Category Archives: Political issues

Morocco’s Economy Is Sinking, but Its King Prefers the Bright Lights of Paris

Zvi Bar’el, Haaretz | Middle East News, Sep 22, 2022

The king of Morocco, Mohammed VI, is a sick man. He underwent heart surgery two years ago and this year came down with the coronavirus.
The country has been spending millions of dollars on military hardware but still hasn’t recovered from the effects of a serious drought and the COVID pandemic. Youth unemployment is soaring, along with rental prices and public outrage

Article

YouTube recording : 8 June webinar “Morocco’s Autonomy Proposal vs Independence in Western Sahara

June 8, 2022

Host:
Bill Fletcher, Jr.
Panelists:
Katlyn Thomas
Stephen Zunes

Webinar “Morocco’s Autonomy Proposal vs Independence in Western Sahara: What Solution is Best for Africa’s Last Colony?” presented by The Campaign to End the Occupation of the Western Sahara in partnership with the Institute of the Black World 21st Century and the Pan African Unity Dialogue .

Webinar explores the scope and the pitfalls of Morocco’s ‘autonomy plan’ put forward by Morocco as the ‘solution’ to the conflict.

Watch here on YouTube

Continue reading →

Jamie Parker, MP recognises the work of the Australia Western Sahara Association in NSW Parliament

Jamie Parker, Member of the Legislative Assembly of New South Wales recently recognised the work of the Australia Western Sahara Association in a Community Recognition Statement read in Parliament on 23 March 2022.

Community Recognition Statement
“Today I would like to recognise the work of the Australia Western Sahara Association whose aim is to raise awareness and promote the Saharawi cause in Australia. The independence struggle in Western Sahara closely mirrors that of the East Timorese. In 1975 when the colonial power Spain withdrew, the neighbouring country, Morocco, invaded. Many Saharawi fled to desert refugee camps. A war ensued until a UN-sponsored ceasefire was declared in 1991 when a referendum was promised. …(cont.)

Community-Recognition-Statement-CertificateDownload
Continue reading →

May 2022: Amnesty International reports on the targeted assault on Sahrawi women activists

In response to increasing concerns about the status and safety of Sahrawi activists in Western Sahara, particularly following five separate issues in April, Amnesty International has issued a call for an investigation into police and security forces who are said to have assaulted five Sahrawi women who voiced support for Sultana Khaya.

The details of the attack are serious and are outlined in Amnesty’s call for action following its own investigation. Amnesty’s extensive report on the violence faced by the five women was published on 27 May and can be found here.

New York Support Group for the Independence of Western Sahara sends letter to the UN Security Council

13 April 2022
The New York Support Group has sent an open letter to the members of the UN Security Council in anticipation of the meeting on 20 April on the mandate of MINURSO.

Group members V. Ramos (AAJ) and A. Al Hussain (CONASADH) ask Western Sahara support groups to circulate it immediately to your social networks, to the media in Australia, as well as to political representatives (parties, parliamentarians, members of the government, foreign ministry officials).

NY Support Group letter 13 April 2022Download

“U.S. Hypocrisy on Ukraine”: Biden Admin Remains Silent on Morocco’s Occupation of Western Sahara

DemocracyNow, March 21, 2022

Amy Goodman talks with Stephen Zunes, professor of politics and international studies at the University of San Francisco

“The disparity between U.S. treatment of the two countries reveals Western hypocrisy and discrimination when it comes to countries that are not white, Christian and European, says Stephen Zunes, professor of politics and international studies at the University of San Francisco. He adds that U.S. policy on Western Sahara emboldens Putin’s claims on Ukraine (cont…),

View DemocracyNow podast

Western Sahara support groups release a strong statement on TICAD8, the Japan-organized forum on African development

The forum is to be held in Tunisia in August 2022. Friends of Western Sahara Japan and Africa Japan Forum (AJF) are calling on the Japanese government to include Western Sahara just like the EU-AU summit did in Brussels.

They demand that Western Sahara (SADR) be included in the list of invitees of the Japanese government. As the EU-AU summit in last February included Western Sahara, there is no reason that Japan excludes it.

Statement on TICAD8, 9 April 2022

Exclusive: Sahrawi Activist Sultana Khaya Speaks from Moroccan-Imposed House Arrest in Western Sahara

March, 21, 2022

Sultana Khaya speaks about her de facto house arrest for nearly 500 days

Watch Video or click on image

In an exclusive interview, Democracy Now speaks with prominent Sahrawi human rights activist Sultana Khaya in occupied Western Sahara. Moroccan authorities have held her and her family under de facto house arrest for nearly 500 days, where she has been subjected to harassment and sexual abuse. A delegation of U.S.-based activists arrived at her home last week to break the siege and ward off police surveillance.

Guests
Adrienne Kinne, peace activist, former U.S. Army sergeant and former president of Veterans for Peace.
Sultana Khaya, prominent Sahrawi human rights activist.
Stephen Zunes, professor of politics and international studies at the University of San Francisco.

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