Wednesday, December 4FROM THE RIVER TO THE SEA, PALESTINE WILL BE FREE

Sahara

THE LAST COLONY: BEYOND DOMINANT NARRATIVES ON THE WESTERN SAHARA ROUNDTABLE
Algeria, Morocco, Sahara

THE LAST COLONY: BEYOND DOMINANT NARRATIVES ON THE WESTERN SAHARA ROUNDTABLE

Posted by MESPI Editors       By : Stephen Zunes [This is one of seven pieces in Jadaliyya`s electronic roundtable on the Western Sahara. Moderated by Samia Errazzouki and Allison L. McManus, it features contributions from John P. Entelis, Stephen Zunes, Aboubakr Jamaï, Ali Anouzla, Allison L. McManus, Samia Errazzouki, and Andrew McConnell.] Western Sahara is a sparsely-populated territory about the size of Italy, located on the Atlantic coast in northwestern Africa, just south of Morocco. Traditionally inhabited by nomadic Arab tribes, collectively known as Sahrawis and famous for their long history of resistance to outside domination, the territory was occupied by Spain from the late 1800s through the mid-1970s. With S...
Upsurge in repression challenges nonviolent resistance in Western Sahara
Algeria, Morocco, Sahara

Upsurge in repression challenges nonviolent resistance in Western Sahara

Sahrawis have engaged in protests, strikes, cultural celebrations, and other forms of civil resistance focused on such issues as educational policy, human rights, the release of political prisoners, and the right to self-determination. They have also raised the cost of occupation for the Moroccan government and increased the visibility of the Sahrawi cause. Stephen Zunes Aminatou Haidar and Sahrawi activists On November 8, Moroccan occupation forces attacked a tent city of as many as 12,000 Western Saharans just outside of Al Aioun, in the culminating act of a months-long protest of discrimination against the indigenous Sahrawi population and worsening economic conditions.   Not only was the scale of the crackdown unprecedented, so was the popular...
Western Sahara: Morocco recalls Tunisia ambassador over Polisario Front invite
Africa, Algeria, Morocco, Sahara

Western Sahara: Morocco recalls Tunisia ambassador over Polisario Front invite

Move comes after President Kais Saied welcomed leader of independence movement to Tunis ahead of African summit Tunisia's President Kais Saied (R) with the head of the Polisario Front movement, Brahim Ghali, on the latter's arrival in Tunis on 26 August 2022 (Reuters) By MEE and agencies Morocco has recalled its ambassador to Tunisia over his country's decision to host the head of the Polisario Front, the independence movement for Western Sahara, in Tunis.  The disputed former Spanish colony is classified as a "non-self-governing territory" by the United Nations, and has been the source of a decades-long conflict between Sahrawi independence campaigners and Rabat, which claims it as its own. Tunisian President Kais Saied received Polisario ...
SAHRAWI PEOPLE
Algeria, Morocco, Sahara

SAHRAWI PEOPLE

Posted by: John Phoenix Photo: Dikó Betancourt Sahrawi man in Tindouf Refugee Camp, Algeria The Sahrawi, or Saharawi, are the people living in the western part of the Sahara desert which includes Western Sahara (claimed by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Saguia el-Hamra and mostly controlled by Morocco), other parts of southern Morocco and the extreme southwest of Algeria. As with most peoples living in the Sahara, the Sahrawi culture is mixed. It shows mainly Arab-Berber characteristics, like the privileged position of women, as well as characteristics common to ethnic groups of the Sahel. Sahrawis are composed of many tribes and are largely speakers of the Hassaniya dialect of Arabic, and some of them still speak Berber in both of Morocco's disputed a...
BIDEN’S DANGEROUS REFUSAL TO REVERSE TRUMP’S WESTERN SAHARA POLICY
Algeria, Morocco, Sahara

BIDEN’S DANGEROUS REFUSAL TO REVERSE TRUMP’S WESTERN SAHARA POLICY

Trump recognized the wholesale annexation of one country by another. If Biden lets that stand, the global implications are deeply troubling. By Stephen Zunes  In his final weeks in office, President Donald Trump stunned the international community in formally recognizing Western Sahara as part of Morocco. Morocco has occupied much of its southern neighbor since 1975, when it invaded and annexed the former Spanish colony in defiance of the United Nations Security Council and a landmark ruling of the International Court of Justice. Most observers believed that, as with some of Trump’s other impetuous foreign policy decisions, President Joe Biden would reverse it soon after coming to office. However, much to the disappointment of bipartisan congressional leaders, career State De...
Western Sahara Conflict: Analyzing the Illegal Occupation (1973-Present)
Algeria, Morocco, Sahara

Western Sahara Conflict: Analyzing the Illegal Occupation (1973-Present)

BY DANIEL FALCONE – STEPHEN ZUNES Photograph Source: Zarateman – CC0 Stephen Zunes is an international relations scholar, activist, and professor of politics at the University of San Francisco. Zunes, the author of numerous books and articles, including his latest, Western Sahara: War, Nationalism, and Conflict Irresolution (Syracuse University Press, revised and expanded second edition, 2021) is a widely read scholar and critic of American foreign policy. In this extensive interview, Zunes breaks down the history (1973-2022) of the political instability in the region. Zunes also traces Presidents George W. Bush (2000-2008) to Joseph Biden (2020-Present) as he highlights US diplomatic history, geography, and people of this historic borderland. He states how the...
The U.S. Role in the Moroccan Occupation of Western Sahara
Africa, Morocco, Sahara, USA, ZIO-NAZI

