A new report by the Washington Post sheds light on migrants who went missing in the Mediterranean with inadequate identification efforts, leaving families in anguish.
Over the past decade, the Mediterranean Sea, separating Europe from the MENA region, has transformed into a theater of mass tragedy. Of the over 2 million migrants from sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East who have undertaken the perilous journey, at least 28,000 remain missing.
A recent report by The Washington Post details the tragedies that irregular migration has claimed in the Mediterranean.
The first quarter of 2023 marked the deadliest period in the central Mediterranean since 2017, as reported by the International Organization for Migration. Director General António Vitorino expressed his deep concern that these deaths may have “been normalized”.
Shockingly, of the known deceased, only 13 percent of the bodies are ever recovered by European authorities, as estimated by the International Committee of the Red Cross.
The vast majority of those who perish are never identified. The chances of a relative receiving confirmation of their missing loved one’s death are as slim as winning the lottery, as described by a humanitarian official.
“It’s certainly more challenging than, say, a domestic air crash, but with the right will, it can be done,” said Cristina Cattaneo, a professor of forensic pathology at the University of Milan, who works tirelessly to identify the bodies of migrants recovered by Italian authorities.
However, Cattaneo’s Labanof laboratory receives no state funding. European governments allocate minimal resources for the recovery, preservation, and identification of human remains arriving on their shores.
“You collect all the information that you need and put it in your data,” she explains. “The difficult part is looking for the relative, but it’s not impossible.”
“People are voluntarily and consciously turning their heads from the problem,” remarks Cattaneo, highlighting the dire need for coordinated efforts to address the ongoing Mediterranean migrant crisis.
In Italy and Greece, limited coordination exists among different offices and regions handling cases of missing migrants.
An agreement from 2018 between Italy, Malta, Greece, and Cyprus to share forensic information with the European Commission has yet to be fully realized.
Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune underlines that the crisis in Niger needs rationality rather than power.
The ongoing crisis in Niger poses a direct threat to Algeria, Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune said Saturday, stressing Algiers’ absolute rejection of any military intervention in Niamey.
The situation in Niger is to be solved through rational means rather than through power, and Algeria is prepared to intervene and help with reconciliation efforts in the neighboring state, the Algerian President underlined.
“Where are all the countries that had military interventions?” Tebboune asked before answering his own question and saying they all still had numerous problems and crises.
“Niger must not slip into chaos,” the head of state added. “Algeria rejects any intervention in any war, and it rejects blood spillage in any brotherly or friendly nation.”
The Algerian president stressed his country’s close ties with all neighboring countries, arguing that due to these good relations, no solution could be reached without Algiers.
“Algeria will not intervene militarily, nor will it use force with its neighbors who will remain brothers and sisters. It is with constitutional legitimacy and against the use of force,” he added, stressing his country’s readiness to confront any threats at its border.
On July 26, the Nigerien presidential guard overthrew Bazoum. The guard’s commander, Abdourahmane Tchiani, proclaimed himself the country’s new leader.
The military chiefs of the Economic Community of West African States met to discuss options for military intervention in Niger. The goal of the meeting reportedly is to outline a plan for the intervention, its strategy, logistical aspects, and timetable.
Correspondingly, military leaders in Niger have warned against any armed intervention in their country, stressing that they will “resolutely defend their homeland.”
The interim governments of Mali and Burkina Faso warned that any military intervention against Niger would be considered a declaration of war against them.
ECOWAS has resorted to implementing a full pressure campaign on the country, which included the closure of land and air borders between the bloc’s countries and Niger, the suspension of all commercial and financial transactions with it, and the freezing of the country’s assets in ECOWAS Central Banks.
The bloc also suspended all financial aid to Niger, froze the assets of the coup leaders, their families, and supporters, and imposed a ban on commercial flights to and from the country.
China, Algeria reached agreement
Tebboune discussed his recent visit to China, stating that Algeria and China have reached a comprehensive understanding in development projects.
