The Moroccan media are making much of a report in Italy’s Corriere della Sera newspaper on March 29 that veteran Polisario guerillas from Morocco-occupied Western Sahara are fighting for Qaddafi in Libya. According to the report: “The regime of Colonel Qaddafi has kept, in the town of Sabha, a reserve of men and material in a base where the new African recruits from the Polisario guerrillas are arriving.” Seemingly blind to the self-contradiction, a report on Morocco Board leads with the Corriere della Sera claim (“Mercenaries from the Western Sahara Separatists Polisario Group have been recruited by the Libyan regime”)—and then goes on cite elements of the Tripoli regime who charge that the Western Sahara guerillas are fighting against Qaddafi! Former Libyan minister Errishi Ali is quoted as saying that “the western Sahara Separatists Polisario mercenaries were among those that have infiltrated Libya to spread terror and counter the Libyan revolution.” Ali said that he was “deeply disappointed and saddened by the hypocrisy of the Western Sahara Separatist Polisario group mercenaries who are taking part in such a vicious and destructive enterprise, while they claim to be freedom fighters.”
Use of the phrase “Western Sahara Separatists Polisario Group,” capitalized as if it were a proper noun, is a sure sign that we are dealing with propaganda rather than journalism. The Polisario Front (which has observed a ceasefire since 1990) do not consider themselves “separatists” because they do not recognize Western Sahara as part of Morocco at all—and neither does any government on earth, even if the US and EU fund the illegal occupation with trade and aid to the Rabat monarchy.
Western Sahara has not won headlines even as protest movements and revolutions have swept North Africa and the Arab world over the past three months. But an ongoing cycle of protests and repression was endemic in the occupied territory for many months before the “Jasmine” revolutions broke out—and continues, despite the world media’s evident disinterest.
To cite but one case, three Western Sahara activists have been in pretrial detention for 18 months, with numerous delays in their trial, Human Rights Watch protested April 8. Their trial on charges of “harming [Morocco’s] internal [sic] security” has proceeded in fits and starts, with limited evidence produced against them, HRW says. Four co-defendants are provisionally free. Police arrested the six men and one woman in October 2009, upon their return from visiting the Sahrawi refugee camps in Tindouf, Algeria, the Polisario Front’s stronghold. “The court trying the seven Sahrawi activists should without any further delay issue a verdict that properly presents the evidence and reasoning behind the verdict,” said HRW’s Sarah Leah Whitson. Sahara Press Service reports April 11 that Sahrawi activists are currently holding an ongoing protest vigil outside the courthouse in El Aaiun (Laayoune), capital of the occupied territory, to demand the release of political prisoners.
A March 17 commentary by Konstantina Isidoros on the pan-Africanist Pambazuka News warns:
For international analysts closely observing Morocco’s awakening uprisings, the absolute monarchy’s financially draining, vice-like grip on the Western Sahara might prove to be its Achilles heel. Unlike its fellow Gulf monarchs or the respected North African power of Algeria, Morocco has no oil wealth to lavishly soothe grievances.
The former French president Charles de Gaulle once described Morocco as a country whose revolution was still to come. The escalating discord and protests may yet see Morocco’s own population giving voice to what the full detrimental magnitude of the monarchy’s colossal expenditure in its 35-year war and occupation of the Western Sahara means for their desperate socio-economic woes.
Meanwhile, cities across the occupied Western Sahara such as El Aaiun, Boujdour and Dakhla have seen continuous non-violent protest rallies by the indigenous Western Saharans and the now systematic pattern of violent counter-attacks by Moroccan military forces.
See our last posts on Western Sahara, Morocco and the North African revolutions.
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BS
sorry but it’s totaly bullshit,even AlJazeera reported about it,for the 4th time yesterday
http://youtu.be/itM46NHZUfM
is this channel also moroccan?wake up..
What exactly are you saying is “BS”?
Is it BS that Polisario is loaning fighters to Qaddafi? Or is it BS that Morocco is exploiting this reality for propaganda purposes? Do you think these propositions are mutually exclusive? If you want to convince people of anything, you need to learn how to articulate your argument.
