UN: Morocco Renews Call to Fight against Islamophobia

At a high-level United Nations event held in New York on the occasion of the celebration of the first anniversary of the International Day against Islamophobia, Morocco renewed its call for increased efforts at the multilateral level to promote the values of coexistence, dialogue and pluralism, in order to fight Islamophobia and consolidate respect for religions and beliefs.

During this event, organized on Friday by the President of the UN General Assembly and the Pakistani Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari in his capacity as Chairman of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), Morocco’s Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN, Omar Kadiri noted that HM King Mohammed VI reaffirmed the importance of these values, in the royal message addressed to the 9th Global Forum of the Alliance of Civilizations of the UN, which was held in Fez last November.

In this message, the Sovereign stressed that: “politics speaks to citizens, religion speaks to their souls, dialogue speaks to their civilizations. In all languages, we must speak to peace. This injunction comes from the eyes of past and future generations”.

Mr. Kadiri also reiterated Morocco’s commitment and “unwavering” adherence to the values of openness, peace and constructive dialogue between all religions and beliefs.

Under the enlightened leadership of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, fervent defender of the values of peace and coexistence, the Kingdom of Morocco preserves and strengthens its long tradition of coexistence between religions and civilizations, and its leading role at the international level to promote these sacred values, he said.

Mr. Kadiri noted that Morocco, with its rich and deeply rooted civilizational history, has always placed respect for others at the heart of its national, regional and international priorities, recalling that the Moroccan Constitution makes, in its preamble, religious and cultural coexistence an indispensable prerequisite. He also cited Morocco’s national immigration and asylum policy, based on the values of acceptance, integration and humanism.

In addition, the Deputy Permanent Representative indicated that the creation, in 2014, of the Mohammed VI Institute for the Training of Imams, Morchidines and Morchidates, a structure that offers a humanistic and moderate training in practical and theoretical matters of Islamic teachings to religious preachers, constitutes a practical and singularly moderate model of religious training that has attracted many African, Arab and European imams. The latter are initiated, within the Institute, to the values of mutual respect and learn to deconstruct the dangers of the narratives of hate, extremism, radicalization and terrorism.

The Moroccan diplomat also noted that the Kingdom attaches great importance to the inclusion of youth, women and civil society actors at the center of public policy development, which has contributed significantly to the promotion of democracy and human rights.

Morocco also attaches great importance to the effective implementation of the UN arsenal designed to promote interreligious and intercultural dialogue and to combat hate speech, notably the “Rabat Action Plan on the Prohibition of Advocacy of National, Racial or Religious Hatred, racial or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence” and the ”Fez Plan of Action on the Role of Religious Leaders and Actors in Preventing Incitement to Violence that may Lead to Atrocities”.