DOCSLIB.ORG

Settler Colonialism As a Structure: Interpreting Historic Moroccan Actions in Western Sahara

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Settler Colonialism As a Structure: Interpreting Historic Moroccan Actions in Western Sahara Yale University EliScholar – A Digital Platform for Scholarly Publishing at Yale Library Map Prize Library Prizes April 2019 Settler Colonialism as a Structure: Interpreting Historic Moroccan Actions in Western Sahara Amanda Taheri Follow this and additional works at: https://elischolar.library.yale.edu/library_map_prize Part of the African Studies Commons, Archival Science Commons, Migration Studies Commons, Peace and Conflict Studies Commons, Physical and Environmental Geography Commons, Policy History, Theory, and Methods Commons, Race and Ethnicity Commons, and the Social and Cultural Anthropology Commons Recommended Citation Taheri, Amanda, "Settler Colonialism as a Structure: Interpreting Historic Moroccan Actions in Western Sahara" (2019). Library Map Prize. 4. https://elischolar.library.yale.edu/library_map_prize/4 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Library Prizes at EliScholar – A Digital Platform for Scholarly Publishing at Yale. It has been accepted for inclusion in Library Map Prize by an authorized administrator of EliScholar – A Digital Platform for Scholarly Publishing at Yale. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Settler Colonialism as a Structure: Interpreting Historic Moroccan Actions in Western Sahara A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Bachelor of the Arts in Ethnicity, Race and Migration Amanda Taheri Yale University Advisor: Professor Wyrtzen Spring 2019 Taheri 1 Table of Contents Acknowledgements 2 Glossary 3 Chronology of the Region 4 Introduction 5 Chapter I: History of the Region in Published Literature 11 Chapter II: Methodology 14 Chapter III: Nationalism and Settler Colonial Theory 17 Part I: Nationalism Theory 17 Part II: Settler Colonial Theory 25 Part III: Convergence of Nationalism and Settler Colonial Theory 30 Chapter IV: Sahrawi Identity and Political Formations 33 Chapter V: Green March (Al Massira) of 1975 40 Chapter VI: The Berm 48 Chapter VII: Other Applications of Settler Colonial Theory 52 Conclusion 54 Bibliography 56 Taheri 2 Acknowledgments I cannot express how much gratitude and appreciation I have for Mansour, a Sahrawi living in Occupied Western Sahara. Mansour dedicated endless hours to communicating, sharing and translating information for me. I have learned a tremendous amount from him and would like to dedicate this thesis in his honor. I would like to extend a massive thank you to the Ethnicity, Race and Migration department, which has entirely shaped my experience at Yale and shifted my understanding of the world. I am very lucky to have been given the opportunity to study settler colonialism in such an environment. I specifically want to thank Professor Tran for her constant encouragement and constructive pressure, Professor Wyrtzen for bearing with me despite my frantic emails and office hours and for possessing a wealth of knowledge about the region, Professor HoSang for introducing me to the notion of the imagination as an organizing space, and lastly, Professor Okihiro for highlighting colonizers tactics and means of producing power. I would like to thank Kate Hunter who has become much more than my writing tutor, but an inspirational friend who constantly supports my academic endeavors. Thank you to my family and friends for always encouraging my curiosity. I would like to thank the scholars who made this work possible. Edward Said’s Orientalism has forever altered my perspective on imperialist power structures and Patrick Wolfe for his conceptualization of settler colonialism as a living structure. Lastly, I would like to thank the Yale Manuscripts and Archives department for providing me access to incredible documents. Taheri 3 Glossary of Terms