Unreal dreams
With my due respect to the Sahrawi Rebels, they don’t stand a chance of forming a country of their own in southern Morocco. They don’t have the leverage and the international support to do so. Algeria & Cuba can’t help much; they are busy with their own uprisings.
“Southern Morocco” is Tan-Tan Province
Western Sahara is an illegally occupied territory. No country on earth (other than Morocco) recognizes it as part of Morocco. East Timor (illegally grabbed by Indonesia the same year Morocco grabbed Western Sahara) managed to win independence.
Sahara is PURELY MOROCCAN
In your wildest dreams, Sahara is PURELY MOROCCAN, you will go on untill the dawn of eternity and you will never see Moroccans surrender to a bunch of mercenaries paid by Algeria and Gaddafi to lay their hands on the Moroccan dsert
Morocco’s Zionist logic
You remind me of the Zionists who say that “Judea and Samaria” are part of “Eretz Israel.” Precisely the same irrational denial of political reality. Nice company you are in, eh?
utter nonsense
How can this article claim to be neutral on the matter when things like “respected North African power of Algeria” are written? This article is nothing but Algerian propaganda and shouldn’t be taken seriously.
Julie Anne
double standard
So “respected North African power of Algeria” is propaganda, but “Western Sahara Separatists Polisario Group” isn’t?
mercenary’s
polizario is a group of mercenary’s its normal that they help ghadafi regime . killing for money
Paid by oil money of poor Algerian people
This is pure propaganda paid by oil rich Algeria. Mentioning “Rabat monarchy” is not going to help. Western Sahara will stay Moroccan because it was like that through history and that is why all Arab countries support Morocco except Algeria and libya before. Kings can come and go. And even if Morocco becomes a republic, the Sahara will stay Moroccan. It is actually what unites all Moroccans.
Any observer should respect Morocco for being able to be compared with all these nations that are rich with oil money. I dare you to list one that can be better than it without oil in Africa or Arab world.
Amazigh?
It is very painful to see the Berber (Amazigh) people being pitted against the Sahrawi. After all, you have common oppressors in the Moroccan state (despite the monarchy’s recent moves to recognize greater Berber cultural rights). The confusion, I suppose, is due to the hypocritical stance of the Algerian regime, which exploits the Sahrawi struggle for its own geopolitical purposes, while oppressing its own Berber population.
Polisario militia
Of course the Polisario is sending few hundred of it’s mercenaries to help Kaddafi who bankrolled their activities against Morocco, they are nothing more than Puppets in Algerian game of regional domination, they have a snow ball chance in he’ll of ever creating a country out of southern Morocco.
The Polisario sends each years few hundred kids to Cuba for their ” education” and training which comes in handy when helping Kaddafi massacre his own people.
“Puppets of Algeria” fight for …Qaddafi?
Um, how does that work again?
Again, “southern Morocco” is Tan-Tan Province. Western Sahara is occupied territory. Very convenient for you to dismiss those fighting for its independence as “puppets of Algeria.”
Polisario SEPARATIST GROUP AND MERCENARIES
I am truly GOBSMACKED to see that the argument still persists that the Sahara is not Moroccan and that the so called small group Polisario, a bunch of blood and money thirsty mercenaries, that I don’t even call separatists, they are a bunch of crooks who sold their silly butts for money to the Algerians and now are acting as terrorists killing innocent Libyans, so much for what they claim to be freedom fighters, killing our brothers and sisters, proving more than ever they are just a bunch of thugs, I hope the Libyan opposition gets all the weapons they can get and win this war against this evil Moammar Gaddafi and then kill or arrest all the Polisario elements they put their hands on, this way we can get rid of these rats for good.
Sahara is not Sahara, it is Morocco now and forever!
“Gobsmacked” by international law?
The “argument still persists”? Sorry, but you are in the minority position here. There is exactly one nation that recognizes Morocco’s claim to Western Sahara: Morocco. So under international law, the Sahrawis are no more “separatists” than the Palestinians. But then again, WRITING IN ALL CAPS MUST MEAN YOU ARE RIGHT.
DREAM ON DELUSIONAL!
