These are your subjects, Your Majesty: Morocco edition

On 31 July, hundreds of middle-aged and elderly Moroccan men stood in the old palace in the city of Tetouan from early morning, waiting to pledge allegiance to their country’s king on the anniversary of his accession to the throne.

Delegates wearing their finest traditional kaftans represented all 75 provinces and prefectures across Morocco’s 12 regions.

They gathered at Mechouar Square outside the Royal Palace in Tetouan to re-declare their allegiance to their sovereign, King Mohammed VI, marking the 27th anniversary of His Majesty’s accession to the throne, known as Throne Day.

King Mohammed VI stood in an old convertible car that moved slowly past the delegates, his subjects in Tetouan, in a live event that most Moroccan television channels aired.

At almost the exact same moment, many non-Moroccan television channels were broadcasting something very different: tens of thousands of Moroccan people — also subjects of King Mohammed VI, and mainly young people — were storming the Moroccan-Spanish border around Ceuta in an attempt to reach Europe.

And they were not all young people. There were children, some reportedly only days old, among those who crossed by sea and through the hills.

The storming of the border had begun 24 hours earlier; Morocco was celebrating Throne Day that same day.

Morocco’s Throne Day was created in 1933 by Moroccan nationalists rallying around Sultan then-Mohammed V during the French protectorate and became an official national celebration through a ministerial decree the following year. It is a public holiday in Morocco.

Some have argued that Morocco was sending a message to Spain not to cooperate with Algeria following Sánchez’s visit to the rival neighbour.

But Morocco knows better than anyone that no country is going to cut its relations with Algeria simply because Rabat wants it to.

It is not the first time this has happened. Similar incidents occurred twice in 2016, although the people breaching the border were mostly hundreds of sub-Saharan African migrants.

The other major episode happened in May 2021, when more than 6,000 Moroccans, mostly young people, swam into Ceuta as Moroccan border guards appeared to be deliberately standing aside.

At the time, it was widely seen as Rabat flexing its leverage over Madrid after Spain allowed Polisario Front leader Brahim Ghali to receive medical treatment in the country.

Many people, including myself, believe that what happened in Ceuta was yet another attempt not only to pressure Spain, but also to weaken its left-wing government led by Pedro Sánchez and strengthen the right-wing parties opposed to it, particularly Vox.

Sánchez has been among the few European and world leaders to openly stand against both Israel and the United States on some of their policies.

His left-wing policies, including his more inclusive approach to refugees and migrants, are precisely the kind of policies that the rising alt-right in the West rejects.

I am not an expert in Spanish domestic affairs, but I have followed reports that Sánchez is already facing political pressure and corruption-related allegations involving his wife. There has also been speculation that he could struggle in the next election because of these accusations.

Yet this is not really about Pedro Sánchez. It is about his party itself and, more broadly, Spain’s progressive left.

Nevertheless, I believe Sánchez and his party may actually have gained from this Moroccan game.

Sánchez’s government has been navigating the crisis and returning thousands of Moroccans to Morocco within roughly 48 hours, without the kind of violence that might have been expected from a right-wing government.

Most, if not all, of the reported deaths were either Moroccans killed in stampedes or people who drowned in the sea because of what appeared to be a political game.

Spanish border police were filmed helping and rescuing Moroccans, while Moroccan border security appeared, by contrast, to be more aggressive.

Videos also began circulating online showing how Moroccan security forces — in a country with a vast security apparatus, like many other North African states — apparently allowed huge trucks and buses carrying dozens upon dozens of young men toward the border to pass without stopping them or questioning them.

What happened seemed like another game played by the Moroccan regime to embarrass and pressure the Spanish government. Unfortunately for Rabat, it appears to have backfired.

Personally, I believe the Moroccan regime, and Morocco’s King Mohammed VI, may be the biggest losers in this entire travesty that unfolded in front of the world over the past 48 hours.

Thousands of Moroccan youths stormed the border to enter Spain as Morocco celebrated, with great ceremony, King Mohammed VI’s 27th anniversary of accession to the throne.

What does that tell the world about the king and his regime?

Those young men are, after all, subjects of His Majesty the King, the Commander of the Faithful. Yet they were risking their lives to reach Spain in search of a better future.

Following Moroccan television channels over the past 24 hours, I noticed that much of the Moroccan media was focusing on the major economic achievements Morocco has made during the reign of King Mohammed VI.

Morocco has indeed made significant economic progress. But it seems that not the entire population has reaped the fruits of those achievements. Otherwise, why would we have seen thousands of Moroccans storming the borders in search of a better life?

The whole world, except perhaps Morocco itself, seemed more interested in covering what was happening in Ceuta than in the anniversary of the king’s accession or the centuries-old allegiance tradition. International journalists went to Ceuta.

I even wonder whether the true target of whoever planned this spectacular episode was King Mohammed VI himself, in the medium and long term, rather than Pedro Sánchez.

What is even worse for Morocco and Moroccans — although many may not admit it now — is how Israeli officials and pro-Israel social media activists jumped onto the wagon, demanding that Spain “end its occupation of Ceuta and Melilla.”

It is such a strange and provocative contradiction that it should immediately make anyone wonder whether something is wrong.

It is enough to see some Zionists above them, Israeli officials as well as Arab Zionists who openly support the Israeli occupation army, suddenly speaking as though they were members of the Moroccan resistance of the 1920s to realise that something is seriously off.

It is like the worst and silliest joke imaginable.

The Moroccan regime has now become one of Israel’s closest allies in the Arab world and the Middle East, much like the UAE. Thus, I am not surprised to see Israeli officials defending Morocco and its right to reclaim cities whose return it has never officially demanded.

Many Moroccans, especially those on the alt-right and among nationalist monarchists, have been furious that many Arabs are taking Spain’s side for the first time.

During those 48 hours, I saw Moroccans attacking Arabs for “standing with Spain” and “not standing with them” on social media, as many Arabs did not hide their anger at the Moroccan regime and its policies.

Moroccans have every right to decide which issues matter most to them, just as we do as Arab nations in the East.

But unlike Western Sahara — which seems far more important and pressing to the Moroccan crown, its regime and many of its subjects — issues such as Palestine and Al-Aqsa Mosque appear to receive less attention, despite the Moroccan king heading the Al-Quds Committee, which was established to defend the holy city.

That committee increasingly seems like an institution from another era, considering the scale of Israeli aggression, attacks, incursions and threats against Palestinians and Al-Aqsa Mosque.

As an Egyptian, Palestine, Sudan, Libya, the Red Sea and the Nile are far more pressing issues for me than Western Sahara or Ceuta.

And, frankly, King Mohammed VI has never formally demanded the return of Ceuta and Melilla through a serious diplomatic campaign, nor has there been a sustained popular resistance movement by the cities’ residents against Spanish rule in recent decades.

The people of the two cities have, over the centuries, become deeply integrated into Spanish society. Many of their residents are Spanish citizens of Moroccan origin, and their political priorities do not necessarily align with those of the Moroccan crown.

I swear, if Mohammed VI officially declared that he wanted the two cities back and launched a serious campaign to reclaim them, many Arabs would stand with him.

But again, those thousands storming the border were not trying to liberate their Moroccan cities or even visit them.

They wanted to enjoy the welfare and opportunities of Spain — the very country they were calling an occupier — after being encouraged by social media messages and what some described as the “illegal migration mafia.”

Again, the Moroccan regime is officially acting as if it has already won, but it has lost a lot.