Wanibik, by the Algerian Rabah Slimani, wins the White Camel at the 17 edition of FiSahara
Wanibik, by the Algerian Rabah Slimani, wins the White Camel at the 17 edition of FiSahara
Wanibik, the people who live in front of their land, by the Algerian director Rabah Slimani, has been the winning film of the White Camel (symbol of peace for the Saharawi people) in the XVII edition of FiSahara (Western Sahara International Film Festival). The film, shot in the Saharawi refugee population camps, tells the story of a group of students from a film school who, for their final year project, decide to shoot on the Wall of Shame erected and mined by Morocco, in the middle of the current war that is being waged after the breaking of the ceasefire by the Alawite regime in November 2020.
The school that appears in the film is the Abidin Kaid Saleh Film School, created by FiSahara in 2011 in the camp of boulder,Special Award at the San Sebastian Film and Human Rights Festival and recent winner of the González Sinde Award 2022 awarded by the Spanish Film Academy.
Slimani, who refused to premiere his film until the premiere at FiSahara had taken place, said “participating is very special for me and for my team, because FiSahara is the festival of truth and the truth is very important in this type of events and in the cinema.” The Algerian director, who describes Wanibik as “a film by the Sahrawis for the Sahrawis”, highlighted that “the first great prize was to project the film on the FiSahara Desert Screen because the smiles of the Sahrawi public in the refugee camps made me feel very proud when I saw them. That is the best award for me.”
For its part, Burkinabè Rising: the art of resistance in Burkina Faso, by the Brazilian-Korean director Iara Lee, won the second prize. The founder and coordinator of the Festival of Cinema and Human Rights and Freedom of Expression La Droit Libre, Abdoulaye Diallo, was in charge of collecting the award. Finally, the film The Nomad Garden, by the Sahrawi director Mohamed Salem Mohamed Ali, received the third of the festival’s awards. The film tells the story of how a young Sahrawi refugee grows vegetables in one of the most inhospitable places in the world, facing water scarcity, extreme temperatures and barren land.
The gala had the participation of the actress Itziar Ituño and the actor Guillermo Toledo as masters of ceremonies. Diallo, the Afro-Colombian social communicator Emiliana Bernard and the filmmaker and journalist Dorothée Myriam Kellou read a statement prepared by them, in which they expressed their gratitude to FiSahara and the Saharawi people, joining “as new ambassadors in the fight for rights, dignity and the reunification of Western Sahara”.
Amaral closed the gala with an acoustic concert in which the Saharawi percussionist Backa Ambark del grupo Alwali joined to perform some of the songs. The group from Zaragoza, which had already pointed out that “we come with the idea that our music is a vehicle to contribute to draw attention to the situation of the Sahrawi people”,stressed that “it is very enriching to see how the Sahrawi people use their culture as an instrument of identity and struggle. For us it is a shock to find ourselves in this tremendously unfair situation and to see the dignity with which they face this situation and this struggle”.
FiSahara is here to stay
During the six days of the festival, the event has developed a multitude of activities (round tables, workshops, journalism master class in Occupied Territories, concert in the dunes, visit to the Film School…), as well as Le Frig, a space for tents traditional Sahrawis in which the different wilayas (camps) compete in different categories. The winners were headed in the national Exemplary Tent competition by the wilaya of Ausserd, followed by those of Smara, El Aaiún, Bojador and Dajla. Likewise, in the local competition, the winning daira (neighborhood) was Mijik, ahead of those from Birganduz; Lguera and Zug, who tied, Aguinit and Tichla.
Tiba Chagaf, director of FiSahara and the Abidin Kaid Saleh Film School, pointed out that “once again, defying all natural, supernatural and human forces, a FiSahara is being made again, which is becoming more consolidated, with a more coordinated and synchronized team to put cinema at the service of a cause that needs be told.“ Along the same lines, María Carrión, executive director of FiSahara, pointed out that “this edition comes to an end with the bar higher than ever, not only for having managed to resist during these years, but also because it has done so by strengthening itself“.
With the slogan #Decolonize and the screening of films about Palestine, Algeria, Burkina Faso or Western Sahara, “the cinema event in the dunes has generated a twinning between peoples who have suffered and continue to suffer the ravages of colonialism,” added Carrión. From Chagaf’s point of view, “the peculiarity of this edition has been that connection that we have made with three continents at the same time projecting the same film, feeling the same emotions while being so far apart and so united at the same time.”
The director refers to the world premiere that took place during FiSahara of Little Sahara, the short film by director Emilio Martí, which received a Special Mention from the Jury. Despite the technical difficulties, the connection was made simultaneously with FiSahara, the solidarity festival Help me Please of Granada and the Festival Voices from Western Sahara which took place in Xalapa and Mexico City (Mexico).
