Morocco’s Minister of Higher Education, Abdellatif Miraoui, distanced his ministry from the dean who refused to hand in a degree to a student who was wearing the Palestinian Keffiyeh during a graduation ceremony on Saturday in Casablanca.
“I think this is the personal opinion of the professor; perhaps he made a mistake in his actions,” Miraoui said while answering an MP question in the parliament on Tuesday.
The minister shrugged off the issues saying that “everyone makes mistakes,” before moving to a different topic.
A video of the dean hesitating to hand in the degree to a student in a graduation ceremony at the Higher School of Technology in Benmsik in Casablanca went viral on social media.
The scene, depicting the dean approaching the student to ask her to remove the Keffiyeh, sparked outrage among Moroccan social media users. Wearing the Palestinian Keffiyeh is a sign of support for the Palestinian people amid the ongoing Israeli war on Gaza. The scarf has long been associated with Palestine’s resistance to Israeli occupation.
“Shameful: The dean of the Faculty of Sciences in Benmsik, Casablanca, refused to award a distinguished student because she was wearing the Palestinian Keffiyeh!” one social media user wrote.
Another post read: “Dean of the Faculty of Sciences in Casablanca, Morocco, Mohammed Talbi, refuses to honor a student at the graduation ceremony because she was wearing the Palestinian Keffiyeh! Shame on you.”
In response, the National Union of Higher Education issued a statement condemning the incident. Describing the dean’s behavior as “irresponsible”, the union maintained that the scholar’s action left “deep dissatisfaction” among all attendees.
The timing of the incident is especially grave, the statement explains as it took place “mere hours after another horrific massacre” in the Khan Younis refugee camp in Gaza.
On Saturday, Israeli strikes on a refugee camp in Khan Younis in Gaza left dozens of Palestinians dead and wounded.
The union called on the faculty’s unions to “take a stance” against the “brutal behavior” of the dean of the Faculty of Sciences in Benmsik.