Below is a list of common terms that are used throughout my thesis. This page will serve as a reference for some terms, but these definitions are not complete by any means. These definitions serve to orient the reader, not explain the entirety of the terminology in a few sentences. • Nation: A collection of people united by their belonging to the ‘imagined community’ as theorized by Benedict Anderson. • Nationalism: Identification with an ‘imagined community’ of members who share similar experiences, histories and myths. Produces an ‘other,’ and can be utilized as a mobilizing ideology. • Sahrawi: The indigenous population that inhabits the surrounding area of Western Sahara. Sahrawis consider themselves to be ethnically different than Moroccans and do not speak the same dialect. • Green March: On November 6th, 1975 Morocco ‘peacefully’ invaded Western Sahara with civilians carrying Qurans, Moroccan Flags, and photographs of King Hassan II. • Black March: How Sahrawis label the Green March, indicating the bad intentions and subsequent military invasion that occurred in the Northwestern part of Western Sahara. • Madrid Accords: Following the Green March, Mauritania, Morocco and Spain signed a treaty essentially removing Spain from Western Sahara and instead giving the land to Morocco and Mauritania, with Spain maintaining some economic profits from the local industries. Sahrawis were strategically not included in the Accords. • The Berm: A military sand wall that divides Western Sahara into the Occupied Territories and SADR. Created by the Moroccan Military from 1981-1987, the Berm is comprised of six separate military walls. • King Hassan II: The Moroccan Monarch from 1961 until 1999. Son of Mohammed V. Calls for the Green March of 1975. • Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR/ RASD): Government and State of the Sahrawis since 1976. Official member of the African Union. • Front Polisario: Sahrawi liberation and resistance movement founded in 1973 in opposition to colonialism. Works under the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, headquartered in Tindouf refugee camps. • Settler Colonialism: An overarching structure of domination rather than a singular event, as theorized by Patrick Wolfe and Lorenzo Veracini. Goal is the elimination of the native and replacement with settlers. • Colonialism: Process of obtaining control over another population for the purposes of exploitation. • Irredentism: an ideology that a territory must be restored to its previous boundaries. Historical restoration claims. Taheri 4 Chronology of the Region 1502 Spanish land in Western Sahara 1524 Area surrounding al-Daklha/Villa Cisneros informally returned to Saadian rulers 1884 The Congress of Berlin resulting with European powers dividing Africa 1884 Capitan Emilio Bonelli Hernado reconquered Villa Cisneros and established a military fortress, La Factoria 1936 Communist prisoners from the Spanish Civil War are transported to live in Villa Cisneros 1947 Spanish civilians begin settling in Villa Cisneros 1947 Bou Craa phosphate reserves were discovered, but not officially mined yet 1960 Global decolonization period as dictated by the United Nations 1963 Sand War between Algeria and Morocco over border claims 1973 Establishment of the Front Polisario 1974 Bou Craa mining operation begins to boom 1975 Moroccan Military invades the Northeast corner of Western Sahara on October 31st 1975 The Green March, ‘officially’ occurring November 6th 1975 The Madrid Accords on November 14th 1976 Morocco Napalm bombs camps in Western Sahara, Amalga. 