The authorities arrested more than 150 Moroccans, considered by the regime as key players or media activists affiliated with the movement, including Nasser Zefzafi, the Hirak Rif's leader.

In the summer of 1921, Rif tribal fighters, defeated the Spanish army who attempted to take control over the region, killing more than 10,000 of their troops at the Battle of Anual, representing the largest lost suffered in a single day by any colonial force in Africa during the twentieth century.

[4] The rebellion's leader, Muhammed bin ‘Abd al-Karim al-Khattabi, officially declared the independence of the Rif Republic on September 18, 1921, and established governing institutions.

Despite this renewed interest, the Rif still suffers from high unemployment rates, exceeding 20 percent of the labor force, which represents twice the national average, while the informal economy prevails.

"[10] From the outset, Hirak al-Rif activists established a set of social and political demands, including:[11] The movement mobilised the Rifian rebel regional identity to guarantee its unity.

When the police started to limit the protests by closing-off squares, Nasser Zefzafi relied on Chen-Ten, a contemporary development of the guerrilla tactics used by Rifians against Spanish colonisation between 1921 and 1926, which consists of gathering people rapidly and in an unexpected manner.

[13] The Hirak Rif movement was answered by the Moroccan government through a carrot and stick policy: officials alternated between recognising the legitimacy of the demands and acting upon them, and violently repressing protests and incarcerating activists.

[16] On 26 May 2017, while a truce was agreed upon between the government and Rif Hirak's leaders after months of protests and repression, Minister of Islamic Affairs, Ahmed Toufiq, relaunched the strife through the political use of religion.

Indeed, he asked Rifian imams to deliver sermons on youth activism creating fitna (chaos) between Muslims, which enraged the movement's activists and triggered great protests in Al Hoceima.

He expressed his regrets regarding a particularly violent police crackdown of a protest, and requested a fair trial for the 150 arrested Hirak's activists, along with lawful detention conditions, answering claims of torture upon the movement's detainees.

[20] On 23 July 2017, in a speech commemorating the 18th anniversary of his ascension to the throne, King Mohammed VI reinstated local officials's fault in a development project's delay and pardoned a number of activists who had been detained, including the singer Silya Ziani.

The arrest was ordered for the obstruction of freedom of worship after Zefzafi interrupted the preacher of Al Hoceima's mosque during his sermon on youth activism driving fitna, and subsequently called for further demonstrations.

Right after his arrest, Zefzafi was flown in a military helicopter directly to Casablanca (500 km away), where he is being held and was tried by a court of law for charges of sedition and conspiracy as of 10 March 2018, and sentenced to 20 years in prison.

[25] On 26 June 2017, day of celebration of Eid el-Fitr, the police and gendarmerie launched a vast crackdown in Al Hoceima and surrounding areas, to disband a planned march in solidarity with the detainees.

In this sense, the movement has helped build a growing political consciousness in the state, along with a culture of protest, making it harder for ruling elites to ignore socio-economic issues.

Indeed, for the first time in Moroccan modern history, a social movement was able to politicise socio-economic demands and got national and international attention for it, while also transcending the elitist middle classes.