The diplomacy of facts. That was the argument used by Morocco under the reign of Hasan II, father of the current monarch, to gain control of Western Sahara in November 1975, when the territory was still a Spanish region over which Madrid had begun a decolonization process. backed by the United Nations.
Taking advantage of one of the episodes of the Cold War that was being waged in post-colonial Africa, Rabat concocted a plan with the approval of the United States to occupy what was then a fully-fledged Spanish province, interfering with the self-determination referendum that was to be held with the guardianship of Madrid, who held the sovereignty of the territory.
The argument was an opinion of the International Court of Justice to determine if the region could be considered terra nullius, that is, no man’s land, or if there were links that could determine that any nation could claim its sovereignty. The consultation managed to paralyze the process opened by Spain and placed Morocco as the litigating party.
It was, in fact, the main objective of Rabat, which soon included Ceuta and Melilla in the legal consultation. And although the Court informed the parties on October 15, 1975 that there were no indications that legitimized a sovereignty claim by Morocco or Mauritania over the Sahara in old tribal pacts, Hassan II found an excuse to claim that reintegration of the territory through the mobilization of hundreds of thousands of Moroccan citizens and military units among them. This was announced a day later in the speech that we offer, widely reproduced by the Moroccan press.
What was at stake for the Gerald Ford Administration in Washington was that the Polisario Front, a national liberation movement of a socialist nature, would assume control of the region and become an ally of Algeria. And only Morocco could prevent it without an intervention that was considered international interference.
Fate also allied in favor of Hasán II, who saw how Francisco Franco handed over a few days later, on October 30, the Headquarters of State to the then Prince Juan Carlos. And how on November 3 the dictator underwent surgery from which he would never recover.
Mobilizing more than 300,000 civilians from all over Morocco, the invasion began on November 6, in which some 25,000 soldiers from the Royal Moroccan Armed Forces participated, to whom the Spanish Army did not raise a battle. Following a resolution by the United Nations Security Council and in a clear position of strength, Hassan II agreed to negotiate and ordered the withdrawal on the 9th.
Days later, Spain, Morocco and Mauritania signed the Madrid Tripartite Agreement, in which Spain reiterated its intention to decolonize the Sahara and included Rabat and Nouakchott in the temporary administration of the region, in addition to the Saharawi Yemáa, the tribal assembly constituted during colonization.
Only Spain and Mauritania would end up fulfilling their commitment to abandon Western Sahara, in 1976 and 1979, respectively. Morocco appealed to the fact that Yemaa had agreed to the reincorporation of Western Sahara into Morocco and Mauritania and occupied the area that Nouakchott abandoned.
The Polisario Front, for its part, denounced the occupation and proclaimed the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic on February 27, 1976 to start a war against Morocco that continues almost half a century later. Like the self-determination referendum recognized by the United Nations that Morocco rejects.
“Praise God
“Dear people: God, the Most High has said: ‘Good has prevailed over injustice.’
“Indeed, dear people, our right has prevailed in the most striking and evident way. We could have resorted to more adjectives to illustrate the rule of law.
”This morning, finally, we received the information we expected, not only because we were optimistic, but much more because we have faith in the assistance of the Omnipresent God.
”The law has ruled on the issues that we wanted the International Court of Justice to address: Was Western Sahara at the time of its colonization by Spain a land without a master (terra nullius) or not? If the answer to the first question is negative, what were the legal links of this territory with the Kingdom of Morocco?
”By answering these two questions, the Court will, of course, have recognized its competence to resolve the problem definitively. And this very morning the Tribunal has responded thus, dear people, to these questions.
“In the first place, it has been recognized as competent to hear the file and issue its opinion. Secondly, and this is a marginal issue that we do not consider as the second point, but as a secondary one, you have said that there is a legal dispute between Morocco and Spain. Thus, he has recognized our right to have an ad hoc judge to represent us before him.
”On the other hand, the Court has answered the second question that the Sahara has never been a land without an owner. When Spain arrived in this territory, it did not find a vacuum. Regarding the question of what were the legal ties of this territory with the Kingdom of Morocco, the Court confirms, textually, that between the Sahara and the Kingdom of Morocco there were indeed legal ties and loyalty.
”We will participate in an analysis of the meaning of these links in the light of international Islamic law. It is possible, for example, that we occupy a territory and that a specific legal framework organizes all our relations with it without, however, being bound by an act of loyalty. Moreover, this has already happened in our history.
“Some will say that the Court has not specified the links of sovereignty. To this we will answer about the difference between sovereignty and the bonds of loyalty in European law itself, especially that we must not ignore that the Court is being consulted on a matter whose spirit and scope go back to the beginning of our century.
