HYPOCRITES! In defense of the Sahrawi people
By Mary Rizzo • Jul 16th, 2008 at 14:31 • Category: Analysis, Middle East Issues, Newswire, Opinions and Letters, Resistance
WRITTEN BY LUIS PORTILLO
To those who, for so long, have silenced the legitimate claims of the Sahrawi people and their deep cries of anguish and pain.
To those who have systematically kept silent about the atrocities committed by the Moroccan Makhzen civil, military and religious hierarchy against the Sahrawi people.
To those who looked away or silenced the rousing cries of the Spanish nation in support of their Sahrawian brothers and sisters.
To those who hastily signed shady alliances with a corrupt, criminal, colonial imperialist and genocidal regime.
To those who included the Western Sahara and its native population in the French-American neocon “pensée unique” package.
To those who tried to “encapsulate the Saharan conflict” in order to dedicate their time to more profitable affairs.
To those who advised on and financed the construction and arming of the largest military wall of our times and the widespread land-mining of Sahrawi territory.
To those who came to agreements with the fatuous and irredentist Moroccan Government in order to pillage the natural resources of the Western Sahara.
To those who, in sinister offices and governmental cabinets, coldly laid plans for the ignominious Green March and the infamous, illegal, immoral and politically suicidal Tripartite Agreement of Madrid in 1975.
To those who, when it suited them, publicly supported the Sahrawi people, encouraged them in their fight against the invaders and assured them that their “Party” would be with them until the final victory, and who then forgot them and abandoned them to the claws of a criminal regime and its “Africom” allies.
To those who oversaw the “model” Spanish Democratic Transition and then overlooked historic memory, renouncing the possibility of annulling the Tripartite Agreement signed during Franco’s defamed regime and of recognising the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) as an independent, sovereign Constitutional State, free of executioners, pillagers and criminals.
To those who give medals to suspected criminals, and treacherously and secretly sell or give arms to the Alaouite regime, violating the law and silencing the will of the immense majority of the Sahrawi people.
To those who so quickly forgot that the Sahrawi solidarity movement represented what was “the noblest and best” of Spanish society, in the worn-out words of the PSOE leader and ex-president of the Spanish Government, Felipe González.
To those who evade their historic, moral, legal and political responsibilities, who do not demand that international law is respected and applied, and who would give lessons on “morality in the Hamada”.
To those who, in spite of all their attempts to gloss over the reality of the situation and historic evidence, now recognise that Law and Justice are on the side of the Sahrawi people, but who twist and turn before what they call “political reality” (indulged and encouraged), that is, the rule of force, invasion and military occupation of Western Sahara, the illegal settlement of hundreds of thousands of foreign colonists, and the daily fierce and systematic repression of the Sahrawi civilian population.
To those who have tried, and continue trying by any means available, to brand the Polisario Front, and the most peace-loving and patient nation in the world, as “terrorists”.
To those who have tried to cheat and divide - through sophistry, silence and lies - the Sahrawi solidarity movement.
To those who have never had to sew on a button in the desert, whose only information comes from films viewed from the comfort of their metropolitan, bureaucratic armchairs, and have not suffered - or have forgotten - the hunger and thirst for Justice.
To those who have generously placed their disinformation resources at the service of the Makhzen spokespeople (mercenaries) and their imperial allies, denying voice or word to the defenders of Justice and International Law.
To those who demanded the resignation of James Baker, concealing and silencing the denunciation and testimony of experts in the matter, such as that of the American ex-ambassador, Frank Ruddy, among many others.
To those high-ranking officials heading MINURSO with the explicit brief to prevent the birth of a free, independent and genuine State south of the Moroccan border, and who have carried out their mission “with pleasure”.
To those for whom the life of a Sahrawian child, woman or elderly person has never been of any importance, whose only interest has been their own well-being, security, profits and personal interests, and who now protest hypocritically about the suffering of Sahrawian children in the Hamada, that hardest and most inhospitable of deserts.
To those who, lacking authentic or credible “arguments”, now make use of the Sahrawian children as a new “argument” in order to break the will of the Sahrawi people and force them to renounce their legitimate and inalienable rights, recognised since 1960 by the UN, the OAU/AU and the International Community, without even mentioning those who are guilty of and responsible for the tragedy suffered by the attacked and massacred Sahrawi people, a tragedy which is concealed behind the euphemism status quo.
To those who have not contributed a single school or educational institution, not even one single Spanish teacher (or of any other subject) in order to preserve the native tongue of Cervantes in the tormented Sahrawi refugee camps, the only Arab nation to preserve Spanish as the official State language.
To those who are now tearing their hair out - or so they would have us believe - before the enormous suffering of this generous, hospitable and grateful nation, whose patience and desire for peace has been tested to the limit.
To those who have never contributed a single euro in order to feed the impoverished Sahrawi nation (using hunger as a military and political tool), nor stuck up a sticker, nor handed out a manifesto denouncing the status quo or supporting the Sahrawi cause, and who so generously lend their voices to the Makhzen cause.
To those who have maintained a blessed silence, or caused it to be kept, regarding the outrages and permanent violations of Human Rights on the part of the Moroccan authorities, in the Occupied Territories of Western Sahara.
To those who deny visas to Sahrawi leaders with the aim of preventing them from attending the International Conference of Legal Experts for the Sahara in Las Palmas, Gran Canaria, so as not to offend the Alaouite regime, or simply “on orders” from above.
To those who put the innumerable letters they receive from readers and citizens indignant about the situation, in a bottomless drawer or throw them directly into the wastepaper bin, silencing or twisting those questions which really matter to public opinion, lacking the courage to seek the truth and proclaim it, as it is, to the four winds.
To those who, in order to avoid problems for themselves, have chosen to submit to the diktat of the Makhzen, of the ultra neocon Government of the Empire, and its elitist and sophisticated French allies.
To those who validate, or accept without question, the entire battery of the illegal, genocidal, occupying invader’s wiles in order to prevent the decolonisation of the last African colony, using the Sahrawi nation as a negotiating tool, conducting business behind its back and to its cost.
To those who pretend to suffer on behalf of this nation’s youngest members who have been expelled from their land, but have spent thirty three years without breathing a word about the atrocities committed by the Moroccan authorities.
To those who have tried to fool public opinion by saying or insinuating that the Polisario Front is responsible for the dreadful situation, when it is precisely the Front which has spent more than thirty years protecting their nation, denouncing the situation to the international community, building a State in exile, a free and democratic society, and ceaselessly searching for a legitimate, dignified and lasting solution in accordance with the most fundamental principles of International law.
To those who trick the Moroccan nation and divert their attention away from their real issues and from the causes and origins of their real problems, inflaming them and making them believe that the Sahara belongs to them, in contrary to all international resolutions and reports.
To those who would have us believe that the Polisario Front - an international liberation movement - should concern itself with “democratising” the difficult-to-classify Moroccan political regime, contravening (as has the CIA, throughout their history) the internationally recognised principle of not interfering in the internal affairs of other countries, and avoiding any mention of how the Alaouite regime “treats” those, be they Sahrawi or Moroccan, who dare ask for justice and freedom for their people. This responsibility, which if at concerns anyone at all, concerns the international community and the great political powers, they give as if it were a gift to the Polisario Front!
To those who avoid suggesting a solution similar to that applied to the decolonisation of East Timor, the erstwhile colony of Portugal invaded by Indonesia and now a free, independent and sovereign nation thanks to the painful struggle of the Timor nation and the correction of Portugal’s former mistakes. It is incoherent, absolutely incoherent, that Portuguese leaders today refuse to approach the Western Sahara problem in the same way, but entirely “comprehensible”, given the Azores photograph.
To those who applied chapter VII of the United Nations Charter to the case of Kuwait, or to the pirate ships of the Indian Ocean, but refuse to apply the same international legal provisions to the Makhzen pirates, demanding and obliging the Moroccan Government to leave their colony, invaded and illegally occupied with blood and arms, and to give its immediate consent to the referendum on self-determination ordered by the UN (“MINURSO”), leaving all options open and with legal, democratic guarantees.
To those who imposed the independence of Kosovo, regardless of international law, and deny even the possibility of this option to a nation which has the legal support of the international community.
To the ignorant and reactionary cave-dwellers of traditional Spain who, even today in the 21st century, dare to blame the Sahrawi nation for its tragic situation, because they “wanted to gain independence from Spain”, ignoring the history of so many decolonisation processes (a million dead in the case of Algeria) and the typical “reactionary reaction” of the metropolis; and who still believe, even today, that the colonised nations owe their lives to the metropolis.
To those who, instead of making good use of the legal instruments available to Humanity (such as Chapter VII of the UN Charter) in order to bring about a peaceful and effective solution to “conflicts” such as that in Western Sahara (so obvious that legal experts classify it as res ipsa loquitur, it speaks for itself), would have us swallow the farce of sitting two absolutely unequal parties around a “negotiation” table: one party obviously responsible (res ipsa loquitur), arrogant, armed to the teeth and with their occupation accomplished and financed, and the other, absolutely helpless and unprotected, whose only arms are to have right and international law on their side, the historic experience of all decolonisation processes, and the overwhelming support of society and of the International solidarity movement in favour of the Sahrawi people’s cause.
To all of these, this insignificant world citizen, entirely in his own name and accepting all personal responsibility, levels the accusation of action or omission, and calls them hypocrites.
Luis Portillo Pasqual del Riquelme is a doctor in Economic Sciences, a State employee, and ex-lecturer of International Economic Structure at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (Autonomous University of Madrid).
Mary Rizzo is an art restorer, translator and writer living in Italy. Editor and co-founder of Palestine Think Tank, co-founder of Tlaxcala translations collective. Her personal blog is Peacepalestine.
