Hamas deplores pro-normalization visit by Moroccan journalist

The Hamas Movement has strongly denounced a group of journalists from Morocco for visiting the occupied Palestinian territories with the aim of having relations with the Israeli occupation and embellishing its image.

“The visit is a crime against our people and cause, and it hurts the feelings of the Arabs, the Muslims and the lovers of the Palestinian cause and encourages the Israeli entity to persist in its crimes and violations,” Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said in a press release.

“[Israel] is a symbol of terrorism, racism and extremism in the world, and we are supposed to work on isolating, boycotting and exposing it rather than visiting it, normalizing with it, beautifying its face and covering up its crimes,” Barhoum added.

He stressed the need for immediate action to prevent any Arab party from normalizing or establishing relations with the Israeli occupation and to mobilize the nation’s support for the Palestinian people and their national cause.

A delegation of Moroccan journalists is currently being hosted by the Israeli foreign ministry in Tel Aviv, and their organized visit aims “to enable the participants to view first-hand the situation in Israel and to shatter negative myths associated with the country’s image,” Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper said on Monday.

The journalists, comprising five women and two men, are scheduled to receive political and military briefings, meet with ministers, Knesset members and senior judicial and security officials. They will also visit the holy city of Jerusalem and partake in a tour of the Gaza border.