first and for most», she wrote on her account adding : «I don’t care about value judgments as much as I am interested in discovering and getting to know the Other, we all live in a small world where borders don’t mean a thing».
«Israel is a strong state in a region that is divided, and underdeveloped. This is the first fact to be acknowledged and recognized».