“Cinema becomes strong locally, with young Sahrawis using the seventh art to rescue ancestral customs, but at the same time it has more international capacity”, Carrión stresses. “The FiSahara is here to stay,” concluded Chagaf.
Diez años de EFA Abidin Kaid Saleh, un proyecto con mucho futuro
Diez años de EFA Abidin Kaid Saleh, un proyecto con mucho futuro
Diez años de EFA Abidin Kaid Saleh, un proyecto con mucho futuro
Cuando en 2009 se puso la primera piedra de la que se convertiría en la Escuela de Formación Audiovisual (EFA) Abidin Kaid Saleh, hubo quienes pensaron que aquel proyecto, nacido en el seno de FiSahara, no pasaría de ser un bonito sueño. Sin embargo, un año después se inauguraba y en 2011 comenzaba a echar a andar la primera promoción de cineastas saharauis. Se acaba de cumplir el décimo aniversario y aquel bonito sueño no sólo es ya una realidad, sino que tiene ante sí un futuro prometedor repleto de nuevos proyectos.
En nuestro último viaje a los campamentos de población refugiada saharaui tuvimos oportunidad de conocer a la nueva promoción que ha iniciado su formación audiovisual en la EFA Abidin Kaid Saleh, situada en la wilaya de Bojador. Chicos y chicas saharauis, llegadxs de diferentes campamentos, que aprovechan la residencia con que cuenta el centro y cuyo objetivo es poder dedicarse profesionalmente al mundo audiovisual, ya sea en cine, televisión, radio, fotografía…
Minatu es una de las alumnas más nuevas, apenas lleva dos meses y nos cuenta con una sonrisa en la cara que “estoy aprendiendo muchas cosas; ya sé conectar todos los equipos y he aprendido a proyectar”. Otras, como Jadiyetu, está en su segundo año y ya se encuentra inmersa en las asignaturas de edición de audio y vídeo. Lo mismo sucede con Aza, que nos explica que “estoy aprendiendo muchas cosas de montaje con toda la informática aplicada al cine”.
El responsable de ello es Zanadi, el profesor experto en informática. Durante nuestra reunión, resulta emocionante escucharle referirse al grupo como “una gran familia”… y vaya sí lo es, porque al encuentro no ha faltado nadie, incluyendo a Deiga, la cocinera; Brahim, el vigilante y conserje; Malainin, el conductor; y Daday, el responsable de logística. Zanadi no sería el único que emplea ese concepto, “familia”, para referirse al grupo humano que tenemos ante nosotras, con esos rostros de ilusión y esas ganas de comerse el mundo: lo harían también Malainin, Abdala o Muna, la profesora de Guión amante del teatro.
Hassan es otro de los miembros de la familia, está en su primer curso después de haber estado mucho tiempo intentando conseguir plaza en el centro y se le ilumina la cara al relatar que “estoy descubriendo un mundo nuevo, aprendiendo el sonido en el cine, a mirar las películas de otro modo”. En su punto de mira están realizadores saharauis salidos ya de esta escuela, como Brahim Chagaf, Lafdal Mohamed Salem o Ahmed Mohamed, cuyos cortometrajes recorren festivales por todo el mundo.
La escuela, 100% gestionada por saharauis, cuenta ahora con la dirección de Tiba Chagaf, director nacional de Cine y Teatro en el Ministerio de Cultura de la RASD que, tomando el revelo de la magnífica labor realizada por los equipos anteriores, tiene en cartera un alud de nuevos proyectos alrededor de la EFA Abidin Kaid Saleh. Proyectos que ya iremos publicando y, claro está, entre los que se encuentra nuestro festival de cine FiSahara. Ya lo dice Hamudi, fotoperiodista que ha colaborado en el proyecto de Solar Cinema y que, según advierte, “llevo dos años esperando la celebración de otro gran FiSahara en los campamentos”, que por el impacto de la pandemia de COVID-19 se ha tenido que ir posponiendo… algo a lo que habrá que ir poniendo remedio.
The Pioneers School already shows its “Little Sahara”
The Pioneers School already shows its “Little Sahara”
The 20 May Pioneers School was established in 2017 with the aim of serving children between 12 and 16 years old at risk of academic failure or school dropout, coming from different especially vulnerable social situations. Situated in a former military training building a few kilometers from the Bojador camp, this school was the setting in which FiSahara and Nomads HRC launched a two-week Human Rights film workshop aimed at 51 students in February 2020. The children of the Martir Jalil Sidahmed School located in the Bojador camp also participated in this first experience.
The goal was to carry out a pilot project that could be replicated to other schools once the COVID-19 pandemic allowed it. This initiative would not have been possible without the support of the Sahrawi Ministry of Culture, the production of NomadsHRC and the funding of Movies that Matter, Dimes Foundation and the Association of Friends of the Sahrawi People of Basel (Switzerland).
