Western Sahara: Colonialism, Settler-Colonialism and Resistance with Garazi Hach Embarek

The Spanish government has just sided with the Moroccan government on the issue of the Western Sahara. Djamil and Rudy join Garazi Hach Embarek for an introductory discussion on the history and present of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic of the Western Sahara. We discuss the pre-colonial and Spanish colonial history, the context and formation of the Polisario Front liberation organization. We follow up by talking about the liberation wars against Morocco and Mauritania, the place of the Polisario in the national liberation movement, as well as the occupation and repression of the Western Sahara, and the situation of the refugee camps in western Algeria. We continue by speaking on the ongoing process to colonize and settle the Western Sahara by Morocco and the role of the UN, the African Union, as well as Algeria and Libya in the situation. We finish by analyzing the present situation, Trump's declaration in 2020 to support Moroccan colonization as quid pro quo for Moroccan recognition of Israel, as well as the Spanish governments flip from “neutrality” to a blatantly Moroccan position.