”We will take the liberty of saying to the European law professors, those who have sat on the Court, that they have given us full satisfaction by using the term loyalty, much more than if they had used the term sovereignty. Therefore, they used the appropriate term, which perfectly applies to the case of the colonization of the Sahara.
“We will answer the second point by referring to Islamic law. It does not escape you that international Islamic law was the first legislation that governed the relationship of the individual with the community, that of the community with the individual and that of the rulers with the ruled and vice versa.
“Loyalty, in Muslim law, although it has taken different forms, has not always been a loyalty that only binds the individual with the king, the individual with the Prince of the Believers, but what this individual represented, the groups, the tribes and regions to which he related.
”In doing so, we will tell the members of the International Court of Justice that loyalty to Morocco has always been the subject of a written act. We don’t need to remind them, because they know it well, if only because they had asked questions about the Maliki rite during the discussions.
If, therefore, some of them pretend to be ignorant of this concept, it can only be due to a deliberate misunderstanding. As a result, loyalty to Morocco has always assumed, under all dynasties, a specific character, because in the rest of the Muslim world it consisted only of a verbal oath.
“In other words, Morocco is satisfied with the advisory opinion issued by the International Court of Justice, an opinion that responds to our aspirations and that in no way can go against one of the oldest and most sacred international laws.
“Having said this, what is left for us to do, dear people? We only have to reintegrate our Sahara, whose doors have been legally opened to us. The whole world has recognized that the Sahara has been in our possession for a long time. The entire world has recognized that there were links between Morocco and the Sahara that were only altered by the colonizer.
”We must honor our commitments, because the period that the Sahara has lived under colonization has never been able to break the ties that exist between us and this territory. Therefore, it has become an imperative, ineluctable and even religious duty for us – and our ulema are there to issue a query – as servants of this country, of this nation, and in our capacity as Prince of the Believers, bound by the act of loyalty, honor our responsibilities and join our people in the Sahara.
”How are we going to get to the Sahara and what route are we going to take? It is inconceivable to ask for arbitration by the United Nations and the International Court of Justice and at the same time resort to war. This way of acting has never been the attitude of Morocco and hardly ever will be.
”If we had to wait for the ruling of the International Court of Justice to offer us proof of our rights to the land on a platter, it would be pure illusion. All that remains for us, dear people, is to undertake a peaceful march from north to south and from east to west.
”We must, dear people, act as one, with order and discipline, to reach the Sahara and reconnect with our brothers. How will this march be done? It will be done with the effective participation of 350,000 Moroccans.
”Dear people, you owe it to yourselves to realize what 350,000 citizens can represent, 10% of whom are women. Because men and women are equal before the law and in matters of patriotism. Even better, it is possible to find in the history of Arabs and Morocco women animated by a more fervent patriotism than that of certain men.
”Since our march will be unarmed, we must agree that we are not going to make war on Spain. This is inconceivable, especially since Spain is no longer concerned with this issue. Likewise, we ask Spain to take note of this, since in the event that we have to regret the loss of a single life, it takes responsibility before the Spanish, Moroccan and international public opinion.
”We therefore notify Spain that 350,000 Moroccans will enter their home in the Sahara, that we are not in a state of belligerence with it, and that we no longer have any problem in knowing their willingness to withdraw from the territory. That Spain, then, retire and leave this territory to her heirs.
”Therefore, we affirm that Morocco would be under the obligation to resort to legitimate defense, to safeguard its dignity and to preserve human lives in the event of encountering an obstacle other than the one erected by Spain on its way. We will not face any Spanish obstacles standing before us; Spain, therefore, does not have to fight us.
“On the other hand, if we find ourselves with a foreign element other than the Spanish, we will not renounce our right to defense and without this stopping our march, since it will be a matter of repelling an attack in self-defense.
“How, dear people, will this march be organized? We have given our rulers our high directives to open volunteer offices for men and women starting tomorrow. We will personally be among the first to sign up for the lists of volunteers, and as much as I am proud to have my voter identification card, I will be as proud to have that of volunteering for the Sahara recovery march, so that my children and grandchildren can be proud of inherit a genuine crown and a genuine scepter.
”That is why we have decided to open volunteer registration offices in each province, as well as we have established the quotas of citizens who will participate in this march. On this subject, dear brothers, we communicate to you some figures that can give you a clear idea of ??the importance of this blessed path that we are going to undertake.
”The total number of participants in the march will be 306,000 people from different municipalities, to which will be added the administrative staff, as well as doctors and heads of the different services. The set will reach the figure of 350,000 people.
“Dear people: there has always been a symbiosis between you and the throne which, in its action, has been inspired many times by your positions, just as you have been inspired by the attitudes of your sovereigns. In this way, dear people, each one of us traced out for the other the path to follow with dignity, for victory and for the strengthening of Moroccan pride.