We cannot forget another fundamental figure: the filmmaker and art therapist Emilio Martí, under whose direction Little Sahara was filmed, an animated short in which the students actively participated and the teaser can now be seen:
Martí already had conducted similar workshops in other refugee camps, designed a highly participative methodology that combined lively discussions and screenings with artistic production and storytelling.
Through the cinema, their everyday lives with human rights concepts that relate directly to their socio-political situation as refugees. By the end of the workshop, they were able to understand complex concepts on international human rights through their own lived experiences.
Watching this preview of Little Sahara now is not only motivating but extraordinarily hopeful. Thanks to the work of the dedicated staff and Emilio Martí, the full potential of young people whose talent may have been lost due to their situation of vulnerability comes to light. This has not been the case, demonstrating once again how cinema is a transformative tool that, in the case of these children, makes it easier for them to become agents of change.
The experience has been unforgettable, contributing to increase the motivation and confidence of the children who, through cinema and their creativity, have discovered themselves, opening a new channel towards human rights for the Sahrawi people.
OCCUPIED WESTERN SAHARA
OCCUPIED WESTERN SAHARA
Introduction
Western Sahara is a resource-rich territory in North Africa that hugs the Atlantic Coast, stretching between Morocco to the north and Mauritania to the south. Since 1975, eighty percent of the territory has been violently occupied by Morocco — its indigenous Sahrawi population subjected to enforced disappearances, arbitrary arrest, torture, surveillance and other forms of repression.
Moroccan authorities exercise power arbitrarily in occupied Western Sahara through the use of police and military forces in order to control the activities of the indigenous Sahrawis and repress support for their right to self-determination. Sahrawis are subjected to systemic and systematic persecution by the Moroccan occupying forces, resulting in numerous human rights violations and violations of humanitarian law.
For decades, Morocco has tried to ensure that there are no international witnesses to its human rights violations in Western Sahara. The UN peacekeeping force in Western Sahara, MINURSO, set up to oversee the promised referendum on self-determination, does not have human rights monitoring within its mandate, despite numerous calls by human rights organizations such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. In addition, there is a de facto Moroccan ban on international human rights monitors and media in the territory, resulting in a reporting blackhole, a term used by Reporters without Borders in an extensive report. Sahrawis who try to fill this void, including citizen journalists and human rights defenders, are particularly targeted for harassment, arbitrary arrest and judicial harassment.
Through images captured clandestinely at great risk to their lives, and via frequent reports through social media and other means, Sahrawis share information on these abuses and plead for help from the outside. Media activists sometimes must go into hiding or flee the territory after police raid their homes; others are arrested and imprisoned for years on false charges. A one-year review of over 100 citizen videos published in 2017 by our project Watching Western Sahara showed widespread non-violent protests claiming a wide range of rights taking place all over the territory, many of which were met with police violence and abuse.
Moroccan agents also regularly deploy gender violence to terrorise, intimidate, harass and silence women activists who are at the forefront of peaceful resistance.
Since early 2020 Morocco has also weaponized COVID-19, targeting Saharawi human rights defenders and political prisoners by using pre-existing COVID-19 legislation and rules to limit the movement of civilians or justify human rights abuses including house arrests and sieges.
The end of the 29-year ceasefire
On 13 November 2020, Moroccan forces launched a military intervention in Guerguerat, a buffer zone in the Southwest corner of Western Sahara, targeting nonviolent Sahrawi protesters who had blocked a Morocco-built road in the zone since 20 October. The road, paved by Morocco in 2016 in contravention of the UN-sponsored ceasefire and military accords between Morocco and the Polisario Front, was a strategic route for Morocco to import and export goods, included those plundered from Western Sahara, towards Mauritania and West Africa, and the blockade had resulted in long lines of backed up traffic in both directions. The civilians were whisked to safety by Polisario vehicles and armed conflict resumed along the 2.700km separation wall between the Polisario and the Moroccan militaries.
On 13 November, corresponding with the end of the 29-year-long ceasefire, the occupied territories of Western Sahara witnessed a wave of military, gendarmerie, police and intelligence forces entering the cities, further strengthening the military siege that already existed.
Saharawi activists, journalists and human rights defenders found themselves effectively under house arrest, with their houses besieged by Morocco’s occupying forces. Houses of prominent activists were attacked by Moroccan forces throwing rocks and knocking on their doors, trying to enter, terrifying and intimidating the activists and dozens of people were arbitrarily arrested.
Since then, Morocco has maintained its ironclad repression against Sahrawis and international human rights monitors and journalists are prevented from entering.
NomadsHRC and the Norwegian Support Committee issued several human rights reports in this period, as did Human Rights Watch, Front Line Defenders and Amnesty International.