Dream on, you are all so delusional about all this Sahara story, Algeria paid well to invent a whole bogus story about a country that has never existed in history! I will tell you one thing and that thing is the bottom line and go on for the rest of eternity trying to argue it however you want… CAPS OR NO CAPS, INTERNATIONAL LAW OR NO INTERNATIONAL LAW… THAT DESRT AIN’T GONNA EVER BE A SAHRAWI REPUBLIC EVER, STICK IT DEEP IN YOUR MIND, YOU A BUNCH OF MERCENARY THUGS OF A COUPLE HUNDRED THOUSAND HAVE TO KILL 36 MILLION MOROCCANS TO GET IT! IT’S OVER FOR YOUR UNLAWFUL CAUSE, LIVE WITH IT… Tis is my promise, you will never lay your hand on my land!!
“Delusional” is an adjective, not a noun
“International law or no international law”… Well, I’m glad you admit that it’s all about might-makes-right and not about political principle. So please don’t bother to call your enemies “mercenary thugs” or Algerian puppets or whatever. Once again: How does it feel to share the moral stance of the Zionist state?
Zno use of words how clever they might be put will
No use of words, how clever they might be put together, will make your case true or strong… You want to call us Zionists? Not only you are delusional but utterly PATHETIC!
International law has nothing to do with the question of moroccan Sahara, because it is a Moroccan Territory, how ever you want to put it you lose, live with it, you can distort the historical facts all you want you will waste your time and get nowhere, and yes after you mercenary thugs paid by algeria have attacked in the past isolated Moroccan military outposts, now you have had your butts kicked and whipped! End of the story for the creation of a puppet state run by a bunch of slaves to Algeria. Delusional is in fact your noun!
OK OK, zionists or not, international law or not, we’ll still kick your butt for wanting to steal our mother land… SAHARA HAS ALWAYS BEEN MOROCCAN, THERE HAS NEVER BEEN A STATE CALLED THE REPUBLIC OF SHARA IN HISTORY, THAT’S YOUR INVENTION AND WILL REMAIN SUCH… OH SORRY, POOR SAHRAWIS OCCUPIED BY THE NASTY MOROCCAN ZIONIST… AM LAUGHING OUT LOUD, GIVE ME A BREAK, ENOUGH ALREADY WITH THIS CRAP!
Morocco emulates Israel
Excuse me, the World Court has ruled that Western Sahara was never under Moroccan sovereignty. Morocco refuses to recognize the World Court decision, just like Israel. True that there has also never been an independent Western Sahara at any time in history; just as there has never been an independent Palestine at any time in history. So what? The Sahrawi are still entitled to self-determination. Unless you think that, as Golda Meir famously said of the Palestinians, the Sahrawi “don’t exist.” So enough with your crap, shukran habibi.
HISTORY DENIAL AND COMPARISON WITH ISRAEL IS LUDICROUS
HISTORY DENIAL AND COMPARISON WITH ISRAEL IS LUDICROUS BUT FOOLS NO ONE! 😉
Historically the Sahara is purely Moroccan 100%, denying it will not change it in any way or shape, stick this in your head as far as crap, we could go on arguing this back and forth however you want, the bottom line as I said is SHARA IS MOROCCO PERIOD THE END!
Face reality, even if I surrender here on this forum and tell you, ok ok so the Sahara is not Moroccan you can have it, you convinced me, ok… go and have it… what have you achieved? A good nothing, the reality on the ground is another, your cause is doomed to failure, because you know that every Moroccan would die for territorial integrity, our attachment and love for the mother land is far greater than the love you a bunch of rag tag guerrilla of bloody mercenaries have for money… Shame on you for killing Libyan people for money to keep a murderous criminal such as Gaddafi, may the libyan opposition give you the punishment you deserve. Greedy desert rats!
Oh, stop shouting already
Making assertions in all caps is what is not going to fool anyone. I make arguments; you respond with empty sloganizing and insults. Go tell the World Court that Western Sahara is “100% Moroccan.” In defying the World Court, Morocco is objectively in the same category as Israel and the Reagan administration (which continued the illegal war against Nicaragua in defiance of a ruling). Now, if you think the World Court really made a faulty judgement in the Western Sahara case, I challenge you to produce some evidence of this. I’ll be waiting.
Meanwhile, what do you mean “Shame on you for killing Libyan people for money”? I haven’t killed any Libyans.
