Category Archives: General

Australian tour 3-29 June – Mohamed Mayara, Saharawi journalist and human rights advocate

Australia Western Sahara Association is hosting Mohamed Mayara, journalist, political activist, human rights defender and trade unionist who lives in occupied Western Sahara.
Mohamed is visiting Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney and Canberra.
The tour is generously supported by Union Aid Abroad-APHEDA.

Forthcoming events in Sydney, and Canberra 16-26 June

SYDNEY / WARRANE 16-22 JUNE

Sunday 16 June, 1.00pm*
Palestine Rally, supported by Palestine Action Group Sydney
Mohamed Mayara is one of the listed speakers.
Belmore Park, Central
*Check at link above in case the time has changed on the day.

Monday 17 June, 6 pm
Panel Discussion – Life under occupation in Western Sahara & the pathway to freedom
Maritime Union of Australia,
365-375 Sussex Street, Sydney
Mohamed Mayara, Convenor, Equipe Media. Ntina Tzouvala, Associate Professor at the College of Law, Australian National University. Other panellist tbc
Free event; Refreshments available; Donations welcome
Supported by MUA, APHEDA and GLW

Wednesday 19 June, 12.30 pm
Western Sahara & the struggle for human rights today More information
ABS Case Study Lecture Theatre 2080.
Level 2, University of Sydney Business School (H70)
Cnr Abercrombie St and Codrington St, Darlington
Screening of 3 Stolen Cameras, in which members of Equipe Media fight to keep their cameras in Western Sahara. Followed by a Q&A and discussion with Mohamed Mayara, coordinator of Equipe Media, and Assoc.Prof Lynette Riley, Chair of Aboriginal Education and Indigenous Studies, USyd., Rand Darwish, Palestinian advocate and community organiser, working on intersectional solidarities, with the student movement and in film.
Free event; Light Refreshments served after the event; Donations welcome.
Supported by NTEU, APHEDA

Thursday 20 June at 5.20 pm
Workers rights – human rights in Western Sahara
Auditorium at Trades Hall, entrance via 377 Sussex Street, Sydney
A short talk by Mohamed Mayara, human rights defender, journalist and trade unionist.
Sponsored by Unions NSW

Saturday 22 June, 2 pm – Blue Mountains (Download poster)
Film screening and discussion
Africa’s last colony – a desert for journalists
Leura Uniting Church
Cnr Grose St and Megalong St, Leura
Screening of 3 Stolen Cameras (17 mins) in which members of Equipe Media fight to keep their cameras in Western Sahara – followed by a panel discussion and Q&A with Mohamed Mayara, Kamal Fadel, Western Sahara Representative in Australia and New Zealand, and Kathie Herbert, Chairperson of the Blue Mountains Refugee Support Group (BMRSG).
This is a free event; Donations welcome. Afternoon tea provided
Supported by Australia Cuba Friendship Society, APHEDA

CANBERRA / NGAMBRI 24-26 June

Wednesday 26 June, 6 pm (Download poster)
Panel discussion and a short documentary
ANU Latin American Students’ Association and Australia Western Sahara Association will host a screening of 3 Stolen Cameras, a documentary on Western Sahara resistance to Morrocan occupation. Panel discussion with Mohamed Mayara, Saharawi journalist, Kamel Fadel, Western Sahara Representative in Australia and New Zealand, and Leah House, Black Peoples Union.
ANU Copland Building
24 Kingsley Pl, Acton ACT 2601
The event is free.

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Article: Why the U.S. Should Embrace Neutrality in Western Sahara

Why a US reversion towards supporting MINURSO could bring liberation and rehabilitation to Western Sahara.

“The Biden administration would be wise to absorb the lessons from Gaza and Ukraine, recognizing that ‘frozen’ conflicts don’t stay frozen forever. A bold and proactive American approach could forestall the onset of another significant conflict. Given the opportunity, the people of Western Sahara might finally complete their protracted march toward peace and autonomy—a journey they embarked upon far too many years ago”

See below:

Why the U.S. Should Embrace Neutrality in Western Sahara

MOROCCO EXPOSED: POLITICO article lays bare the Kingdom’s bribery of EU officials

“The probe that would become Qatargate began after Belgium was tipped off by “a trusted European intelligence service” that two Italian members of the European Parliament had been bribed by Moroccan spies to “promote the Kingdom’s interests” in the chamber, according to the first Belgian secret services report of the investigation, obtained by POLITICO. “

Read on in the article attached. Written by Elisa Braun and Barbara Moens.

https://www.politico.eu/article/morocco-corrupt-european-parliament-union-qatargate-bribery-scandal-eu/

Press release on arbitrary Moroccan detention of Saharawi Gdeim Izik activists

The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has deemed the imprisonment of 24 Sahrawi activists at Gdeim Izik in 2010 as illegal, urging the Rabat to immediately release the group.

The body also urged the Kingdom to ensure reparations, an investigation into the arbitrary deprivation of liberty, and to take actions against those responsible.