Email this author | All posts by Mary Rizzo
excuse me!
you looks well paid by the Algerian regime to defend a false cuase, from the bigining and Algeria is spending money to find people like you to spread this kind of lies about the honorability of the moroccan cause and the moroccan right to revoer his right to recover his dignity by recovering his territory, why you don´t fight to get the right to the kabyle people (10 million people) in north of algeria?
you seems egnoring the truth, the international comunity supported moroccan aproch, as they wants moroccan separatists “retained in tindouf by algerian military” to come back and to forget about the commonist algerian ideology, algeria is training the terrorist and the polisario in the same camps, so the only HYPOCRIT HERE IS YOURSELF
Sorry, but no one pays me any money to believe that the Sahrawi people have a right to not be manipulated by this leader or that one, this country or that one in order to have the autonomy they strive for.
Please inform me of the Kabyle people. I know not of them, and if you give me some information, I can know where you are coming from.
Many, many thanks Mary Rizzo for having posted “HYPOCRITES !” in your blog and for helping to support the Truth and the much needed and neglected Sahrawi people, those who have no voice.
I thank you too in their name, even if I have no representation from them. I only am a Spanish citizen fighting for Justice and International Law. At the end, the truth will win. “We shall overcome” (Joan Baez, Pete Seegers an so on).
I think blogs ant actions like yours will contribute to spread the truth all around the world. Thankyou once more.
And to our moroccan friend, I recomend to read -and to study- articles and works like the following ones:
“Western Sahara: The Legitimate Reasons of the Saharawi People ”
http://www.tlaxcala.es/pp.asp?reference=4965&lg=en
“Open letter sent to the Spanish Members of Parliament”
http://sahararesiste.blogspot.com/2008/05/open-letter-sent-to-spanish-members-of.html
“Stop the exploitation of natural resources in occupied Western Sahara”
http://www.ovimagazine.com/art/2783?PHPSESSID=d089300e8343ffe664ba26a0a9f762ab
“International Law and the Question of Western Sahara”
http://www.arso.org/Pedrosbook.pdf
“Free Western Sahara”
http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB120838949685621211-lMyQjAxMDI4MDE4NzMxODc5Wj.html
“WESTERN SAHARA: AFRICA’S LAST COLONY”
http://arso.org/RuddyAlaskaspeech2007.htm
“Morocco and Western Sahara”
http://www.fpif.org/fpiftxt/203
“The Future of Western Sahara”
http://www.fpif.org/fpiftxt/4410
“UN Betrayal of Western Sahara”
http://www.fpif.org/fpiftxt/228
“Western Sahara”
http://www.fpif.org/fpiftxt/227
“Western Sahara: Against Autonomy”
http://www.fpif.org/fpiftxt/4172
“Western Sahara: The Other Occupation”
http://stephenzunes.com/Articles/TikkunV21No1WesternSaharaTheOtherOccupation.pdf
“How the US and Morocco seized the Spanish Sahara”
http://mondediplo.com/2006/01/12asahara
“PROPOSITION DU FRONT POLISARIO POUR UNE SOLUTION POLITIQUE MUTUELLEMENT ACCEPTABLE ASSURANT L’ AUTODETERMINATION DU PEUPLE DU SAHARA OCCIDENTAL”
http://www.arso.org/PropositionFP100407.htm
JAMES A. BAKER III:
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/wideangle/printable/transcript_sahara_print.html
Western Sahara UN Documents
http://www.securitycouncilreport.org/site/c.glKWLeMTIsG/b.2833281/
“Letter of Thabo M’beki to Mohamed VI”
http://arso.org.site.voila.fr/MBK.htm
And so on… Too much? That’s nothing. Internet is full of works about the lies and crimes of the règime governing Morocco. And much more… Also outside Internet:
Thomas M. Franck, “The Stealing of the Sahara” , in The American Journal of International Law (AJIL), October 1976, Vol. 70, No. 4, pp. 694 -721.
So, Moroccan friend, we, the people of the world will defend International Law and, therefore, the Sahrawi People. ¡ We all are now Sahrawis now ! ¡ VIVA SÁHARA LIBRE !
Cheers, Mary Rizzo.
thank you for replaying and posting my comment!
I”am from Layoune southern Morocco, or what algerians calls western sahara, please read the history of morocco, and you will find out why morocco wants back his territory, and why algeria with his strong a confortable oil situation supports the polisario separatists.
the moroccan king is original from the south “western sahara” this territory was stolen by spanish occupation in 1902, like the north Rif, it´s normal that´s the spaniards get a real resistance from the north because it was largley populated, and the kingdom was suffring from poverty, and the underdevelopment in all areas, so spain and france spreeded the country, in parts, at the end of occupation, Franco signed a peace treaty with morocco, recognizing that this territory belongs to morocco simply, at the same time morocco was helping Algeria to repel and recover his independance.
you have many proves, in 1777 morocco has signed a freindship and trade treaty with the USA, (the oldest one in humain history - because it was respected for centuries-) in this treaty the us representative had talks with the ´´Moors Empror´´ because the country started from Tangiers to the actual Senegal Saint luis region.
it´s not just a joke the seriousity of this situation, or just political propaganda, it´s a real issue and morocco is fighting Inderctly Algeria because they retain many thousends of saharawis in Tindouf camps( you can check many humanitarian organisations reports) the Large majority of Saharawi people lives already in the western sahara region or moroccan sahara, (as you want to call it) and they are moroccans, the minority living in algeria (and having Algerian passports) get financial and political support from the Algerian regime.
In fact algeria is spending more money in this issue than developping her own people, Why?
because of the international legality? i don´t think so, Algeria is supporting the rebelion in north Mali and Niger, they wants to annexe this territories after keeping this region ander pressure, the internation community call this a post cold war effect.
Why Algeria is making his population to believe that Morocco is his enemy number 1?
Simply because the country is a sleeping dinamite bombe, the civilian war! to make people forget the internal problems the gouvernement creat a distraction (moroccan enemy)(and terror fighting)
Hndresds of kabylian people die every day in algeria because they are seeking independence, from algeria they speaks berber, and largly cristians, and Algeria is killing this resistance in silince and giving her the name of anti-terror-war! how it´s possible that´s a strong country like algeria can´t finish with this problem?
they have a geography less complicated than morocco, how it´s possible that those (hundreds of terrorits can survive?)
simply because they are not terrorists but a large number of people more that 10 million of cabylians fight to get thier freedom from the opressive military algerian military regime.
Algeria to avoid a precedent in the region, by giving an autonomy to the moroccan desert in the maghreb, like morocco wants to do with the sahara, they are selling thier souls to the devil to avoid giving the sme kind of autonomy to the cabylian( mediterranean cost) Algeria is seeking an atlantic strategical open side, is for this they support the moroccan separatist to get a peace of the territory, as reagan said once in refernce to this regional issue. if you fallow in deep and analytical point of view you will find out that at the end , that algeria is the only player in thig (Mascarde).
hope you will take my word and get all the information before taken a radical close point of view:
Why spain supports the moroccan separatists?
spain control two moroccan cities in the north, Ceuta and Melilia, spain knows for sure that morocco once his southern issue solver he will ask and insist with strenght to recover his northern citires, right!
so Spain have interest to keep this fake problem survivnig, to avoid to face a country with getting strong day after day.
In the case of algeria is exactley the same, if you check the UN official borders you will say that the north east side of morocco bordring Algeria have no official border, because algeria still a big territory to morocco after france left, so now you have the diferent sides of the same picture, to think about the complexcity and the core of this long term dispute:
Quodos Mary for bringing this forgotten people to the media.
I have lived in Mauritania for a while and know a little about it and have read some things about the history, but even then, I would say that I am ill informed and know next to nothing about it.
Mauritania became a country only in 1960 and its capital Nouakchott was a hamlet of a few houses, and not a thriving desert city/port. At the same time the Western Territories were in dispute with Morocco and Spain. the United Nations wants to hold a referendum of the people there, which has been prevented by Morocco for years, with various excuses. The situation is unlike any the western mind can understand. the people who rightfully live there and are in exile in Algeria and Mali, have to be ‘registered’ in order to vote in the referendum. But people have no papers, no identity and the only criteria for voting is to be acknowledged by the local ‘Shaikh’ who will vouch for you. Only then do you get on the lists.
the tribal organization is so foreign to the western mind that misunderstandings abound. and they try to impose a ‘western’ solution to the problem. Of course with the discovery of oil in Mauritian waters the interests of the international oil barons and their hangers on is stimulated. Where in the world are the most profitable oil deposits? In the deserts and the nomads of various ‘countries’ are shunted aside in the name of progress.
NOW a thriving desert city/port. should have proof read.
Good response, Mary. As a Western Sahara blogger, I’m often accused of being a paid Algerian agent. I guess those commenters just can’t understand that people would be so offended by injustice that they’d work to stop it pro bono.
I really liked this post and will be writing about it on my site.
Thanks Luis for the links. Thanks Moroccan Sahrawi for the input too, although I agree with Luis here that the issue is about people who have been manipulated by larger interests. Thanks Will and Ibrahim. (I’ll check out all the info all of you have provided in the coming days). I had some children from the Sahrawi here as guests for a week when a local solidarity group brought them over, as they try to do once a year. In Italy, there are a few people very involved in the cause, and I discovered the issue by accident when approached by one of these activists several years ago when he was seeking families to host the children and knew that in the past I’ve had kids from Chernobyl here who were part of a program to allow them to be near iodine (sea air) in order to have a period of rehabilitation. The children were wonderful, I was honoured to have them with us and I learned a bit about the situation from the person who was organising the trip for the 30 kids.
It is hard to get information about the background, and I am not surprised that many don’t know, but what is indeed sad is that our friend Jalal sees us and them in a hostile way when this should not be the case. I hope that we can all understand that individuals all need their rights, and groups seek their rights as well, not against others, but as a way to express themselves, not alienated from their environment or even their neighbours or states that surround them. Perhaps one day it can happen, but first we have to recognise that people are always used as the pawns in bigger games, and pitting one group against the other is tragic. No one knows where it will end, but it is a mistake to believe it is all influenced by the interests of the states that stake claims, and not by a recognition of basic rights.