“We are entering a new phase with China that goes beyond housing construction, as we aspire to engage in joint manufacturing in both civilian and military industries, and we have expressed our full readiness to work with Algeria,” he added.
Responding to a question about joining BRICS, Tebboune answered that “the members of this group unanimously agree on the importance of Algeria’s accession, and we will leave the decision to them.”
He further mentioned that there is a preliminary agreement for Algeria to become an observer member of the BRICS organization, noting that his country “participates in the shares of the bank, which has become more important than the World Bank.”
Tebboune’s visit to Beijing followed an official visit to Russia last month, during which Russian President Vladimir Putin urged Algeria’s support to become a member of BRICS, a group comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa.
Algeria officially submitted an application to join the BRICS organization and presented a request to become a shareholder in the group’s bank with an initial $1.5 billion buy-in, Ennahar TV reported in late July.
BRICS founding countries, Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, account for over 40 percent of the world’s population and over a quarter of global GDP. The group is currently the fastest-growing bloc with more than 40 governments across world regions expressing accession desires.
Tebboune made his public bid to become a BRICS member during an interview with Chinese Central Television (CCTV). The leader of the resource-rich country explained that the group has the potential to provide alternative solutions to those offered by international bodies like the IMF and World Bank.
France visit awaiting plan from Paris
Touching on his upcoming visit to France, Tebboune clarified that the visit is on the agenda but has not been scheduled yet, and they are “awaiting the program from the French presidency.”
He emphasized that any state visit has requirements and should yield results; thus, a state visit cannot be merely a tourist visit. “When Algeria and Paris agree on a program that embodies a genuine international visit, we will proceed without any obstacles to the visit,” he said, stressing that there is no animosity between his country and France.
Regarding the Israeli occupation’s recognition of Western Sahara, the Algerian president stated that, for him, it is not a significant event since “those who lack something cannot grant it,” explaining that “Israel clearly occupies Palestinian territories, while Morocco acknowledges it.”
There is an ongoing issue at the United Nations and the Security Council concerning Palestine and Western Sahara, he stressed.
On July 10, the Moroccan Royal Office announced that the Israeli occupation recognized the sovereignty of Morocco over Western Sahara, state-run Moroccan news agency MAP reported.
According to the news agency, Moroccan King Mohammed VI received a letter from Israeli occupation Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in which the latter announced “Israel’s” decision to “recognize the sovereignty of Morocco over the territory of Western Sahara.”
In his letter, Netanyahu indicated that the decision would be “transmitted to the United Nations, to regional and international organizations of which Israel is a member, and to all countries with which Israel maintains diplomatic relations.”
Morocco is the fourth Arab state to formally normalize relations with “Israel” after Egypt, the UAE, and Bahrain.
Jessica Buxbaum is a Jerusalem-based journalist for MintPress News covering Palestine, Israel, and Syria. Her work has been featured in Middle East Eye, The New Arab and Gulf News.
On December 22, 2020, Israel and Morocco officially normalized relations after former President Donald Trump’s administration declared occupied Western Sahara as Moroccan. In the years following, Israeli companies have boosted their business involvement in Western Sahara, suggesting the pair’s cooperation is fueling each other’s land theft.
In 1975, Morocco annexed part of Western Sahara – a region indigenous to the Sahrawi people – and its entirety in 1979. Few have accepted these actions: today, 82 countries recognize Western Sahara’s independence, while only the United States recognizes Moroccan sovereignty over the land.
“THE WORST OF THE WORST”
While Israel hasn’t officially recognized Western Sahara as part of Morocco, several Israeli companies are already working with Morocco in the occupied territory. These include NewMed Energy, Ratio Petroleum, Selina Group, Halman-Aldubi Technologies, and an unnamed company launching an aquaculture project in Western Sahara. MintPress News contacted the known firms for comment on why they are doing business in occupied territory, but did not receive a response.
