Tag Archives: morocco

Tom Arms’ World Review

Middle East

A quick round-up on Gaza, Israel, Iran, Yemen, Lebanon, America and everywhere else that is affected by the ongoing crisis in the Middle East.

President Biden’s “outrage” following the killings of World Central Kitchen aid workers resulted in an apology and two new aid routes: The Erez Crossing and the port of Ashdod in southern Israel. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that as a result 400 aid trucks went through to Gaza immediately after the presidential fury. UN officials said the figure was actually 223.

Disenchanted State Department officials – of which there are a growing number – say that …

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Together, Israel and Morocco are striding towards a peaceful future

Peace in the Middle East, and throughout the Arab World, has always been hard-won. We’ve had to measure its progress in small, deliberate steps, whether that’s from letters to handshakes, missions to embassies or treaties to trade deals.

Ever since the Abraham Accords were signed in 2020, Israel and Morocco have been solidifying their diplomatic ties in recognition of their shared interests and responsibilities to global and regional security.

But this week the two countries made a historic leap forward – a leap that should give the international community renewed confidence in the stability of the Arab World and the Middle East.

As a very welcome relief from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s significant domestic issues, the Prime Minister officially recognised Morocco’s sovereignty over the Western Sahara and indicated that Israel would consider opening a consulate in one of the region’s key cities, Dakhla. At the invitation of King Muhammad VI, Netanyahu also agreed to conduct a state visit to Morocco in the near future – his first to any of the Arab nations involved in the Abraham Accords three years ago.

In the space of just a week, these are remarkable developments. This October, it will be just 50 years since the two countries were on either side of the Yom Kippur War – and they are now moving towards an alliance that could be critical to the stability of the entire Middle East.

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Baroness Liz Barker writes… International Office supports the next generation of female leaders from Mouvement Populaire party in Morocco

International officeLiberal Democrats do love a challenge. Not for us the easy life of safe seats and majority governments. Oh no, marginal and year round campaigning is the life for us.  So imagine that this is your task: to inspire women to stand for election to new regional councils, under an alternative list system, to be held in September, probably. The regulations for the new system  have yet to be finalised, but existing laws, under which all meetings of more than ten people have to be licenced and leaflets cannot be distributed without permission,  remain in force.

That is the task which Harakie Women, the women’s group within Mouvement Populaire, our sister party in Morocco, currently face.

Working with colleagues from VVD in the Netherlands and the FDP in Germany, the Liberal Democrat International Office has been supplying strategic and tactical support to the party’s potential candidates, coaching female candidates and providing them with the skills required to run an effective campaign.

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Recent Comments

  • John B Grout
    Excellent piece, Josh. As for seeking others' thoughts on the pitch, here are mine: Labour and the Greens want to do things for you, the Conservatives and R...
  • David Evans
    It's an interesting article, which gives us more to think about, but when it ends with "Government and politics can strive toward this platform ... giving ind...
  • Neil Sandison
    This one of a series of articles recently published in the Liberal Democrat Voice that defines our social liberal values . Frequently the hot house of Westminst...
  • Pawel Urbanski
    This is the right problem to be working on, and I think the answer may be less about the words than about the moments. In my experience people learn what we sta...
  • Simon Robinson
    It's good to have an MP putting herself forward for this. The manifesto seems a bit vague though. All good thoughts and nothing you can really disagree with, b...