Under Enlightened Leadership of HM the King, Morocco Has Launched Several Initiatives Aimed at Enshrining Fundamentals of Coexistence, Dialogue between Civilizations – FM

On Jul 31, 2023

Rabat – The Minister of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Moroccan Expatriates, Nasser Bourita, said on Monday that Morocco, under the enlightened leadership of His Majesty the King, is committed to numerous initiatives aimed at contributing efficiently to the consecration of the fundamentals of cohabitation and dialogue between civilizations.

”The Kingdom of Morocco, under the enlightened leadership of His Majesty the King, has for many years been involved in a number of initiatives aimed at contributing efficiently to the consecration of the fundamentals of cohabitation and dialogue between civilizations, including the Sovereign’s initiative at the 11th Islamic Summit held in Dakar in March 2008, calling for an international charter setting out the criteria and rules governing freedom of expression and opinion, as well as respect for religious symbols and sacredness, he stressed in an address to the extraordinary ministerial meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), held via video-conferencing, on the subject of the growing number of acts of desecration of the Holy Quran in Sweden and Denmark.

In his speech, read on his behalf by Fouad Akhrif, Director of the Orient, Gulf, Arab and Islamic Organizations Division, he also referred to the launch in 2013 of the Rabat Action Plan on the prohibition of advocacy of national, racial or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, before adding that the United Nations General Assembly recently adopted a Moroccan resolution on “the promotion of interreligious and intercultural dialogue and tolerance to counter hate speech,” unanimously adopted by its 193 member countries on July 25.

The Minister also referred to the Kingdom’s hosting of numerous conferences and forums in this area, most recently the 9th World Forum of the Alliance of Civilizations held in Fez on November 22 and 23, and the parliamentary conference on interfaith dialogue held on June 13 in Marrakech, as evidence of Morocco’s unwavering commitment to fostering dialogue between cultures and civilizations.

While calling for the promotion of the values of cohabitation and dialogue between societies, as well as the culture of peace, the Kingdom of Morocco denounces provocative attacks on the sacredness of the Muslim religion, denouncing all obscurantist and barbaric violence committed in the name of Islam, he said, adding that freedom of expression can in no way justify provocation and attacks on the Muslim religion, which has more than two billion adherents.

Following the widespread burning of Holy Quran copies, Morocco immediately condemned these heinous acts and then urged the Danish government to strictly enforce the law, deal with these mindless acts of incitement, and make sure they never happen again. This was done in March.

Bourita emphasized the need to suppress all manifestations of religious hatred and assaults on the rights of believers, recalling that Morocco had stated after the repetition of this heinous act on June 28 in Stockholm that “it is inadmissible to denigrate the faith of Muslims in this way, regardless of the political positions and differences that may exist between States, while stressing that the principle of tolerance and universal values are not limited to apprehending the perpetrators.

The Swedish chargé d’affaires in Rabat was called to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the orders of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, may God help Him, to inform him of the Kingdom of Morocco’s condemnation and rejection of this unacceptable act, and the Kingdom’s ambassador was recalled sine die for consultations, he continued.