THE REFUGEE CAMPS
THE REFUGEE CAMPS
“To those who endure the wait, the shade will come” Sahrawi proverb.
Refugees from Western Sahara often refer to their lives as “Gurba” – a collective sentence imposed on their people forcing them to live in endless banishment, permanently homesick for a homeland they cannot reach and far from loved ones they cannot embrace. The Hassanyia language defines “Gurba” as a collective condemnation against Sahrawis in exile who are on an endless search for their promised land, meanwhile living on borrowed land.
Decades after their exodus to Algeria, Sahrawi refugees still await a diplomatic solution to the Western Sahara conflict that will allow them to return home. Most are so young that they have never been to their land.
The Sahrawi refugee camps are in Northwestern Algeria near the town of Tindouf, in an area of the Sahara Desert commonly known as the Hammada or “Desert of deserts” because of its unforgiving climate. Sahrawis have lived there since they were forced to flee their homes in the Western Sahara in 1976, after Morocco and Mauritania invaded. (Read more about the conflict)
While most men went to fight in a war against Morocco and Mauritania, Sahrawi women built basic structures to house schools, clinics and community centres and ran the camps themselves. Women continue to have a central role in Sahrawi society and politics.
Separated for decades from family members who have remained in their occupied homeland, Sahrawi refugees have created a parallel society and government-in-exile known as the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR). Although in Algerian territory, the Sahrawi exiles established a system of self-rule, with a constitution and an independent government administration that includes a president, a prime minister and ministries handling areas such as education, health, transportation, culture and security. The SADR government is a founding member of the African Union and is recognised by dozens of countries around the world.
The main refugee camps, known as wilayas, are named after the main occupied cities in the Western Sahara: Dajla, El Aaiún, Ausserd, Smara and Bojador. Rabuni, the administrative center, is home to the SADR government and international NGO’s working in the camps. The camps are subdivided into dairas (towns with mayors) and each has several neighbourhoods mostly run by women. There are also numerous community organisations and cooperatives that work on youth, women, culture and other areas.
The refugees depend on dwindling international humanitarian aid for food, medicine and other goods and services. These resources are administered through the Sahrawi Red Crescent and the Cooperation Ministry. Women community leaders are charged with distributing the aid to families.
The camps suffer from a scarcity of drinking water, sanitation, food and electricity. Medical centres and hospitals are barebones, although the Sahrawi and Cuban medical professionals staffing them are well trained. The extreme climate and lack of basic services are especially hard on the children, who suffer from parasitic, respiratory and skin ailments and many of whom are malnourished. Among the adult population there are high levels of diabetes, asthma and other chronic illnesses, and many pregnant women suffer from anemia. Over half of the refugee population is under the age of 18 and there is chronic unemployment.
The government-in-exile has prioritized education and culture as survival tools to endure the years of waiting and with the hope that these skills will prepare the refugees for an eventual return to their homeland. All the camps have pre-schools and primary schools, and there are several secondary schools. The camps also have post-secondary education and technical programs for various trades. Primary school children spend summers with families in Spain and become fluent Spanish speakers through a program called “Holidays in Peace”.
There is practically a 100% literacy rate in the camps — a monumental feat for a population that was 95% illiterate when the camps were first built. Many youth study abroad through secondary and university levels, primarily in Algeria and Cuba. Cuba-educated Sahrawis are bilingual and are known as “Cubarawis”; many are doctors and schoolteachers but some graduate in careers such as engineering. A significant amount of Sahrawis also study in Spain.
In addition to international country donors, large NGO’s and the UN, support for the refugees comes from the vast solidarity movement in Spain and other countries. Hundreds of solidarity associations send humanitarian aid, and volunteers are constantly traveling to the camps to conduct trainings and support projects. Most of these organisations are based in Spain but there is a large network of support groups from many other parts of the world.
There are several schools in the camps specialising in culture and the arts that operate within the realm of the Sahrawi Ministry of Culture: The Abidin Kaid Saleh Audiovisual School, often referred to as the Sahrawi film school, trains the very first generation of Sahrawi filmmakers, while students at the Sahrawi Arts School are trained in visual arts such as painting and sculpture and the Sahrawi Music School trains young musicians.
Scores of international events take place annually in the camps, including FiSahara, ARTifariti, the Sahara Marathon and the International Theatre and Circus Festival.
The refugee camps have community radios and a TV station known as RASD-TV. Both center on educational and community programming.
WESTERN SAHARA
WESTERN SAHARA
“Sahrawis are known as the sons of the clouds because they always chase the rain. They also chase justice, which is more evasive than water in the desert”. Eduardo Galeano.
Most people have never heard of Western Sahara, a territory in Northwestern Africa whose long coastline stretches along the Atlantic Ocean: south of Morocco, north of Mauritania and west of Algeria. Western Sahara is currently one of the world’s 17 territories listed by the United Nations as “non-self-governing,” and for the past 45 years, most of its land has been violently occupied by Morocco.