1976 Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), Republique arab sahraoui democratique (RASD) is declared 1979 Mauritania withdraws claims to Western Sahara, SADR only fighting Morocco for territorial claims 1980 Morocco begins the first wall construction of the Berm 1987 Morocco completes the sixth section of the Berm Taheri 5 “I’m indigenous, this is my land and I have been here for hundreds of years” Mansour pronounced as the skype screen crackled.1 Pride and determination were laced throughout his words. This quotation could be placed into multiple different geographies and contexts, most commonly associated with Native American tribal claims and Palestinian territorial assertions; however, this assertion came from a local Sahrawi, an indigenous person from the contested region of Western Sahara. Mansour is a Sahrawi living in the Western Sahara capital city of Laayoune (El Aaiun), a city currently under Moroccan occupation. Mansour, his family and many local members in the community continue to make indigeneity and sovereignty claims to their homeland by mobilizing members in opposition of colonialism, specifically countering Moroccan settler colonialism in their homeland. Often overlooked on an international scale, Western Sahara has been cited as ‘Africa’s last colony,’ and remains to be a highly contested site in terms of administrative power, physical warfare, and livelihood. Mansour’s citation references the longevity of his family history in the region but because of Moroccan historic and contemporary rule, Mansour and his family are deprived of their homeland. While it is globally recognized that Spain dominated Western Sahara’s colonial past, this thesis will argue that after Spanish forces left the region in 1975, instead of experiencing liberation, Western Sahara became a site of Moroccan settler colonialism that was enacted through the means of nationalist rhetoric. In order to make this argument, the connection of nationalism and settler colonial theory will be applied to specific sites of Moroccan colonial power. Specifically, this thesis will examine how Moroccan nationalist rhetoric has framed the settler colonial situation as a nationalist crusade. 1 Mansour is a pseudonym from a Sahrawi I have been communicating
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Tobes SO* LA Ft¿Gfon Μέδιτδκκαν&Ννδ SZ£G£& 2011
    теьпемАЫ tanolmanvok ¿TObeS SO* LA ft¿GfON ΜέδΙΤδΚΚΑΝ&ΝΝδ SZ£G£& 2011 2011FE83 1S MEDITERRÁN TANULMÁNYOK ÉTUDES SUR LA RÉGION MÉDITERRANÉENNE XX. UNIVERSITÉ DE SZEGED DÉPARTEMENT D'HISTOIRE MODERNE ET D'ÉTUDES MÉDITERRANÉENNES SZEGED 2011 Directeur de publication László J. Nagy Comité de rédaction Beáta Varga, Lajos Kövér, Andrea Kökény, Péter Ákos Ferwagner Rédaction, publication Szegedi Tudományegyetem Újkori Egyetemes Történeti és Mediterrán Tanulmányok Tanszék H-6722 Szeged, Egyetem u. 2. Tel./Fax. : (36) (62) 544-805, 544-464 e-mail : [email protected] Metteur en pages Attila Bato ISSN : 02388308 Les opinions émises dans les articles η 'engagent que la responsabilité de leurs auteurs. SOMMAIRE Gizella NÉMETH - Adriano PAPO Sigismondo di Lussemburgo e la campagna antiveneziana nella terza decade di Bonfini 5 Zsolt PALOTÁS Improvisation and directive. Development of naval warfare tactics in the Anglo-Dutch Wars (1652-1674) 17 Bianka SPEIDL Distance in Vicinity: Beirut's Zuqaq el-Blat, a Place of Transformation, Conflict and Co-existence 29 Abdallah ABDEL-ΑΤΥ Egyptian-Hungarian diplomatic relations between World War I and II 51 Alessandro ROSSELLI II P.S.I, (riformista) e la politica coloniale del fascismo in uno scritto di Angelo Tasca del 1939 61 András LÉNÁRT La concepción histórica de Franco y su reflejo en el cine oficial del régimen 71 Ákos WINDHAGER The Fall of Constantinople. Its musical remembrance in the 1950's 83 János BESENYŐ Colonization of Western Sahara 97 Péter POZDERKA Maltese-Hungarian Relations 117 Sigismondo di Lussemburgo e la campagna antiveneziana nella terza decade di Bonfìni GIZELLA NÉMETH - ADRIANO PAPO (*) ASSOCIAZIONE CULTURALE ITALOUNGHERESE DEL FRIULI VENEZIA GIULIA «PIER PAOLO VERGERIO», DUINO AURISINA (TRIESTE) (*) UNIVERSITÀ DEGLI STUDI DI UDINE Iam tempus exposcit, ut, quo pacto res Dalmatie decrescere ceperint in Venetorumque potestatem devenerint Sigismundi temporibus, breviter aperiamus1.
