Moroccan apology over Bronstein invite

The Islamic Justice and Development Party (JDP)  Monday night apologised to Moroccans and Palestinians for any shortcomings in inviting the chief of the World Peace Forum in France, Ofer Bronstein to attend their conference saying: "we didn’t intend to normalise relations with the Zionists through this invitation". A group of youth members belonging to the JDP, and those from the Unification and Reform Movement which is close to the party, including members from the National Council, are organising a demonstration Tuesday night, in front of the central headquarters of the party in Lemon neighbourhood in Rabat, in protest against the hosting of Bronstein at the party's 7th national conference. The chairman of the preparatory committee and the president of the 7th national conference for the JDP party, Abdullah Baha, described in a statement that  by inviting Ofer Bronstein, the committee was "sticking to the party line in supporting the Palestinian issue" while expressing its great appreciation for the attendance of Khaled Meshaal and Azzam al-Ahmad at the opening conference, believing in the importance of unifying Palestinians, while insisting that the  party was against normalisation with Israel. Abdullah Baha added that the name of the guest Ofer Bronstein was suggested by the party representative in France who described him as "a Frenchman who is a defender of Palestinians and the president of the World Peace Forum, having an Israeli, Palestinian, and French passport". Baha explained that the foreign relations committee official had forwarded the invitation to the party general secretary which is responsible for approving the guest list, and they didn’t find any reason not to invite him "considering he was a respected Frenchman" according to the information they received from the party representative in France. Rashid Adoni, one of the party's youth, and member of the Unification and Reform Movement, the political wing of the JDP, pointed out that a Zionist should have been noticed by the party's assemblies, especially as the party is known for its policy concerning normalisation, and the party's leaders need to deliver a message that anyone  who makes the mistake of inviting unwelcome guests should be punished. Member of the party's National Council Ahmed Helali said: "the act of hosting the Zionist guest is a scandal which requires accountability ... They must initiate a neutral independent investigation to be announced in a press release, the reason behind this Zionist penetration to the highest executive assembly in the party which is the general secretary and the preparatory council of the conference, in order to stop all this nonsense that we are hearing in the news and websites".