According to watchdog group, Western Sahara Resource Watch (WSRW), the only companies pursuing oil and gas exploration in Western Sahara are Israeli — NewMed Energy and Ratio Petroleum.
“Those are resources that will be depleted and disappear under occupation before the conflict has been resolved, and that is very worrisome for the Sahrawi people,” Erik Hagen, WSRW board member, told MintPress News. “So the stuff the Israeli companies are doing now is kind of the worst of the worst.”
INVESTING IN ANOTHER OCCUPATION
Similar to the Israeli settlement enterprise in the occupied Palestinian territories, Israel is now boosting its economic opportunities in Western Sahara.
In September 2021, the Moroccan National Office of Hydrocarbons and Mines (ONHYM) signed an agreement with Ratio Gibraltar, a subsidiary of the Israeli oil company Ratio Petroleum, to search for oil and gas off the coast of Dakhla, a city in Western Sahara. The budding business partnership grew from there.
Ratio Gibraltar’s oil exploration claim in Morocco-Occupied Western Sahara
In December last year, NewMed Energy entered into a business deal with ONHYM and Gibraltar-based Adarco Energy for offshore gas and oil exploration in Western Sahara’s Boujdour Atlantique block. NewMed Energy is a subsidiary of Israeli firm Delek Group. According to WSRW, Delek Group is backed by a number of European and American investors.
Delek Group owner, Yitzhak Tshuva, is the company’s largest shareholder, followed by the Norwegian Government Pension Fund. Deutsche Bank is the company’s 10th biggest owner. Six U.S. financial companies hold shares: Dimensional Holdings, Vanguard Group, BlackRock, Grantham Mayo van Otterloo & Co, Charles Schwab Corporation, and Empirical Finance.
WSRW contacted NewMed Energy in December regarding its offshore drilling license in Western Sahara and received the following response from NewMed Energy’s VP of Regulatory and Public Affairs, Nadav Perry:
I would like to clarify that all our actions in the past and in the present are done in accordance with and subject to international law and Israeli law and the laws in force. In addition, it should be noted in this context that we act in accordance with the stated policy of the Israeli government and we intend to continue doing so.”
WSRW responded to NewMed Energy requesting clarification on which country’s laws it is following but did not receive an answer.
This spring, more Israeli businesses began cropping up in Western Sahara.
Israel’s Minister of Innovation, Science, and Technology, Ofir Akunis, announced in March that an unknown Israeli company will launch an aquaculture project in the occupied territory.
“This, and other areas of cooperation have been made possible by the Abraham accords,” Akunis said of the deal during the 2023 UN Water Conference.
MintPress News reached out to the Israeli ministry on which company is responsible for the aquaculture project but did not receive a response.
In April, an Israeli hospitality company, Selina Group, opened a new hotel in the Western Sahara city of Dakhla. Also in April, a consortium of Israeli startups, led by Halman-Aldubi Technologies, announced it would collaborate with Morocco’s Mohammed VI Polytechnic University to develop sustainable food solutions in Western Sahara. These startups include Seakura, Shachar Group, FreezeM, and Celitron.
Obtaining foreign investments in Western Sahara is part of Morocco’s strategy to establish facts on the ground, International Crisis Group, an organization centered on preventing war and mitigating conflict, North Africa director Riccardo Fabiani, said.
“By attracting foreign investments in Western Sahara, you are effectively creating international recognition and acceptance for Moroccan control of Western Sahara,” Fabiani told MintPress News.
With Israel increasing its business operations in Western Sahara, “you’re signaling to other foreign companies that it’s fine to invest in Western Sahara. It’s business as usual,” Fabiani said.
Before normalization, international companies would steer away from Western Sahara in fear of legal repercussions. But now, with more outside business involvement in the region, Fabiani noted, Western Sahara’s label is changing on the global stage.
“The stances and positions that many Western countries and companies are taking increasingly toward Western Sahara is the idea that this is not really an occupied territory; it’s more like a disputed area under control by the Moroccans,” he said.