Dude, I need no evidence to give you
The evidence is HISTORY, NOUGH said, to hell with international law, yes the judgement was faulty, what the hell was the Sahara before the spanish invaded it?? It was Morocco! YESSIR… MOROCCO… I SHOUT IT OUT LOUD… MOROCCO! We always claimed it back from the Spaniards! Look buddy, or if you want my enemy, this is a clear cut issue for me, the Spaniards and the French came, invaded us and changed the borders how they suited them, after the independence we wanted what we could take back that was part of the mother land, it does not matter to me that the Spaniards stayed in my Sahara for over a century, for me it always stayed Morocco, when they were leaving we went back to get our land back, now if some of the Sahrawis do not want the reintegration, too bad for them, they sold their soul to the Algerians for money and for empty promises, the Sahrawis would be better of with the Moroccans rather than under the influence of the messy Algerians, you just don’t get it…. No matter what any one wants and wishes, before any one can put their hands on that desert rest assured that every moroccan will give his soul to defend the mother land, don’t be fooled that I am someone who has no connection to the Sahara, a big part of my family is purely Sahrawi but they are attached to Morocco heart and soul, I stand by what the majority wants, 36 million Moroccans including Sahrawis against 200000 separatists who want to form a mini state at the mercy of Algeria, A BIG NO SIR!
Clearly you have invented your reality, you have studied the perfect language to use and the comparisons such as israel and Zionist that would make Morocco look very bad to the eyes of the Arabs, unfortunately for you, you won’t have any support from the Arabs, for all the Arabs are very well aware of the majestic history of Morocco and acknowledge its integrity, on the other side, you go around the western world like crybabies telling them how Morocco is occupying illegally a land just like Israelis are doing to Palestine, and this is your big mistake, the whole western world supports Israel first, so they don’t really like it when you attack Israel and deny its right to exist. The more you keep comparing the issue to the palestinian issue the more you keep shooting yourself in the feet, it does not work at all, only in your perception, that’s it. Look around you dear enemy, no one cares, no one listens to you, your struggle is doomed to failure because you are picking up a fight with real stubborn proud people, look at the glorious history of Morocco and learn that Moroccans will never surrender the mother land, EVER!
I don’t know who you are, I presume you are a Sahrawi, and maybe a Polisario member, hence maybe you are not picking up arms to go fight in Libya, but your buddies are doing it, doing the only thing they have ever done best, and that’s fighting as long as someone is paying.
Well keep on the struggle and come up with all the words and arguments you want… THE SAHARA IS MOROCCO TILL THE END OF TIME, THE SOONER YOU COME BACK TO YOUR MOTHER LAND AND START PROSPERING IN AUTONOMY THE BETTER WILL BE FOR YOUR CHILDREN AND FOR YOUR FAMILIES, AFTER ALL WE ARE ALL MOROCCAN BROTHERS, WITH THE EXCEPTION OF COURSE THAT YOU ARE THE TRAITORS. SALAM 😉
Dude, yes you do
Do you want to convince me (or anyone else)? Then yes, you do need to present some evidence. If you just want to make empty assertions and sloganize in all caps, you are wasting everyone’s time. Morocco may have “claimed” Western Sahara when it was ruled by Spain (just as it does today), but it never ruled it. Do you understand the difference? You are the one who is “inventing your own reality,” not me.
I am not Sahrawi, nor a Polisario member. I am a blogger in New York who believes in self-determination for all people.
Salaam Aleikum
HELL I DON’T! Then you are an ignorant and I met many like you
No I don’t and i could care lessto prove anything to you, what does it change for me?? We have the land and no matter how you waste your life blogging about it it will convince nobody… NOBODY! Deal with that!
You are an ignorant and I met many like you trying to do the activist crap stuff, I am a Moroccan, have been living 30 years around the world, have never LIVED IN morocco since, but if there is a war to defend the Sahara I would be the first on the front line to defend it to death. No I don’t want to convince you nor anyone else, i do not see the need since we have our land and we will defend it with all we have. Go study the history of Morocco Mr Blogger and see for how many centuries Morocco was not only all the way down to the Sahara but all the way to the Niger river.