Maybe our dear friend, as a good morrocan, doesn’t know what MAKHZAN is:
Maybe our visionary friend when he said, “the moroccan king is original from the south “western sahara”, he doesn’t know where the Makhzan was/is based and what Bled Siba is.
The current dinasty, the alauí dinasty, and the center of Makhzan is original from Tafilalet, 1727 (current Maknes-Tafilalet). That’s, dear, not exactly Western Sahara.
Regarding Bled Siba, we remaind our historian friend, that was the tribes territory which wasn’t under control of the Makhzan sovereignty. The Saharuis tribes were considered as Bled Siba, so that mean no evident links between makhzanian sovereignty and Saharaui tribe-territory. To demonstrate what we mean, the International Court pronounced a resolution on 16 October 1975:
First question: Was Western Sahara (Gold River and Sakiet El Hamra) at the time of its colonization by Spain a territory without owner (terra nullius)?
The International Court pronounced that Western Sahara wasn’t Terra Nullis before Spanish colonization. 13 votes against 3.
Second question: After the Morrocan aspiration, the Court concluded (14 votes against 2) that “the evidence and information available to them did not demonstrate the existence of any links of territorial sovereignty between the territory of Western Sahara, on the one hand and the Kingdom of Morocco or the Mauritanian complex on the other . Therefore, the Court found that there were no legal ties able to modify the implementation of resolution 1514 (XV) in terms of decolonisation of Western Sahara and in particular the implementation of self-determination through expression free and genuine will of the populations of the territory”.
The composition of the Court was as follows: President: Lachs, Vice-President: Ammoun; Judges: Forster, Gros, Bengzon, Petrén, Onyeama, Dillard, Ignacio-Pinto de Castro, Morozov, Jimenez de Aréchaga, Sir Humphrey Waldock, Nagendra Singh and Ruda; Judge ad hoc: Boni.
Maybe our Moroccan friend doesn’t know that Morocco also claimed sovereignty of the current territory of Mauritania, according to the thesis (The Big Morocco) of Moroccan nationalist party Istiqlal and its leader Allal El-Fasi (1910, Fes- 1974 Bucarest)
In addition, when our “look-at-the-external-rather-than-internal” friend mentioned “the north Rif”, he perhaps forgot that this territory was a republic, Rif Republic (1923-1926) leaded by Abd al-Karim al-Khattabi, and that why, the Makhzan declared to boycott that region for many years. Especially when he talk about “kabylian people die every day in algeria because they are seeking independence…” It seems that he didn’t see demonstrations of Amazigh (bereber) people in his dear Morocco. It seems that the camel sees the hump of others camels but do not yours!
We do not deny having a good relationship with our Algerian brothers, and we will be eternally grateful, because they gave us an inhospitable territory known as the HAMADA after fleeing from Moroccan oppression and the NAPALM bombings of aviation Moroccan. But who fought and still fighting against Morocco along more than 33 years are we, Saharawi People, and we will got our self-determination, sooner or later, in sha’a Allah!
However what our friend call “polisario separatists” or “moroccan separatists retained in tindouf by algerian military” is the biggest manipulation never heard. A month ago a Moroccan weekly newspaper with great circulation called “NICHAN” was, for the first time, in the refugee camps and found how we are there, and how we prefer to stay in the Hamada with our dignity, rather than stay under the force of the invader oppressor. Also they found, as the weekly newspaper says itself, that we have made the Hamada a place liveable thanks to our ability to fight and our firm belief in our right to achieve our self-determination without manipulation.
We welcome that every one expresses his opinion freely, but we are calling for NO MANIPULATION, NO FALSE INFORMATION, NO MAKHZANIAN PROPAGANDA, for that there’s the Maghreb Arab Press (MAP)!!!
¡VIVA EL SAHARA LIBRE SIEMPRE!
SAHARAWI YOUTH ASSOCIATION
The problem of Moroccan who do not hear, do not see, do not understand and do not want to understand.
The history said that the Sahara is not Morocco, history and the International Court of Justice. The UN resolutions say the same thing.
Morocco also claims the Canary Islands, Ceuta, Melilla, southern Spain (Al-Andals), part of Algeria and Mauritania. Morocco is the current imperialism. A medieval country, governed by a dictator king.
Morocco is a country that violates human rights with “placet” of the international community.
Morocco is the second country in the world, after Israel, which most UN resolutions had failed to comply.
Morocco is not a just cause, is quite the opposite. The only just cause is the independence of Western Sahara.
SaharaLibre
for bachir saharawi,
i can see that always people come with words like Makhzen wich means in Arabic ‘gouvernment ‘ this guy knows nothing about history, you try in introduce the Algerian vesion, in this blog, but thanks to the internation historian from difernts countries have written the same morocco history, so deferent individuals in diferents countries in the classic world with no( internet or the comunication manners like of now a days) coulden’t simply write the same history wish is the truth, only spain and algeria are trying to diform this truth; and our friend jalal expained, so keep your low cost expanations to those whome are blid to the historical right to morocco to live in his whole territory,( you can’t ask morocco to give his territory to Algeria) the 40 million of moroccans prefer to die, before seeing thiere historical ground teken by terrorists.
Polisario is the top side of the Iceberg, in other words the big mascarade, those terror supporter like the PKK uses some orfins to give the false image of population oppression, the spanish guy(if he is spanis really?) gave us some links, lol all those links are empty of all sens, and writen from people whom are part of the problem! so not trustable!
personnaly saw many wifs of polisario leaders in Marbella Spain Splashing the humanitarian aid in spain, and having fun and shipping in branded clothes in class shopps, and in the media they are using the suffrence of other retaind saharawis in tindouf( a city stolen by algeria to morocco) check the 70ties history)
what about the slavvery in the polisario camps? what about the little girl deported in cuba (like many other children) to keep anf force thier families lto live in the camps!
i know that polisario like other terror groups uses all the ways to get allies to thiere false cause, and get support, but thanks god people like me , or other when they talk about the truth of moroccan legalety to live his territory, many people think that we are belicous, which is simply not truth, we defend the moroccan right to recover his dignity by recovering his sovernty in all his territories.
the big power knows the moroccan truth smply for this they support Morocco, the legalety and the truth of our cause make us stronger than thos who own oil, weare strog, because we lived in this piece og ground for 2200 years, and we will remain in this country for ever. polisario have Algerian passports, so they are algerians, they can live like algerians, simply, and they have to release the majority of moroccans retained in the camps to regain morocco thier mother country.
Mauritania was part of morocco, chack the history before you show up your ignorance, and part of the actual Senegal, morocco was claiming his territories simply, the support of other powers against morocco, because is was the post ww2 situation know all those powers wants to repair thier mistakes regarding morocco, and the internation legality.
First,i would like to thank Mary Rizzo and Luis Portillo for the nice article on behalf of Sahrawi people from the occupied zone of western sahara and for their interest in our cause we are so happy when we think that you are on our side no matter what the pro-occupation of western sahara propaganda may say our cause is a just one and our right in self-determination shall never be ignored neither by their pre-paid propaganda on the net and media nor by their military services in the occupied zone we shall strive for our right untill the end.Concerning the Moroccan commenters or the DST stupid personnel i like to tell them that they have to quit making noise all over the net disguising behind Sahrawi,Moroccan saharawi or whatever your games are over the era of one channel is over and the truth is known all over the world,i want to bring some dialogues between Sahrawi people right supporters and and stupid DST Moroccan inteligence employees to show you Mary Rizzo that they are here just to make noise by inventing new vocabulary such as the SAHRAWI UNIONISTS in order to convince the supporters of Sahrawi people right to give up supporting them,the bellow is from Global Voices comments in which a British archaeologist is in a dialogue with a DST Moroccan inteligence employee hidden behind a sahrawi name Ahmed Salem :
http://globalvoicesonline.org/2008/07/05/western-sahara-a-new-sahrawi-satellite-tv-station/
I hope that everyone who just heard about the cause of western sahara will search for the truth and the very roots of the conflict and not been lead astray by the propaganda because it is a cause of a people who suffer a lot and no body hear their about them.
Finally,thank you so much for the cute words Mr Luis Portillo and thanks are due also to Mary Rizzo and all the supporter of our legitimate right in self-determination.
It is really surprising to read some of the comments above, especially those coming seemingly from Moroccans or people who are in favour of Morocco’s position as to the longstanding conflicts in Western Sahara.
It is very surprising and shocking indeed that, in the 21st century, there are still people who have not been able to realise the fact that we, mainly in the west, have long ago left behind many centuries of dark ages in which absolute monarchs ruled by some metaphysical and supposedly divine rights, dominated vast areas and subjected many peoples to their cruel and inherently undemocratic rule.
Our forefathers strove a great deal to bring those dark pages of our history to an end, and thanks to their efforts we now enjoy our freedoms and live in democratic countries where sovereignty is invested in the people and exercised through their democratically elected representatives, not by an absolute monarch that rules, reigns and has rights over everything spiritual and material.
These are fundamental facts of which implications universally some people unfortunately seem unable to comprehend. Any sensible man or woman who genuinely believes in democracy, equality and human dignity will readily understand why the small people of Western Sahara continue to reject to be ruled by the autocratic and absolute monarchy in Morocco.
The fact, which many Moroccans and other like-minded people, do not want to see or talk about, is that Morocco is still ruled by one of the few remaining absolute monarchies in the world. Where in the world do you see a country in which the monarch rules and reigns, and whose poor subjects, including his ministers and senior officials, are under obligation to bow before him and pathetically kiss his hand? Where in the world is questioning the monarchical system is a sacrilegious act that implies death penalty? I know of no other country save Morocco that fits the bill.
It is an incontestable fact that Morocco is still ruled by a feudal system at the helm of which is a monarch that rules on the basis of some highly questionable divine right (exactly as monarchs ruled in middle-age Europe!), and has royal prerogatives to appoint ministers and dismisses them at will. He also can dissolve the ‘parliament’ of his majesty and rule by decrees. Above all, he is accountable to no one!
