Morocco’s Youth Uprising Exposes the Illusion of “MoroKo” and the Brutality of the Makhzen
✍️ BY: Dr. Hana Saada
Algiers – October 2025 – The late September protests have laid bare the deep fracture between Morocco’s glittering façade, branded to the world as “MoroKo,” and the stark misery endured by its people. Behind the polished propaganda of mega-projects, football stadiums, and international festivals lies the real Morocco: a nation grappling with poverty, unemployment, collapsing hospitals, neglected earthquake victims, and an education system producing despair rather than opportunity.
The youth, spearheaded by the “Gen Z 212” collective, took to the streets of Rabat, Casablanca, Tangier, and Marrakesh, chanting powerful slogans: “Health before stadiums,” “Dignity before football,” and “Education and healthcare are rights, not privileges.” Their defiance shattered the illusion meticulously crafted by the Makhzen’s propaganda machine.
Instead of dialogue, the state unleashed its full arsenal of repression. Armored police units – dubbed by citizens as the “King’s Army” – swarmed the streets, beating protesters indiscriminately, deploying tear gas, and rounding up dozens in midnight raids. Citizens report that even bystanders were assaulted, young women were verbally harassed by security forces, and families of detainees were denied information about their loved ones.
The official media, enslaved to the Makhzen’s narrative, offered only silence or vague claims of “sabotage.” While Morocco bled, state TV aired entertainment programs and glowing reports of preparations for the 2030 World Cup. The disconnect is grotesque: billions are poured into stadiums while the survivors of the 2023 Al-Haouz earthquake still languish in tents, abandoned by promises that dissolved into thin air.
The systemic decay is not confined to disaster recovery. Public hospitals resemble morgues, with broken equipment, vanishing medicines, and patients forced to sleep on the floor. Schools crumble, teachers are scarce, and universities churn out graduates condemned to unemployment. This collapse is framed by a political economy built on corruption: contracts gifted to cronies, land plundered by elites, and every citizen forced to pay “bribes” for basic services.
Morocco today is a land of extremes – gated palaces and luxury cars on one side, sprawling slums on the other. The wealth of the nation is monopolized by a handful of oligarchs tied to the Makhzen, while the majority struggles for survival. This grotesque inequality, combined with the regime’s obsession with global image-making, has ignited a youth determined to rip away the mask of “MoroKo.”
The protests mark a dangerous turn for the regime. For decades, the Makhzen’s unspoken contract with its people was absolute power in exchange for minimal stability. But now, with hospitals collapsing, schools failing, and jobs vanishing, even that bargain lies in ruins. More ominously for the palace, the weapon of fear is eroding. A new generation has shown it is no longer afraid of batons, prisons, or intimidation.
As the streets echo with chants of defiance, the regime faces two choices: embrace genuine reform, dismantle corruption, and redistribute wealth – or double down on repression, with the certainty of a wider explosion to come. The Makhzen may continue to sell “MoroKo” to the world, but the real Morocco has risen, unmasking the deception for all to see.
The question is no longer if change will come, but when – and at what cost to those clinging to power.
Adapted from: Algérie Maintenant
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