Here is something for you to read, bear in mind, that yours is just an opinion about an issue somewhere in the world if you are an american, for me and all Moroccans, it’s our Motherland, study how Moroccans are stubborn fearless people ready to die for their land, just like the Americans, and by the way, we have the US on our side, too bad for your mercenary friends and their dirty agenda.
Best
IS THE SAHARA A MOROCCAN LAND OR NOT?
ZAK ETTAMYMY
am not going to hide my personal conviction and my genuine and honest opinion about this issue; I am a big supporter of Morocco’s sovereignty over the Sahara. But I would like to answer this question as we go through this article as unbiased as I can be.
To answer this question we need to go back in time, to a few milestones in the history of this region.
To me this question has two sub questions: one whether the Sahara is a region or is or can be a nation and whether it belongs to Morocco But first what makes a region part of a nation? if we take a look at world map, we would see many regions geographically separated and unfitted in the countries they fall under, many do fit geographically but they are under other nation’s authority and in some bizarre cases regions situated in a completely different continent than that of the sovereign nation (let’s not go too far, Sebta and Mellila, ex UK Hong Kong ) what makes a region part of a nation or not is simple and complicated at the same time
One may argue that the will of the people of the region in question is enough reason for the region to separate from the mother land, I disagree because the rest of the country may not think the same way, if the Kurds of Turkey think that they want a free Turkish Kurdistan, the Turkish person may not agree with that and since that land was Turkish for centuries the Turkish citizen has god given right to say no to dividing his country. This is why I strongly oppose any referendum in the Sahara, if the Sahara was a separate nation annexed by Morocco, then today’s Sahrawis can decide the future of their region BUT and this is what many opponents of Morocco don’t understand or simply ignore is that the Sahara was part of Morocco and any referendum must include thousands of families immigrated or simply moved around the country and settled in Zagoura, Marrakesh “example the father of the leader of the Polisario” etc.. These people should vote too! furthermore: if we listen to the Polisario, Algeria and some bloggers who ignore this fact a referendum in the Sahara would include Abdel Aziz, the leader of the Polisario, and not his father!! So, this ludicrous so-called solution is immature and should be out of question.
What makes Basque region Spanish? well for the same reasons the Spanish citizen has a right and a saying in the matter but above all the world community is not ready to divide these nations “Spain and Turkey” because they are prominent members of NATO and two of the top 20 world’s economies. This answers the question indirectly, what make a region belong to a nation or not is really how much the world community is willing to divide the sovereign country over that region not some obscure ideology.
if those innocent souls who claim to defend the Polisario cause know the origin of its ideology and its creators, they would be ashamed to associate themselves with them: USSR with 45 million lives on its conscience, Cuba with a devastated country and 0 rights for over 40 years and others with similar reputation” not to forget of course the Algerian regime which is the sole supporter of the Polisario, the creator and the financier. My problem with the Algerian theory is that it pretends to protect people’ right of self determination, this is a noble and respected ideology, France applied it in Algeria after 150 years of occupation, or should I say annexation, unfortunately, Algeria is now promoting an ideology that it does not apply on itself, not only Algeria did not apply the self-determination ideology on the territories it inherited from France. Algeria in the aftermath of its independence and booty inheritance shutoff all signs of dissidence, Algeria did not promote self-determination in the Touaregs, Sahara, Bashar, and Kabayl. Algeria did even more to keep its imperial inheritance by illegally displacing tens of thousand of Moroccans illegally and against all international laws. So to me the Algerian formula is plain xenophobic and schizophrenic and unworthy of consideration.
I looked at the following historical milestones long enough, I couldn’t find any legitimacy for the Polisario or its place in history, the Polisario was created to offset Morocco’s successful calls for the recovery of the Sahara by the Algerian generals to calm Morocco’s similar calls for its eastern territories eaten away by France and passed on to Algeria, Algeria got more than it aimed for, it extended what was supposed to be a passing cloud in the process of recovering the Sahara to a full blown conflict.
Consider:
1884 Spain entered The Sahara, a Moroccan land that the central power in Fez could not defend anymore; the cause and repercussion of this occupation is a subject by itself
1912 El Hibba Ma El Ainin, a proud Moroccan tribe leader from the Sahara, proclaimed sultan of Tiznit attacked the Gulaoui army and the French to liberate his country from the “roumis” and briefly occupied Marrakesh.
