The latest Trump move to bribe an Arab nation into “recognizing” Israel means practically even less than the first 3 “normalizations” — but could inflame a smoldering colonial conflict some 4000 miles to the west of Tel Aviv.
What’s more, one expert even warns that Trump’s bribe might eventually jeopardize global food security.
The Trump/Jared Kushner announcement characteristically exaggerated the importance of the Israel-Morocco agreement, with Trump calling it “a massive breakthrough.” But the two nations have never actually been at war, have privately maintained excellent relations for years, and Israeli tourists have been visiting Morocco without hindrance. Although Kushner said the deal calls for full diplomatic relations Morocco promptly demurred, saying only that it will re-open liaison offices with Israel.
It is Trump’s bribe to Morocco that is causing concern. He said the U.S. will formally recognize Moroccan control over the Western Sahara, the former Spanish colony to its southwest that Morocco has occupied illegally for decades. The Washington Post wrongly called Western Sahara a “disputed border region,” but the United Nations General Assembly and other international bodies regard it as “a non self-governing territory,” and have demanded that Morocco conduct a referendum to find out what its residents want.
A national liberation movement, called Polisario, established the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic back in 1976, which controls a portion of the territory and has been recognized by 80 countries and the African Union.
An indispensable article by Stephen Zunes that just appeared suggests that Trump’s provocative move is coming at a particularly bad time. A ceasefire between the Moroccan occupiers and Polisario held since 1991 — until mid-November, when violence broke out again. Earlier, in October, “scores of Sahrawi civilians engaged in a nonviolent sit-in. . . only to be violently dispersed by Moroccan troops two weeks later.”
The Sahrawi people have at least one unlikely but vigorous supporter: Sen. James Inhofe, of Oklahoma. Inhofe, a Republican who denies climate change and is one of the most conservative senators, has apparently been visiting Sahrawi refugee camps for years, and he spoke out on the Senate floor yesterday, charging that Trump “could have made this deal without trading away the rights of this voiceless people.”
Morocco controls press access to the territory, so reports are spotty. But even the Rough Guide to Morocco tourist book points out that Morocco has introduced settlers to the territory, and that in towns like Dakhla there are “simmering tensions” between the newcomers and the local Sahrawis.
There’s yet another negative consequence to the Trump/Kushner bribe to Morocco: the potential threat to global food security. Annelle Sheline, in Responsible Statecraft, explains that although Western Sahara may look like barren desert, it actually “contains a significant reserve of the world’s phosphates, which are required to make fertilizer and are therefore crucial to the future of global food production.”
Add Western Sahara to Morocco itself, and the country will control 73 percent of global phosphate reserves. Which means:
A non-renewable resource that cannot be synthesized, phosphates are required to produce fertilizer, making control of phosphate reserves an asset of global significance. Morocco is currently the third largest producer of phosphates after the United States and China, but, given its massive reserve, Morocco stands to dictate the world’s future ability to grow crops.
I guess those wealthy Arab leaders, who were indifferent to the suffering of the Palestinians, and decided to go with the side that gives them military and logistical advice, and those who they can import fruit from, and eat hummus with, deserve what is coming. If they think these zionists are going to accept them, and suddenly find love in their cold hearts for them, they are even more stupid than we thought. According to Misterioso’s comment, they were already shown how compassionate, kind, and hospitable, these zionist can be.
Maybe someone forgot to show these Arab leaders the long list of racist and hateful statements against Arabs, made by their new buddies throughout the years, if they don’t know by now. Maybe speaking to some Israeli Arabs, who are treated like second class citizens, and who have been discriminated politically, might also open their eyes.
Or maybe they don’t care.
From Annelle Sheline’s article cited above:
Given its centrality to Morocco’s economic calculus, the Western Sahara dispute has been central to Moroccan politics for decades. Every year, the Moroccan government commemorates November 6, the date in 1975 when Moroccan King Hassan II orchestrated the so-called “Green March”: 350,000 Moroccans crossed the border into what was then known as Spanish Sahara to pressure Madrid to give up its colony, which occurred the following year.
