Western Sahara/Morocco
ALSO SEE Dr. Zunes’s book and website:
Western Sahara: War, Nationalism and Conflict Irresolution
Emmaus Artikel 2, Stockholm May 2024 An hour-long May 2024 interview (in English) of Dr. Stephen Zunes and a prominent Sahrawi activist in Stockholm on the situation in Moroccan-occupied Western Sahara and international legal implications. More at Western-Sahara.org
Emmaus Artikel 2, Stockholm May 2024
(Dr. Stephen Zunes is quoted extensively): The opposition to Trump’s rushed and unrighteous recognition of Morocco’s alleged sovereignty over Western Sahara prompts President Biden to correct this mistake… Biden could resend the U.S. recognition with the stroke of a pen, however, this has put him in something of a dilemma… More at Western-Sahara.org
April 20, 2024: On Dr. Zunes’ recent talk at the Gothenburg Science Festival on the West’s role in the Moroccan occupation of Western Sahara. More at Western-Sahara.org
U.S. Campaign to End the Moroccan Occupation newsletter April 11, 2024: A short essay comparing U.S. policy towards the Palestinian and Western Saharan struggles for self-determination:
Western Sahara. [Source Link]. More at Western-Sahara.org
Professor Stephen Zunes on Western Sahara, Russia, Ukraine, Biden, Israel and Morocco. February 2023
This is a very short segment of a story about Moroccan-occupied Western Sahara on a Swedish television network (in English, 2 min., 02/27/2024).
Interview for a podcast on U.S. policy towards Israel/Palestine and Morocco/Western Sahara:
Part I (37 min) & Part II (20 min) January 2024.
Transcript of interview for La Tribune Diplomatique Internationale (in English) making the links between the Israeli and Moroccan occupations. 01/20/2024
Also see Western Sahara Uncovered, Episode 01: History of Western Sahara (5-min. video below, November 2023). Find more at Western-Sahara.org.
There’s No Justification for Russia’s Aggression, But U.S. Double Standards on Illegal War Are Hard to Stomach: Nothing can excuse Putin’s invasion, but the hypocrisy could hardly be more striking. The Progressive March 1, 2022
Al Jazeera quotes Zunes March 7, 14 and 29
*The limits of Iran’s influence on Yemen’s Houthi rebels
*Analysis: Can the UAE be a safe haven for Russian oligarchs?
*Can Russia return to the world stage as other aggressors have?
Find more at Western-Sahara.org.
A KBBF interview with Professor Stephen Zunes on the occupation of Western Sahara and much more, plus Palestine Update and some poems by Naomi Shihab Nye. Find more at Western-Sahara.org.
Aired on KZFR public radio, Chico, CA, 11 February 2022; This audio is no longer available. Find more at Western-Sahara.org.
Aired on KZFR public radio, Chico, CA, 9 February 2022
This audio is no longer available. (beginning at 39:00)
Find more at Western-Sahara.org.
WBAI FM, NYC, 7 February 2022:
Stephen Zunes, on his newly updated book
“[Western Sahara: War, Nationalism, and Conflict Irresolution.”
[FULL LINK] Find more at Western-Sahara.org.
28 January 2022: The United Nations and the World Court have called for the Sahrawi population to be allowed the right of self-determination. The United States, meanwhile, remains the only country in the world that formally recognizes Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara. The presentation is timed with the release of the second revised expanded edition of Professor Zunes’ book Western Sahara: War, Nationalism, and Conflict Irresolution, and his return from visiting Sahrawi refugee camps in Algeria. Professor Zunes will assess the human rights situation under the Moroccan rule, the nonviolent and armed resistance to the occupation, U.S. policy, and more. [FULL LINK] Find more at Western-Sahara.org.
In his final weeks in office, President Donald Trump stunned the international community in formally recognizing Western Sahara as part of Morocco. Morocco has occupied much of its southern neighbor since 1975, when it invaded and annexed the former Spanish colony in defiance of the United Nations Security Council and a landmark ruling of the International Court of Justice… [FULL LINK] Find more at Western-Sahara.org.
The threat of further Russian aggression against Ukraine is very real. Unfortunately, the Biden administration is in a weak position to lead an international response. [FULL LINK] Find more at Western-Sahara.org.
12 November 2021 (begins at 23:10, but item is no longer available).
See the Archives, Blog and Reviews at Western-Sahara.org.
See WSahara.stephenzunes.org for reviews, related articles, audio and video, and to order the book.
Feb. 5, 2021: DemocracyNow! full transcript and video link
President Donald Trump broke with decades of U.S. foreign policy in the waning days of his administration and recognized Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara, a territory the country has occupied since 1975 in defiance of the United Nations and the international community. U.S. recognition came as Morocco agreed to establish diplomatic relations with Israel, becoming the fourth Arab nation to do so in recent months as part of a regional push by the Trump administration to strengthen Israel without addressing the Palestinian conflict. Now the Biden administration must weigh whether to reverse Trump’s decision…. “The United Nations Charter is very clear expansion of territory by military force is illegitimate.” See Zunes’s website and book Western Sahara.
Item is no longer available. See WSahara.stephenzunes.org for reviews, related articles, audio and video, and to order the book.
Washington Post December 13, 2020: Last week, President Trump formally recognized Morocco’s annexation of Western Sahara as part of a deal to get Morocco to normalize relations with Israel. But Morocco’s claim on Western Sahara is rejected by the United Nations, the World Court, the African Union and a broad consensus of international legal scholars that consider the region a non-self-governing territory that must be allowed an act of self-determination. This is why no country had formally recognized Morocco’s takeover — until now…
Truthout: On December 10, the US became the only country to formally recognize Morocco’s illegal annexation of Western Sahara, the former Spanish colony forcibly seized by Moroccan forces in 1975. Trump’s proclamation is directly counter to a series of UN Security Council resolutions and a landmark World Court ruling calling for self-determination. Trump’s decision was a quid pro quo…
Foreign Policy Dec. 9, 2020 – It’s not often that Western Sahara makes international headlines, but in mid November it did: Nov. 14 marked the tragic—if unsurprising—breakup of a tenuous, 29-year cease-fire in Western Sahara between the occupying Moroccan government and pro-independence fighters. The outbreak of violence is concerning not only because it flew in the face of nearly three decades of relative stasis, but also because Western governments’ reflexive response to the resurgent conflict may be to upend—and thereby hamper and de-legitimize for perpetuity over 75 years of established international legal principles… [FULL LINK]