King Mohammed VI voices solidarity with Qatar in call to Emir following Iranian attack
According to a statement from the Amiri Diwan, the Moroccan monarch expressed Morocco's full solidarity with Qatar and strongly condemned the Iranian attack, describing it as «a blatant violation of Qatari sovereignty and airspace, as well as international law and the United Nations Charter».
The King firmly rejected any aggression that threatens Qatar's security and stability, calling on the Emir to show restraint and prioritize diplomatic solutions to de-escalate the situation.
For his part, the Emir expressed his deep appreciation for the King's «sincere fraternal sentiments and valuable solidarity with the State of Qatar and its people».
Earlier on Monday, Iran launched an attack on the U.S. Al-Udeid Air Base in Qatar in an operation dubbed «Annunciation of Victory», in retaliation for American strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities. The incident marks a sharp escalation in regional tensions following missile exchanges between Israel and Iran.
Qatar temporarily closed its airspace on Monday due to heightened security concerns, with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stating the move was intended to «ensure the safety of residents and visitors». Later that same day, Qatari authorities announced the resumption of air traffic and confirmed that conditions had returned to normal.
Morocco's Ministry of Foreign Affairs also issued a statement Monday, strongly condemning the Iranian attack and expressing full solidarity with Qatar against any threats to its security and the safety of its people.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Ya Biladi
3 hours ago
- Ya Biladi
The Rif separatist party acknowledges Spain's «sovereignty» over Ceuta and Melilla
Following a recent gathering in Algiers, the so-called «Rif Nationalist Party» is now shifting its focus to Spain. In a surprising move, the party, which identifies as «Rif nationalist», has publicly recognized Spanish sovereignty over Ceuta and Melilla, echoing the position of another separatist group, the Polisario Front. «For us, Ceuta and Melilla are Spanish territories. This is an undeniable historical fact», declared Ridouane Oussama, leader of the separatist movement, in an interview with a Madrid-based newspaper. The statement appears aimed at reassuring Spanish political, military, and security circles. With backing from Algiers, the Rif separatist group is seeking to establish a branch in Melilla. Oussama argues that Spain has a responsibility to support his party's secessionist aspirations. By helping to «liberate a people», he claims, Spain could «correct a historical mistake», a tactic reminiscent of the Polisario Front's long-standing appeals for support from Madrid. «An independent Rif would allow Spain to resolve internal challenges, particularly around security and terrorism», Oussama asserted. In exchange for Spanish support, he promises Madrid «a friendly neighbor across the border». He emphasized what he described as enduring cultural ties between the Rif and Spain: «The Rif and the Spanish, especially in the south, share a cultural blend. We are very close culturally. The population there is made up of 50% Rifains and 50% Spaniards», he said. Oussama went further, arguing that «Spain has an interest in an independent Rif, as it would help ease Morocco's pressure on issues like immigration and territorial claims over Ceuta and Melilla». He even praised Spain's former colonial presence in the Rif: «Our grandparents tell us the Spanish occupation was better than the Moroccan one», he claimed. In making this statement, he disregards the suffering of thousands of Rif residents who were victims of chemical attacks by Spanish forces in the 1920s, an episode still remembered by certain segments of Spanish society. It's worth recalling that in November 2021, two Catalan parties, the Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC) and Together for Catalonia (Junts).called on the Spanish government, through a non-binding resolution, to formally apologize for the use of chemical weapons against civilians in the Rif.
Morocco World
3 hours ago
- Morocco World
Madrid Reportedly Ends Four-Decade Arabic Language Program
Rabat — The Community of Madrid will reportedly end its participation in the Arabic Language and Moroccan Culture Teaching Program starting in the 2025/26 school year. Spanish news sources reported that the regional government cited a lack of guarantees for proper functioning as the main reason for the decision. The Ministry of Education, Science, and Universities announced the measure on Thursday, affecting more than 1,400 students across 70 Madrid schools. Authorities have reportedly detected 'serious malfunctions' in recent years that make continuing the program impossible. This decision breaks a bilateral agreement Spain and Morocco signed in 1985, potentially ending nearly four decades of cooperation in cultural education. Madrid officials point to several problems with the program's management. The ministry says it lacks transparency and proper institutional control over teacher selection and content development. The program operates under the Spanish Ministry of Education in collaboration with the Moroccan Embassy. Morocco directly selects and sends Moroccan officials to teach in Spanish schools, which Madrid authorities find problematic. 'We don't have visibility or participation in the teacher selection process,' Spanish news outlet El Faro de Ceuta reported the Madrid Ministry of Education as saying, adding that officials also question whether Morocco properly evaluates teachers' pedagogical training, Spanish language skills, or teaching programs. The regional government says it cannot verify if teachers receive adequate pedagogical and didactic training or if authorities check their Spanish proficiency before assigning them to schools. Program structure and participation Madrid offers the program only as an extracurricular activity outside compulsory school hours. The 2024/25 academic year saw 1,434 Madrid students participate in the program. Other regions show higher participation rates. Catalonia leads with 2,151 students, followed by Andalusia with 1,810 participants. The program currently operates in twelve autonomous communities across Spain. The initiative targets children from Moroccan families living in Spain. It