Public opposition to the war—and to ties with Israel more broadly—has reached unprecedented levels in Morocco. [Getty]
A powerful port workers’ union in Morocco has called for a boycott of a Maersk cargo ship allegedly transporting US military equipment to Israel, intensifying a wave of public outrage in the North African kingdom over the Israeli genocide in Gaza.
In a statement released Monday, the Union of Port Workers in Morocco, affiliated with the country’s most influential labour body, the Moroccan Labour Union (UMT), urged workers at the Port of Casablanca to refuse to unload or service the Maersk Nexoe, a Danish vessel reportedly scheduled to dock on 18 April.
“Anyone facilitating this ship’s passage is, without question, a direct accomplice in the genocidal war against the Palestinian people”, the union said in a statement. It also called on authorities to bar the ship from docking at Casablanca or at Tangier Med, Morocco’s largest port.
The call marks the most forceful stance yet by an organised labour institution in Morocco since the start of Israel’s war on Gaza, and comes amid growing domestic unrest over Rabat’s continued normalisation of ties with Tel Aviv.
Religious groups have also vowed to sabotage this ship suspected of carrying or facilitating military cargo shipment to Israel.
Earlier this week, a collective of scholars and clerics, many affiliated with the influential Islamist movement Al-Adl Wal Ihssan, issued a rare joint religious edict forbidding the docking of vessels suspected of carrying military cargo to Israel.
Allowing such ships to berth in Moroccan ports, the edict stated, amounted to “an alliance with the enemies of the Ummah against its own people, one of the gravest forms of betrayal.”
Citing Quranic verses and prophetic teachings, the scholars condemned any facilitation of military transfers as both morally and religiously impermissible.
The Maersk Nexoe is believed that it will facilitate carrying spare parts for F-35 fighter jets to Israel, according to reports by the Irish outlet The Ditch and Declassified UK.
The equipment, originally loaded in Houston aboard the US-flagged Maersk Detroit, is said to be en route to the Nevatim airbase in southern Israel, one of the main hubs for the Israeli Air Force’s operations over Gaza.
The Detroit is expected to dock in Tangier on 20 April, before transferring its cargo to the Nexoe, which would then continue to Haifa via the Mediterranean.
Neither Maersk nor Moroccan authorities have confirmed the contents of the cargo.
A source at Tangier Med Port told Hespress, a media outlet close to the government, that they “are not aware of the contents of containers being shipped through global ports or those arriving as part of temporary stops.”
The Moroccan chapter of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement has documented the docking of at least six Maersk vessels between November and December 2024.
While only one listed Israel as a final destination, activists suspect the others were involved in weapons transshipment.
“A military embargo against a state guilty of illegal military occupation, apartheid, and plausible genocide is a legal obligation under international law, not a matter of political discretion”, the BDS movement said in a statement to The New Arab.
Dockworkers in Fos-sur-Mer, France, said they recently delayed the arrival of the same ships, stating they refused to handle vessels linked to the Israeli military. Their protest stopped the ship from docking on Saturday, delaying its journey, according to the BDS movement.
France’s CGT union is reportedly considering a full boycott of trade with Israel, citing the International Court of Justice’s finding earlier this year that Israel is “plausibly” committing genocide in Gaza.
BDS has called on dockworkers in Spain, Turkey and Morocco, where the ships are expected to seek permission to dock, to follow suit.
As of 15 April, Vessel Finder shows that the Nexoe is heading to Valencia, Spain. While, the Detroit is heading to Tangier, Morocco.
In Morocco, pro-Palestine groups plan to protest at the ports of Casablanca and Tangier on 18 and 20 April, hoping to pressure authorities into blocking the ship’s arrival.
It would be the first such action since the war on Gaza began, and it comes amid mounting pressure on Rabat to walk back its normalisation agreement with Israel.
Public opposition to the war—and to ties with Israel more broadly—has reached unprecedented levels in Morocco.
Over the past several weeks, demonstrations have swept through cities including Rabat, Casablanca and Tangier, with protesters calling for a complete severing of diplomatic, commercial, and military ties with Tel Aviv.
Though Morocco’s parliament and senior ministers have denounced the Israeli war on Gaza and called for an immediate ceasefire, the government has not publicly addressed the reports of arms shipments or the union’s demands.
Maersk, for its part, has not responded to requests for comment. The company has previously denied shipping arms or ammunition to Israel but acknowledged transporting cargo on behalf of the US government and said its policies do not prohibit handling military-related goods.
