There is a moment in Alonso Longoria's Los hijos de las nubes (or Sons of the Clouds) that sums up the situation of Western Sahara in all its tragedy and absurdity. It is when, after a five-hour wait, first-time director Longoria and his collaborators (that include Oscar-winning actor Javier Bardem) finally get an audience with a representative of the Algerian government. Once the man is informed that the interview concerns his country's role in the conflict over Western Sahara, his evasiveness is almost comical: “How long will this take? No, no... sorry,” he says, “I've got a meeting on the other side of town and there's a lot of traffic.” Cut to a later shot of Bardem who simply … [Read more...] about Throwing a light on Western Sahara’s tragedy
western sahara
Morocco’s Mohammed VI treads a fine line with reforms
Morocco’s king has decided to do the right thing. Whether purely out of a perceived need to save his own skin or because the Arab uprisings have reminded Mohammed VI of his cherished pretensions to be a reforming monarch, it is hard to say. Maybe a bit of both. But his surprise announcement on Wednesday of constitutional reforms was both wise and prudently timed. On February 20, tens of thousands of Moroccans gathered in dozens of cities to call for a loosening of the kingly grip on power and the introduction of truly representative democracy. The state did not suppress the protests and a further show of popular force has been planned for March 20. Mohammed VI said he would not be pushed … [Read more...] about Morocco’s Mohammed VI treads a fine line with reforms
Western Sahara violence unleashes a media war
Restrictions on the Spanish media’s coverage of the recent dismantling of the Gdaym Izik protest camp in Western Sahara were so severe, it is amazing so many column inches have been filled on the issue. With some newspaper reporters mysteriously told at Rabat airport that their tickets were not valid to travel to Laâyoune, and others, such as two correspondents from La Ser radio station, expelled from the region, it hasn’t been easy to cover the story. This might explain why there has been so much confusion over what exactly happened on November 8, when Moroccan troops entered the camp to bring an end to the protest. At the time many media in Spain, informed it seems by pro-Sahrawi … [Read more...] about Western Sahara violence unleashes a media war
Camp mentality reflects Western Sahara’s new dissidence
At first glance it seems surprising that representatives of Morocco and the Polisario were negotiating the future of the disputed Western Sahara region while the territorial capital of Laâyoune and the protest camp erected outside the city were shrouded in smoke after security forces had violently dispersed demonstrators. But the two sides talking on November 8 and 9 under the auspices of the UN in Manhasset, near New York, may for once have had some motivation to accelerate the process towards the resolution of a 35-year-old impasse. A new force appears to have been born made up of disaffected Sahrawis who have other things on their minds besides the status of their land and the colours … [Read more...] about Camp mentality reflects Western Sahara’s new dissidence
Spain and Morocco’s annual spat over for another year
It has become a summer classic; argy-bargy across the Strait of Gibraltar. With the arrival of September’s UN gathering in New York, the Spanish prime minister and Moroccan king have drawn an apparently effortless line under several weeks of apparently simmering tensions, blazing front-page headlines and much talk of a diplomatic crisis. “The photograph is the main thing,” José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero muttered toward Mohammed VI in New York as the pair smiled amid the camera flashes, the Spaniard later explaining that there had been little in the way of details included in their discussion. There was no need, he said; that was what the upcoming summits and ministerial meetings would deal … [Read more...] about Spain and Morocco’s annual spat over for another year
Morocco edges closer to Europe
Question: Which country applied for EU membership the same day as Turkey in 1987? Answer: Morocco. While full membership for the Maghrebi nation is viewed as impossible, the weekend of March 6-7 does signal a landmark on the long road toward a truly advanced status of integration into European structures and political realities onto which the Moroccan ruling elite is pinning so many of its hopes. The EU-Morocco summit, held within the architectural gem of Al Andalus, Granada’s Alhambra palace, is designed to celebrate the achievements of the past few years; Rabat has secured an advanced partnership status with the EU, unique in the Arab world, and agreed to an extensive trade deal – … [Read more...] about Morocco edges closer to Europe
Sahara countdown
Resistance is often the key to winning any conflict, and although the best part of two decades have passed without any significant military action in the war for Western Sahara, the pro-independence Polisario Front has always set great store by the power to resist of the Sahrawi refugees in the camps at Tindouf, Algeria. While Morocco, the occupying force in the territory that was known as Spanish Sahara until the European country withdrew in 1975, has kept up a whispering campaign about dwindling numbers in the desert camps – the Polisario’s constituency, although there is also an unknown number of supporters of independence inside the territory – officials of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic … [Read more...] about Sahara countdown