    [Show full text]
  • The Maritime Jurisdiction Ofan
    FROM THE DESERT TO THE SEA: THE MARITIME JURISDICTION OF AN INDEPENDENT WESTERN SAHARA Thesis Master of Laws in International Law Submitted by Jeffrey J. Smith April 29, 2010 © 2010 Jeffrey J. Smith http://fletcher.tufts.edu ABSTRACT Western Sahara is the last colonial territory in Africa. Its people have been unable to realize their right of self-determination since the former colonial power, Spain, ceded the territory to Mauritania and Morocco in 1975. The presumptive maritime or ocean jurisdiction of an independent Western Sahara, formally known as the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic (the SADR), is examined. The analysis begins with the history of the territory’s creation, the establishment of its land boundaries in the colonial era and its natural resources. The events relating to the territory’s stalled decolonization are then canvassed. The current maritime jurisdictional claims of States in the Saharan Atlantic region are considered, together with continuing fisheries uses in Saharan waters, as well as the results of the 2009 enactment of the author’s ocean jurisdiction legislation for the SADR. The law of maritime delimitation, which includes the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, decisions of the International Court of Justice and other tribunals, and state practice, is reviewed and applied to determine the likely or probable maritime jurisdiction of the SADR, including its territorial sea, contiguous zone, exclusive economic zone and continental shelf. Issues concerning a possible claim to the extended continental shelf are addressed. Conclusions about maritime jurisdictional areas (or zones) are given in a series of purpose-drawn maps showing the SADR’s likely maritime boundaries.
    [Show full text]
  • Western Sahara
    János Besenyő WESTERN SAHARA Publikon Publishers Pécs, 2009 János Besenyő WESTERN SAHARA Editor: István Tarrósy Photos made by: János Besenyő English language consultant: István Tarrósy, IDResearch Ltd. Cover: Gábor Kiss Layout editor: Dávid Keserű, IDResearch Ltd., Pécs Printed by: Ad Librum, Budapest Published by IDResearch Ltd./Publikon Publishers. ISBN 978-963-88332-0-4 © IDResearch Kft./Publikon Kiadó, 2009 © IDResearch Ltd./Publikon Publishers, 2009 www.afrikatanulmanyok.hu © János Besenyő, 2009 CONTENTS Recommendation 5 Editor’s Preface 7 Geographical Features – Flora and Fauna 9 Economy 17 Society 27 The History of the Region Before the Arrival of the Europeans 37 Colonisation of the Area 45 Spanish Sahara 57 The Beginning of the Struggle for Independence 65 The Early Activities of the UN in the Resolution of the Problem 73 The Decision of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) 83 in The Hague The Green March and Subsequent Events 89 The Occupation of the Sahara Territories and the Beginning of Hostilities 97 After the Declaration of Independence – The Escalation of the Conflict 103 Peace Treaty between Mauritania and the Polisario 111 Events after the Occupation of the Area by Morocco 119 The UN Re-enters the Negotiations on the Settlement 131 of the Future of the Region 3 MINURSO 141 The Structure of MINURSO 145 Life in the Refugee Camps 167 Endnotes 175 References 189 4 RECOMMENDATION I am fortunate enough to know the author of this book who was on duty in Western Sahara when I was serving as the Chief of Staff of the Hungarian Defence Forces (HDF). Even back then I considered it as a priority not just to send our soldiers to foreign countries but to process and channel their experiences to anyone who might benefit from them.
    [Show full text]
  • La Geografia…
    SPANISH GEOGRAPHY ON THE CHALLENGES OF CONTEMPORARY SOCIETY INTERNATIONAL GEOGRAPHICAL UNION SPANISH COMITEE SPANISH GEOGRAPHY ON THE CHALLENGES OF CONTEMPORARY SOCIETY XXX IGU Congress Spanish Contribution Glasgow 2004 TABLE OF CONTENT SPANISH GEOGRAPHY ON THE CHALLENGES OF CONTEMPORARY SOCIETY1 PREFACE . 457 1. GEOGRAPHY TEACHING IN SPAIN . 461 The state of geography in the spanish university. Eugenio Burriel de Orueta. 463 Geography terciary education in non-Geography degree programs in Spain. José Sancho Comíns. 487 Geography in Spanish Primary and Secondary schools (1990-2003). Xosé Manuel Souto González. 499 Geography Doctoral Courses in Spanish Universities (1983-2004). Manuel Valenzuela Rubio. 517 2. RESEARCHING IN GEOGRAPHY . 535 Incorporating new technologies into Spanish geographical research. Joaquín Bosque Sendra y Emilio Chuvieco Salinero. 537 Spanish University Geography Departments and their Scientific Research. Elia Canosa Zamora, Manuel Frochoso Sánchez y Julio Muñoz Jiménez. 547 Spanish geographic journals. Changes and adaptations in editorial quality controls. Jorge Olcina Cantos y Adelaida Román Román. 567 3. THE ACTIVITY OF GEOGRAPHICAL INSTITUTIONS . 597 The “Centro Geográfico del Ejército”. Mariano Abril Domingo. 599 Geography at the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (Higher Council for Scientific Research). María Isabel Bodega Fernández y María Asunción Martín Lou.611 The Spanish “Real Sociedad Geográfica”. 125 years of history. Joaquín Bosque Maurel. 617 Geographers and Cartographic Institutes. Carmen Montaner García. 639 The Asociation of Spanish Geographers. “Asociación de Geógrafos Espanoles” (AGE). Ricardo Méndez Gutiérrez del Valle. 647 1 Abstracts in Spanish, English and French appear only in the Spanish version – 455 – The “Societat Catalana de Geografía”. Francesc Nadal Piqué. 657 4. SPANISH GEOGRAPHY`S INTERNATIONAL PRESENCE .
