Please allow me to walk you down memory lane, in the history of Morocco with the monarchy and the current ruling family: The Alawites.

June 30th, 1981, not too too long ago, Casablanca was in its peak industrial glory. That day has been designated to be a general strike day to bring the entire city of millions to a complete stand still, as a result of a price hike on the staple food items that the government imposed on May 28th, because the king Hassan II needed his coffers replenished. The system sent its henchmen the days leading up to the general strike day to put the fear of god back in people's hearts and threaten them with the most severe consequences if they don't comply and break the strike, to no avail! NOBODY was backing out! Everyone was determined to bring the monster city to a screeching halt. And so it began ...

The days leading up to the general strike, the regime was sure to dispatch all of its armed forces to Casablanca, and totally militarize the entire city (It is, by all means a humongous city after all), the same way it has been militarizing Rif for the past few weeks. As soon as the first peaceful protest started, the regime's oppressive forces intervened with sheer and brute force, which led to violent clashes between unarmed civilians and actual fully armed and armoured forces. What the people did not know at the time was the betrayal that was lurking over their heads; that the Moroccan repressive armed forces had orders to shoot live rounds and kill anyone and everyone who stands in its way, I guess they did not fathom that their benevolent king would actually literally just kill them where they stood. Alas, they were wrong, for he did exactly that! By Sunday June 21st, approximately 650 people were dead and about 5000 injured. The city streets ran red with the blood of its people who refused the price changes, and it continued to be under siege and in a state of emergency until June 23rd when the siege ended with the roundup and mass arrest of close to 20,000 people.

The exact number of martyrs shot and killed by the regime's oppressive forces remains unknown, as said regime did not allow families to claim their dead, no sir, it wasn’t going to leave a paperwork trail, rather, it used mass graves to bury its disgraceful massacre against the people that trusted it, away from the watchful eyes of the international community, the press and human rights activists. Further, the vast majority of those arrested that day received unnecessarily harsh sentences ranging from 5 to 10 years (no parole).

That movement was called Entifadat Koumira (the revolution of a french baguette), referring to the quintessential staple item whose price was jacked up for no good reason that the people could see.

Many would say, well that was in the era of Hassan II, and his son is far more lenient than he is, let me stop you right there!! His son is doing the exact same thing to Rif as we speak! Yes he might be more soft spoken than his father, but he is a ruthless uncaring autocratic monarch who further broadened his functions in the new 2011 revised constitution while narrowing that of the rest of the elected institutions so that he and only he can decide what will happen to you and me, and about 40 million others. He is cunning and slick, he mastered the art of enslaving the populace while convincing the international community of his charitable nature. Everyone cheered for him when he changed the constitution (without input from the people or their reps) in 2011, and Hilary Clinton, then foreign secretary issued a statement praising him and asking other leaders to follow suite. What the world didn’t know is that the revised constitution gave him even more liberty in decision making than the one before it, and limited the very function of elected institutions. A win/win for M6!

I would like to take the time to remind the monarchy of this macabre anniversary and to let you know that we, the people, have not forgotten your crimes and transgressions against us and never will. It has not been nearly long enough for us to forget, forgive or heal. The generation that lived through that year is still alive and kicking, and their memory is still sharp! The youth grew up hearing all about it from the survivors as well. You dear sir have made us into the revolutionary republicans that we have turned out to be, and for that we thank you! Thank you and your father and all of your ancestors for all the repression, the impoverishment, the kidnapping, the mass graves and arbitrary mass incarcerations and the total lack of respect you have shown us throughout, you are no longer welcome to lead our country. It is time you made your quiet exit lest we drag you through the streets of our cities like the JIFA that you are! No sir, the bleeding from that wound hasn't stopped yet and WE, the people shall never forget!

Signed:

Sha3boka l3azeez