”We are once again offered the opportunity to confirm the image we give of ourselves. Having searched our history and searched the annals of world history, we could not find a trace of an epic of the dimension that you are called to live in or of a march of such magnitude already undertaken in the Third World. And we would not want, dear brothers, that in this matter you could be preceded by anyone.
“Dear people, the world is changing. The same Africa, which today appeals to the principle of self-determination, runs the risk one day or another of being its first victim precisely because of the partitions and balkanizations that can occur.
“We urge you, dear people, not to let yourselves cower in this liberation march. That is why we would like to see you, dear people, resolutely committed to the paths of glory. Proof of your firm will to recover the Sahara, which reflects the unanimous will of Moroccans without exception, and not just that of any fraction of patriots, intellectuals, political parties or trade union organizations.
”The question of the Sahara concerns and interests all Moroccans. You will also show, dear people, that we are a nation that, although it does not have atomic bombs or missiles, is perfectly equipped, has enough weapons and ammunition, but that prefers a peaceful march to the use of force.
”Once again you will demonstrate an undeniable maturity, knowing that there is no criminal, no matter how seasoned, who can give the order to open fire against 350,000 unarmed civilians, brandishing only the Holy Book. To this end, the distribution of copies of the Koran has been planned.
“Who can open fire on 350,000 unarmed people, reading God’s sacred message, protecting themselves from it and mentally arming themselves with the teachings it contains? And even if that happened, we would have already crossed the artificial dividing line. Moreover, we have already seen this, because we have experienced similar events.
”If today’s Moroccans are like the ones we’ve heard of or met, a couple of hours can’t scare us. We still have in mind the events of 1931, 1937, 1944, 1954, those of Oued Bufekrane, of Djisa, of 1954 in Buyaad and Oued Zem, how we experienced the atrocities of the French in 1947 in Casablanca and the bloody mousetrap they set for the trade unionists in December 1952.
“In all these demonstrations we took to the streets to chant ‘Long live the homeland’ and many other slogans without being armed. Some of us had even said goodbye to our families.
”If this generation turns out to be animated by less patriotic feelings than the previous one, we are in danger of seeing Morocco, in less than five years, lose its value, its weight and its prestige. Consequently, dear people, this march will print in gold letters a new page of glory for your history.
”Morocco will also demonstrate that it can easily mobilize 350,000 citizens. And that’s a significant figure when you think about ensuring food, drink, lodging and care for everyone. For example, let’s say that for 12 days, ten trains a day will transport volunteers from the north and east of Morocco to Marrakech, from where they will be transported by truck to Agadir and then to Tarfaya.
”The number of these trucks amounts to 7,813. There will also be 10,000 organizers and 470 doctors and medical assistants. It is estimated 17,000 tons of food, 23,000 tons of water, 2,590 tons of fuel. The ambulances will be 220. This is a company that only a country whose glory is a tradition and whose organization is millennial. The old virtues can sustain everything.
”It will be a march in which men and women will participate without difference, a march that will last 15 days and in which thousands of vehicles will participate without risk of collision, a march that will take place in a desert area guaranteeing water to the participants, a march whose needs have been precisely determined, a march that, however, provides for the ammunition necessary for self-defense in the event that others than the Spanish block our advance.
”On the other hand, if we meet the Spaniards, we will greet them and move on. If they are the ones who want to open fire on 350,000 people, then let them take care of it. We cannot believe that an authentic and civilized people, to whom we are united, whether we like it or not, by neighborly ties, can dig a bloody abyss.
“Dear people, this is a meticulously organized march that we have been preparing for two months during which we alone carry the heavy load, in addition to our other obligations. Throughout this period we are torn each morning and night between certainty and doubt.
”Two months in which we wondered if we had the right to urge our beloved people to carry out an action that could cause them some harm. Was it our duty to participate in it? In fact, it is here where our duty lies to walk together through our Sahara.
”It is up to us to recover this territory peacefully, not with oral interventions or secret meetings, but with the march until we achieve it. It is our duty, dear people, to make sure that if we meet the Spaniards there we can greet them by saying: ‘Come out and evacuate our territory.’
”Just as it is up to us, in the event that we find someone other than the Spanish, to comply with what the duty to defend Morocco, its integrity and security imposes on us.
”Dear friends, this topic cannot be dealt with in half an hour. In fact, we would have to dedicate days and nights to it that we will surely evoke with pride in front of our children, who, in turn, will tell theirs.
“We cannot conclude without citing this saying of the prophet: ‘Acts are only valid through the intentions that animate them.’ May God make our good intentions the guide on our journey to recover our land and build our future. Do not lead us astray, O God, after you have guided us on the right path, you who are the merciful.