A PARTNERSHIP THAT’S NOW PUBLIC
While Morocco and Israel normalized relations less than three years ago, the pair’s collaboration has spanned decades, albeit in secret.
The Moroccan Air Force purchased Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) Heron drones in 2014 but did not receive the weapons until 2020. The arms are reportedly being used against the Polisario Front, the group fighting for Western Sahara’s independence.
“By doing this, the Israelis are effectively helping the Moroccans fight back the Polisario, and you could argue that it’s a way of repressing the pro-independence movement,” Fabiani said.
In 2018, the website MenaDefense.net uploaded a video of Moroccan police officers donning Israeli-made Tavor (X95) firearms during a parade. Morocco denied it received the weapons from Israel, saying they were acquired through a European firm. Several reports claimed the firearms were manufactured under a Ukrainian license; however, Ukraine denied this. That particular version of Tavor is not produced in Ukraine.
Moroccan General Belkhir El Farouk, left, flanked by Israeli military personnel, attends a live-fire exercise at Tze’elim military base in Israel, September 2022. Photo | DPA | AP
According to Amnesty International, Moroccan authorities used the Israeli NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware to unlawfully target activists, journalists, and human rights defenders in Western Sahara between 2017-2020.
In 2021, Morocco bought kamikaze drones from IAI, and then purchased IAI’s Barak MX antiaircraft and missile interceptor system in 2022. Israeli company BlueBird Aero System sold drones to Morocco in 2021, reportedly to be used for surveillance and intelligence collection in Western Sahara.
Under normalization, Morocco and Israel’s military alliance is no longer just a secret. It’s also intensifying.
“Before the normalization happened, the Israelis would collaborate with the Moroccans, but also wouldn’t feel comfortable going beyond this covert intelligence or military or ad hoc cooperation,” Fabiani said. “But with normalization, this has now reached a whole new level that is unprecedented.”
Feature photo | Illustration by MintPress News
Jessica Buxbaum is a Jerusalem-based journalist for MintPress News covering Palestine, Israel, and Syria. Her work has been featured in Middle East Eye, The New Arab and Gulf News.
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Of the innumerable crises projected to dominate the 21st century, perhaps the most misguided warning has been about so-called “overpopulation,” the reality seems to be the exact opposite.
In most states, this projection is simply the opposite of what the numbers show
West Asian, Arab and Sub-Saharan states, though among the world’s poorest, have the most promising demographic future if they can achieve true economic independence and integration.
So much of modern life has been upended by the coronavirus pandemic that almost every change seems to have been blamed on it. A particularly interesting example came in 2020 when for the first time since modern records began; China saw a decline in its overall population, with the number of births outnumbered by deaths. The numbers were even more catastrophic in Russia, with over 900,000 excess deaths over the course of 2020 and similarly grim declines across Europe and North America. Even the United States is now seeing net population decline in 20 of its 51 states.
The dawning of this realisation has led to two misunderstandings. First, that this trend is any more than tangentially because of the pandemic and secondly, that population growth in these countries will ever return to “normal”.
Of the innumerable crises projected to dominate the 21st century, perhaps the most misguided warning has been about so-called “overpopulation,” wherein the planet’s carrying capacity of human beings will be so overwhelmed by our numbers that a Malthusian die-off of billions will be inevitable due to diminishing access to food, water and arable land.
In most states, this projection is simply the opposite of what the numbers show. All but 46 of the world’s countries and territories have population growth rates below the “replacement rate” (2.1) needed to maintain any given population level. Likewise, close to 40 states are seeing their overall population decline, including such geopolitical heavyweights as Russia, Germany and Japan. China, currently the world’s most populous state at 1.4 billion is just barely in positive territory.
