New York, October 14, 2022 (SPS) –The member of the National Secretariat, representative of the Polisario Front to the United Nations and Coordinator with MINURSO, Dr. Sidi Mohamed Omar, presented a lecture at Adelphi University in Garden City, New York, on Thursday, in which he addressed the topic “The Question of Western Sahara and Global Politics: Self-determination versus Realpolitik”.
Dr. Sidi Mohamed Omar presented an overview of the political history of the conflict in Western Sahara, touching on, with deep analysis the chapters of the illegal Moroccan occupation of Western Sahara since 1975, which led to the division of the territory and its people into two parts; one is living in refugee camps outside their homeland, and the other one is living in the occupied zones, where the Sahrawis are subjected to the worst types of abuse and repressive practices, their identity and culture are targeted and their natural resources are looted.
In this context, Dr. Sidi Mohamed Omar, explained that the continuation of the Moroccan military and illegal occupation of Western Sahara constitutes “a blow to the core” of two basic principles of the existing international system, namely the right of colonized peoples to self-determination and independence, and the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by force.
He also highlighted that the Security Council's adoption, due to the balance of power within it, to a negative and contradictory approach based mainly on the policy of "leaving things as they are" in conducting the peace process in Western Sahara only encouraged the Moroccan occupation state to continue its attempts to imposing a de facto by force in the occupied Western Sahara.
Dr. Sidi Mohamed Omar, said “in order to push forward the peace process, the Security Council must realize the serious consequences of that approach because, it is not possible to continue to view the geopolitical reality in the North African region exclusively from the perspective of realpolitik and the “near-absolute surrender" that force is the determining and fundamental factor of international politics.
In conclusion, Dr. Sidi Mohamed Omar stressed that all relevant United Nations resolutions and the doctrine of decolonization affirm that the exercise of the right of colonized peoples to self-determination necessarily requires a democratic process through which the will of the people concerned is expressed in a free and genuine manner, and therefore the people of Western Sahara only want to be given the opportunity to exercise their right to self-determination and independence and to decide their future freely and democratically.
The lecture was followed by an extensive and rich discussion with the students that dealt with several issues related to the Sahrawi issue and international politics, in light of the constant attraction between defenders of realpolitik and those of the basic principles and values on which the current international system is based, including the right of colonial peoples to self-determination and independence.
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