PJD AND HAMAS: MOROCCAN POLITICAL PARTY SUPPORTS

UNCLAS RABAT 001358 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR NEA/MAG, NEA/PI E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PTER PINR MO SUBJECT: PJD AND HAMAS: MOROCCAN POLITICAL PARTY SUPPORTS TERRORIST ENTITY? REF: A. RABAT 565 ¶B. RABAT 308 ¶C. RABAT 617 ¶D. RABAT 48 ¶E. CASABLANCA 737 ¶F. RABAT 1272 ¶1. (U) Summary: Morocco's largest Islamist political party, the Party of Justice and Development (PJD) (Ref A),could win up to 46 percent of the votes in the 2007 legislative elections, according to results from a hypothetical vote question in a poll conducted by the International Republican Institute (IRI) (Ref B),funded by MEPI. The PJD is considered by many press outlets as the new face of moderate political Islam because of its commitment to transparency (Ref C),but the same press outlets also regard that the PJD openly supports and has frequent contact with the radical Palestinian movement Hamas. PJD-affiliated Arabic daily Attajdid was the first Moroccan newspaper to congratulate Hamas for its victory in the Palestinian elections and is consistently supportive of the group. PJD members met with Hamas leaders in Syria and Lebanon and received a Hamas delegation in Morocco in May. Many PJD members have links to the Union of Good or other Hamas-funding organizations, categorized as terrorist entities by the U.S. Government. The following information originates from public sources. End Summary. -------------- The Media's Role -------------- ¶2. (U) PJD-affiliated Arabic daily Attajdid was the first Moroccan newspaper to congratulate Hamas for its victory in the January Palestinian legislative elections. On January 26, the newspaper declared the victory to be the "result of God's will" and an editorial published January 27 pronounced Hamas's victory the "beginning of the Palestinian people's salvation." The French language daily, Aujourd'hui le Maroc (June 26),called Attajdid irresponsible for failing to acknowledge the real political and economic risk that the election of Hamas presented to the Palestinian people's place in the international community. ¶3. (U) According to the Center for the Study of Popular Culture's online publication, Front Page Magazine (April 20), a November 2004 Attajdid editorial written by PJD member and editor-in-chief of Attajdid, Mustafa Khalfi (Ref D),called for common action and reconciliation between the regimes and people of the Arab and Islamic worlds in order to prepare for what he considered a "very difficult stage" after President Bush's reelection. The PJD has also been critical of America's policy on Iraq (Ref E). -------------- PJD and Hamas Contacts -------------- ¶4. (U) The French language weekly, Telquel (June 10), reported that the PJD does not accept Israel's legitimacy and calls it the "Zionist entity." It also reported that after the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, Attajdid's editorial congratulated Palestine for recovering "all stolen Palestinian territories." The PJD considers Hamas the "democratically elected government of Palestine" and the Movement for Reform and Unification (MUR),a branch of the PJD, refers to "glorious Hamas" on its website. ¶5. (U) On May 6, PJD parliamentarians received a Hamas delegation attending the 17th Pan-Arab nationalist congress in Casablanca. Abou Marzouk and Oussama Hamadane, two influential Hamas members, were present and met with PJD leaders. (Note: PJD Parliamentarians Mustapha Ramid and Mouqrie Abou Zeid regularly participate in Pan-Arab conferences in Syria and Lebanon where they meet with members of Hamas, according to Aljazeera and other press sources. End Note.) According to the French language weekly, Le Journal Hebdomaire (July 7),many contacts were established between the heads of the PJD and Hamas during the congress. The PJD tried to organize official meetings between the Government of Morocco (GOM) and Hamas but was not successful, according to press sources. Le Journal Hebdomaire also reported that during the visit a group of PJD parliamentarians decided to cede one month's salary to Hamas to provide humanitarian support to the Palestinian people. -------------- PJD's Public Support of Hamas -------------- ¶6. (U) Aujourd'hui le Maroc (June 26) reported that during an open session at Parliament, a group of PJD deputies, represented by Abouzid El Moqri'e El Idrissi, reminded the GOM that it was one of the few Arab states to continue contact with Israel and demanded the immediate discontinuation of any formal relationship. The group also called for the GOM to open itself to the Palestinian national government formed by Hamas. During the session, the PJD deputies called for an extraordinary session for the two houses of Parliament to further discuss the Palestinian cause. Although the PJD has called on the GOM to support Hamas, Aujourd'hui le Maroc (June 26) noted that the King consistently pledges concern and support for the Palestinian people, but not for Hamas. ¶7. (U) The PJD denounces Israeli aggression in Palestine (Ref F) and helped organize a demonstration held July 8 in Rabat to show support for Hamas and Palestinians in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. ¶8. (U) According to Front Page Magazine (December 21),French newsmagazine, L'Express, stated that the PJD is close to the Muslim Brotherhood and that it follows a typical Islamist line. Front Page Magazine (April 20) also reported that noted Moroccan political analyst, Said Elakhal, wrote in Aujourd'hui le Maroc that the PJD and Hamas have "the exact same ideology" based on their communiques and are both branches of the Muslim Brotherhood, although there is nothing to prove that an official network exists. -------------- "Links" to Terrorist Entities -------------- ¶9. (U) The Attajdid web site has a link to the web site of the "Union of Good," an alleged umbrella organization of Hamas-funding charities established in October 2000 by Sheikh Yusuf Qaradawi, the group's president and "spiritual leader" of the Muslim Brotherhood. MUR is a member organization of the Union of Good and Dr. Abd Ziyad Al-Mughrabi al-Idrisi, a member of the PJD and the consultative council of the MUR, is a trustee of the Union of Good, according to Front Page Magazine (April 20). The Union of Good is constituted of at east five Specially Designated Terrorist entities SDGT) including Interpal, The Al-Awsa Foundation Belgium),le Comite de Bienfaisance et de Secour aux Palestiniens (CBSP), Sanabil al-Aqsa, and te Palestinian Relief Society (Switzerland). In adition, the Union of Good web site leads to the eb site of Interpal, a SDGT since August 22, 2003, pursuant to executive order 13224. ***************************************** Visit Embassy Rabt's Classified Website; http://www.state.sgov.go/p/nea/rabat ***************************************** BUSH