The Sahrawi People's Liberation Army (previously the armed wing of
the Polisario Front) has around 20,000–30,000 active soldiers and is
fighting for a free and independent Western Sahara [photo:
@SAHARAWIVOICE]
That interpretation had allowed the EU and Morocco to ignore previous
rulings while exploiting the onshore and offshore resources of Western
Sahara. Commenting on the decision at the time Sylvia Valentin, Chair of
Western Sahara Resource Watch (WSRW) had this to say:
This is a victory for justice, and for the people of Western Sahara.
We hope that EU Member States will now finally abide by the Court’s
rulings, and exclude Western Sahara from the broad scope of the Union’s
relations with Morocco. It is high time for the EU to stop being part of
the problem in the last colony in Africa, and to become part of the
solution.
It is a hope that the Sahrawi people continue to cling to even as the
evidence mounts that Europe and the world have paid little heed to the
ruling. On Al Jazeera’s Inside Story Mahjoub Mleiha, the Advocacy Head
for the Collective of Sahrawi Human Rights Defenders pointed to the
decision in support of his argument that Morocco is a coloniser in
breach of international law and UN resolutions. He described Israel and
Morocco as “occupier states” while reiterating the rights of the Sahrawi
people to self-determination. The Israeli move represented he said “a
pure bargaining operation, a trade in the black market, a trade of
Western Sahara for Palestine.”
Speaking from Rabat on the same programme Abdelmalik Alaoui of the
Moroccan Institute of Strategic Intelligence argued to the contrary
saying the King Mohammed VI was a staunch defender of the rights of
Palestinians. The Moroccan approach was a “position of balance and
moderation” that did not exclude the Palestinians. The King supports the
two-state solution and chairs the Al-Quds Committee Alaoui said. (The
committee receives significant financial support from Morocco as it
carries out a mandate intended to protect Al Aqsa Mosque while
supporting cultural and sporting activities in and around Jerusalem to
the benefit of Palestinians.) “We do believe,” he said “you cannot make
peace (if) you cannot have a conversation.”
Washington has shown itself to be little interested in weighing in
and having a conversation with President Biden showing no inclination
thus far to roll back his predecessor’s decision to recognise Moroccan
claims to Western Sahara in return for Morocco joining the Abraham
Accords in recognising Israel. In doing so, then President Trump
blithely upended decades of US policy in a move that greatly benefitted
Israel.
Writing for the International Crisis Group (ICG) in the wake of the
Israeli decision Ricardo Fabiani called for Washington to take an
assertive role in support of the UN special representative Staffan de
Mistura. Even so he had to acknowledge that Western Sahara was low on
the Biden priority list:
Washington seems hesitant to move beyond messages of support toward
obtaining confidence-building concessions from both sides. In
particular, a U.S. official highlighted the potentially high political
cost of extracting concessions from a hard-nosed partner such as
Morocco. But this hesitation could undermine the UN envoy’s efforts,
with one UN official indicating to Crisis Group that “the U.S. and
others on the Council are hiding behind the UN envoy, as they continue
to have contradictory stances on an issue that is not a priority for
them.”
Fabiani quoted a former UN envoy who expressed his reservations and
questioned Mistura’s ability to sustain any momentum towards achieving a
fair solution. “I fear that he won’t go very far, and that shadow
boxing [between the parties] will continue, because no one will put
pressure on the parties to make progress.”
As the winds continue to blow strongly in Morocco’s favour, Algeria
the principal backer of Polisario may begin to feel the increasing chill
of being, with Tunisia, the only countries in the neighbourhood still
supporting the Sahrawi independence movement. But beyond denouncing the
decision as “a flagrant violation of international law” there is little
that Algeria, having already cut ties with Morocco, can or will do.