Morocco is a country where more than 50% of the population is illiterate (of which 70% are women), and where a large part of the young population is unemployed. Many of those youngsters are forced to flee their miserable lives in Morocco and risk their lives trying to reach Europe. Morocco is also a country where the dramatically deteriorating social-economic situation of many people has become a fertile ground for radical and home-grown terrorist groups. This is, indeed, the real Morocco that many people seem unable to see and decry.
It will certainly be more productive for these understandably Moroccan nationalists to look inward and try to structurally reform their political system and improve the lives of millions of Moroccans, instead of reproducing the discourses of autocratic ruling elite, with no regard for the welfare of its own people.
As an outsider with some knowledge in the politics of the region, and mainly someone who believes in and cherishes the values of democracy and human rights, I understand very well and advocate the demand of the people of Western Sahara to live in a free and democratic state. I also understand why they have resisted to be ruled by Morocco, because simply no enlightened and democratic mind in the world can tolerate—let alone allow to be ruled by—an authoritarian and undemocratic regime as the one ruling in Morocco.
Simon Rodriguez
Ok, dear moroccan friend
According to your words (Jalal and “moroccan Sahrawi,” are the same person), we are the liars, we are the manipulators, we are the ignorant, we are the ones who invent the history, we are the ones who commit human rights abuses against innocent civilians, we are the ones who raped and battered women in the occupied territories of Western Sahara, we are the ones who bombed women and children with napalm, we are the ones who launched a Sahrawi prisoners from planes, and so many others .
If you think all this is true why did not provide evidence and stop manipulating. The free citizens know how to find out and to research by themselves without manipulation of Makhzanian lackeys.
We are satisfied if you give us a Security Council resolution (only one) that affirms the sovereignty of Morocco over the occupied territories of Western Sahara. You should remember that the UN is not formed only by Spain and Algeria.
Give us a piece of graphic evidence of human rights abuses like those committed in the District of Maatalla (Aaiún), in Esmara or Dakhla (Western Sahara).
Tell us why Morocco does not allow an Inquiry Committee of the European Parliament (It is not just Spain) as regards Human Rights visit the occupied territories.
Tell us why there is a long list of Saharawis Human Rights Activists and Political Prisoners detained in Moroccan prisons. [check Human Rights Watch list]
We have evidence that the Moroccan authorities committed all these abuses.
By the way, if you acknowledge the existence of Western Sahara, you’re acknowledging the existence of a sovereign country outside the Moroccan kingdom. It’s only the beginning, but it’s better than nothing.
WE WILL NOT GIVE UP THE FIGHT FOR OUR RIGHTS UNTIL THE VICTORY FOR EVER!
SAHARAWI YOUTH ASSOCIATION
Dear Mary,
I read your article and the thing I can say is you are definitely wrong on associating the fight of Polisario leaders to the palestinian one. The article is published in a blog supposed to support this noble cause of PALESTINE. The cause who unified the muslim and arab world. The Polisario fight is not recognized by the arab ligue neither by the majority of muslim countries except….Algeria. Polisario fight didn’t unify the arab/muslim world.
You are definitely wrong when you associate the fight of unionist sahraouis to re-stablish the truth of the Western Sahara issue to the Makhzen. The Polisario leaders and their supporters were alone on the Internet to make their propaganda about their fight for independence. You will be wrong if you don’t take into account the genesis of the Polisario. By whom the polisario was created and for what? What was the initial fight of Polisario? these questions are essentiel to answer to. When you think Polisario you must think cold war. Polisario were presented on Internet as the unique representative of the Sahraouis in Western Sahara. They misled the world on saying that all the sahraouis were refugees after the green march while the majority of them are still living in peace and harmony in the region. You will be wrong if you stay on the spell of VICTIMIZATION. You must take into account the views of the unionist sahraouis, those who are participating to the political life of Morocco and Western Sahara, to the social life of the region, those who are human rights activists whitout claiming independence. The ones who have high positions in the moroccan administration, those who are ambassadors, those who are seating in the moroccan parliament (2 houses), those who are making businesses in Western Sahara and outside of Western Sahara and finally the ones seating in CORCAS (www.corcas.com). You will be wrong or dishonest if you don’t take into account the views of these people.
You are wrong when you say the polisario fight started in 1960 !! king Hassan asked the UN to consider the region as a non self-governing territory. Polisario leaders have nothing to do with the actual statute of the region. Unfortunately, they misled the world about this important detail of the history.
Then you are wrong when you talk about Felipe Gonzales. We all know that he changed his view about the Polisario fight after 1976.
You are also wrong when you talk about the PERSONAL views of a militray from the Minurso. I know many others who were thinking that Polisario are ‘mercenaires’ and that they are selling aids in Mauritania and Mali. The Minurso knows very well these facts but diplomacy is diplomacy and Algeria is on the road.
You are wrong if you think that the talks are unequal. The problem is between Algeria and Morocco and it started during the cold war. Polisario was a mean of pressure on the moroccans. Western countries know that and that’s why they are supporting the moroccan proposal for autonomy.
You seem to be new supporter of polisario fight. My advise to you would be to work on finding a realistic solution to end the sufferings of sahraouis people in Tindouf camps not to return back to unrealistic solutions. We all need to move forward to find a solution to end this absurd cold war conflict not to light the fire of WAR. I am maybe more concerned than you about War and terrorism because I am simply from the region. The unionist sahraouis, the separatists as well as the Diaspora must work all together to manage the local affairs. The autonomy plan seem to be a good basis to find a definitive solution. Anything else would be dishonestly a waste of time and lack of logic.
I personally as all the unionists in Western Sahara feel more confident with the moroccan government than the algerian one. We don’t want to be under the protectorate of a communist/socialist country. We want freedom and peace!
Ahmed Salem
Unionist Sahraoui and proud of it
Mohamed or mohamed, you continue diffamating. That’s your sole arm against the truth of hundred thousands of sahraouis living in Western Sahara. Now that unionist sahraouis are talking on Internet you are becoming CRAZY about DST. I believe associating my posts to DST means my posts heard a bit. I am happy with that! My efforts to explain to international people there are many other sahraouis who were absent from Internet for more than a decade serve the truth about Western sahara issue. For more than a decade, mohamed and his collegues were liying and propagating wrong or incomplete information about Western Sahara issue. Mohamed or mohamed and his collegues are probably working for the algerian military secret services but that’s not the real problem. The most important one is to stop the sufferings of sahraoui people in the camps of shame backed and supported by Algeria. As unionist sahraouis seem to be more concerned by the issue than the separatists as well as the supporters, they are working on finding a definitve solution to end this absurd cold war conflict. They worked on the autonomy initiative and they are talking on the name of the unionists in Manhasset talks.
Shame on darkness, down the historical lie of Polisario !
Long life to the sahraouis, the unionists, the sahraouis living in tindouf camps and the diaspora !
Hello
I have been a little shocked after reading about “realism” in a pro-palestinian blog -of course, coming from a Moroccoan supporter or, as he prefers to call himself, an “unionist sahraoui”. It seems that after so many years ignoring the United Nations and the International Law, the USA and their serfs decide to substitute them by the doctrine of “realism”, which can be more practical to crush the resistances against imperialism. Ahmed Salem Amr Khaddad, if you pretend to support Palastine you should considerate only the fairness of saharaui struggle, and not if it is or not “realistic” from the USA perspective. Unless you prefer to support the USA imperialism around the world -but then, don’t have the cheek to say you support Palastine. As the Moroccoan Saharaui said before, USA and Morocco are in good relations since centuries ago. But their relations become even closer with the israelien lobby in favour of Morocco in the Western Sahara conflict, as Morocco and Israel are great allies since a long time ago. Once you know the international position of Morocco, you can keep saying you support Palastine but it’s a funny way to do it.
At least, you defend your country of the danger of Socialism! It’s much better to have a sacred monarchy, known by her respect of human rights, doens’t it?? Independent economists have found out that Morocco would be a developped country if your king didn’t spent such an incredible amount of money in paying more than 300.000 soldiers in his southern properties. Moroccoans use to dislike the king but to support his imperialist policy, which is at the expense of the moroccoan people.
When I was in the refugee camps for the first time, six years ago, I got impressed by the dignity and courage of this great people who are waiting for justice since more than thirty years ago. That’s a shame for the International Community but specially for Spain, which has been taking profit of this situation since more than thirty years ago, in spite of its responsability to carry out the referendum that it promised to the Saharaui people, the United Nations and the OAU.
Long live to Saharaui people!!!!
Same old story with the same Moroccan propagandist i will just quote you your dear friend Dr.Nick reply for your comment because you seem to like turning in the same empty circle again and again so let’s start:
Dear Ahmed Salem;
Thanks for your response. I’m trying not to get involved in arguments about who are the good guys and who are the bad guys here, as it’s not helpful in this context. There is plenty of that all over the web.
I will that I’m wary of anyone who claims to know “what is really going on”, when that reflects and/or supports the propaganda line of an occupying power. Sure, some Sahrawi may support the occupation or, more likely, believe that the best way forward is to engage with it constructively in order to make progress in terms of social and economic conditions for the Sahrawi living in the occupied areas.
However, this is one view only, and it is a view not universally held within the Sahrawi community living in the Moroccan-controlled zone, and held by very few of the exiles/diaspora, as far as I can see from my contact with Saharawi living outside of Morocco’s control.
I would be very sceptical of taking anything on the CORCAS website, or on websites linked to from it, at face value, simply because the CORCAS website is full of pro-Morocco and anti-Polisario propaganda. This is a pity, as it undermines the credibilty of those Sahrawi who would like to engage constructively with Morocco in the context of its occupation of Western Saahara, by making them look like Moroccan government stooges. I’m not suggesting that all those who support Morocco’s autonomy plan are Moroccan government stooges, but it certainly looks this way from the material on the web. My advice to them would be to stop all the mud slinging at the Polisario, who aren’t perfect, but who aren’t the two-dimensional monsters portrayed by the pro-autonomy camp.