The indigenous population of Western Sahara are known as the Sahrawi. With Arab, Berber (Amazigh) and Black African roots, Sahrawis have a rich history and culture dating back thousands of years that depend on intergenerational oral transmission for survival. For over a century of Spanish colonial rule, they struggled to preserve their identity and cultural practices in the face of forced sedentarization and assimilation. More recently, cultural repression under Moroccan occupation and the severe lack of resources in exile present the greatest threats to their survival as a people.
The Sahrawi speak a form of Arabic known as Hassanyia and their traditional home is the haima, a desert tent used both for living and to house their numerous cultural traditions.
Often referred to as Africa’s last colony, Western Sahara was under Spanish colonial rule until 1975, when Spain withdrew from the territory and allowed Morocco and Mauritania to invade. A 16-year war ensued between the Polisario Front, a Sahrawi national liberation movement, and Morocco (read more here); Mauritania withdrew in 1979. The war ended in 1991 with a UN-brokered ceasefire and a promise of a referendum on self-determination for the Sahrawi people that has never been held.
Half of the Sahrawi population fled to Algeria in 1976 and settled in refugee camps (read more here)while the other half remained in the territory under Moroccan occupation (read more here). Some Sahrawis, mostly nomads, live in the area known as the “Liberated territories”, a stretch of Western Sahara under Sahrawi control.
Every Sahrawi family suffers from the tragedy of longterm separation from loved ones. Western Sahara is home to the world’s longest fortified separation wall, which was built by Morocco with US, Saudi and Israeli support with the purpose of stopping Sahrawis who fled from entering the territory under its control. Sahrawis call it “the wall of shame”.
Measuring about 2700 kilometers in length and stretching along the territory like a long scar, the wall stands between Sahrawis in exile and those under Moroccan occupation, dividing the occupied from the liberated Western Sahara. The berm boasts the world’s largest minefield, with an estimated seven million landmines buried in the sand that kill and maim Sahrawi nomads and their children every year. Over one hundred thousand Moroccan soldiers are deployed there.
The occupied part of Western Sahara is rich in natural resources, including phosphates and plentiful fishing. A fair amount of the seafood eaten by Europeans comes from its seas, although it is labeled and sold as Moroccan. Sahrawi phosphates used for agriculture are extracted and sold by a Moroccan state-owned company and shipped in large quantities to countries whose citizens are unaware that their rightful owners have not been paid for the resources. Western Sahara’s southern coastline boasts beautiful beaches and spectacular sand dunes, a magnet for kite surfers and other tourists unaware that a few hundred meters from their hotels and resorts lives one of the most repressed populations in the world.
On the liberated side, Western Sahara is landlocked but breathtakingly beautiful, with rivers, valleys and stunning rock formations. Some regions such as Leyuad are a source of inspiration for Sahrawi poets and storytellers, who travel there to “drink from the wells of poetry”. Sahrawi refugee families travel from the camps to the area in the summer in search of respite from the oppressive heat of the Hammada. Nomads in search of rain are constantly on the move in the territory with their camels, and there are small settlements such as Tifariti. The region is patrolled by the Sahrawi military. Along the separation wall, Sahrawi de-mining teams work to rid the land of millions of landmines planted by Morocco.
THE CONFLICT
THE CONFLICT
“Words uttered at night are erased by day” Sahrawi proverb.
Introduction
The story of the Western Sahara conflict is filled with heartache and loss. For over a century and a half, its indigenous population, the Sahrawi people, have been colonised and invaded, massacred and separated; persecuted and disappeared. Ultimately, they have also been betrayed by promises not fulfilled. But above all, the story of the conflict in Western Sahara is one of struggle against colonialism and occupation, and of extraordinary resilience and resistance in the face of international neglect.
Western Sahara suffers from one of the world’s most protracted and invisible conflicts. After Spanish colonial rule, a brutal invasion by Morocco, a 16-year war and a 29 year-old ceasefire, Sahrawis still wait for a long-promised referendum on self-determination that the United Nations fails to deliver. For the past decades, they have used diplomacy and creative non violent resistance against an illegal, violent occupation.
On 13 November 2020, the 29-year ceasefire brokered by the UN came to an end. Following a military operation carried out by Morocco against a group of peaceful Sahrawi civilians in a buffer zone located in the southern tip of Western Sahara, a grave violation of the ceasefire accord, the Polisario Front proclaimed the end of the UN-led peace process, and consequently the resumption of war. With the escalation of war between Morocco and Polisario, there was a serious crackdown against Sahrawis in the occupied territories of Western Sahara. Weeks later on December 10th, International Human Rights Day, former president Donald Trump issued a proclamation recognizing Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara in contravention of International Law, becoming the first country in the world to do so.