    [Show full text]
  • Western Sahara
    János Besenyő WESTERN SAHARA Publikon Publishers Pécs, 2009 János Besenyő WESTERN SAHARA Editor: István Tarrósy Photos made by: János Besenyő English language consultant: István Tarrósy, IDResearch Ltd. Cover: Gábor Kiss Layout editor: Dávid Keserű, IDResearch Ltd., Pécs Printed by: Ad Librum, Budapest Published by IDResearch Ltd./Publikon Publishers. ISBN 978-963-88332-0-4 © IDResearch Kft./Publikon Kiadó, 2009 © IDResearch Ltd./Publikon Publishers, 2009 www.afrikatanulmanyok.hu © János Besenyő, 2009 CONTENTS Recommendation 5 Editor’s Preface 7 Geographical Features – Flora and Fauna 9 Economy 17 Society 27 The History of the Region Before the Arrival of the Europeans 37 Colonisation of the Area 45 Spanish Sahara 57 The Beginning of the Struggle for Independence 65 The Early Activities of the UN in the Resolution of the Problem 73 The Decision of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) 83 in The Hague The Green March and Subsequent Events 89 The Occupation of the Sahara Territories and the Beginning of Hostilities 97 After the Declaration of Independence – The Escalation of the Conflict 103 Peace Treaty between Mauritania and the Polisario 111 Events after the Occupation of the Area by Morocco 119 The UN Re-enters the Negotiations on the Settlement 131 of the Future of the Region 3 MINURSO 141 The Structure of MINURSO 145 Life in the Refugee Camps 167 Endnotes 175 References 189 4 RECOMMENDATION I am fortunate enough to know the author of this book who was on duty in Western Sahara when I was serving as the Chief of Staff of the Hungarian Defence Forces (HDF). Even back then I considered it as a priority not just to send our soldiers to foreign countries but to process and channel their experiences to anyone who might benefit from them.
    [Show full text]
  • Western Sahara
    János Besenyő WESTERN SAHARA Publikon Publishers Pécs, 2009 János Besenyő WESTERN SAHARA Editor: István Tarrósy Photos made by: János Besenyő English language consultant: István Tarrósy, IDResearch Ltd. Cover: Gábor Kiss Layout editor: Dávid Keserű, IDResearch Ltd., Pécs Printed by: Ad Librum, Budapest Published by IDResearch Ltd./Publikon Publishers. ISBN 978-963-88332-0-4 © IDResearch Kft./Publikon Kiadó, 2009 © IDResearch Ltd./Publikon Publishers, 2009 www.afrikatanulmanyok.hu © János Besenyő, 2009 CONTENTS Recommendation 5 Editor’s Preface 7 Geographical Features – Flora and Fauna 9 Economy 17 Society 27 The History of the Region Before the Arrival of the Europeans 37 Colonisation of the Area 45 Spanish Sahara 57 The Beginning of the Struggle for Independence 65 The Early Activities of the UN in the Resolution of the Problem 73 The Decision of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) 83 in The Hague The Green March and Subsequent Events 89 The Occupation of the Sahara Territories and the Beginning of Hostilities 97 After the Declaration of Independence – The Escalation of the Conflict 103 Peace Treaty between Mauritania and the Polisario 111 Events after the Occupation of the Area by Morocco 119 The UN Re-enters the Negotiations on the Settlement 131 of the Future of the Region 3 MINURSO 141 The Structure of MINURSO 145 Life in the Refugee Camps 167 Endnotes 175 References 189 4 RECOMMENDATION I am fortunate enough to know the author of this book who was on duty in Western Sahara when I was serving as the Chief of Staff of the Hungarian Defence Forces (HDF). Even back then I considered it as a priority not just to send our soldiers to foreign countries but to process and channel their experiences to anyone who might benefit from them.