Anyway, all that aside, I welcome the opportunity to engage with someone from “the other side” who is prepared to engage with me, despite my support for idea of a referendum and, ultimately, independence for Western Sahara (reflecting the views of my Sahrawi friends and colleagues, and of those Sahrawi I have met).
I’d like to ask you a few questions, relating to the autonomy plan. I’m not trying to be provocative - I really would like to have some answers to these, as I have not managed to get any from the pro-autonomy camp so far.
1. Under the autonomy plan, what is proposed for the areas currently under the control of the Polisario? Are these to be left as a rump Sahrawi state governed by the Polisario? Are the they to be incorporated into the “Moroccan Sahara” by force? Or does the autonomy plan depend on the Polisario agreeing to relinquish control of these areas?
2. Under the plan, what is proposed for the refugees in Tindouf? Are they to be offered the right of return? If so, what plans are being made to accommodate them, in terms of investment in housing and other infrastructure?
3. How will the plan engage with the Polisario? Will it simply ignore them as long as they continue to insist that any referendum should include the option of full independence, alongside the options of full integration into Morocco and limited autonomy within a greater Morocco?
These are crucial questions, on which the success and legitimacy of the autonomy plan will depend, and I have not seen them addressed by anyone who supports the autonomy plan. This has made me wonder whether the plan is really a serious initiative, or simply a PR exercise. Unless these questions are addressed properly, the plan will simply make the partition of Western Sahara official, which will leave Morocco with a potentially hostile Sahrawi state on its doorstep, which I assume it does not see as desirable.
Anyway, I await your comments with interest.
Regards
Nick
Dear mohamed or Mohamed, that’s what we call propaganda with less effort ;-). You are thinking more of your vacation than your job, isn’t it? Anyway, it’s not a fair to post Nick’ post without posting my response. By the way, did you care of Nick copyright before using his words. Here was my response :
Dear Nick, (part 1)
Many thanks again for your interest on Western Sahara issue.
You are right when you say that there are many urls on Internet treating the issue. I believe most of them support the pro-polisario position of the conflict. Well, in Morocco we made an historical mistake in calling Western Sahara ‘Moroccan Sahara’. This mistake didn’t help in the referencing process of search engines like Google & co. In such case and during a long time, the Moroccan government was seen as colonialist, imperialist…when propaganda is associated to this fact the issue becomes something horrible to individuals (researchers, students, politics…). People on Internet got a unique view of the situation. People on Internet thought that the Polisario leaders are the unique representative of sahraouis in Western Sahara. With the establishment of CORCAS in 2006, the world discovered finally that there are many other sahraouis who are unionists and proud of it. The chairman and the secretary general of CORCAS are the spokesman of the Moroccan delegation in Manhasset talks.
You don’t believe the CORCAS. I personally believe on the CORCAS efforts to develop the region more than the polisario leaders. The CORCAS is pushing the limits of the Moroccan government. Many sessions were held with many ministers to establish court term development programmes (habitation, health, agriculture and fishing…). The king is personally making the follow-up of these projects. We, unionists, are happy with the new strategy of the king to end this absurd cold war conflict. That was not the case of the former king.
(Part 2)
I disagree with you about the term “occupying power”, you could say it if all the sahraouis were fighting for independence. That is not the case. The majority of sahraouis are unionists. There are some separatists but they are very few.
As you probably don’t know the message of CORCAS as all the unionists to Polisario leaders is clear. Let’s govern all together under the Moroccan sovereignty. The CORCAS is always asking the Polisario leaders to be realistic and visionary. The CORCAS has never attacked the Polisario leaders in his websites. CORCAS is just relating what is really happening in Western Sahara. There is no propaganda on relating the truth.
You met probably some sahraouis supporting separatism in Western Sahara but did you meet others who were imprisoned in the camps of Tindouf because of their opposition to the actual leaders? Did you meet sahraouis representing the region in the Moroccan parliament, sahraouis making businesses and developing the region, NGOs participating to the social life of Western Sahara? Did you meet sahraouis fighting for more democracy and freedom without claiming independence? I am sure no. In such case, you can’t have a balanced view of the situation.
Regarding your questions, here are my answers:
1. First, the area dishonestly called ‘liberated zones’ by Polisario is a buffer zone agreed between the two parties on the ceasefire in 1991. When the Polisario leaders make festivities in this area, they go against what is agreed on the ceasefire document. The MINURSO is always asked by Morocco to re-establish its authority in the region. The Berm was held to protect the unionist sahraouis from the attacks of polisario leaders. FYI, during the war (1976 to 1991), the polisario militaries had the most sophisticated weapons of that time. They were made by the Soviet Union and sponsored by Lybia then by Algeria (the Soviet Union block in North Africa). King Hassan II made the right choice to support the American block. I am saying all the time that there was the wall of Berlin in Europe and the wall of Western Sahara in North Africa.
Western Sahara is not separated in two parts. It might be separated in Polisario leaders’ minds. For the UN, Western Sahara is the whole region. As the negotiations are made under the UN auspices, the MINURSO will first stop its activities after getting rid of mines along the Berm. The Berm will surely disappear because there would be no war threat anymore. So Western Sahara will be considered as a whole.
As you can imagine, this buffer zone is considered a Moroccan region in Morocco and you can get all information (demography…) you need on http://www.hcp.ma.
(Part 4)
2. FYI, Morocco has been welcoming the return of more than 7000 sahraouis living in the camps since 1976. Many leaders of the polisario returned back to Morocco. Many of them have high positions in the Moroccan parliament, government and departments. So, the right has been opened since the beginning. The role of CORCAS is to prepare the return of sahraouis in Tindouf camps. That’s why the CORCAS is meeting all ministers to prepare the return of sahraouis in Tindouf camps. Many things were done in Western Sahara and many others are expected for the 4 coming years. Look at http://www.sahara-developpement.com
3. The UN is clear in its resolutions. The solution must be political and acceptable by the two parties. Morocco neither Polisario will be forced. All is about negotiations and of course political pressure (to Algeria especially). Morocco is renouncing to the idea of full integration by proposing the autonomy initiative. Polisario leaders must renounce to independence and integrate the development process of Western Sahara in the autonomy context. The autonomy initiative is serious and credible as a basis to the negotiations. All western countries welcomed the Moroccan proposal. Thanks to the Moroccan proposal, the conflict is moving forward. Please look at the support of western countries on http://www.corcas.com
I wish all sahraouis, the unionists, the separatists and Diaspora will live all together in their motherland, Western Sahara. Morocco is preparing the return of all sahraouis living in the camps. First, the Polisario leaders must let the ones in the camps who are willing to return to Western Sahara. Then the negotiations must continue to convince the polisario leaders as well as the recalcitrants about the seriousness of the Moroccan proposal.
Regards
Ahmed Salem
PS: don’t be so doubter about the CORCAS. They are maybe more sahraouis than the leader of Polisario, Mohamed Abdelaziz, a Moroccan native (not far from Marrakech).
You never can trust on Marocco, they are imperialist, just imperialist. They breach all agreement, the referendum agreement (1991), the Baker agreement, which I was against it because only saharauis should vote and should decide what they want to be. Marocco breach every agreement from the beggining (1975) and even before. The right of independence and how they want to live should be voted only by saharauis, true saharauis, not maroccan saharauis. Only there is a solution, it’s called Referendum, which has been sign by Marocco in 1991. In Marocco there is no democracy, just a false democracy, why is there so many people in prison? Why don’t they allow the people to make demostrations against the regime, against the represion, against the poverty, etc? I don’t need to add any historical information in order to demostrate that there is no relationship with Marocco, historical relationship or souvereignity. You only have to check the websites that Luis Portillo has given you, you only have to check the United Nations websites, yes, the websites that annoy you so much because they say the truth. Do you think that so many international organizations are silly? They spend so much money and time for our independence because we have the right. What right marocco has of us? right of represion, right of unfreedom? right of ilegally occupation? right of stealing resources?I don’t want and I don’t like those kind of rights. I only want right of freedom, independence, right for managing our own natural resources and right to decide our future.Leave our territory, go back to your Marocco, care your people, help the poors and the people who need better life in Marocco, give them education and let them to be democratic. Why so many moroccans have to leave their own country? When so many people leave their own country something bad is happening, not precisely good. There are many maroccans who want a free and independent Western Sahara also because they see that the occupation doesn’t allow them to get an employment, good quality of life, education or good sanitary sistem. Also they don’t allow the maroccan gouvernment to manipulate them and to change their mind, they are fighting very hardly to get their minimal rights such as education and fredom of expression. Our right is the independence and freedom as Palastina, but we have two big problems, they are called Marocco and Isreal respectively and the Western countries which look for the economical agreement. The saharauis and Polisario Front are good team because we don’t practice terrorism and we don’t need it. The terrorism that there is in Marocco and in Algeria is the same and is bad for both countries. Polisario front fortunatelly never practices terrorism because we don’t need to do that. Freedom and independence for Western Sahara. Sáhara y Palestina libre e independiente ya!
Referendum now.
to B
to BCHIR SAHARAWI, you are so smart, you discovered that i’am oroccan saharawi! lol if you read carfully you will find out that when i replied to Rizzo, i mentioned that i said in the past and with my true name , i never posted before, exect with Moroccan saharawi, SO yes my name is jalal nai and i’am morccan saharawi, i can see that maybe the one who acuses other could be the gelty guy!
so maybe you are the one who post many comments using an IP generator, so when you deal with people smarter than you, keep quit stupic acusations.
for Mr Rodriguez, it good and so rare to find a Spanish expressing himself so well in english, aprat this you can wirte whatever you want, invent the lies you want, but keep only one thing in mind, Morocco is the only real democracy, in this region, in the moroccan sahara we went to vote for our people, last time, spain is so “not leving in dark ages!” why you don’t give to the pais vasco thier independence?
they have the right to self determination? no!