Spanish colonization and the Moroccan invasion
A century and a half of Spanish colonialism partially destroyed Sahrawi culture and traditions, as nomadic groups were corralled into new colonial cities and forced into sedentary life and the territory’s vast phosphate reserves were exploited by the Spanish. Those who resisted colonialism were detained, tortured, killed and disappeared. At a time when other parts of Africa were decolonized, in 1973 the Sahrawi organised into a national liberation guerrilla force known as the Polisario Front in opposition to entrenched Spanish rule.
As Spanish dictator Francisco Franco lay dying in late 1975, Spain finally withdrew from the territory. But instead of giving way to a process of decolonization, Madrid allowed neighbouring Morocco and Mauritania to invade. Aspiring to expand its borders to create a “Greater Morocco”, Rabat accompanied the military invasion with a large-scale re-population campaign known as the Green March, with hundreds of thousands of Moroccan civilians lured to the territory by King Hassan II and settling there with the promise of financial incentives. The invasion was supported militarily by the United States and France, Morocco’s Cold War allies.
Moroccan forces began a campaign of killing and persecution against Sahrawis and thousands of people, including pregnant women and children, fled into the desert by foot, camel and jeeps, leaving family members and homes behind. Morocco bombed the fleeing Sahrawis with napalm and white phosphorous using French-built warplanes. Many more died in the exodus.
Exhausted and terrified, survivors eventually arrived in Southwestern Algeria, where they built and settled in refugee camps in the heart of the Sahara Desert. While the men went to war with Morocco and Mauritania, the women ran the camps and created a society and government in exile known as the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), a founding member of the African Union that has been recognized by over 80 nations.
Mauritania withdrew from Western Sahara in 1979. The war between the Polisario and Morocco ended in 1991 with a UN-brokered cease-fire accord and a promise of a “free and fair” referendum on self-determination for the Sahrawi people.
Current situation and return to war
Since then, Morocco has blocked attempts to organize the population census and the vote, and the UN Security Council has refused to implement its own referendum plan or allow its peacekeeping mission, known as MINURSO, to monitor the human rights situation in the territory —a key demand of Sahrawis and international human rights organizations. Economic and geopolitical interests have kept the world’s major powers from allowing Western Sahara’s people to choose their own future through a democratic vote on self-determination.Today, Western Sahara legally remains a non self-governed territory pending decolonization.
The last resolution approved by the Council on a plan for self-determination called for a five-year autonomy under Sahrawi political leadership followed by a referendum that would allow Sahrawis to choose between remaining under Moroccan rule, becoming an autonomous region or full independence. Known as the Baker Plan (named after former US Secretary of State James Baker, who was then the UN Secretary General’s Special Envoy to Western Sahara), it languishes since 2003, when it was approved. Morocco has refused to allow the plan to go forward and insists that the option of independence is off the table.
As a stalwart Moroccan ally, France has been a major obstacle to a resolution and blocked all attempts for human rights monitoring by the UN peacekeeping mission. Spain has also refused to assume its responsibilities as a former colonial power and has repeatedly sided with Rabat in its proposed plan for autonomy for Western Sahara, which the Polisario rejects. The UN Security Council convenes each year to renew MINURSO’s mandate with little additional debate, a time when Sahrawis usually take to the streets to demand the adoption of human rights monitoring and the celebration of the referendum.
On November 13, 2020, Moroccan forces launched a military intervention in Guerguerat, a buffer zone in the Southwest tip of Western Sahara, targeting nonviolent Sahrawi protesters who had blocked a Morocco-built road in the zone since 20 October. The road, paved by Morocco in 2016 in contravention of the UN-sponsored ceasefire and military accords between Morocco and the Polisario Front, is a strategic route for Morocco to import and export goods, including those plundered from Sahrawis, towards Mauritania and West Africa, and the blockade had resulted in long lines of backed up traffic in both directions.
Reports on the ground indicated that the Moroccan military entered the buffer zone by making a breach in a wall built by Morocco that separates the Polisario-controlled Western Sahara from the territory occupied by Morocco, and that Polisario whisked the civilians to safety. The Polisario responded to the Moroccan intervention stating that it was a serious breach to the 29-year-long ceasefire between the two parties and declaring it to be over.
On November 13, the same day as the end of the 29-year-long ceasefire, a wave of Moroccan military, gendarmerie, police and intelligence forces entered the cities of the occupied territory, imposing an unprecedented siege and an initiating a crackdown against the Sahrawi people that last to this day.
