Ahmed Charai, who is the owner of Global Media Holding, the publisher of the Jerusalem Strategic Tribune (where I am an editor-at-large), and a member of the board of the Center for the National Interest, has devoted much of his life and career to promoting the cause of peace and understanding in the Middle East. In a region often torn by violence and upheaval, he has been a champion of tolerance. As part of his efforts, he frequently writes on global affairs, both in his own journal and a variety of other publications, including The National Interest. 

Most recently, in The Times of Israel, he addressed the decision of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to issue an arrest warrant for Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. In it, he averred that this verdict “marks the first time the ICC has acted against the leader of a democratic government and raises serious questions about the court’s legitimacy and impartiality.” There was nothing unusual or audacious about Charai’s view. 

In a recent editorial, The Washington Post, for example, also took a dim view of the ICC’s move. It observed that “the arrest orders undermine the ICC’s credibility and give credence to accusations of hypocrisy and selective prosecution. The ICC is putting the elected leaders of a democratic country with its own independent judiciary in the same category as dictators and authoritarians who kill with impunity.”

Yet Charai’s essay has prompted a backlash in Morocco, where the General Secretariat of the Justice and Development Party released a statement on November 25 denouncing and threatening him. After referring to the “Nazi-like Zionist occupation state,” it goes on to castigate the “Zionification, brazenness, and treachery displayed by Charai in his blatant challenge to the steadfast and principled positions of our nation.” Nor is this all. The statement exhorts Moroccans to “mobilize to defend our issues” against Charai, who allegedly “operates openly in the service of parties and interests.” This language is as inflammatory as it is odious. It constitutes an open call to target Charai by any means necessary.

In responding to his condemnation, Charai observed, “The fatwa, filled with misleading rhetoric, incitement to hatred, and malicious questioning of our patriotism and commitment, does not reflect the noble traits and universal values that define Morocco and its people. The irresponsible and harmful nature of the statement damages the image of our country by portraying it as intolerant of the diverse viewpoints of its citizens. It turns democratic debate into accusations of ‘betrayal’ and ‘Zionism,’ undermining the extensive efforts Morocco has invested to establish a free and pluralistic space for dialogue that befits the democratic legacy we present to the world.”

The assault against Charai underscores the multifarious difficulties afflicting the Middle East’s public square. Freedom of thought and debate in the region need to be encouraged, not vilified.

Jacob Heilbrunn is editor of The National Interest and is a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center. He has written on both foreign and domestic issues for numerous publications, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, Foreign Affairs, Reuters, Washington Monthly, and The Weekly Standard. He has also written for German publications such as Cicero, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, and Der Tagesspiegel. In 2008, his book They Knew They Were Right: the Rise of the Neocons was published by Doubleday. It was named one of the one hundred notable books of the year by The New York Times. He is the author of America Last: The Right’s Century-Long Romance with Foreign Dictators.

Image: The Jerusalem Strategic Tribune.