Franco gave back to morocoo his territory and signed for, did you forget this real and non discutable fact, check the UN documentations, and the spanish prime minster,he recognized the morccanty of the desert, so stop this low cost game, you are playing with us, WE THE SAHARAWI are well represented by CORCA, that set, the majority of saharawis lives in moroccan desert, the few others in algeria, deal with it, and the other bad reality, is that the moroccans retained in tindouf, are just a toy in some polisario tribes which get millions of euros and get good holidays in spain and buy villas, ask the young polisario students in sapain; do you remember what happend las may in madrid, I ASK THIS BLOG POSTER TO CHECK IN THE PAPERS OF THE MADRID UNIVERSITY MEETINGS ABOUT THE WESTERN SAHARA YOU WILL BE SURPRISED?
i forget, there are no areas controled by Polisario stop dreaming.
Morocco control all those territories, and Read the UN cease fire, if you can read
it’s easy to understand, tifarity and all the ares heyond the security berm is a free zone, and morocco last april told to polisario to free this zone as it’s a UN controled, and polisario wanted to build a base of his merceners soldiers, morocco told him if you don’t quit this region, you will asume all the responsability, and algeria knows as morocco told to the algerian regim, ” if one bullet comes from algeria, morocco will attack algerian soil, to make this side clear” in hassan 2 policy he respected algeria by supporting the polisario terrorists, but thanks to this king, he said that if you support my enemy to atack me that’s means yu atack me, and every one have to take his responsability’
@jalal nali:
Another but more stupid as he seems propagandist .. OHH please tell us what happened in Madrid,please keep your up-side-down history for you,you know i just want to advise you search for anything to discuss except politics especially the conflict of western sahara.Believe me you do not deserve those three lines.
@Ahmed Salem Amr Khaddad:
You said that the majority and i said may be all sahrawis are -as you describ them -in love with Morocco and could not live away from your tender kingdom, so why don’t you save time and money by organising a fair referendum for sahrawi people,how much separatists sahrawi -as you also describ them- could exist 5,10,20 per cent,why don’t you let those unionists vote for the annexation of western sahara to the tender kingdom?,the majority of sahrawi people here in Aaiun and all western sahara are calling for independance and the Moroccan security forces are punishing them and puting them in jails just because they call for their right in self-determination,the majority of sahrawi families or individuals here in Aaiun have been tortured by the Moroccan authorities , am wondering which sahara are you living in and talking about and which sahrawi people are you belonging to may be it does not belong to our planete.Am living in the occupied city of Aaiun and i can prove you that what you describ as the unionists are just sahrawi business men such as Khallihlhoom the head of CORCAS and former head of the spanish party PNS and his brother and many others who defend their business and their only cause and principle is making money,you know that they did the same with the former Spanish occupier before you,those businessmen and women got no principles at all just stealing western sahara sand,phosphates,fish with the Moroccan occupation.
It is useless to argue with people who are only willing to spread the propaganda of a feudal dictatorship that oppresses not only Saharawis but also its own people and has imperialist ambitious that, as confirmed by the Moroccan agents participating in this debate, do not stop at the border of the illegally occupied Western Sahara but would like to take hold of a sovereign state as Mauritania and part of another as Senegal. It is as though Spain would like to take hold now of Belgium, Holland, Naples and Sicily only because they were part, back in History, of the territories that payed allegiance to (and were invaded by) our former kings.
I myself have visited the camps and can tell to those Moroccan blinded by the propaganda of their regime that nobody, but the unfair occupation of their territory, retains them there. I have met people who are not terrorist, who are not manipulated, who are just tired of being deprived of their rights by the power in place in Morocco, supported by France and the US as long as it serves their imperialist ambitions: there is nothing but a small empire to be (Morocco) backed by the big actual Empire (US) and by a former colonialist power (France) that tries to retain a part of its former influence in Northern Africa (US). And all of that with the complicity of the former colonial administration (Spain) that betrayed the Saharawi people in its legitimate right to self-determination.
Viva el Sahara Libre. Down with Moroccan colonialism
Great propagandist mohamed,
I don’t think you are living in Laayoune city but if you continue pretending that you are living there that shows clearly Internet access is free for everyone even for the ones supporting separatism in Western Sahara. Is that the case of sahraoui people living in Tindouf camps? simply no.
You mentioned that the majority of sahraouis in Western Sahara are supporting independence. What are the basis of these allegations? How could you say this? How much people participate to the strikes of 2005 and how did the riots started? There are few sponsored separatists who are manipulating unemployed people locally even if they are not originally sahraoui they became sahraouis when it fits the propaganda of the polisario. Stop your lie about the situation in Western Sahara. CORCAS has 141 members and all of them are working on developing the region. Don’t focus on the chairman. When people work they got rewards and benefits for their job. Is that something against morality. Otherwise what about the villas of polisario leaders in Algeria and Las Palmas while people are sufferings from missing food and water. In western Sahara, there is no famine. The region has been developing since 1975.
Stop your propaganda, algerian you are or whatever, you are not serving the populations neither the region. Instead of wasting your time on diffamating and allegating, think of the best way to unify the forces of the unionists, the separatists and the Diaspora.
Long life to the sahraouis, the unionists, the sahraouis living in Tindouf camps and the Diaspora.
I am wishing to write several comments, but, unfortunately, I have no time before I accomplish other obligations. In any case, I’ll do it as soon as possible.
For the moment, I only repeat the words of Mr. Prada: “The problem is that they do not hear, do not see, do not understand and do not want to understand”. They only cry and repeat the Majzen’s propaganda. They only suffer and spit the poisoning informative messages (“informative intoxication”) from Palace.
It is meaningless to try to speak with them: They are always the same people, charged by the Majzén (word coming from the French “magasin”, my dear “moroccan-moroccan”), to repeat and to repeat the samething until lies become truth, just the same as Goebbels and Mr. Bush, making only noise. You will find them everywhere on tne net.
It is much better to contribute to the debate with documented facts. Though not completed, here are some:
“Spanish judge to open inquest into suspected atrocities against North African Saharawi people”
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/10/30/europe/EU-GEN-Spain-Atrocity-Inquest.php
EMHAMED KHADAD (The Wall Street Journal):
Western Sahara must be brought out of the margins and into the light.
The core of the issue is that Western Sahara has never been recognized as being part of Morocco by any country or international body. It’s a position confirmed in an advisory ruling by the International Court of Justice, which concluded Morocco has no valid legal claims on Western Sahara.
By contrast, Western Sahara’s indigenous government, the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, is recognized by 80 countries and is a member of the African Union.
“Offering” an autonomy arrangement therefore to an illegally occupied region, complete with its own functioning political, social and economic infrastructure independent of the occupier, is utterly devoid of logic and undermines the very foundation of MINURSO and of the U.N. itself.
A democratic proposal has been made, backed by the U.N. in the 1991 peace plan, and agreed upon by both Morocco and POLISARIO. That plan envisages, as the final stage of the process, a full referendum on self-determination.
STEPHEN ZUNES (Professor of Politics at the University of California):
Should Baker’s proposal be accepted, it could not only provoke a regional war but would also set a dangerous precedent of rewarding the conquest of territory by force and likely embolden potential aggressors around the world. As with the analogous case of East Timor, it may take a mass mobilization by human rights activists around the world to force the major powers to allow the UN to enforce its obligations and allow an oppressed people their right to self-determination.
FRANK RUDDY (former US ambassador and Vice-President of MINURSO):
After the September 11 terrorist attacks in New York, people all over the world said: “We are all New Yorkers now.” (…) I would hope that some day we might hear some one say: “We are all Saharawis now.”
Even if not in English, it can be useful for someone to know tha ALL the Public Universities from Madrid have issued a “Manifest” supporting the Sahrawi People (it is being translated into several languages):
“Manifiesto De Las Universidades Publicas Madrileñas Sobre El Sahara Occidental”
http://www.uam.es/otros/uamsolidaria/manifiesto_sahara_2008.pdf
By the way, my “moroccan-moroccan” friends: The Spanish Governements (several), unfortunately, DO NOT support either the POLISARIO Front nor the Sahrawi People. It is the Spanish People (with capital letter) who are fighting against our own leaders and helping and supporting the struggle of the Sahrawi people
You are in a big error.
Cheers. I will try to come back soon.
JACOB MUNDY:
In 1976 the renowned scholar of international law, Thomas Franck, rightly described US policy during the crisis as “an act of political expediency grounded in East/West political alliances.” Much the same could be said about US’s “neutral” policy towards the Western Sahara conflict today, if not other conflicts involving suppressed national self-determination. The only difference between 1975 and 2005 is the justificatory geo-political context, from cold war to war on terror, where we are led to believe that our avowed neutrality is a luxury we cannot yet afford. But the persistence of the Western Sahara conflict demonstrates the shortcomings of US’s “neutral” Saharan policy. Not that Washington has realised this in the past 30 years.
Thus the U.S. government should take a two-track approach in its relations with Morocco: supporting self-determination in Western Sahara on the one hand while supporting Moroccan stability and reforms on the other. In other words, Washington should decouple support for Rabat from support for the occupation of Western Sahara. The U.S. Congress should reaffirm its support for U.S. initiatives aimed at supporting Moroccan stability and internal democratization processes. But Congress should simultaneously press the White House to support self-determination in Western Sahara. None of this, however, will be possible without political will. International, grassroots, faith- and community-based organizations will have to create broader awareness of the problem in the United States. Such pressure helped bring a peaceful end to apartheid in South Africa and was key to ending Indonesia’s occupation of East Timor.
First of all, I would like to say that it seems some people have not read the article because they have not learned the title: HYPOCRITES!!!
Talk of suffering in the Camps. Do you have a clue about what you are talking about?! Or just be led by CORCAS propaganda. We, the people who live here, in refugee camps and exile, suffer banishment from our homes every day for more than 33 years, but even then we have the firm conviction that we will not stop until we achieve our self-determination.