The U.S. Role in the Moroccan Occupation of Western Sahara

ELAINE PASQUINI Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, June/July 2022, pp. 54-55 Waging Peace ON APRIL 13, experts addressed the issue of Morocco’s occupation of Western Sahara in a webinar co-hosted by the Campaign to End the Occupation of the Western Sahara, the Institute of the Black World 21st Century and the Pan African Unity Dialogue. Bill Fletcher, co-coordinator of the Campaign, moderated the discussion. In 1974, Spain decided to end its control over Western Sahara and allow the native Sahrawis to hold a referendum to determine their future. However, due to legal objections by Morocco and Mauritania, the referendum, slated for 1975, never occurred.  The U.S. also apparently played a role in preventing the Western Saharans from choosing between ...
أحـكام غيـر شرعيـة في حق المدافعيـن الصحراوييـن عن حقوق الإنسان “جـمال اهروش ” و “حمزة بوحريكة” تجاوزت 15 شهرا سجنا نافذا
Morocco, Sahara

أحـكام غيـر شرعيـة في حق المدافعيـن الصحراوييـن عن حقوق الإنسان “جـمال اهروش ” و “حمزة بوحريكة” تجاوزت 15 شهرا سجنا نافذا

أصدرت بتاريخ 30 تشرين ثاني / نوفمبر 2021 ، هيئة محكمة الاستئناف بكلميم التابعة لقوة الاحتلال المغربي أحكاما غير شرعية و ظالمة في حق السجينين السياسيين و المدافعين الصحراويين عن حقوق الانسان “جمال اهروش ” و “حمزة بوحريكة “، عضوي سكريتاريا اللجنة المحلية بكلميم لتجمع المدافعين الصحراويين عن حقوق الانسان بالصحراء الغربية CODESA . و قد جاءت هذه الأحكام على الشكل التالي : – 15 شهرا سجنا نافذا في حق “جمال أهروش ” ، الذي كان قد صدر ضده حكما ابتدائيامدته 03 سنوات سجنا نافذا . – 07 أشهر سجنا نافذا ضد “حمزة بوحريكة”، الذي كان قد حوكم ابتدائيا بسنة واحدة سجنا نافذا . تبقى الإشارة إلى أن المدافعين عن حقوق الانسان و السجينين السياسيين الصحراويين المذكورين كانا قد تعرضا للاعتقال السياسي بتاريخ 14 ايلول / سبتمبر 2021 رفقة زميلهما “جلال بوشعاب “، الذي حوكم ابتدائيا بما قضى داخل السجن ...
إعتقال و تعذيب نائب رئيس السكرتارية المحلية لمنظمة كوديسا
Morocco, Sahara

إعتقال و تعذيب نائب رئيس السكرتارية المحلية لمنظمة كوديسا

في إطار الإستهداف الممنهج لأعضاء تجمع المدافعين الصحراويين عن حقوق الإنسان بالصحراء الغربية CODESA ، قامت قوة الإحتلال المغربي بإعتقال وتعنيف المدافع الصحراوي عن حقوق الإنسان الناشط السياسي والمعطل #سيديعبدالصادقلكتيف ( 29 سنة) نائب رئيس السكرتارية المحلية لتجمع المدافعين الصحراويين عن حقوق الإنسان CODESA بالطنطان. وقد أقدمت اجهزة قوة الإحتلال المغربي مساء يوم الأحد 21 فبراير / شباط 2022 حوالي الساعة 23.00 على إعتقال وتعنيف وضرب بشكل مبرح الناشط الحقوقي و السياسي الصحراوي #سيديعبدالصادقلكتيف بمبرر عدم إرتدائه الكمامة ولكن خلفية الإنتقام حاضرة بقوة في التعاطي مع نشاطه الحقوقي و السياسي السلمي، حيث عمدت على تعذيبه في الشارع العام ونقله الى المستشفى المحلي “الحسن الثاني” في حالة خطيرة بعد إصابته بكسر على مستوى الصدر كما تظهر ذلك صور الأشعة الطبية التي أخذت له بنفس المستشفى جراء التعنيف ،...
Free Sahara: Saultana Sidbrahim Khayya
Sahara

Free Sahara: Saultana Sidbrahim Khayya

‎الناجم غلا‎ is with    من خلال مكالمتي اليوم معها عقب حادثة البارحة: سلطانة تبدوا تتألم في صمت وهي طريحة الفراش تحت وطأة ألم إبر غرست في جنبها البارحة حدثتني على عجالة ذهلت فيها من هول رؤياها وهي تئن وتتلوى وتقول الحياة حياة واحدة نخلة من نخيل بابل... وشجرة زيتون يمتد عرقها من العيون إلى الأقصى.. وثورية تصاهر فيها جمال الثورة مع جمال الإخلاص والوفاء ... هي حواء الوطن وأنثى العيون قبل بوجدور وآيه العهد والوفاء للوطن نضالك شعتي بيه أعليك ... بسم الله أعرف لميليكيسلطانة خية عن فيك ... دماي العهد ؤلمانةوأعلى عهد الشهيد أيديك... كزيتيهم رغم العانافؤادك من حزن ؤعينيك... لنگلعو نصرة فدانايسلطانة تميتي بيك .... فخرة لفلان ؤلفلانة وأمرة للوطن ثورية .... حزتي بأمجادك مكانةزينة بالنصر إعلانية... صابلهم گالو سلطانة #أنقذوا_سلطانة_خية#لا_للإستكانة_مع_آلام_سلطانة#أوفوا_بالعهد_...