The local inhabitants declared their determination to establish the Sahrawi Democratic Arab Republic, backed up by the Polisario Front, an independence movement that subsequently engaged in guerrilla-style attacks in an effort to win the territory’s freedom.
The UN and the international community supported the Sahrawis’ right to self determination, but Morocco responded by colonizing the territory and exploiting its resources.
Conflict persisted until a UN-brokered ceasefire in 1991 that guaranteed a referendum to decide the territory’s future, but Morocco refused to allow the vote to occur, preferring to maintain de facto control. With Trump’s announcement, Western Sahara’s hopes for independence look increasingly dim.
Morocco’s occupation of Western Sahara, its brutal crackdowns on local resistance, and its intransigence in the face of international condemnation help to explain why Morocco may feel more inclined towards the Israelis’ perspective than towards that of the Palestinians.
Both conflicts arose from a botched exit by European colonial powers — Great Britain from Palestine, Spain from Western Sahara — and both the occupying governments of Israel and Morocco have relied on de facto control of territory to slowly wear down feckless international opposition over time, while maintaining police states to control the inhabitants of their respective occupied territories.
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Memo to Donald Trump, Jared Kushner and Bibi Netanyahu re the “Abraham Accords”
“Death to the Arabs” greets new Emirati owner of Israeli football team | The Electronic Intifada
“’Death to the Arabs’ greets new Emirati owner of Israeli football team” Electronic Intifada, Dec. 10/20, by Tamara Nassar
Excerpt:
“A member of the Abu Dhabi royal family has purchased a nearly 50 percent stake in Beitar Jerusalem, Israel’s most notoriously racist football club.
“The club announced the sale on Monday after it was finalized between Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Nahyan & his now co-owner Moshe Hogeg.
“The club called it a ‘historic & exciting day.’
“The Emirati royal has pledged to invest more than $90 million over the next decade, which the club said will be used for infrastructure & recruiting players, among other things.
“The club will form a new board of directors that will include Hamad Bin Khalifa’s son, Muhammad Bin Hamad Al Nahyan, who will be his father’s representative.
“Hamad Bin Khalifa said he was ‘thrilled to be a partner in such a glorious club,’ & in Jerusalem, no less, which he called ‘the capital of Israel & one of the holiest cities in the world.’
“History of racism””What the Emirati royal describes as ‘glorious’ is a club whose fans are infamous for their anti-Palestinian rampages, habitually accompanied by chants of ‘Death to the Arabs.’
“And that’s precisely what Hamad Bin Khalifa got for his troubles.
“Fans welcomed the club’s new co-owner by painting ‘Fuck Dubai’ on the wall of the club’s stadium.”
(cont’d)
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“Other racist slogans daubed on the walls included ‘Death to the Arabs’ and phrases denigrating the Prophet Muhammad.
“Beitar Jerusalem has been reprimanded and penalized in the past for the ultra-racism of its fans.
“It remains the only ‘top flight’ Israeli club never to have hired a single Palestinian citizen of Israel.
“When the club did sign non-Arab Muslim players, they left after just a short time due to racist harassment.
“Still, the club has historically enjoyed the following of prominent Israeli figures, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and of Elor Azarya, the army medic who became a national hero after executing incapacitated Palestinian Abd al-Fattah Yusri al-Sharif in the occupied West Bank in 2016.
“Israel’s transportation minister Miri Regev previously posted a video of herself during her time as culture minister, surrounded by Beitar fans shouting genocidal slogans against Palestinians, including, ‘May your village be burned.'”
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/12/11/us-recognised-moroccos-claim-to-western-sahara-now-what
“US recognised Morocco’s claim to Western Sahara. Now what?”“Recognition bolsters the kingdom’s claim to the territory, but experts say it will not affect UN or EU positions.” By Jillian Kestler-D’Amours, Al Jazeera, Dec. 11/20
EXCERPT:
“While the Trump administration’s recognition of Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara is a big victory for the North African kingdom, experts say the move is unlikely to result in widespread support for Morocco’s claim to the territory.
“Moroccan forces and the Polisario Front, an armed group demanding independence for Western Sahara, have been fighting over the disputed territory – a vast area bordering Morocco, Mauritania and Algeria that was previously under the Spanish control – for decades.”