When
I saw the picture of
tens of thousands demonstrating in Morocco’s
capital Rabat in support of Palestinian
self-determination, I had very mixed
emotions. For sure, among the masses of
Moroccans, there has been a longstanding
movement of support for Palestine. Yet, I
asked: when will it come to pass that tens of
thousands of Moroccans demonstrate in favor of
self-determination rights for the Sahrawi people
who are being tortured, disappeared, and their
national identity obliterated just outside
Morocco’s border?
It
is ironic how impassioned Moroccans can be in
their solidarity with the Palestinian people,
only to fall silent at best or -- as is more
often the case – passionately reject the same
solidarity that the human rights community
expresses for the Sahrawi people’s
struggle.
Indeed,
even among some of the most progressive segments
of Moroccan society one still finds chauvinistic
support for the Moroccan occupation of Western
Sahara. One reason given for this is that
Moroccans consider Israel to be a foreign
colonial power occupying Arab land whom
Palestinians are righteously opposing, whereas
Morocco is rightfully governing a territory and
is opposed by a mere secessionist insurgency
within its borders.
Think
about that for a moment. Morocco has an
extremely repressive monarchy that —irrationally
— turned away foreign assistance in the face of
the cataclysmic earthquake of September 2023; it
has a very poor record across every major human
rights metric and is one of the world's worst
offenders with particular respect to freedom of
expression; and has refused to abide by repeated
United Nations resolutions and initiatives to
bring about a just conclusion to the Sahrawi
demands for self-determination. It’s even
more striking considering that Morocco’s
extensive focus on deploying a large portion of
its military in occupied Western Sahara has
hampered its military’s efforts to rescue the
victims of the recent earthquake – as described
in our previous newsletter.
Humans
possess the ability to hold, within their minds,
completely contradictory and/or inconsistent
viewpoints. This happens all the
time. It is in obvious evidence throughout
Morocco’s capital Rabat, where mass protests in
support of Palestinian statehood are adding to
years of demonstrations against the Moroccan
Government’s domestic policy failures. Despite
landmark rulings by international courts
completely rejecting Morocco’s claims to Western
Sahara, the demands of the Sahrawi people, and
resolutions by the African Union and the UN, the
Moroccan Monarchy fights on. The King
insists, with the support of Washington, that
there is no reason Morocco needs to abide by
global sentiment, not to mention the sentiment
of the Sahrawi people who see the Polisario
Front and the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic
as their designated representatives.
Watching
the demonstrations, I was also reminded of how
my “gut” responded to Morocco’s success in the
2022 FIFA World Cup. Like many other fans,
I was thrilled to have an African presence doing
such an exceptional job. But, at the end
of the day, I could not look to a hoped-for
Moroccan victory as a victory for Africa or the
Arab World. The longer the Moroccan
occupation of Western Sahara remains in place,
the longer the Sahrawi will be subjected to
horrendous state-sponsored human rights abuses,
and the deeper the stain on Morocco’s
reputation.
Western
Sahara must be free!
This
commentary is a monthly newsletter
Eye
on Western Sahara, created
by the
US-based Campaign
to End the Moroccan
Occupation
of Western Sahara
(freewesternsahara.org). The
Campaign
is
a diverse coalition of individuals
committed
to international justice and
respect
for national self-determination.
The
campaign is broad and non-partisan
and
includes people from across the
entire
political spectrum.
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