1930s and 40s the ALN fought against Spain, France came to the rescue many times the father of Mohammed Abelaziz “the leader of the Polisario” was a member of this army.
1950s Morocco was the first ever to demand the UN to look into ending the Spanish occupation of its southern territories “at the time you would not find Polisario in any dictionary”
1960s Morocco entered direct negotiations with Spain
1974 the creation of Polisario by the Warsaw block and Algerian money
1975 the Green March “Sahara was finally free and has been since that day”
Back to the question, the Sahrawis are ethnically and culturally identical to the Sahrawi’s from Zagoura region in the center of Morocco, the region has never been an established nation, the Sahara was never part of any neighboring nation, meaning was not annexed by Morocco, The Sahara was not Terra Nullius as 18 century Spanish propaganda claimed, The Sahara was always part of the Moroccan kingdom, two of the most prominent dynasties to have ruled Morocco are from that region and finally Morocco is the one to claim it after independence and to liberate it.
To me these are enough clues to solve this 33 year-old question: The Sahara is not a nation, the Sahara is a region; once this fact is established it becomes easier to solve the second part of the question.
Is this region Moroccan or not? The answer overwhelmingly leans to YES!
Algeria paid Billions of Dollars to promote the wrong answer to this question and to their credit they succeeded in persuading some poor countries to join the effort of mounting a front led by Algeria and followed by all people who need Algeria’s excess money such as South Africa Cuba and even the Kennedy Institute BUT I doubt that this collective effort is genuine, there are 60 to 80 thousand Sahrawis that might be against Morocco and Algeria found all this momentum for them while Millions in Darfur are ignored. This shows the double standards of the world community in dealing with issues with this nature, Tibetans will be more than happy with an autonomy, although they were annexed by China recently, Kurdistan resistance is considered a terrorist group by many world bodies, ETA in Spain is also a terrorist organization and has no chance of any international support, I can come up with a dozen of examples of regions far from having as close characteristics as the Sahara with Morocco and the world has chosen to ignore them, WHY? Simply because none of the neighboring countries of these nations chose to make this cause its crusade, Morocco is unfortunate to live in the wrong neighborhood
http://www.moroccoboard.com/viewpoint/55-zak-ettamymy/383-is-the-sahara-a-moroccan-land-or-not
The saying, don’t throw stones if you live in a glass house, does not apply on Algeria because they know Morocco never picks ups the stone and throw it back…at least it has not done it yet!
Ignorant is an adjective, but Sahara is not Morocco
Well, thanks to your friend Zak Ettamymy, at least we have something to argue about now. The fact that Fez could not defend Western Sahara says something, doesn’t it? The more accurate picture is that there never was much central government in Western Sahara before the Spanish arrived. There were mostly nomadic tribes that over the centuries sometimes claimed loyalty to Fez, and sometimes claimed loyalty to Bilad Chinguetti (in contemporary Mauritania), and sometimes to neither. The Sahrawi are today entitled to make up their own mind who they want to live under, but Morocco has been stalling on the UN-mandated referendum for 20 years now.
Personally, I support self-determination for the Kurds in Turkey (and Iran and Iraq and Syria), up to and including independence if that is what they choose. Same for the Basques under Spanish rule, Darfur under Sudanese rule, Kabilya under Algerian rule, and Puerto Rico under US rule.
This is my last post regarding this
How can you claim that the more accurate picture is that there was never a central government in western Sahara? You arrogantly state a fact you have no knowledge of, when there are historians who, including my father who was a professor at the university and a fighter in the resistance to oust the french during the occupation, we know far better our history than you can ever do, there are countless documents proving clearly the sovereignty of Morocco over the Sahara, as well as many territories like Tindouf now annexed by Algeria. For every Moroccan Morocco retook their land, for you and for a bunch of merely 200 thousand crooks it has never been MOROCCAN, as I told you, and here we stop, otherwise will be in this loop for ever, as I said, keep going about your theories, it’s fine by me, the issue is also political, Morocco will never EVER let the Sahara go because for us is the motherland, we will never allow a puppet state at the mercy of a regime such Algeria to take place, Morocco has equipped itself with the most modern weapons, re organized the army, bought many F16, it will be a suicide for your friends to regain it by force, diplomatically Moroccans as I told you, are stubborn, they are so attached to their land… RASD will never, and mark my words, will never ever exist.