Current projections have predicted that by the end of the century, China will have lost a staggering 50 per cent of its current population. Others brought forward this scenario to as soon as the middle of the century! The generations born before the introduction of the one-child policy are now retiring en-masse, leaving behind a workforce that will be a fraction of the size and burdened with the cost of supporting what is becoming the oldest national population in history. Such a demographic profile will bring with it profound economic challenges that will test the thesis of the “Chinese Century” to its limit. It is also unavoidable because, even though the one-child policy is now history and parents are being encouraged now to have upwards of two children per family, the nature of the problem is such that any change in policy has at least two decades before it takes effect, with newly born people finally entering the workforce.
Nor is this at all limited to China or the states of East Asia. The states of the former Soviet Union have seen catastrophic declines over the last three decades. By some accounts about half of the population of Turkmenistan now lives abroad, having migrated seeking better economic opportunities. Swathes of former European powers such as Spain, Italy and Germany are already effectively empty, their own populations having peaked half a century ago!
Trying to raise the birth-rate is a non-starter as has been stated. For the most severely affected states there is only one possible solution. In Europe and Russia, mass-immigration is the only option, and this would only serve to cancel out the decline, not to increase the population. Russia already has a vast pool of potential migrant labour in its former Central Asian underbelly. Already home to one of the largest migrant populations in the world, Russia will need to begin making itself as attractive as possible to millions more Central Asian citizens. If and when this decision is taken, Moscow will have to finally repudiate any notion of politically exploiting narrow ethnonationalist chauvinism, such as seems to be taking hold in Europe.
Those countries in the best long-term position, demographically speaking, are also the world’s poorest and they are overwhelmingly concentrated in the Greater Middle East and Africa. By 2050 nearly half of the 10 most populous countries are projected to be in Africa, including Nigeria, Ethiopia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Egypt. By the end of the century, Nigeria is likely to be the world’s third most populated country, at over 400 million people.
As of 2021, the country with the fastest growing population is the Syrian Arab Republic, at over 5 percent annually. Other Arab heavyweights including Iraq, Yemen, Sudan and of course Egypt all stand in the ranks of the fastest growing populations on the planet. Unlike the countries of Europe, to which increasing numbers look for the hope of a better future, the region, like Africa south of the Sahara is among the most blessed in natural wealth of anywhere on earth. Rather than continuing to hold to the orthodoxy of economic liberalisation towards a rapidly weakening global system, should the countries of the region prioritize internal development, economic and even political unity, they could rapidly find themselves shaping the global order itself rather than being passively shaped by it.
Were these states be able to assert meaningful economic independence, develop their own internal markets, educate and employ their populations, the balance of global power in the second half of this century may look truly unrecognisable.
The opinions mentioned in this article do not necessarily reflect the opinion of Al mayadeen, but rather express the opinion of its writer exclusively.
لا يستطيع المرء إلّا أن يتعجّب من مدى قصر نظر الحكم المغربي في إقدامه على خطوته المشينة الأخيرة في التطبيع مع الكيان الصهيوني، التي يصحّ فيها وفي نظيراتها بحق وصف اتفاقيات التتبيع بالكيان الصهيوني، بحسب تعبير أحدهم. فربط الحكم المغربي هذه الفعلة بالاعتراف الأميركي بسيادة المغرب على الصحراء الغربية يضيف إلى هذه الخطوة محاذير من الناحية الاستراتيجية، تضاف إلى المحاذير التقليدية لأي تعامل مع الكيان الغاصب كما سنجادل.
