“This movement is organized by Gen Z, but it’s not a clash of generations,” photographer and curator Mehdi Sefrioui tells OkayAfrica. “There are many older people in the protests, saying that they asked for the same things 40 years ago.”
Sefrioui was born and raised in Tangier and has been following the online activity of Gen Z 212, the anonymous, decentralized group organizing Morocco’s recent wave of protests through the online gaming chat platform Discord.
“The first four days were amazing and peaceful,” he says. “Then we saw the classic, brutal police methods that our parents lived through in their day, trying to kill this phenomenon.”
After the Islamist party had ruled for a decade, the current liberal government came into power, headed by Aziz Akhannouch. Four years into their first term, the Moroccan people no longer believe that his cabinet has their best interest at heart, and they’re taking to the streets to voice their frustration.
Moroccan media outlets initially only reported that the protests were allegedly illegal, without addressing their cause and demands: better healthcare, better education, and economic improvement so that the general population may live in dignity.
When the government answered the unrest with repression instead of accountability, some very young protesters resorted to violence. Three protesters were fatally shot and many others were injured, marking a turning point for mainstream media. Moroccan media outlets began showing angry crowds, trying to reduce the whole movement to a narrative of chaos.
“Once you had the cars and shops burning, the urban educated class got scared, because they don’t want to mix with violent people,” says Sefrioui. “In Morocco, we know that young men coming together can lead to crazy actions. We know about sexual violence, and that after football games, people can crash cars and stuff like that.“
This violence could have ended the protests; instead, Gen Z 212 called on everyone to return to the streets and clean up. They discouraged the use of force, and protests continued, leaving mainstream media with no choice but to continue covering them.
“This was the goal,” says Sefrioui. “To open dialogue.”
Demanding democracy within a monarchy
The past weeks saw a wave of Gen Z protests in Africa and Asia. The world watched Nepalese youth set fire to government buildings. Madagascar’s president, Andry Rajoelina, fled the country after the people refused to be in dialogue with him.
While Moroccan youth demanded the government’s resignation, and hoped their king, Mohammed VI, would ask the prime minister to step down, they have not called for a complete system overhaul.
“Professionals, journalists, and politicians who support the protests praised the movement for not protesting a day before the King's speech [to open the new parliamentary season on October 10], acknowledging that institutions have different temporalities than the streets,” says Sefrioui.
In his speech, the King called for social justice and swift reforms, but refrained from addressing the protests directly or calling for the resignation of the current government. Still, it seems that Gen Z’s grievances are not with the monarchy, even though many young protesters felt let down by the speech. They called for trying their luck elsewhere, which shows a direct link between bad governance and illegal migration to Europe.
The King and the dynasty are a part of Morocco’s history. His grandfather, Mohammed V, is considered the father of the nation, a legacy that gives the country stability and wouldn’t be upended because of two weeks of protest.
Sefrioui believes that Moroccan youth are aware that Western democracies portray themselves as more egalitarian and humanist than they really are. “I would love to have a real democracy, but I don’t believe in it. Who rules in Western democracies?” he asks. “Big corporations.”
A temporality beyond anger
In order to contain the unrest, Akhannouch recently instructed his party members to meet the people and try to solve their problems, even if they just fix one out of ten issues. “What kind of ambition is this? People have thousands of problems, and you think that solving 10% is enough?” says Sefrioui. “People are dying in hospitals and finding no jobs with their degrees.”
Like many young people, he does not believe that Akhannouch’s government can survive until next year’s elections.
Armed with the idealism of youth, Gen Z 212 is pulling off what may seem impossible to older generations, with the help of elders’ wisdom. On Discord, they interview veteran leftist activists, journalists, and politicians like Omar Balafrej or Ahmed Benchemsi to share their experiences and concerns.
“The goal is education,” says Sefrioui. “All these people are telling them that it’s not enough to show your anger and frustration.”
The decentralized form of online organizing is Gen Z 212’s strength and weakness. They create polls and vote democratically to decide the movement’s direction and next steps. On the downside, they don’t have a face and might struggle to propose a concrete program.
While he stresses how impressive Gen Z 212’s achievements of the past two weeks have been, Sefrioui also cautions that regular peaceful protests can go on forever without having an impact. The region saw that with the Hirak movement in Algeria, which was unceremoniously ended during COVID.
“When you know the history of social movements, at some point you have to have leverage,” he says. “Soon it will be urgent that the movement goes from virtual life to democratic life, between the street and Discord.”
Gen Z 212 is not affiliated with any political party, but this stance could stop them from posing a serious challenge to old-school politicians.
“Politicians are interested in not getting the young generation invested, because for them it's easier if the young are not part of the game,” says Sefrioui. “It means we are only playing our little poker between us.”
If things are to change, the movement will have to establish a long-term organization. “At some point, someone will have to take charge,” Sefrioui. “It’s the reality of the system we live in.”