    [Show full text]
  • History of Western Sahara and Spanish Colonisation
    History of Western Sahara and Spanish colonisation Macharia Munene* United States International University, Nairobi Introduction A look at the history of what became Western Sahara, reveals that the legal issue is one of decolonisation. Its people, the Saharawi, are a hybrid nation also found in neighbouring Algeria, Morocco, and Mauritania. They have distinct cultural attributes including a hybrid language shaped by long interaction between peoples from within and outside of Africa. Of the extra-continental forces, it is Spain that colonised most of the Saharawi. Once a great European power that had been reduced to a third rate position, Spain had been humiliated by the Americans at the end of the nineteenth century just when other Europeans were busy grabbing territories in Africa. It acquired tiny Western Sahara, but delayed actualising its territorial claims on the ground through effective occupation. Its neighbour, in both Europe and Africa, was France, and France was more efficient than Spain at taking care of its colonial interests. Spain suffered as a virtual international outcast early in the 20th Century. It played little role in World War I, was plunged into a civil war, and sympathised with Hitler and Mussolini in World War II. Rehabilitated through the exigencies of the Cold War, it was admitted to the United Nations in 1955 and became subject to new international rules requiring colonial powers to show how they intended to set about de-colonising their foreign possessions. It was reluctant to do so, particularly in the light of the possibility of the commercial exploitation of phosphate deposits at Bu Craa that would free it from dependency on Morocco.
    [Show full text]
  • El Sáhara Occidental: Del Conflicto Al Olvido
    Trabajo Fin De Grado: El Sáhara Occidental: Del Conflicto al Olvido. Autor: Jesús Cano Rodríguez Tutor: Ignacio Peiró Martín Facultad de Filosofía y Letras - Grado en Historia 2019 ÍNDICE MARCO INTRODUCTORIO o INTRODUCCIÓN o METODOLOGÍA Y OBJETIVOS o RESUMEN Y ABSTRACT CUERPO DEL TRABAJO o BLOQUE I: ESPAÑA EN EL SÁHARA. 1. PRESENCIA ESPAÑOLA EN EL SÁHARA. 1.1 MOTIVO DEL INTERÉS ESPAÑOL POR EL SÁHARA. 1.2 PRIMEROS AÑOS DE PRESENCIA ESPAÑOLA. 2. CONFECCIÓN INTERNACIONAL DEL TERRITORIO 2.1 CONFERENCIA DE ALGECIRAS. 3. POLÍTICA Y ADMINISTRACIÓN ESPAÑOLA HASTA LA INDEPENDENCIA MARROQUÍ. 3.1 EL SÁHARA BAJO LA DICTADURA FRANQUISTA. 4. INDEPENDENCIA DE MARRUECOS. COMIENZO DEL CONFLICTO. 4.1 GUERRA DEL IFNI. 4.2 OPERACIÓN TEIDE. 5. DEL NACIMIENTO DEL NACIONALISMO SAHARAUI A LA MARCHA VERDE. 5.1. EL SURGIIENTO DEL NACIONALISMO SAHARAUI. 5.2. EL OALS Y BASSIRI. 5.3. EL UALI Y EL NACIMIENTO DEL FRENTE POLISARIO. 