Some individuals have been misinterpreting an immediate walkout by certain delegates during the speech of the Israeli representative at the 4th Global Ministerial Conference on Road Safety in Marrakesh, Morocco, on 18 February 2025, Bangladesh’s Foreign Ministry stated today (21 February).
“This is to clarify that the Bangladesh delegation was among the countries that walked out,” the ministry said in a statement.
“Bangladesh’s stance on the Palestinian cause, as well as on Israel’s acts of genocide and other forms of repression against Palestinians, is well known,” it added.
The ministry urged all parties to refrain from spreading misinformation regarding this specific incident.
However, the statement did not specify what particular ‘misinterpretation or misinformation’ was being circulated.
The clarification follows claims by some netizens, including journalists, suggesting that Bangladesh did not take part in the protest walkout.
“On 18 February 2025, when an Israeli minister began her speech at an international Road Safety Conference in Marrakesh, Morocco, representatives from Turkey, Jordan, and Ireland left the conference hall in protest against Israel’s brutality in Palestine. However, despite being present at the same event, Bangladeshi representatives merely stood there and watched instead of joining the walkout,” Zulkarnain Saer, a senior producer at Al Jazeera English, claimed in a Facebook post at 1:28 am today, sharing a YouTube link to a Middle East Eye report on the incident.
“Earlier today, Middle East Eye, a widely followed news outlet covering the Middle East and Africa, published a video on the matter on its YouTube channel, leading many viewers to criticise the passive response of the Bangladesh delegation in the comments,” Saer added in his post.
According to a report by The New Arab, several diplomats staged a walkout at the global conference in Morocco on 18 February in protest against the presence of Israel’s Minister of Transport, Miri Regev. Her visit has reignited tensions over Morocco’s diplomatic ties with Israel.
Regev had arrived in Marrakesh that day to attend the Global Ministerial Conference on Road Safety, following a Moroccan court’s rejection of an appeal by lawyers seeking to bar her entry into the country.
The lawsuit cited her alleged involvement in war crimes against Palestinians.
As she addressed the audience at the Palais des Congrès on Tuesday evening, representatives from Turkey, Jordan, Ireland, and the Palestinian Authority walked out in protest.
The report did not mention Bangladesh among those who participated in the walkout.
Meanwhile, according to Israeli media outlet Channel 12, diplomats from certain Gulf states, including Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar, remained in the hall.