aims to preserve their cultural heritage, promote bilingualism, and support sociocultural integration. Most schools nationwide choose to offer the program outside regular school hours, though the bilateral agreement allows integration into compulsory curricula. Political background and opposition Madrid officials insist that political pressure did not influence their decision, despite repeated calls from the Vox party, known for its hostility to Morocco, to eliminate the program. In April, Vox submitted a non-legislative motion to the Madrid Assembly demanding the program's removal. Más Madrid and PSOE rejected the proposal, while the Popular Party (PP) abstained from voting. The PP avoided supporting complete elimination but expressed concerns about 'structural deficiencies' in the program. The PP demanded greater regional oversight and suggested that Madrid administration teachers should handle instruction instead of Moroccan officials. The party even proposed an amendment warning that Madrid would withdraw if authorities did not correct identified problems. Tags: Arabic Language ProgramMoroccan CultureMorocco and SpainSpain
Morocco World
6 hours ago
- Morocco World
When Conservatism Turns Selective: A Response to a Misguided Narrative on Women and Modernity
There's nothing inherently wrong with being a conservative. Some of the most thoughtful voices in history have leaned on tradition not to resist change, but to ask deeper questions about its consequences. But there's a line, and that line is crossed when conservatism becomes a selective moral judgment, especially when it turns women into scapegoats for the discomforts of a shifting world. In a recent televised debate, Professor Dr. Mohammed Talal Lahlou, a researcher and trainer in islamic financial capital and a self-proclaimed defender of conservative values, argued that gender equality is the reason women today are unhappy, referencing a study conducted by a researcher from the University of Michigan with no methodological framing, and no intellectual caution. The tone was confident, the claim bold, but the reasoning was hollow. When Data Becomes a Crutch, Not a Compass Throwing statistics into a discussion without context or analytical depth is not a sign of intellectual rigor, it's a form of rhetorical short-cutting. Professor Lahlou cited percentages as if they were self-evident truths, without addressing critical variables such as economic shifts, unpaid labor, gendered social expectations, or mental health stigma. He never asked why these women might report unhappiness, and more importantly, he never questioned men's roles in the systems that shape that unhappiness. He didn't mention the erosion of male responsibility, the abandonment of shared roles within families, or the economic pressures that force women into double and triple shifts. His conservatism lacked introspection, it was structured to diagnose, not to understand. The study by Betsey Stevenson and Justin Wolfers Conducted in the United States between the 1970s and the 2000s, it highlights a counterintuitive phenomenon: despite objective progress in rights, education, and professional integration, the reported happiness level of American women declined, reversing the historically favorable trend compared to men. This paradox, often instrumentalized in conservative discourse, cannot, however, be applied to the Moroccan context of 2025 without falling into a simplistic and anachronistic interpretation. The two historical, social, and cultural realities are radically different. In the United States, women experienced empowerment within an individualistic, post-industrial society, marked by relatively protective laws. In Morocco, by contrast, the proclaimed equality faces structural resistance, persistent patriarchal norms, and a glaring gap between legal texts and social practices, especially in rural areas. Invoking Stevenson's study to disparage equality or to blame it for women's malaise in a country where such equality remains largely unfinished thus constitutes a methodological and intellectual misunderstanding. It amounts to ignoring cultural specificities, asymmetries in access to rights, and above all the mental load that Moroccan women continue to bear alone in the name of progress they are asked to embody without ever being fully supported. Not All Conservatism Is Created Equal To be fair, not all conservative thought is simplistic or unfair. There are intellectual conservatives who interrogate social transformations with honesty, who challenge liberal ideologies without defaulting to misogyny. But what we saw in this exchange was a rigid and outdated posture, cloaked in academic vocabulary and framed through selective outrage. A Word on the Other Voice in the Room Interestingly, and tellingly, his opponent Professor Ahmed Assid a progressive, secular thinker with whom many might disagree ideologically, demonstrated a far more robust approach to debate. He didn't manipulate numbers. He didn't speculate recklessly. He grounded his views in lived experience, in analysis, and in argumentation. Whether one agrees with his positions or not, one cannot ignore that his discourse respected the rules of honest thinking. He embodied what debate should be: not a battle of slogans, but an exchange of ideas. And in contrast, the professor's reliance on moral absolutism and cherry-picked data felt shallow, and frankly, desperate. Professors Should Think, Not Preach The role of a professor is not to present ideological convictions as if they were objective facts. It is to engage with nuance, to welcome complexity, and to accept the uncomfortable parts of the truth even when they challenge personal or cultural convictions. What we witnessed instead was the use of academic authority to moralize, to generalize, and to repackage old anxieties as empirical wisdom. But the burden of unhappiness does not lie in equality, it lies in the resistance to completing it. Women are not in crisis because they are equal. They are exhausted because they are still asked to carry the weight of equality alone, while many social systems and many men continue to operate as if nothing has changed. This isn't about rejecting conservatism. It's about rejecting intellectual shortcuts disguised as values. Because true intellectual integrity, no matter the ideology is never afraid of the full picture. Tags: ConservatismGenderModernityWomen in Morocco
