After the historic win of the Moroccan football team over Spain in Qatar world cup and its qualification to the quarter finals, Moroccans took to the streets to express their joy and happiness. The celebrations took place in Morocco and among the Moroccan migrants in many European countries and also in Morocco’s occupied Western Sahara. But while these celebrations took the form of joyful parades in Morocco and the rest of the world, in occupied territories of Western Sahara they had another form ; the Moroccan authorities have recruited its agents and equipped them with high speakers and cars to display Moroccan national anthem and propaganda songs across the streets of occupied Western Sahara cities. Seizing the thousands of Moroccans celebrating in streets and cities’ squares, these state-fund agents mission was to spread the usual Moroccan propaganda and drive the Moroccan crowds to flex muscles over the local indigenous Saharawi population and celebrate what the Moroccan colonial state like to name, the “moroccanity” of Western Sahara.
Even more, the Moroccan state usage of propaganda in sports extends to the Moroccan players themselves at the Qatar world cup. In a video that has gone viral among the Moroccans all over social media platforms, the Moroccan players, most of whom were born and raised in Europe and barely speak Arabic, were depicted clapping on famous Moroccan songs that call for the moroccanity of Western Sahara, which shows that the Moroccan state seize whatever opportunity to fuel its population with hatred against the Saharawi people and its main ally in this north African region, the sate of Algeria.
It is this abusive use of Moroccan football team achievements for intentional filthy political propaganda to force and legitimize the occupation of Western Sahara that has pushed the Saharawi people to stand against the Moroccan football team in Qatar world cup 2022.
It is worth noting that the Saharawis were confronted with disproportionate police brutality when they had gone celebrating Algeria national team’s win of Africa Cup of Nations in 2019, resulting in the death of at least one Saharawi young woman and many were injured and detained to be subsequently subjected to heinous physical and mental torture.
Yet, as the Moroccan football team is achieving unmatched victories in current world cup, the Moroccan settlers celebrations in occupied territories of Western Sahara are supervised and organised by the Moroccan colonial authorities and equipped with all available materials under the protection of the police forces.
Western Sahara is listed in UN as non-self governing territory since 1963. Morocco seized the anarchic pull out of the Spanish colonizer and the support of France and the USA to invade the territory, claiming its ownership based on fake historical links. The UN condemned the Moroccan move and the International Court of Justice issued a verdict in favour of the right of the Saharawi people to self-determination and independence. Saharawi people are currently scattered between occupied territories of Western Sahara, the refugee camps in South West of Algeria and diaspora in Europe and around the world, pending a UN sponsored stalled referendum since 1991.
Khalil Asmar
follow at twitter @Sahara_Voice
freedomsupport 