5.4. POSICIÓN DE ESPAÑA FRNTE AL NACIONALISMO SAHARAUI. o BLOQUE II: EVOLUCIÓN DEL CONFLICTO TRAS LA SALIDA DE ESPAÑA. 6. CONCEPTUALIZACIÓN DEL CONFLICTO (1975-ACTUALIDAD). 7. LA MARCHA VERDE. 7.1. DESARROLLO DE LA CONTIENDA. 7.2. SOLUCIÓN DEL CONFLICTO: ACUERDOS TRIPARTITOS DE MADRID. 8. CONSTITUCIÓN DE LA RASD. 9. CONFLICTO ARMADO (1976-1991). 10. INTERVENCIÓN DE LOS ORGANISMOS INTERNACIONALES (ONU Y MINURSO). 11. INTIFADA SAHARAUI. 12. ESPAÑA Y EL SÁHARA. 13. CONCLUSIÓN. 14. BIBLIOGRAFÍA RESUMEN En el año 1885, Emilio Bonelli llega al territorio del Sáhara. Hay que puntualizar que las pretensiones del militar, autor y africanista español sobre el territorio no correspondían con una intención colonizadora como podríamos pensar.
    [Show full text]
  • Western-Sahara Under the Spanish Empire
    AARMS HISTORY Vol. 9, No. 2 (2010) 195–215 Western-Sahara under the Spanish empire JÁNOS BESENYŐ Miklós Zrínyi National Defence University, Budapest, Hungary I led research on peacekeeping in Africa, with a special focus on the Western Saharan question. If we would like to understand this conflict properly, we need to know about the colonisation of the Western-Sahara and the formation of the Spanish Sahara. In this essay, I’d like to introduce this course of events. Beginning Europeans arrived to the Canary Islands first (1309), which they could only occupy by 1401, due to the resistance of the Guanche population. Jaime Ferrer sailed along Boujdour not much later, in 1346, however he never returned home from his voyage of discovery.1 As the Spaniards almost exterminated the native population of the Canary Islands there was no sufficient labour force available for cultivating the land therefore slave- hunting expeditions were launched to the coasts of the Sahara. The first raids were somewhere at coastlines of Boujdour in 1405, where a complete caravan was looted, the captured Sahrawis were sold as slaves at a good price.2 Having become enthusiastic over the success of the first escapade the Spaniards repeated the slave-hunting journeys called “entradas” or “cabagadas” for almost two centuries. Certainly, it could not be officially declared that only the slaves are required, therefore they hid their real intentions behind the likeness of Christian mission work.3 The very first colony of the Europeans was established by the Portuguese in Ceuta (1415), than mapping the neighbouring areas began, till in 1433–1434 the expedition led by Gil Eanes and Alfonso Goncalves Baldaya reached Cap Bojador, the coastal region of present day Western Sahara.4 During the following expedition, which was led by Goncalves and Nuno Tristao, the Portuguese captured 12 nomads, among whom only a few could speak Arabic as they were of Berber origin.