في البدء، إنّ كلّ اعتراف بالكيان الصهيوني يعدّ خيانة بالمطلق لمبادئ العقيدة والثوابت القومية، بغضّ النظر عن أيّ مبرّرات واهمة أو أيّ مكاسب تكتيكية قصيرة الأمد يفرح بها المطبّعون أو بالأحرى المُستتبَعون، ولا سيما في هذه المرحلة التي يعلن فيها الكيان الغاصب ضمّ القدس وأراضي الضفة الغربية. فكل اعتراف بالكيان الصهيوني في هذه المرحلة ينطوي على تنازل عن القدس والمقدسات الإسلامية والمسيحية في فلسطين، ولا تنفع معه تبريرات من قبيل كون الاعتراف بالكيان الصهيوني جاء في سياق ما يسمّى حلّ الدولتين المرفوض أصلاً، حيث من القصور توصيف الصراع العربي الصهيوني على أنه صراع على بقعة جغرافية، بل هو صراع مع كيان استيطاني واحتلالي وظيفي. ويشكّل هذا الكيان قاعدة متقدّمة زرعها الاستعمار القديم كامتداد له في قلب الأمة العربية والإسلامية يجب اجتثاثها، فلا وظيفة لهذا الكيان سوى إطالة زمن الهيمنة الإمبريالية على شعوب منطقتنا. وأما في حالة المغرب، فنجد أنّ هذا الاعتراف قد أضاف إلى كلّ هذه المحاذير العقدية والقومية والوطنية احتمالات دخوله في مرحلة اضطرابات عبر تجدد النزاع العسكري مع سكان الصحراء الغربية وجبهة البوليساريو. نشأت قضية الصحراء الغربية مع انتهاء الاستعمار الإسباني لتلك المنطقة في عام 1975، الذي ترك منطقة الصحراء الغربية مقسّمة بين دولتي المغرب وموريتانيا. وبعد انسحاب موريتانيا من المناطق التي كانت تسيطر عليها في الصحراء الغربية، وبعد الإعلان عن الجمهورية العربية الصحراوية الديموقراطية في عام 1976، استمر النزاع المسلّح حول منطقة الصحراء بين جبهة البوليساريو المطالبة بالاستقلال والمغرب على تلك المنطقة إلى عام 1991، حين قرّرت جبهة البوليساريو وقف العمليات العسكرية ضد الجيش المغربي، وصدر القرار الأممي الرقم 690 بشأن قضية الصحراء الغربية الذي نص في مضمونه على إجراء استفتاء لحسم هذه القضية، إما باستقلال الصحراء أو بانضمامها إلى المغرب. ولقد تباينت مواقف الأحزاب والقوى العربية بشأن قضية الصحراء، منذ نشأتها، بين مؤيّد لحق سكّان المنطقة الصحراوية في الاستقلال وتقرير مصيرهم، ولا سيما في ظِلّ حكم المغرب الملكي الذي يعدّ رجعياً ومتخاذلاً من الناحية الوطنية، وبين معارض للمزيد من التقسيم في الأقطار العربية بغض النظر عن طبيعة حكم هذه الأقطار. أما اليوم، وبعد مقايضة المغرب لتطبيعها مع الكيان الصهيوني بفرض سيادتها على الصحراء الغربية، فيُعتقَد أن يكون لهذا انعكاس على مواقف بعض القوى العربية من قضية الصحراء لجهة تأييدها لاستقلال منطقة الصحراء عن النظام المطبّع، وإعطاء جبهة البوليساريو المزيد من المشروعية الشعبية في قتالها من أجل الاستقلال، إضافة إلى أن الاعتراف الأميركي المسموم بسيادة المغرب على منطقة الصحراء الغربية، وتجاهله للقرار الأممي الرقم 690 والوصول لحل لهذه القضية الشائكة عبر الاستفتاء يفتح الباب أمام احتمالية انهيار وقف إطلاق النار الهش بين جبهة البوليساريو والمغرب. فهذا الاعتراف الخبيث وغير المسؤول يحشر جبهة البوليساريو في الزاوية من جهة تعويلها على قرارات الأمم المتحدة من أجل التوصل لحلّ عادل لقضية سكان منطقة الصحراء، ويضع منطقة المغرب العربي بعمومها أمام احتمالات تجدد دوامة العنف والصدام العسكري، سيما أن الاعتراف الأميركي لم يأخذ في الحسبان مواقف الدول المعنية بالأمر، من الجزائر وموريتانيا. وبهذا تكون أميركا كعادتها قد صبّت الزيت على النار في بؤر التوتر في وطننا العربي، ويجد المرء نفسه مضطراً إلى موافقة مستشار الأمن القومي الأميركي السابق جون بولتون في ما ذهب إليه في مقاله الأخير في مجلة «فورن بوليسي» الأميركية بهذا الشأن، حيث وصف قرار إدارة الرئيس دونالد ترامب، الذي ستنتهي ولايته قريباً، بالاعتراف بسيادة المغرب على منطقة الصحراء الغربية بالقرار الأهوج الذي يهدّد الاستقرار في منطقة المغرب العربي بعمومه. لا نودّ تحديد موقف من قضية استقلال الصحراء الغربية في هذا المقال، لكن إذا تبنّينا جدلاً الموقف المغربي من هذه القضية الذي يعد منطقة الصحراء الغربية جزءاً من الأرض المغربية، فيمكن وصف ما فعله الحكم المغربي بأنه قد اعترف بما لا يملك لمن لا يستحق، مقابل اعتراف من لا يملك له بما يستحق.