Hypocrites are those who try to talk about the suffering of refugees while they are committing abuses against civilians, Human Rights activists, students, men and women in the Occupied Territories:
[Check out one of these links. You can find out how is the Sahrawis life in Occupied Territories]
http://es.youtube.com/watch?v=l9wagLPd5t8&feature=related
http://es.youtube.com/watch?v=ADhRUIESBxg&feature=related
http://es.youtube.com/watch?v=O2GizzvgZbg&feature=related
http://es.youtube.com/watch?v=ZR5zfF-azTo&feature=related
http://es.youtube.com/watch?v=ZR5zfF-azTo&feature=related
http://es.youtube.com/watch?v=O8RmQAwJ0s0&feature=related
http://es.youtube.com/watch?v=XpOpKANOUVI&feature=related
http://es.youtube.com/watch?v=tp4c-YvjUck&feature=related
The only realism here is our struggle for more than 35 years, first against Spanish colonialism, then against the Moroccan invasion.
The only realism is that of our people killed, tortured and raped in the past and up to the present time.[According to latest news, more than 60 fishermen of the Saharan town of Dakhla Occupied have been tortured and had their belongings burnt down by Moroccan settlers, and all this before the passivity of the Moroccan police.] http://www.upes.org/body1_eng.asp?field=sosio_eng&id=1087
The only realism here is what the Moroccan strategy tries to introduce through the CORCAS (Royal Consultative Council for Saharan Affairs), [the name says everything] led by corrupt people as Khalihanna (khalih-elkum, Khouia!) Ould El Rashid, who has been investigated by plots of corruption.
Hypocrites are those who pretend to be friends, false Sahrawis (in fact, they are Moroccan settlers), but do not know that: A real Sahrawi will not allow torturing another Sahrawi. A Sahrawi will never allow the assassination of a Sahrawi brother because he defends his rights. A Sahrawi will not allow women abuse and rape, as he will never allow that with any person. A real Sahrawi will always with his head held high and will never kiss the foot or hands of anyone, not like you do with your king! La ‘ilaha ‘illa Allah wahdahu la sharika lahu!
Oh man, where’s your dignity?! Answer the questions and don’t beat about the bush!
Salama M.
I realise how dramatic the issue is and just why it has never been resolved by the comments here, and I think it is giving people who are new to the issue an opportunity to learn about it and reflect upon it. You are providing those of us who are marginally aware of the situation with important information. Thanks to all of those who support the choice of putting the Sahrawi struggle on a Pro-Palestinian blog. Thanks to everyone for the opportunity to follow a debate that we are often left out of because of the language difficulties. I myself was familiar with the issue through Italians, and most of the material I had available was in Italian. I understand how difficult it must be to conduct this debate in English because I have discovered in this week a wide range of information, most of it in Spanish or French, so I appreciate the efforts all of you have made to involve the readers here. Thanks for the links as well! I’ve checked out some great sites and will be looking into more when time permits.
Parlons claire: Toute le probleme du Sahara Occidental est artificiel, meme si ses victimes sont bien reeles et humaines. Le probleme a ete cree par la France il y a deja beaucoup de temps et cela est bien connu tant a Paris qu’a Rabat. L’origine de la “question” dite du Sahara Occidental surgisse au moment ou les generaux coloniaux francaises se reconnaissent dans l’incapacite de soumetre les saharaouis, proteges alors par l’España. En vue du quel, quant le moment arrive, l’Etat Majeur francais opte pour “ajouter” le Sahara Occidental au Maroc. De cette facon la France pretende tuer deux oisseaux d’un seul tir: “solucionne-t-elle” le probleme histórique, que la propre Francia a avec le Maroc et, au meme temps, eface de la carte a “l’insumis” peuple saharaoui. Aprés toute cela, il arrive la gran mascarade: en profitan de l’agonie du general dictateur Franco en Espagne, Hassan II s’execute: soutenu por le gran avocat de la France, demande la Cour International de Justice (Il se moquera par aprés de l’Avis juridique de cela), prepare sa Marche Vert (derriere laquelle il oculte aux media mondiaux la penetratión de son armée au Sahara Occidental), simule une negotiación avec les poulardes de Madrid et recois, finalment, les cles de la ville a El Aaiun. J’ai le regret mes amis francaises, mais la realite est parfois de trop cruelle: cest cela qu’on fait quelques de vos líders et non precissemente le general De Gaulle. Cela signifie que ceux qui doivent s’assoir a table pour de negotiations sont en realité la France et le Maroc. Ils doivent faire marche arriere, retrouver le point cruciaux, chercher une solution correcte au conflicte entre eux deux. Mais non sur le dos d’un tiers (une tres maivais habitude de la diplomatie francaise) et moins encore sur le dos du peuple saharaui. Voila toute en claire.
for Mohamad, you have a typical polisario terrorist mind, once you find some one who own the truth, nd want to discover you big lie, you acuse him to turn the history upside down, many local and known spanish paper wrote about this issue, so is not just Madrid, is hundreds of other big lies discovery, is why all the big powers support the moroccan right, and the real truth, every one knows that polisario is an Algerian invention, so for the billions ofeuros spent by the algeria corrupted regime to support a false cause, it’s clear and simple, the saharawi people(the majority) we have our own representative CORCA, polisario represnet him self, is what all the polisario youth believe, (you know the truth and you hide it) stop this mascarade
Jalal, it is very wrong (not to mention inconsiderate) to accuse Mohamad in this way. If you wish for your own point to come across, you will do your own cause better service by not accusing those who do not see your way as having a terrorist mind, being liars or paid agents.
You assume all of us are, and this may be projection?
@popader:
You have first to unit your false propaganda because some of you say that the Polisario was made by Spain and Algeria as the so called Ahmed Salem said:
“People who are living in the camps were displaced by military trucks. It’s an established fact. They didn’t come by foot as Polisario leaders try to convey on Internet and during the visit of the museum. Polisario with the help of the Algerians and the benediction of the Spanish transported sahraoui people from Western Sahara to the camps of Tindouf by force. As I said above people are managed by “militarycracy”. Nobody can express his viewpoint without getting bitted and persecuted.”
Your approach is different ,you relate Polisario to the French regime i think it is so interesting because it is totally abreaking news,i hope first you have to make a unification of lies before making great propaganda.
I have already said that is very difficult to speak (to debate) with some people. They only make (repeat) assertions (”consignas” in Spanish) without proving nothing at all.
First, terrorism, State terrorism, is what Morocco has done, and does even today in the occupied territories, with the Sahrawi people (not to speak, for example, of the recents “events” in SIDI IFNI). Terrorism, State terrorismo is what Washington-Bush (Mohamed VI’ allie) has done with IRAK (and in so many places: Nicaragua, Chile…), with the present cosequences for the whole world.
Second, the POLISARIO Front is acnowledged -by United Nations, the Security Council, the African Union and, last but not least, also by the U.S.A) as the true, legitime representative of the Sahrawi People.
So, a little more of truh and “rigor” in your assertions, please.
It would be better to check some international documents before speaking.
I see the same thing day after day when those who attempt to discredit the legitimate struggle of the Palestinians and other people who have territory occupied by Israel such as those in the Golan and Lebanon at the Sheeba Farms try to say they are manipulated by (take your pick) Iran, Radical Fanatical Religious Leaders, Syria, The Muslim Brotherhood, and if all of that fails, they decide to link them to organisations that are considered to be terrorist, (if they are indeed real, as Nahr el Bared teaches us, the group that infiltrated the camp were perhaps placed there by some Lebanese interests that seek to rid Lebanon of the camps near nice seaside areas for real estate development). If they can’t get through with the phanta-politics, they attack you as a terrorist yourself! This generally scares many off, and the situation remains firmly managed by the pro-Israel camp.
All kinds of arguments will do to stop Palestine rights campaigners from voicing the issues, so I don’t imagine it is different for other liberation struggles, if it were, we would not have any occupation at all and refugees would be a quaint word from a colonial past…. what matters is to confuse things for those who are not very informed with the aim of keeping them out of it because it is “complicated”. Unfortunately for us, most of the material on the Sahrawi is not in English and it is quite a challenge to know the background, much less the actual situation as we speak!
All I can say is this, (from my own experience) the Sahrawi people I met were poor economically, but internally, they were rich and beautiful. They need relief from the current situation they are in, and this means that their necessities must be met, which is not happening.
@Mary rizzo:
They have tried so hardly to make the international community believes that the Sahrawi people are just terrorists by relating some terrorism attacks in north Africa to the Polisario:
http://www.isn.ethz.ch/news/sw/details.cfm?ID=18858
Before that they spreaded all over the world that we are just a group of communists backed by Algeria and the Soviet Union as stated on of them in GV:
“Their first fight was to help on plotting the monarchy to establish a communist regime in the WHOLE COUNTRY. In their initial fight, there was no separation between Western Sahara and the rest of the country. The first step was maybe Western Sahara but the second one was unified communist Morocco under the control of the Soviet Union block.”
But their accusations will never work because we fight for our right in self-determination and we has always condemned all acts of terror:
STATEMENT
Brussels 12th September 2004
On the occasion of the tragic anniversary of the terror attacks on New York and Washington, the Frente POLISARIO and the Saharawi people would like to join the American people and all world nations in expressing once again their deepest solidarity and sympathy with the families of those who lost their lives in those attacks, and with all victims of terrorism throughout the world.
The Frente POLISARIO, which has always condemned all acts of terror, would like to reiterate anew its vehement denunciation of terrorism, which constitutes a horrendous onslaught on innocent people as well as on the sacred values of respect for human life and dignity, freedom and peace.
It is on these values that the Saharawi people, and their legitimate representative the Frente POLISARIO, have always drawn in their struggle against the Moroccan oppression and military occupation, as well as in their tireless efforts to establish a free, open an democratic state in Western Sahara. For three decades, the Saharawi people have been affirming their will to attain, through peaceful means, their legitimate rights to self-determination and sovereignty. This is what has earned the Frente POLISARIO the respect as a national liberation movement that has never been associated with any form of terrorism.