Use your intellect, your clever comparisons with Israel/Palestine, all you want, what ever you try will not make your case any strong or Polisario true, we know our history and we know many reputable historians, both in the Arab world and in Europe who are experts on this issue, it’s what they say that counts more than your distorted versions of our history…
I have met people like you in Italy at a photography exhibition about the Polisario camps in Algeria, lecturing people on how the Moroccans occupied illegally the poor Sahrawis, when I objected that what he was claiming was merely the version the Polisario told him and that they were merely puppets of Algeria he was pretty aggressive to me, mad me laugh out loud, well I responded, dream on and carry on your dirty propaganda, the whole world knows Moroccans to be very good people, very friendly and offer hospitality, to anyone even to the traitors like the Polisarios.
Again, and I repeat, I have family who is Sahrawi, you are a foreigner trying to pretend to know our land and our history better than us…
By the way, the topic here was about Polisario mercenaries fighting for Gaddafi, how come you did not show your outrage for this fact, mmmh freedom fighters who go to kill Libyan people who are trying to free themselves from a tyrant such as Gaddafi, you have got some pretty double standards there, are the Libyan people not worthy of your care? Mmmmmh, I sense the feeling that you are a Polisario member prtending to be this sensitive American to the issue of your poor occupied people… Yeah, and American Blogger from New York, you gave yourself away by defending the Killing of Libyans by your mercenaries for money… suuuuh, freedom fighters my …..
This is the last post,
Do you promise?
Just because I am in New York does not mean I don’t have a realistic sense of the region’s history. There has been a lot written on it. (See my book review.) If “there are countless documents proving clearly the sovereignty of Morocco over the Sahara,” why did they fail to convince the World Court? And if you acknowledge that the Sahrawis exist, why are they not entitled to self-determination?
I certainly have nothing whatsoever against Moroccans, nor do I have any love for Qaddafi. The sooner he is overthrown, the happier I will be. But the only evidence that Polisario veterans are fighting for him is one article in Corriere della Sera. If it is true, it is a very sad development.
I promise Mr Bill
Yes that was really my last, I must apologize to you if I have been insulting, but the sahara issue to me is a very emotional one. The fight will go on, and I will never accept the surrender of our land, if you knew who I am and who I descend from you would understand. Even if Morocco decides to renounce to the Sahara and let a little puppet state to Algeria exist, and even if all Moroccans decided the same I would be the last to accept and if it was in my power I would do anything to fight such thing. Besides the ideological side to this issue, the real problem is Algeria, and come hell or high water we will never let Algeria get away with their dirty agenda.
All the best, and I am truly sorry of I have offended. Thanks
A stubborn Moroccan
Shukran, Mr. Stubborn Moroccan
We can agree on one thing, I hope: Algeria has exploited the Western Sahara conflict for its own geopolitical ends. I hope you will come to recognize the possibility for an independent Western Sahara which is not an Algerian puppet state—and, maybe one day, a federated Maghreb in which all peoples have self-government and national borders will no longer be so important. Thanks for reading.
Bill
Sahara
Everybody remember the alouite dynasty? Eh!!! Everybody come on!
Of course you dont because you never studies our history EH! AND YET YOU COMPALIN! EH?
Morocco ruled an empire from spain to Ghana The motherland of morocco to west libya.
Please dont Chat Shit! i grew up as a wealthy kid and i am not stubborn I dont carer what you lot say and No i am not from the imperial city of morocco im from the rif mountins and if you think about it the rif mountions is birthplace of Berber and the king is part berber. VIVA MAGHRIB
So do you think Morocco should rule Spain too?
The notion that a contemporary nation has a God-given right to rule every piece of territory that it held at its maximum extent of expansion centuries ago is a barbaric absurdity. The Zionists use identical arguments to justify their hold on the West Bank, as I pointed out above. Nice company you are in.
