Ismail Lghazaoui

Ismail Lghazaoui (; born October 20, 1990 He criticised the Moroccan government's normalisation of diplomatic relations with Israel, which had resumed in 2020. As part of his activism within BDS, Lghazaoui took part in campaigns against French retailer Carrefour, which operated branches in Morocco, and the Danish business Maersk, whose ships often stopped at Moroccan ports, for their perceived support of the Israeli government. Lghazaoui also organised protests outside of embassies and consulates using the hashtag "siege of embassies" (حصار_السفارات, Ḥiṣār Alsfārāt).

Arrest, trial and imprisonment On 25 October 2024, Lghazaoui was arrested by the Moroccan police while travelling to a demonstration outside the United States consulate in Casablanca. He was reportedly assaulted by officers from the National Judicial Police's specialist squad for political cases and briefly detained, where his personal details were recorded before he was released. The arrest occurred shorlty after Lghazaoui had led a protest at Tangier port in protest of two Maersk cargo ships stopping there which were believed to be transporting military equipment to Israel, as part of BDS' "Mask Off Maersk" campaign. BDS Morocco and The New Arab reported that the protest had led to several port workers refusing to unload the ships.

On 19 November 2024, Lghazaoui was summoned to appear before the National Judicial Police, where he was detained for 48 hours and interrogated. On 21 November, he appeared before the King's Prosecutor at Aïn Sebaâ Court of First Instance in Casablanca, where he was charged with inciting one or more persons to commit a felony or misdemeanour if the incitement has no subsequent effect" under article 1-299 of the Moroccan criminal code. Lghazaoui's request for bail was dismissed. A further hearing was held on 26 November, where a second request for bail was also rejected.

Lghazaoui's lawyers argued that there was an absence of direct evidence of his alleged offence, and criticised the prosecution's report as being "very weak and short" and that it did not specify what the exact felony or misdemeanour Lghazaoui had allegedly incited was. The prosecution called for the rejection of the defence's case. On 5 February, Lghazaoui's sentence was reduced to four months, with two months suspended, and he was subsequently released from prison.

Response Lghazaoui's sentence was criticised by human rights organisations both in Morocco and internationally. BDS Morocco stated the sentence infringed upon Lghazaoui's human right to express solidarity with the Palestinian people, in addition to his rights to freedom of speech, assembly, and peaceful protest. It described Lghazaoui's sentence as arbitrary detention due to the prosecution not providing evidence of Lghazaoui's crimes. Moroccan human rights activist Khadija Ryadi described Lghazaoui as a political prisoner.

Internationally, the global BDS movement called Lghazaoui's arrest a "serious assault" on human rights and a violation of the Moroccan constitution and the Moroccan government's obligations under international law.