Walls of colonialism in the world: case of Western Sahara workshop

Tunes, March 30, 2013 (MAP NEWS) - The Saharawi Khaima (tent), erected on the sidelines of the World Social Forum taking place in the Tunisian capital, hosted a workshop under the title “the Walls of Colonialism in the World: case of Western Sahara”, in the presence of Saharawi and foreign specialists and researchers.

The workshop opened by the screening of two documentaries; one by the Canadian writer Marcio de Santos, author of the book “journeys through the blockade”, featuring a comprehensive comparison of the walls built across the world, including the Moroccan wall of shame in Western Sahara, the other documentary by the well-known Uruguayan writer Galliano, in which he reviewed briefly the status of the Moroccan wall and its impacts on the lives of Saharawi population

Professor Gaizi Annah, from Saharawi Association of Victims of War and Mines, presented a lecture about the structure and the technical characteristics of the Moroccan wall

The Saharawi professor highlighted its humanitarian, economic and environmental impacts on the people of the Territory, urging Tunisians and all free men in the world, especially those present at the World Social Forum, to work in favour of the eradication of this wall which symbolizes colonialism and racism

Egyptian professor Joseph Schechla, coordinator of the Housing and Land Rights Network (HLRN), an international organization composed of civil society organizations in more than 100 countries and addresses population and land issues, presented a lecture underlying the legal aspects being violated by Moroccan occupation through its “humiliation and shame” wall in Western Sahara, which, he says, has no sovereignty over it according to requirements of international law

He therefore called for filing a complaint to the international Court of Justice as did before the Palestine Liberation Organization against the Israeli wall in Palestine

Speaking during the workshop, Palestinian professor Mr. Dawood Hammoudeh gave a presentation on the Palestinian experience in quantitative statistics of the effects of this wall on the Palestinian people, calling for the adoption of this methodology in drawing and tracing the direct and indirect physical and moral effects the Saharawi people suffer due to the Moroccan wall in their country

The two-hour workshop focused on the aspects of Western Sahara conflict and the situation resulted from the Moroccan wall