Full press release from the League for the Protection of Saharawi Political Prisoners held within Moroccan jails (LPPS) can be found below.

-Press-Release-Gdeim-Izik-UN-WGAD Download

Motion supporting Western Sahara passed without debate at ALP National Conference

The Australia Western Sahara Association (AWSA) is delighted that the Australian Labor
Party (ALP) expressed support for self-determination for the people of Western Sahara, at its National Conference in Brisbane on 17-19 August 2023.

The motion adopted at the recent ALP Conference reads:
“Labor strongly supports the United Nations in its efforts to enable the people of Western Sahara to exercise their inalienable right to self-determination in accordance with United Nations resolutions and the 1990 Settlement Plan and supports the organisation without delay of the promised UN referendum of self-determination. In pursuit of individual freedom and human rights, Labor supports the United Nations mandating its mission MINURSO to monitor and report on the human rights situation in the Territory.”

See attached proposed resolution and media release below.

*Proposed* *Resolution 130R, Chapter 7: “Labor strongly supports the United Nations in its efforts to enable the people of Western Sahara to exercise their inalienable right to self-determination”*, *passed*

AWSA-MR-ALP-Conferemce-Resolution-2 Download

Moroccan officials intimidate AWSA members at African unity event

In Canberra on Thursday, May 25th, three AWSA members and Western Sahara representative to Australia Kamal Fadel were intimidated by Moroccan embassy staff. Kamal Fadel was directly blocked whilst attempting to enter Albert Hall, for an event commemorating the establishment of the Organisation of African Unity (now the African Union).

They were officially invited to this event, and had every intention of peacefully attending it. With the help of ambassadors accredited to Australia, all four were safely escorted inside.

Members attempting to enter Albert Hall (*supplied*)

Founders of the OAU in 1963. (*South African History Online)*

The Saharawi struggle for independence against the Moroccan regime is a Pan-Africanist struggle. It is clear that neocolonial occupiers of Western Sahara do not value this principle.

Article from the Guardian (written by Ben Doherty), below:

theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/may/31/moroccan-officials-accused-of-intimidation-after-fracas-at-african-unity-event-in-canberra

University of Sydney Forum

Two student societies from the University of Sydney have organised a forum on “The Struggle for National Liberation in Western Sahara”, in collaboration with AWSA. The Political Economy Society (EcopSoc) and the Autonomous Collective Against Racism (ACAR) will host Polisario representative Kamal Fadel and Dr Randi Irwin of the University of Newcastle on Thursday, May 18th at 18:00.

All members are encouraged to attend this event. Kamal and Randi will discuss the colonial history of the region, its current impacts on Australian affairs, strategies for decolonisation and more. It appropriately falls between the 50th anniversary of both the founding of the Polisario Front and commencement of the armed struggle at El-Khanga.

A Q&A session will follow, as well as a chance to discuss all matters Western Sahara at Hermann’s bar thereafter! The Forum will take place on Gadigal Land, in the Quad Refectory Room H113 (USyd, Camperdown/ Darlington). See event flyer and Facebook page below.

https://fb.me/e/3CaVNNeuS

Western Sahara film database

Madrid-based NGO Nomads HRC have collated a comprehensive, searchable online database of films on Western Sahara. Contact information and links are provided to films or documentaries that are publicly available. This is an open, collaborative project, so do contact Nomads if you have any queries or notice any errors. See links below.

Nomads Films catalogue

Contact Nomads HRC

Western Sahara Is Still Fighting for Freedom

Sahrawi women display Sahrawi flags during a demonstration on 18 June 2021 in Madrid, Spain (Photo by Isabel Infantes/Getty Image)

By Eoghan Gilmartin
Tribune, 5 April 2022

‘We are being told by the West to simply accept our reality—the reality of occupation,’ Sahrawi journalist Nazha El Khalidi tells Tribune. ‘Why don’t we have the same right to self-determination as the Ukrainians? This hypocrisy shows you the real face of Europe and Spain, who are more interested in our land and resources than in the people of Western Sahara.’ (cont….)

Read full article

Climate Colonialism: Why Was Occupied Western Sahara Excluded from COP26 U.N. Summit in Scotland?

Democracy Now Nov 17, 2021

Activists are criticizing the British government for excluding Western Sahara, occupied by Morocco since 1975, from the U.N. climate summit COP26 in Glasgow Scotland. Meanwhile, Morocco is counting renewable energy developments in Western Sahara towards its own climate pledges.

Negotiators from Western Sahara independently announced a plan to reduce carbon emissions outside COP26, as the climate crisis has brought extreme weather conditions including drought, extreme heat and flooding to the region.

In an interview last week in Glasgow, Scotland while COP26 was underway, Amy Goodman talked with Oubi Bouchraya Bachir, a representative of the Polisario Front for Europe and the European Union, and climate change consultant Nick Brooks, who has traveled to Western Sahara for decades to carry out archaeological and palaeo-environmental fieldwork and helped release the Sahrawi climate plan adjacent to the COP26.