Another fact that bears testimony to the Saharawi people’s attachment to peace consists in the acceptance by the Frente POLISARIO of Baker’s peace plan with a view to brining about a peaceful, just and definitive solution to the conflict in Western Sahara within the framework of UN relevant resolutions and in consonance with the dictates of international legality.
The Saharawi people remain hopeful that the international community would act resolutely in order to enable them to exercise their inalienable right to self-determination and independence. Backing the peaceful struggle of the Saharawi people for attaining their legitimate rights is inseparable from the fight against injustice, oppression and terrorism; it is also intrinsic to the defence of the ideals of justice, democracy and freedom that are upheld by all free nations.
Mohamed Sidati
Minister delegate for Europe
Member of the National Secretariat POLISARIO Front
First we are in 2008 not in 2004. The UN made new resolutions to move forward on the issue to end the sufferings of sahraoui people in the camps of shame (Tindouf). The UN points out more the humanitarian issue than any other political considerations. The personal envoy Van Walsum thinks unbearable that people support separatism from outside the camps “Come and live in the camps to see how things are going”.
Stupid Mohamed (I said stupid because you said it before), if there are different views about the situation that means there is no organized propaganda. The propaganda is when you try to lie on the place you live. When you mention that you live in Laayoune with your level of english, you simply lie. You are the one who is propagating. Relating the truth is not propaganda. To know more about the region, here are some websites made by unionist sahraouis. They relate the truth about Western Sahara :
http://www.corcas.com (the support of the international community to the autonomy initiative)
http://www.sahara-online.net (see maps and the history of the conflict lived and narrated by former founders of the polisario)
http://www.sahara-culture.com (Western Sahara culture)
http://www.sahara-villes.com (views of the main cities of Western Sahara)
http://www.sahara-developpement.com (economic development of Western Sahara)
http://www.sahara-social.com (social development of Western Sahara)
I can believe you guys when it comes from SPS, that is not considered propaganda but when it comes from moroccan sources it’s systematically considered propaganda. To have a real view of the conflict, you must know more about the genesis of the polisario and the relationship of the polisario fight to the cold war.
Please Mary, do not misled people associating the Palestinian fight to the Polisario one :
ALL the Palestinians are fighting for independence. In Western Sahara, SOME separatists are claiming independence. The majority of sahraouis are unionists. That’s not the same. The context is definitely different. Anything else is about allegation and pro-polisario propaganda. The Palestinian fight is unifying the islamic/arabic world. The Polisario fight isn’t. The decolonization process of Western Sahara started in the 60. The Polisario was established in 1973 by moroccan opposants to the king Hassan.
You have all to come and see how international people are visiting Western Sahara to invest and joy vacations. There are some separatists but they are VERY VERY VERY FEW.
Then, Sidi Ifni isn’t in the disputed region. Sidi Ifni people are more moroccan than any moroccan else. They were on strike with moroccan flags and king’ photos. Polisario propaganda again tried to make a link of a so-called Intifada (what a shame !!!) with Sidi Ifni strikes while Sidi Ifni has nothing to do with Western Sahara limits. WHAT DO YOU CALL THAT? is that about propaganda or not?
Please all of you, you must be very prudent treating Western Sahara issue. There are unionists in Western Sahara and they are the majority. UNFORTUNATELY, they are not on the Internet to defend their views because they all don’t speak english. I had the chance to do my studies abroad and learn english. The majority as I do are talking Spanish (Mohamed can’t be sahraoui. He can’t live in Laayoune)
I am not looking especially for your trust. I am trying to relate you another view of the conflict. The one supported and lived by the unionists.
Many thanks for your wisdom and your intellectual honesty.
Ahmed Salem
Mr Mohamed you are waisting your time, for decads you try and try and try, to do the poor defenceless people, please stop his cheap mascarade, you are just redicoulous, you bring some articls why you show always one side of the truth (the smalest one or just 10%) ad you hide the rest?
yes in morocco there are some well paid saharawi to do and to transmet the informations to polisario, the people from Moraccan Sahara, can access to internet, to tv, to the phone, the can talk, moroccan gouvernment give them pasports to go outside and come back safly, whatever they go to give information to polisario, we call this humain rights, and real freedom, how many humanitarian organisations, spock about the slavery and the women situation in tindouf, all he humanitarian org, when they go to tindouf, the polisario make the visit just some camps, and forget to bring them to the other camps 25 and 40km far from there, and why they never show them the polisario prisons,? whey they never make the international media go inside all the camps simply because the 80% of people living there want to come back to morocco, they are retained, and killed, and the polisario deport thier children to keep the family like prisoners in free space, so don’t come to respectable blogs and split publicly your, low cost and empty of meaning allegations, i don’t want to mention the Spanish people whome are neocolonialist who dream to keep a hand(influence) in the region by prolonging this problem, tourists in morocco can visit all the country from tangier to lagouira(mauritania border) and they can meet all the people they want, and talk to every one, i can put my hand in fire that in tindouf is not the same, any way the Agerian military have the head control of every thing, polisario just remot controlled, unfortunately Mary you have to talk to the Algerians, and ask they to visit the camps(all the camps) i know that whith this military corrupt (Algerian military took over the gouvenment by a state strik, and the spanish, aree afraid because thie ecnomy soon will be less competetive than moroccan, so they want to keep beeing the rich people of the region(not for long) we don’t have oil but we have bright brains, and democratic basis.
always they come some those nosense article, and many links, written by people not really trustable, Algeria support polisario! in fact they support th Cold War ideology(manly rusia) is for that they didn’t recognize cosovo (muslim state like them?
simply because the boss(russia) said SO, we can see that the are not really clear , once they defend (population for self determination once to are against??
so hope that will say more that Mr mohamad, the poor opressed (millioner in spanish euros) lol
Please stop Dreaming, Do you remeber last Year what Bush Said?
the Western Sahara issue should be discussed by Morocco and Algeria, so stop this and don’t put words in the mouth of people whom never did. your President Franco, signed to give back the desert to morocco, but your Fashit Partido Popular is too afraid that once this issue solved morocco will be more enrgetic to ask about The Stolen Ceuta and Mellia, yes Let us discuss this Issue Mery, you have any Idea about those two moroccan cities disputed by spain and morocco, is like if you go from norway and take cities in the danish territory and say yes it’s belongs to europe, so spain what they did, they give self governance to those two cities ander Spaniard rules, so stop your dark allegations,and be of legality side, and do you remember when Spain were atacked by the moors, yes they came from where? not from the desert?
and all the region from the actual senegal to the top city of morocco belged to morocco, i think you studied this in the univercity, i’am sure because i’am spanish graduat in Sevilla, so don’t try to mitake the reader, the only blide here is your frustration, because morocco is recovring his strengt, and all European prefer to invest in morocco instead of spain, like CEO of Renaul said, we shoused morocco, because the people work really, and they never take any after lunch rest (siesta) lol
Human Rights in Western Sahara
I am contacting you to ask you to write to the Commissioner for External Relations, over the proposal to grant ‘advanced status’ to Morocco.
Morocco has occupied the major part of Western Sahara since 1975. Saharawi citizens who oppose the occupation are forced to live in intimidation and fear. There is extensive evidence of torture, rape, false imprisonment and unfair trials of Saharawi Citizens, documented by organisations such as Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and also by the report of the Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights at the UN.
Despite this, the EU is considering further deepening its relationship and granting ‘advanced status’ to Morocco. It is an outrage that a body such as the EU, which holds human rights in such high regards can consider this without a full investigation into the human rights abuses.
Please will you write to the Commissioner for External Relations, Benita Fererro-Waldner, to ask that the EU upholds its fundamental principles of human rights and launches a full investigation into these human rights abuses perpetrated by the Moroccan authorities against Saharawi citizens.
Yours sincerely
To our morrocan friends, and to people who doesn’t have a big idea about what’s happening in Western Sahara, I would like to say that Morocco occupies the major part (not all! See UN maps) of its neighbouring country, Western Sahara. Entering into business deals with Moroccan companies or authorities in the occupied territories gives an impression of political legitimacy to the occupation. It also gives job opportunities to Moroccan settlers and income to the Moroccan government. Western Sahara Resource Watch demands foreign companies leave Western Sahara until a solution to the conflict is found, as the International Law says.
Best regards
To everyone who wants to see the current map of Western Sahara, check this link:
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/18/68996459_1b48c7aa53.jpg
[United Nations Map of Western Sahara (Click "different sizes" on the right to see a higher-resolution version)]
In the 1980s the Moroccan armed forces began constructing defensive earthworks around key population centres and strategic locations. These were joined and extended, and now form a defensive wall (the “Berm”, shown on the map as a red line) which extends for some 1500 km from southern Morocco and throughout Western Sahara to the border with Mauritania. This wall, manned by an estimated 160,000 Moroccan troops, divides Western Sahara into a Moroccan-occupied zone and a region controlled by the Polisario, known locally as the “Free Zone”. The Berm as shown on this UN/MINURSO map is contained within the territory of Western Sahara; in reality the Berm transits through the far north-western corner of Mauritania, northwest of Bir Maghrein, annexing a small area of Mauritanian territory and separating the Northern and Southern Sectors of Western Sahara from each other. The Berm, and its transit through Maurtiania, is visible on Google Earth. However, the border between Western Sahara and Mauritania is effectively open, facilitating free movement betweeen the northern and southern sections of the Free Zone.
Morocco invaded Western Sahara in 1975 when Spain, the former colonial power, withdrew. Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara has never been formally recognised by any government (although many give support to Morocco) or by the United Nations, who have been attempting to organise a referendum on self-determination since 1991.
The Western Sahara Project study sites are in the Free Zone, which is administered by the Frente Polisario independence movement, from the Sahrawi refugee camps near Tindouf across the border in Algeria, home to some 160,000 displaced people. The refugees move freely between the camps and the Free Zone, for example in order to exploit pasture for animals when environmental conditions permit. However, there is little permanent settlement