    [Show full text]
  • Settler Colonialism As a Structure: Interpreting Historic Moroccan Actions in Western Sahara
    Yale University EliScholar – A Digital Platform for Scholarly Publishing at Yale Library Map Prize Library Prizes 2019 Settler Colonialism as a Structure: Interpreting Historic Moroccan Actions in Western Sahara Amanda Taheri Follow this and additional works at: https://elischolar.library.yale.edu/library_map_prize Part of the African Studies Commons, Archival Science Commons, Migration Studies Commons, Peace and Conflict Studies Commons, Physical and Environmental Geography Commons, Policy History, Theory, and Methods Commons, Race and Ethnicity Commons, and the Social and Cultural Anthropology Commons Recommended Citation Taheri, Amanda, "Settler Colonialism as a Structure: Interpreting Historic Moroccan Actions in Western Sahara" (2019). Library Map Prize. 4. https://elischolar.library.yale.edu/library_map_prize/4 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Library Prizes at EliScholar – A Digital Platform for Scholarly Publishing at Yale. It has been accepted for inclusion in Library Map Prize by an authorized administrator of EliScholar – A Digital Platform for Scholarly Publishing at Yale. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Settler Colonialism as a Structure: Interpreting Historic Moroccan Actions in Western Sahara A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Bachelor of the Arts in Ethnicity, Race and Migration Amanda Taheri Yale University Advisor: Professor Wyrtzen Spring 2019 Taheri 1 Table of Contents Acknowledgements 2 Glossary 3 Chronology of the
    [Show full text]
  • Western Sahara: Africa's Longest and Most Forgotten Territorial Conflict
    1. Introduction The conflict in Western Sahara is one of Africa’s most long‐lasting territorial disputes, going on for more than three decades now. The territory is contested by Morocco and the Polisario Front, which in February 1976 formally proclaimed a government‐in‐ exile of the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic. The self‐ proclaimed republic has been a member of the African Union since 1984, and has been recognized by eighty‐two nations. In the meantime, the issue has been on the UN agenda since 1966, yet the international community has failed to find a suitable solution between the two concerned parties. The reasons for this failure are the lack of interest from the international community and the West’s power struggles in the strategic region of North Africa. In 2007, the Kingdom of Morocco proposed an autonomy plan in which "the people of Western Sahara will have local control over their affairs through legislative, executive and judicial institutions under the aegis of Moroccan sovereignty."1 But the plan was rejected by the Polisario Front, and the stand‐off continues. This paper presents a historical, political and legal account of the Western Sahara conflict and evaluates the geopolitical roles of the regional and outside powers in the conflict: Spain, Algeria, France, and the United States. The essay will conclude with a brief description of the current situation. 2. Historical Backgrounds In essence, the issue of Western Sahara seems to be a simple case of self‐determination: the right of a people to decide their 1 http://www.map.ma/eng/sections/sahara/morocco_s_autonomy_p3614/view 1 political status over their own territory.
    [Show full text]
  • Economic and Commercial Influence... (Pdf 2.914
    The economic and commercial influence of Spanish-based languages Madrid, 2019 The economic and commercial influence of Spanish-based languages Catalogue of publications of the Administración General del Estado http://publicacionesoficiales.boe.es General Deputy Direction of Surveys, Information and Publications Ministerio de Economía y Empresa http://www.mineco.gob.es/portal/site/mineco/publicaciones © First edition, 2018: Ministry of Economy and Business (Ministerio de Economía y Empresa) NIPO: 102-19-195-9 With the cooperation of: English translation: Language Interpreting Office of the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation Layout and cover design: Rosa Chumillas Cover image: Mapamundi antiguo (1700 A.D.). Source: www.etapainfantil.com Printed in Spain The opinions given in this publication are of exclusive liability of the authors. The exploitation rights of this work are protected by the Laws on Intellectual Property and none of its parts shall be reproduced, stored or transferred by any mean, either mechanical or via recording, without prior written and express permission of the holders of the © Copyright. Index Introduction …………………………………………………….…………………..… 5 Foreword. José Luis GARCÍA DELGADO …………………………..……………...…………… 6 The Judaeo-Spanish language. Aitor GARCÍA MORENO ……………………………………………………………10 Haketia, Spanish, and Spanish-Moroccan Commercial Relations. Jacobo ISRAEL GARZÓN …………………………………………………….……. 26 The endurance of Spanish in the Maghreb. David FERNÁNDEZ VÍTORES ……………………………………………………...32 Equatorial Guinea: “A Hispanic country with Bantu roots”. Javier MORILLAS …………………………………………………………………47 Spanish on the language map of the Lesser Antilles. María Asunción GÓMEZ …………………………………………………………..62 Spanish in the Philippines. María Dolores ELIZALDE …………………………………………………………75 Spanish in the Philippines: A state language. Carlos MADRID ÁLVAREZ-PIÑER ………………………………………………... 89 The Chavacano language of the Philippines: Facing the challenges st of the 21 century.
    [Show full text]