Statement on Palestine and Western Sahara posted on 18 December 2020. Palestine Solidarity Campaign | Western Sahara Campaign UK | UNISON | Unite the Union | GMB | NEU
In a deal brokered by outgoing US President Donald Trump, Morocco has become the fourth Arab League country to normalise relations with Israel. The deal follows similar agreements with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Sudan. As part of the deal, the United States has agreed to recognise Morocco’s claims of sovereignty over occupied Western Sahara.
This deal between occupiers is nothing to celebrate. It undermines international law and successive UN resolutions, and does nothing to bring the realisation of the core collective rights of the Palestinian and the Sahrawi people closer.
Instead, Israel is being rewarded with enhanced diplomatic and trade relations, despite continuing to flout international law through its ongoing occupation and colonisation of Palestinian land.. This includes through the ongoing expansion of illegal Israeli settlements, in violation of UNSCR 2334, and the threat of de jure annexation of swathes of the occupied West Bank.
The United States’ recognition of Morrocan sovereignty over Western Sahara violates the basic principles of international law and human rights, and undermines the prospect of peace, at a time when the 29 year old settlement plan (implementation of which the ceasefire was contingent upon) is in grave danger. Moreover, the exploitation of Sahrawi land and resources will only increase with the promised opening of a US-consulate on occupied land in Dakhla.
As confirmed by UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, the deal does not change the status of Morocco’s occupation of Western Sahara under international law. Neither does it remove the core collective rights, including the right to self-determination, that both the Palestinian and Sahrawi people have been denied for so long.
We call on US President elect Biden to reverse this damaging deal and for the US administration to support international efforts to secure human rights and justice through the implementation of international law.
In addition, we call on the UK government, and all political parties, to speak out against the deal, and for the UK government to play a leading role in international efforts to end Israel’s and Morocco’s continued breaches of international law and human rights. In the face of this deal, global civil society must redouble its efforts to stand in solidarity with the Palestinian and the Sahrawi people until freedom, justice and equality are realised.
WESTERN SAHARA CAMPAIGN UK
The Western Sahara Campaign works in solidarity with the Saharawi people to generate political support in order to advance their right to self-determination and to promote their human rights.
Our role is to lobby the UK Government and the EU. You can help us to ensure the UK does not ignore the voice of the Saharawi people.
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