Call for intellectual integrity from Morrocan intellectuals

international | rights, freedoms and repression | other press

Sunday July 17, 2005 20:04

by intellektshualiiii

Today a list of more than 240 morrocan intellectuals paid for a full page advert in the Spanish "El Pais" entitled a "call to spanish intellectuals".

Its just about to get bounced to you. "english reading intellectual wherever you might be".

Basically, the 240 journalists, writers, academics and humanrights activists ask that all those commenting on the Western Sahara and Morroco remember :-
"la honradez intellectual es una y no podría ser un geometría variable".
="intellectual honour is unitary it can not be a variable geometry".

The Saharawi Flag - The almost forgotten people of the Western Sahara.

The writers of the message reminded all that Morrocco like Spain [and many other European states in their] recent history is presently in a process of transition to democracy and the rule of law.

And that to comment on seperatist issues within the kingdom of Morocco whilst ignoring the continued spanish enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla, or the spanish claims on el peñon (=gibraltar).

They believe that not attention has been given to the saharawi refugees camps of Tinduf, Algeria.

They believe the reporting and commenting and political debate on the affairs of the saharawi peoples have been intellectually shoddy and hypocritical.

If the complete text becomes available online I'll link.
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This builds on a continuing crises which has recently seen arrests of noted activists and appeals by the Spanish government for human rights adherence in the region in the wake of July 7 and continuing pressure from Europe on the Morrocan state to "show it was serious" on terrorism. There were made in the immediate aftermath many links between the London bombings and a wanted Morrocan born terrorist who is also linked with the Madrid bombings.
There were *no links* to the Western Sahara.

The saharawi people were amongst the most vocal of participants at the first mediterranean social forum in June in Barcelona. Though their homeland lies between the algerian sahara and the atlantic ocean, most of their migrants (or those who have left the refugee camps) have travelled north to the mediterranean sea. Where generally they are thought of as "morrocan".

A delegation of spanish political representatives including the ICV (green marxist) guy for Barcelona were recently stopped by the moroccan authorities on a fact-finding mission. Same week interestingly, that a similar in composition fact-finding mission from the Irish Dail was stopped in Palestine.

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I'm opening this thread here on the Western Sahara & contemporary Moroccan politics.

the organisation for the protection of human rights in morocco:-

http://www.omdh.org/
Polisario the western Sahara portal:-
http://www.wsahara.net/polisario.html