The culture of impunity reigning in occupied Western Sahara has put Sahrawi human rights defenders and journalists at particular risk for gross human rights violations by police and military agents that act without fearing consequences. This sense of impunity increased with the December 10, 2020 proclamation by Donald Trump that recognized Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara and put the United States at odds with International Law, including rulings by the International Court of Justice denying Moroccan aspirations over Western Sahara. Trump’s proclamation, a deal that included the resumption of diplomatic relations between Morocco and Israel as part of the Abraham Accords, was widely condemned by US politicians from both political parties, international legal experts and human rights organizations.
Calm over the horizon
Many years ago, I worked for my parents who own a video production company. Because it is a family business, you inevitably end up wearing many hats and being the czar of many different jobs. I mainly managed projects and worked as a video editor. On production, there were times that I was called on to work as an audio tech and was made to wear headphones on long production days. In those days, having a really good set of headphones that picked up every nuance of sound was essential to making sure the client got what they needed.
First impressions.
Naturally, my first impression of these headphones is based off of the look of them. They have a classic over-the-ear style that is highlighted by a blue LED light that indicates the power for the noise canceling. The padding on the ear pieces seems adequate for extended usage periods.
They are wired headphones, but the 3.5mm stereo mini-plug cable is detachable. Something else I noticed right of the bat was the very nice carrying case that comes with them. It has a hard plastic exterior with a soft cloth interior that helps to protect the surface of the headphones from scratches. I never truly appreciated cases for headphones until I started carrying them from place-to-place. Now I can’t imagine not having a case.
A perfect fit.
Once I gave the headphones a thorough once-over exam, I tried them on. As I mentioned, they have a classic over-the-ear style and just looking at them, the padding on the ear pieces seem adequate and the peak of the headband seemed to be a bit lacking, but you don’t really know comfort unless you try on the product. So, I slipped the headphones on and found them to be exquisitely comfortable.
Quality.
Now that I had the headphones on my head, I was finally ready to plug and play some music. I plugged the provided cable into the jack on the headphones and then the one on my iPhone 6. Then I called up Pandora. I tend to have a very eclectic music purview and have many stations set up for different moods. From John Williams to Fallout Boy, the sound quality of these headphones was remarkable. There is an amazing depth of sound and incredible highs and lows that make listening to music a truly breathtaking experience.
It’s safe to say that because of my unique professional experiences, I’ve tested out a lot of headphones.
In order to test how voices sounded, and the overall art of sound mixing, I pulled up Netflix on my iPad Air 2 and watched a few minutes of a movie to hear all the nuances of the film. None of them were lost. In fact, I ended up hearing sounds that I hadn’t heard before. Echoes…birds chirping…wind blowing through trees…breathing of the characters…it was very impressive what the headphones ended up bringing out for me.
I would highly recommend these to any sound mixing specialist.
Inspired by clouds
Take your time.
I’ve got a Fujifilm X100s. It runs about $1300. It’s easily the best camera I’ve ever owned. I take care of it as best as I can, but I don’t let taking care of it impact the photography. Let me elaborate on that a bit better. You’ll get better at each section of what we talked about slowly. And while you do, you’ll be amazed at how much easier it all is and how the habit forms. The best way to get better at photography is start by taking your camera everywhere. If you leave your house, your camera leaves with you. The only exception is if you’re planning for a weekend bender — then probably leave it at home. Other than that, always have it slung over your shoulder. It would probably help to get an extra battery to carry in your pocket. I’ve got three batteries. One in my camera, one in my pocket, one in the charger.
When it dies, swap them all.
For me, the most important part of improving at photography has been sharing it. Sign up for an Exposure account, or post regularly to Tumblr, or both. Tell people you’re trying to get better at photography. Talk about it. When you talk about it, other people get excited about it. They’ll come on photo walks with you. They’ll pose for portraits. They’ll buy your prints, zines, whatever.
Clouds come floating into my life, no longer to carry rain or usher storm, but to add color to my sunset sky.
— Rabindranath Tagore
Breathe the world.
I’ve got a Fujifilm X100s. It runs about $1300. It’s easily the best camera I’ve ever owned. I take care of it as best as I can, but I don’t let taking care of it impact the photography. Let me elaborate on that a bit better. You’ll get better at each section of what we talked about slowly. And while you do, you’ll be amazed at how much easier it all is and how the habit forms. The best way to get better at photography is start by taking your camera everywhere. If you leave your house, your camera leaves with you. The only exception is if you’re planning for a weekend bender — then probably leave it at home. Other than that, always have it slung over your shoulder. It would probably help to get an extra battery to carry in your pocket. I’ve got three batteries. One in my camera, one in my pocket, one in the charger. When it dies, swap them all.
For me, the most important part of improving at photography has been sharing it. Sign up for an Exposure account, or post regularly to Tumblr, or both. Tell people you’re trying to get better at photography. Talk about it. When you talk about it, other people get excited about it. They’ll come on photo walks with you. They’ll pose for portraits. They’ll buy your prints, zines, whatever.
