Morocco & Elsewhere

SOS Western Sahara

2006-12-08T06:51:00.000-08:00

Since the peaceful and illegal invasion of Western Sahara in 1975 by the Moroccan Cosa Nostra, the common lie that the Moroccans have been repeating to themselves, and to whoever wanted to listen to them, was that this land has always been part of Morocco. One argument they put forward to clear their colonial intentions is that many Sahrawis were born and grew up in Morocco. As you may agree, the existence of Sahraouis in Morocco is only a result of the open borders between Morocco and Western Sahara. Sahrawis who were fed up with their nomadic lives just sneaked inside Morocco and lived. Let Spain open its borders and you will get a number of North African and Sub-Saharan babies booming up on the other side of the Mediterranean sea, and a couple of decades later, Spain might perhaps claim Nigeria as part of it for the sole reason that Nigerians (and others) were born and grew up in Spain. That's a weak argument which betrays the real intentions of the Cosa Nostra. There are many reasons for the sudden interest of Morocco in Western Sahara. Given the international concern over drugs and the countries that produce them a few decades ago, the Royal Palace, who have been trading in Hachich for over half a century, started looking for a more decent income to continue reaping the Moroccan wealth on behalf of the brave people of this country. The result is the famous March that resulted in the colonization of Western Sahara and the enslaving of its people. Hundreds, if not thousands of Sahrawis have been shoved in prisons, tortured or even extra judicially executed. The Moroccan thirst for oil was the major reason behind this 21st century-yet-barbaric invasion of a neighboring country.Although, in terms of international law and legislation, the United Nations through its Security Council passed resolutions ruling that a referendum should be held in Western Sahara to determine its independence - and strangely enough - the Moroccan Cosa Nostra abiding by the resolution, the political discourse kept the dissonant sound that Western Sahara is 100% Moroccan. Apparently, the "State of Law" as they like to call themselves seems to be determined to breach International Law by occupying a land and preventing its people from self-determination.There were quite a few similar cases around the world and they were all solved with equity despite the stubbornness of the colonizer. A good example to illustrate such practice was East Timor and Indonesia. For decades, Indonesian regime under the reign of Soharto (a dictator and blood-sucker; Very similar to King Hassan) had been illegally occupying East Timor despite the claims of independence by the East Timorese. Mass executions, imprisonment and extrajudicial killings were common practice in this island until the United Nations pronounced its independence from Indonesia. A lesson every Moroccan should remember. And the wisdom behind this is that whatever the lie the Moroccan Mafia Regime is feeding the Moroccans, there'll come a day when the Law rules and the people of Western Sahara recover their stolen land, and finally be able to raise their flag, sing their anthem, and enjoy the unquestionable right to be called citizens of Western Sahara.

Morocco & Elsewhere

Unbrideled Pluralism

2006-04-04T03:44:00.000-07:00

No doubt the basis of every decent democracy is pluralism and difference. Pluralism guarantees that decisions regarding the fate of a given community are not polarized unto one person or body; for notwithstanding the good intentions that might motivate this person or this body there is always room for unintentional (most of the time, intentional) mistake, shortsightedness and erring. Therefore, the more the participation of the components of society, the better the evaluation of the needs, and the more efficient the policies to adopt. But even then, pluralism cannot be relied upon that much unless there is difference. Difference serves as an engine to pluralism and has always enhanced understanding of the issues at stake, and allowed the belligerents to see more clearly what they are up to. A number of those countries that have adopted democracy in its basic form have had the relatively good outcome where the people's welfare, development and security have been safeguarded and prospects for a better future wave at the horizon.

In Morocco “ let me put it square and straight“ there are about 32 official political parties (Thirty-Two, in case you think it's a typing mistake), and half a dozen others that are not recognized as legal entities either because they oppose the monarchy as a whole, or they have a more objective attitude towards the question of Western Sahara, or both. This big number makes the pride of many over here for the simple reason that pluralism means, to these empty heads, that the bigger the number, the more valid the democracy. In this respect, with 32 political parties Morocco outwits Canada and the G8 countries! They are expected to follow the example if they really want to be democratic and deserve the etiquette; for most of them ONLY have a few. Yet, while pluralism is guaranteed to excess, it seems there is not much difference at the basis of such a big crowd. There are pre-set guidelines that every political party should follow and the rest is just improvisation. It is not surprising, then, to find, side by side on the local political chessboard, such labels as the Popular Democratic Party and the Democratic Popular Party; the National Liberation Front and the National Front for Liberation; and the Constitutional League along with the League for the Constitution. Not counting that at the eve of every poll, other parties are hatched for the occasion. At this pace, it would not be surprising that within a couple of decades or so, there would be more parties than there are citizens!

But the most embarrassing issue about this phenomenon is the impossibility for a political party to win elections with a dead majority. The few crumbs of votes each of them get are never enough and it is always the king's duty to appoint, among the mediocrity that's applying, those that have fairly acceptable standards; and the best thing these applicants might do is to take care of their family, their cattle (not necessarily animals), and their personal interest, generally embodied in a car brand, or government vouchers. If our party leaders were in countries where the community comes before personal interest, they would have been hanged, without remorse, in public squares. But what can we do? The marrow of the whole regime draws its subsistence from such mediocrity. One question comes up here: are regimes set up to guarantee the welfare of the people, or are the people compelled to guarantee the welfare of an imposed regime?

Of Mice And Men

2005-12-08T07:00:00.000-08:00

The fever that has struck the world, locally as well as at the international level, as of late regarding the rights of the berbers has gone a little beyond the borders of common sense. While some of these berbers claim that they are a majority in Morocco and, therefore, thereby try to shove their retarded language into the educational system; others mourn their reduced number vis-Ã -vis the rest of the Moroccans and, for that reason, call for minority rights. In either case, this appears to be a systematic scheme to shield the rights of another important community in Morocco - probably not important in number but which has contributed a lot to the development of the country in many respects : the Jewish community.Now consider these facts :- Hebrew, a semitic language par excellence, is far better than the mumbo-jumbo called berber, and vehicles an important load of cultural, religious and historic patrimony. Some scholars in theology maintain that the knowledge of the Torah and the bible codes in their original language can be of great help to the muslims in understanding their own Coran. Given these concrete facts, it would be more logical to institutionalize the teaching of Hebrew in public schools rather than give the chance to those goat-shagging berbers to mess up universally established languages and knowledge.Also, the Jewish community is definitely a minority and should enjoy every right that international standards grant them as such.- The Moroccan jewish community does not have free access to public schools. Jewish boys and girls are always confined to the private educational sector - although this should be considered a blessing, given the mediocrity that prevails in government schools. Educational syllabi and programs are all focused on such specific topics as the history of King Hassan, the personality of King Hassan, the achievements of King Hassan, the clairvoyance of King Hassan and a load of similar useless gobbledygook. Besides, Islam is taught in public schools but not Judaism : an undisputable violation of the rights of minorities.-The Moroccan jews are deprived of so many basic rights including, but not limited to,their right to PUBLICLY celebrating their religious festivals such as the Shabbat, Hannukah, Yom Kippur and other festivals.While muslim festival are always accompanied with rather exaggerated paraphernalia, at home,in the streets, and in the press - both broadcast and written, jewish religious festivals always go unnoticed.In the light of all this, the Moroccan regime has only been able to consider the rights of minorities, but apparently targetted the wrong guys : the berberos!Therefore, when one talks about granting the rights to local minorities, one always needs to start by those that deserve it.

Morocco & Elsewhere