بهذا، نجد أنّ قرار الحكم المغربي بإخراج علاقاته السرية المشبوهة مع الكيان الصهيوني إلى العلن وبشكل رسمي، وانضمامه إلى قافلة الانبطاح أمام العدو الصهيوني، لن يعود عليه إلا بخسائر استراتيجية، سواء أكان في الداخل المغربي حيث يضع الحكم في مواجهة شعبه المغربي الأصيل الذي يرفض كلّ أشكال التعامل مع عدو الأمة الأول كسائر شعوب وطننا العربي والإسلامي، أم من ناحية كونه يرفع من احتمالات تفاقم التوترات ذات الطبيعة المزمنة على الحدود الجنوبية للمملكة المغربية، وهذا بالطبيعة ستكون له انعكاسات سيئة على سائر دول المغرب العربي. ولا ننسى ختاماً الإشارة إلى أنّ كلّ ما قدّمته الإدارة الأميركية الحالية في هذه المرحلة كمقابل لتطبيع الحكم المغربي مع كيان الاحتلال، لا يعدو كونه إعلان اعتراف بسيادة المغرب على أراضي منطقة الصحراء الغربية. وهذا الإعلان لا يُلزِم الإدارة الأميركية المقبلة ويمكنها التنصّل منه. فبأيّ أثمان بخسة ومسمومة يتقاطر جزء من النظام العربي المتهالك على بيع الثوابت الإسلامية والقومية والوطنية في أسواق نخاسة الأعداء؟ وبالتأكيد لا نستثني السلطة الفلسطينية من هذا، فهي باتت أسوأ من تلك الأنظمة العربية المتهالكة في الشكل والمضمون.
** كاتب فلسطيني وباحث سياسي
Morocco in the Midst of Western Sahara Storms After Normalization
The short-sightedness of the Moroccan government in its recent shameful agreement to normalize and establish diplomatic relations with the Zionist Entity called ‘Israel’ is truly puzzling. The Moroccan government stated that this agreement was the result of a deal with the current U.S. administration, where the U.S. recognizes Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara. But this exchange adds additional strategic dangers to the usual perils presented by all normalization agreements with the Zionist Entity, as this article will argue.
First and foremost, any recognition of the Zionist Entity is an absolute betrayal of Arab rights and national principles, regardless of any flawed justifications or any short-term tactical gains that the normalizers rejoice in. This is more so after recent developments, where the occupation declared the annexation of Jerusalem and the West Bank. It is apparent that normalizing relations with ‘Israel’ at this stage means acceptance of this annexation and abandoning the Christian and Islamic Holy places in Palestine. Any attempt to justify such steps towards normalization with ‘Israel’ must be firmly rejected – justifications such as that those normalization agreements are in the context of the two-state solution, which is a non-solution in the first place.
