Talks are slated to begin on June 18 between Morocco and the Polisario over the Western Sahara Autonomy Plan.

Personally, I just want them to come to some sort of agreement that stops the violence and allows them to stop fighting like little girls, but can we expect either side to ever let that happen?

I post this article without any bias*: “Morocco, Israel to form unholy alliance.”

I post it mainly because it comes from an Oslo-based Africa news site which, while terribly interesting, lacks real information on the Maghreb countries. On the other hand, please check out the satire page. I particularly like this image:

(Image used without permission from: La Moncloa, Satire - Afrol News)

*to be clear: I meant without any of my own bias!  That is not to say anything of the article’s bias!

Although not Maghrebian in any way, I too committed to blogging for the Maghreb Union today.  And having just finished working on a translation post for Global Voices with Hamza on the subject, I feel I’m a bit more knowledgable than I was well, yesterday.

The hope for Maghreb Arab Union started in 1956, after Tunisia and Morocco gained independence, but it wasn’t until 1988 that the first summit for the union came to fruition, and nothing was signed until the following year.  However, the UMA has largely been a failure, mainly due to (as Youssef put it) bitch-fighting between Algeria and Morocco.

While I have only lived here for two years and don’t feel qualified to espouse on the Maghreb’s readiness for such a union, it is the fighting between Algeria and Morocco that makes me most sad.  You see, I don’t like Algeria much.  And I don’t like the way they’ve manipulated the issue in the Western Sahara.  It is not my place to speak for the people who live there, the Saharouis, and what they want - at this point, they may very well wish only to be free.  It is Algeria and the Polisario to which I direct my irritation; Algeria, seeing the conflict between Mauritania and Morocco for control of the Western Sahara, stuck its little nose in to assist the Polisario.

But regardless, Morocco’s refusal to hear a referendum on independence has been a fault as well.  And all this fighting, for what?  So that families from Oujda who want to see their relatives across the border have to fly out of Fez to Oran for a trip that might otherwise take 30 minutes?  So that Algeria can sink even deeper into violence as they have for the past thirty years?

And so it is that I support at least some semblance of a Maghreb Arab Union.  If only for the reopening of the Algerian-Moroccan border.  If only for a resolution on the Western Sahara.

A first-year student at Moulay Ismail University at Toulal in Meknes was attacked Tuesday afternoon and died while being transported to the hospital.  TelQuel reported that the incident in which the boy was killed was between Amazigh students and leftists, “pour des divergences idéologiques et le contrôle de l’université.” (for ideological divergences and control of the university).

Additionally, a Saharawi student named Soltana Khaya lost an eye last week during a clash between Moroccan police and Saharawi students, according to an Algerian paper.

Reuters AlertNet reports that violence against Saharawi students in Morocco has grown this year, with police involvement in recent skirmishes crossing the line.

• Driss Benzekri, a former political prisoner under the Hassan II regime and later, the head of Morocco’s Truth and Reconciliation commission, died on May 21 of stomach cancer at age 57.

• 26 people were arrested at a Morocco-Netherlands youth soccer match after Dutch Moroccan fans threw objects from the stands and rushed the field. There has been a 5-year ban placed on youth matches between the two countries.

• The UN has shut its refugee office in Rabat after sub-Saharan African migrants stormed the building to demand more aid. The UNHCR says there are 600 registered refugees in Morocco, plus nearly 10,000 illegal migrants (BBC News).

• The 11th Arab congress for disaster services opened on Wednesday in Morocco.

• Morocco lengthened prison terms for two activists in Laayoune, Western Sahara. Brahim Sabbar and Ahmed Sbai have already served one year and are being sentenced to another six months.

• Morocco and Saudi Arabia announced the launching of strategic ties which could facilitate major arms purchases in Morocco. Other agreements were made, including one in which Rabat would become a major ally of Riyadh.

I found this great post this morning from One Hump or Two?, also known as the only Western Sahara blog accessible from within Morocco.

The article highlights the Wikipedia Western Sahara portal, which has been under dispute for awhile, mainly because pro-Polisario folks have been doing most of the posting. Regardless of my personal beliefs, which you shall never know, I’d like to see more of the other side involved for the sake of balance.

What I’d really like to see, however, is Morocco stop censoring the internet. Did you know that I can’t access Western Sahara blogs and Livejournal (apparently too many Moroccans were signing up)? I’m sure there are other sites, but those are the ones I know about. Why isn’t anyone else talking about this?

p.s. How could I forget Google Earth, which is currently blocked by the Moroccan government so that we cannot view the palaces.