Normalization Without Respect: What the Saibari Controversy Reveals About Morocco-Zionist Entity Relations
When a Moroccan international becomes the target of public ridicule, the incident raises broader questions about reciprocity, dignity and the true nature of Morocco’s relationship with the Zionist entity.
By Maamar Gani
Have you witnessed the height of insolence? Have you seen how the Makhzen’s so-called “ally”—the Zionist entity, steeped in its own arrogance—truly regards the people of Morocco?
Even as the Makhzen’s diplomacy continues its humiliating rush toward normalization with the Zionist entity, signing disgraceful agreements, the response comes from the heart of its own official media: a revolting insult, blatant racism, and the comparison of Moroccan international footballer Ismael Saibari to a dog. Yes, with astonishing contempt, Israel’s Kan 11 television channel dared to insult a Moroccan citizen proudly representing his country. The message could not be clearer: “No matter how zealously you polish the Zionists’ boots, in their eyes you will remain nothing more than a dog.”
Spare us the naïve justifications that this was merely a “slip of the tongue” or a “professional mistake.” This is the true face of the Zionist mindset: an ideology of superiority that views Arabs—regardless of their status—as inherently inferior beings. The very people who smile at Makhzen officials in the corridors of luxury hotels are the same people who broadcast such filth on their television screens. They smile to your faces while spitting on your dignity through their media. Those who trade away their honour in pursuit of their enemy’s approval should expect nothing in return but ever greater humiliation.
Nor is this an isolated incident. Similar attacks have previously targeted Hakim Ziyech and Noussair Mazraoui. They bristle at every independent voice that refuses submission. Their preferred weapon is cynical mockery, secure in the belief that the advocates of normalization will quietly swallow the insult and never defend their own countrymen for fear of displeasing those they have chosen to serve. They have become so accustomed to humiliation that shame no longer stirs within them, and they will continue down the path of normalization as though nothing had happened.
This inevitably raises a fundamental question: where is the “national dignity” so frequently invoked? Where is the much-vaunted “sovereign decision-making”? When a Zionist television channel insults a Moroccan player and the affront passes in unsettling silence, what is being relinquished is not merely the dignity of one athlete but the honour of the Moroccan people as a whole. The Makhzen’s silence is not diplomacy—it is normalization with humiliation. How can its officials continue extolling the alleged “benefits of normalization” while their own ally depicts Moroccan footballers as animals? They have reached the point of accepting the humiliation of their own people simply to earn the approval of their Zionist patrons.
Our message today is unequivocal: this entity cannot be trusted, nor does its media honour any principle of respect. Ismael Saibari is not merely a footballer; he embodies a Moroccan dignity that is, in the author’s view, being bartered away in the marketplace of Zionist normalization.
Those who willingly embrace humiliation before their adversary should expect nothing but contempt from their own people. The advocates of normalization have become consumed by degradation to the very core. They imagined normalization would shield them; instead, they have become objects of ridicule in Zionist media. Those who choose to lick the boots of the Zionist should not expect respect in return. As their own broadcasters have openly demonstrated, they will remain, in their eyes, nothing more than dogs.
History will record that remaining silent in the face of humiliation is but another form of acknowledging and accepting it. Here in Algeria, we reject such practices and continue to stand on the side of dignity and honour. Algeria will remain steadfast and proud, while “boot-lickers” can be cleansed neither by the sea nor by soap.
— 𝐄𝐍𝐃 —
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