Rebecca Rommen
Sat, February 17, 2024
Dealers of highly-prized Moroccan hashish are severing ties with Israeli drug smugglers.
They are boycotting Israeli dealers in protest at the killing of Palestinians in Gaza, said a report.
The boycott is leading to significant financial losses for Israeli crime gangs.
Moroccan hashish dealers are severing ties with Israeli drug smugglers amid the ongoing war in Gaza, per a report in Israeli media.
"The hashish dealers in Morocco are not willing to sell us more hashish either directly or through intermediaries," a drug offender from Sharon told Mako , an Israeli news portal, reports.
"They decided that because of the war, they are boycotting us. Since the war, we have lost a lot of money," he siad.
The boycott has significant financial repercussions, with criminal organizations already losing "tens of millions of shekels," Mako. One Israeli New Shekel is equivalent to $0.28.
Moroccan hashish is highly prized. The marijuana resin is "cherished by cannabis enthusiasts worldwide," said the Cannabis Museum in Amsterdam.
Morocco's lucrative hashish trade centers on the Rif Mountains region in the north of Morocco.
It is a significant agricultural sector in the north African nation, covering hundreds of square miles of cultivation. More than 80,000 families make a living from growing and processing the dark, sticky resin that is a byproduct of the cannabis plant.
Morocco is the world's largest producer of hashish, contributing 19% of the global total.
While most Moroccan hashish is destined for European markets, there is also demand in Israel due to the product's exceptional quality and potency, fetching prices as high as NIS 300,000 ($84,000) per kilogram, said Mako.
"We no longer sell hashish to Israelis"
An Israeli tank near Gaza City during a temporary truce between Israel and Hamas on November 27, 2023.
REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa
Before the boycott, Moroccan hash flowed into Israel through various channels, facilitated by local Israeli smugglers, including some unexpected players like orthodox Jewish students.
However, the current boycott has disrupted these established routes, forcing Israeli smugglers to consider other sources.
According to testimonies gathered by the Israeli TV news outlet N12, Moroccan hash dealers have explicitly voiced their solidarity with Gaza as the motivation behind the boycott.
Moroccan dealers condemned the disparity between the thriving Israeli market and the war imposed on Palestinians in Gaza, choosing to end dealings with their Israeli counterparts and redirect their product elsewhere.
At least 28,064 people in Gaza have been killed and 67,611 wounded in Israeli attacks since October 7.
The IDF has been waging war on Gaza since Hamas gunmen infiltrated the border with Israel and killed 1,139 people. Hamas also took 247 civilians hostage.
One Moroccan dealer asked Mako: "Why is it possible for Israelis to make a living selling Moroccan hashish when our Palestinian brothers are suffering from hunger and living in inhumane conditions?"
"Go buy it somewhere else. We no longer sell hashish to Israelis," he explained. "Before the war, we did business here with Israelis. Merchants came here and made good money. Now that's the end of it."
The Moroccan hashish boycott echoes the Palestinian-led Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement. The global campaign initiated in 2005 aims to isolate and pressure Israel economically and culturally. The South African anti-apartheid movement inspires BDS strategies.
Before the boycott, Moroccan hash flowed into Israel through various channels, facilitated by local Israeli smugglers, including some unexpected players like orthodox Jewish students.
However, the current boycott has disrupted these established routes, forcing Israeli smugglers to consider other sources.
According to testimonies gathered by the Israeli TV news outlet N12, Moroccan hash dealers have explicitly voiced their solidarity with Gaza as the motivation behind the boycott.
Moroccan dealers condemned the disparity between the thriving Israeli market and the war imposed on Palestinians in Gaza, choosing to end dealings with their Israeli counterparts and redirect their product elsewhere.
At least 28,064 people in Gaza have been killed and 67,611 wounded in Israeli attacks since October 7.
The IDF has been waging war on Gaza since Hamas gunmen infiltrated the border with Israel and killed 1,139 people. Hamas also took 247 civilians hostage.
One Moroccan dealer asked Mako: "Why is it possible for Israelis to make a living selling Moroccan hashish when our Palestinian brothers are suffering from hunger and living in inhumane conditions?"
"Go buy it somewhere else. We no longer sell hashish to Israelis," he explained. "Before the war, we did business here with Israelis. Merchants came here and made good money. Now that's the end of it."
The Moroccan hashish boycott echoes the Palestinian-led Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement. The global campaign initiated in 2005 aims to isolate and pressure Israel economically and culturally. The South African anti-apartheid movement inspires BDS strategies.
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