Heavy hearts, like heavy clouds in the sky, are best relieved by the letting of a little water.
— Christopher Morley
Enjoy the morning.
The best way to get better at photography is start by taking your camera everywhere. If you leave your house, your camera leaves with you. The only exception is if you’re planning for a weekend bender — then probably leave it at home. Other than that, always have it slung over your shoulder. It would probably help to get an extra battery to carry in your pocket. I’ve got three batteries. One in my camera, one in my pocket, one in the charger. When it dies, swap them all.
For me, the most important part of improving at photography has been sharing it. Sign up for an Exposure account, or post regularly to Tumblr, or both. Tell people you’re trying to get better at photography. Talk about it. When you talk about it, other people get excited about it. They’ll come on photo walks with you. They’ll pose for portraits. They’ll buy your prints, zines, whatever. I’ve got a Fujifilm X100s. It runs about $1300.
It’s easily the best camera I’ve ever owned. I take care of it as best as I can, but I don’t let taking care of it impact the photography. Let me elaborate on that a bit better. You’ll get better at each section of what we talked about slowly. And while you do, you’ll be amazed at how much easier it all is and how the habit forms.
There are no rules of architecture for a castle in the clouds and this is real.
— Gilbert K. Chesterton
Free your mind.
The best way to get better at photography is start by taking your camera everywhere. If you leave your house, your camera leaves with you. The only exception is if you’re planning for a weekend bender — then probably leave it at home. Other than that, always have it slung over your shoulder. It would probably help to get an extra battery to carry in your pocket. I’ve got three batteries. One in my camera, one in my pocket, one in the charger. When it dies, swap them all.
I’ve got a Fujifilm X100s. It runs about $1300. It’s easily the best camera I’ve ever owned. I take care of it as best as I can, but I don’t let taking care of it impact the photography. Let me elaborate on that a bit better. You’ll get better at each section of what we talked about slowly. And while you do, you’ll be amazed at how much easier it all is and how the habit forms.
For me, the most important part of improving at photography has been sharing it. Sign up for an Exposure account, or post regularly to Tumblr, or both. Tell people you’re trying to get better at photography. Talk about it. When you talk about it, other people get excited about it. They’ll come on photo walks with you. They’ll pose for portraits. They’ll buy your prints, zines, whatever.
Photography is better shared.
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Just the other day I happened to wake up early. That is unusual for an engineering student. After a long time I could witness the sunrise. I could feel the sun rays falling on my body. Usual morning is followed by hustle to make it to college on time. This morning was just another morning yet seemed different.
Witnessing calm and quiet atmosphere, clear and fresh air seemed like a miracle to me. I wanted this time to last longer since I was not sure if I would be able to witness it again, knowing my habit of succumbing to schedule. There was this unusual serenity that comforted my mind. It dawned on me, how distant I had been from nature. Standing near the compound’s gate, feeling the moistness that the air carried, I thought about my life so far.
This is what has happened to us. We want the things we have been doing forcefully to fail. And then maybe people around us would let us try something else or our dreams. We are accustomed to live by everyone else’s definition of success. We punish people for the things they are passionate about, just because we were unable to do the same at some point in our life.
I was good at academics, so decisions of my life had been pretty simple and straight. Being pretty confident I would make it to the best junior college of my town in the first round itself, never made me consider any other option. I loved psychology since childhood, but engineering was the safest option. Being born in a middle class family, thinking of risking your career to make it to medical field was not sane. I grew up hearing ‘Only doctor’s children can afford that field’ and finally ended up believing it. No one around me believed in taking risks. Everyone worshiped security. I grew up doing the same.
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‘Being in the top will only grant you a good life’ has been the mantra of my life. But at times, I wish I was an average student. I wish decisions would have not been so straightforward. Maybe I would have played cricket- the only thing I feel passionate about. Or maybe I would have studied literature (literature drives me crazy). Isn’t that disappointing- me wishing to be bad at academics. It’s like at times I hate myself for the stuff I am good at.
I feel like these concrete buildings have sucked our desires and our dreams. We are so used to comfort that compromise seems like a taboo. We have lost faith in ourselves. If we can make through it right now, we can do the same in the days to come. You only need a desire to survive and nothing more- not money or cars or designer clothes.
Staying locked up in four walls have restricted our thinking. I feel like our limited thinking echoes through this wall. We are so used to schedules and predictable life that we have successfully suppressed our creative side.
When you step out of these four walls on a peaceful morning, you realize how much nature has to offer to you. Its boundless. Your thoughts, worries, deadlines won’t resonate here. Everything will flow away along with the wind. And you will realize every answer you had been looking for, was always known to you.
It would mean a lot to me if you recommend this article and help me improve. I would love to know your thoughts!