Marrakech protest follows viral Jewish prayer video near Bab Doukkala

Dozens of protesters gathered Wednesday evening near the Bab Doukkala ramparts in Marrakech to denounce what organizers described as “provocative normalization practices,” after a viral video showed a group of Jewish worshippers performing prayers in the same area.

The protest, called by anti-normalization activists, drew a sizable crowd carrying Palestinian flags and banners referencing Gaza and opposition to ties with Israel. Images from the scene show demonstrators assembled along the historic wall, chanting and holding placards, with no immediate signs of clashes.

The demonstration follows the rapid circulation of footage over the past 24 hours showing dozens of men dressed in traditional Hasidic Jewish attire praying collectively against a wall near Bab Doukkala, in what social media users compared to rituals at Jerusalem’s Western Wall.

The scene, widely shared online, triggered strong reactions and questions about how and why the gathering took place in a public space with no known Jewish religious significance.

Jackie Kadouch, head of the Jewish community in the Marrakech-Safi region, told media in Marrakech that the group consisted of Hasidic visitors from abroad who had reached prayer time while away from designated places of worship and “were obliged to pray,” downplaying the controversy.

Hasidic Jews perform three daily prayers at set times in Orthodox Judaism, including afternoon (Mincha) and evening (Maariv), and typically seek to pray in a group of at least ten adult men, known as a minyan.

When traveling or away from synagogues, these prayers may be conducted in public or informal settings. Worshippers face toward Jerusalem in line with religious practice and may stand close to a wall to aid concentration or structure the group.

Morocco hosts thousands of Jewish visitors each year, particularly during pilgrimage seasons such as hilloulas in locations like Ouazzane, and maintains synagogues across several cities where religious practice is conducted freely.

Public, collective rituals of this kind in open urban spaces, however, remain rare and largely undocumented.