The latest Trump move to bribe an Arab nation into “recognizing” Israel means practically even less than the first 3 “normalizations” — but could inflame a smoldering colonial conflict some 4000 miles to the west of Tel Aviv.
BY JAMES NORTH
The latest Trump move to bribe an Arab nation into “recognizing” Israel means practically even less than the first 3 “normalizations” — but could inflame a smoldering colonial conflict some 4000 miles to the west of Tel Aviv.
What’s more, one expert even warns that Trump’s bribe might eventually jeopardize global food security.
The Trump/Jared Kushner announcement characteristically exaggerated the importance of the Israel-Morocco agreement, with Trump calling it “a massive breakthrough.” But the two nations have never actually been at war, have privately maintained excellent relations for years, and Israeli tourists have been visiting Morocco without hindrance. Although Kushner said the deal calls for full diplomatic relations Morocco promptly demurred, saying only that it will re-open liaison offices with Israel.
It is Trump’s bribe to Morocco that is causing concern. He said the U.S. will formally recognize Moroccan control over the Western Sahara, the former Spanish colony to its southwest that Morocco has occupied illegally for decades. The Washington Post wrongly called Western Sahara a “disputed border region,” but the United Nations General Assembly and other international bodies regard it as “a non self-governing territory,” and have demanded that Morocco conduct a referendum to find out what its residents want.
A national liberation movement, called Polisario, established the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic back in 1976, which controls a portion of the territory and has been recognized by 80 countries and the African Union.
An indispensable article by Stephen Zunes that just appeared suggests that Trump’s provocative move is coming at a particularly bad time. A ceasefire between the Moroccan occupiers and Polisario held since 1991 — until mid-November, when violence broke out again. Earlier, in October, “scores of Sahrawi civilians engaged in a nonviolent sit-in. . . only to be violently dispersed by Moroccan troops two weeks later.”
The Sahrawi people have at least one unlikely but vigorous supporter: Sen. James Inhofe, of Oklahoma. Inhofe, a Republican who denies climate change and is one of the most conservative senators, has apparently been visiting Sahrawi refugee camps for years, and he spoke out on the Senate floor yesterday, charging that Trump “could have made this deal without trading away the rights of this voiceless people.”
Morocco controls press access to the territory, so reports are spotty. But even the Rough Guide to Morocco tourist book points out that Morocco has introduced settlers to the territory, and that in towns like Dakhla there are “simmering tensions” between the newcomers and the local Sahrawis.
There’s yet another negative consequence to the Trump/Kushner bribe to Morocco: the potential threat to global food security. Annelle Sheline, in Responsible Statecraft, explains that although Western Sahara may look like barren desert, it actually “contains a significant reserve of the world’s phosphates, which are required to make fertilizer and are therefore crucial to the future of global food production.”
Add Western Sahara to Morocco itself, and the country will control 73 percent of global phosphate reserves. Which means:
A non-renewable resource that cannot be synthesized, phosphates are required to produce fertilizer, making control of phosphate reserves an asset of global significance. Morocco is currently the third largest producer of phosphates after the United States and China, but, given its massive reserve, Morocco stands to dictate the world’s future ability to grow crops.
11/12/2020 by MONDOWEISS
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