The issue of Western Sahara is a remnant of the Spanish colonization of that region. After the end of Spanish colonization with the death of Francisco Franco in 1975, the Western Sahara region was divided between Morocco and Mauritania. Then, after Mauritania withdrew from the areas it controlled of Western Sahara, and the declaration of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic in 1976, the armed conflict over the Sahara region between the Polisario Front for Independence and Morocco in that region continued. In 1991, the Polisario Front suspended military operations against Morocco, in return for a referendum on the future of Western Sahara status under the observation of the UN in accordance with UNSC resolution 690.
Since the inception of the Western Sahara issue, the positions of Arab political parties and Arab people in general has fallen into two main camps: those who support the right of the Sahrawi people to independence and self-determination, and who in their majority regard the Moroccan monarchy as autocratic and regressive; and those who are opposed to further partition of Arab countries regardless of the nature of the rule of these countries. However, after Morocco traded recognition of ‘Israel’ for the U.S. proclamation to recognize Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara, it is believed that this may cast a further shadow over the legitimacy of Moroccan claims in Western Sahara in the eyes of many Arabs, while simultaneously giving more credence to the Polisario Front’s war of independence. Moreover, the poisoned U.S. proclamation in violation of international law and UNSC Resolution 690, will diminish the Sahrawi people’s hope of ever having the referendum on the future status of Western Sahara which they were promised by the UNSC. This will likely force the Polisario Front into a corner; and will lead them to question the international community’s commitment to reach a just solution to their cause. All this opens the door wide to the possibility of the collapse of the tenuous Polisario-Morocco ceasefire. The ramifications of this déjà vu situation are dire, as this will most likely spiral the whole region into instability, especially when the US proclamation on the thorny Western Sahara issue ignored the other regional countries positions on this matter, namely Algeria and Mauritania. And one finds himself here begrudgingly agreeing with the former U.S. national security advisor John Bolton, when he argued in his article published in the Foreign Policy Magazine ‘Biden Must Reverse Course on Western Sahara’, that the U.S. proclamation may negatively affect that fragile region. Thus, one finds that the US did what it does best, namely fueling unrest in the Arab region to appease the Zionist Entity.
The aim of this article is not to take a stance on the Western Sahara conflict, but one way of viewing what Morocco did by recognizing the Zionist’s sovereignty over historical Palestine in exchange for U.S. recognition of Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara, is tantamount to Morocco giving what is not theirs to give, in exchange for the U.S. giving them what is not for the U.S. to give.
Arabs will continue to regard ‘Israel’ as illegitimate, the liberation of Palestine as one of their cornerstone principles, and in that the Moroccan people are no exception. Hence, the Moroccan government’s treacherous decision to normalize relations with the Zionist Entity will only cause Morocco to suffer strategic losses in the long run, be it driving a wedge between the government and its people on the internal front, or by stirring up a dormant conflict on Morocco’s southern borders with the Polisario Front and the Sahrawi people.
Posted on December 12, 2020 by uprootedpalestinians
December 12, 2020
Algerian Prime Minister Abdelaziz Djerad warned on Saturday against Zionist desire to come closer to the country’s borders.
He criticized “foreign maneuvers” he said were aimed to destabilize Algeria, a day after Washington recognized Morocco’s sovereignty over Western Sahara in exchange for Rabat normalizing ties with Zionist entity.
“There are foreign maneuvers which aim to destabilize Algeria,” Djerad said, in Algeria’s first reaction to the US decision.
“There is now a desire by the Zionist entity to come closer to our borders,” he added, in reference to Israel.
Algeria, Morocco’s neighbor and regional rival, is said to be the key foreign backer of the Polisario Front, which has campaigned for independence for the former Spanish colony of Western Sahara since the 1970s.
“We are seeing today at our borders… wars and instability around Algeria,” Djerad said, in a speech to mark the anniversary of demonstrations against French colonial rule.
The surprise announcement by outgoing President Donald Trump on Thursday of US recognition of Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara was swiftly dismissed by the Polisario, who have vowed to fight on until Moroccan forces withdraw.
UPROOTED PALESTINIANS: SALAM ALQUDS ALAYKUM 