Strijd van de Marokkaanse “20 februari”-beweging gaat door

Most of the current arrestees are very young, between 19-25. They are less burdened by the paralysing fear that silenced a previous generation. The old-style repression that demobilized two generations under Hassan II and nearly another one under Mohammed VI began to fade. With the massive protests in 2011, the genie flew out of the bottle. This is a different generation, it is a generation that matured politically in the streets in 2011, hearing chants like ‘Hurriya, karama, adala-ijtima’ia’ [freedom, dignity and social justice], not as a request, but as a demand. We could say that the notion “20 February” itself is both a movement and cause, that it has become an identity in itself, something people try, for better or worse to protect, to keep alive and express in their daily lives. The echoes from the past are nevertheless a reminder of what the Makhzen could do, and have started to do again.

Miriyam Aouragh in Moroccan activists renegotiate power: a new stage in a forgotten uprising (rs21)