But wait, When spain and
But wait, When spain and france took over morocco they made our land smaller. the orignall map would have been moroocco have the city of oran to the northen part of mauritina and that was the remains of the moroccon empire.
What is your point?
I had not heard that Morocco ever held Oran, but I’ve acknowledged that the Moroccan empire’s southern border has shifted back and forth across the desert over the centuries. So what? It has no bearing on the contemporary question of Western Sahara. Unless you think that Turkey should have the right to rule Iraq (and, for that matter, Oran) based on the old borders of the Ottoman Empire.
Response to the debate (do I really wantget invovled in this…?
Dear anonymous,
It appears that you have a pre-determined belief that Western Sahara is part of Morocco and nothing will change your mind. That’s fine. But your argument is actually that of the long-standing Moroccan doctrine of a Greater Morocco which is more modern than ancient. A Greater Morocco would not only include W. Sahara, but Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, and the lands/list goes on. The bottom line is that Morocco is an imperialist nation with desires to control regions far beyond its reach (take Mauritania in the 70s for example). Because it cannot have what it wants, it resorts to torture, harassment and obfuscation of its imperialist desires to control most of North Africa and the northern regions of Sub-Saharan Africa. However one wants to understand this idea of a Greater Morocco as real or fiction, how does it relate to such verifiable facts as the 35 year history of Moroccan security forces torturing and disappearing the Sahrawi people? This is not fiction or fantasy. I’ve met Sahrawi men and women in the refugee camps and in Spain (who by the way are not Polisario), who have missing fingers, burns, etc.; I’ve also met with families who’ve had their family members disappeared either when captured during battle or pulled from their apartments at night; all at the hands of Moroccan security forces. One better known example is Aminatou Haidar. She’s not Polisario nor part of SADR/RASD. She was held in prison and blindfolded for over 3 years. With practices like that, the moral upper hand of Morocco’s claim to WS is lost. In reality, WS is a small population (in part characterized by an ethnic mix of Berber, Arab-originally from Yemen–and African who speak a particular Arabic dialect that is not Moroccan!), who live in a mineral rich land. Why do they have such little support, even though the UN and the African Union and the International Court of Justice acknowledge their right for self-determination and independence? Answer: because Morocco was first a Western ally in the Cold War against Algeria and other anti-American/Western nations that attempted to free themselves from American influence, and now Morocco is an ally in the fight against terrorism and al-queda. BUT WAIT, wasn’t it recently reported (in Janurary of February) that Morocco was harboring al-queda militants?…and when publicity of their presence became known, Morocco quickly announced they had been arrested? Once again, Morocco has lost its moral credibility. The bottom line is that if there were no phosphates or fisheries in WS, Morocco and, I would bet you Mr. Anonymous, wouldn’t give a shit about it. After all, before the 60s, it was a largely un-inhabited desert that was home primarily to Sahrawi who are nomadic and who’s home was centered in WS, but also included the southern region of Morocco (also once part of the Spanish colony), SW Algeria, Mauritania, etc. It wasn’t until the Green March and afterward that Moroccans (often with financial incentives) moved south to occupy the country in an effort to populate it with non-Sahrawi Moroccans and to give the country the appearance of it being “Moroccan.” The end game, if there is one, is that once Morocco is no longer needed by the US, France, Saudi Arabia or Israel (who helped engineer for Morocco the worlds largest land-mined wall that stretches throughout WS), they will stop paying the country’s rent with lavish subsidies, and then its true role as an inexpensive vacation destination for the rich, famous and powerful will become self-evident. In conclusion, as Chomsky said, the Arab Spring began in Western Sahara last October and November, when 20,000 Sahrawi congregated outside el Aaiun and formed a symbolic refugee camp to peacefully demand equal access to work and health care. The result? Moroccan forces shoot and kill a 14 year old boy and severely wound several other kids who were trying to bring food and water to their families. Several days later, they then burn down the tents while shooting into the crowds, thereby leaving unknown numbers dead (in the dozens) and wounded (in the hundreds). So whatever the Polisario might or might not be doing in Libya, one thing is certain: it is being reported for purely propagandistic purposes in an effort to ensure that Morocco retains the support from the West to allow it to continue to illegally occupy WS, regardless if the Polisario is in fact fighting for Libya or not.