Ceuta and Melilla: Moroccan diplomacy and the hidden side of Spain.
The African Union never recognized Spanish sovereignty
By Bouchra CHAKIR
So, that we celebrate Africa Day and that we express as always and as Africans our wish to see our continent prosper and advance, this continent which is full of human and natural resources, but which remains coveted by all, colonizers who exploited its resources for centuries, who massacred, who beheaded and who continue to want to suck its lands and impoverish its peoples!
Ceuta and Melilla, Moroccan and African cities under Spanish colonization, cities whose history loudly cries out their true origin…
Melilla, Moroccan Berber city, located on the north coast of Africa, belonging to the Eastern Rif, from its Amazigh name (Mlilt) which means (meeting place), unfortunately forms an enclave in the Moroccan territory, even if the geography and history undoubtedly demonstrate its belonging to Morocco and Africa. This free port on the Mediterranean, operated by Spain since the 15th century, has never been like its neighbor Ceuta, recognized under Spanish sovereignty neither by the African Union, nor by the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, neither by the Arab League, nor by the organization of the Arab Maghreb Union, the member countries of these four organizations considering that Spain must decolonize these territories and return them to Morocco. Moreover, Melilla doesn’t benefit from the protection of NATO, even if this sovereignty is recognized by the texts of accession of Spain to the European Community, which is normal coming from a colonizing continent which seeks only the interests of its members!
EFE
Ceuta, for its part, which was the scene of the latest incidents, these images of certain migrants fleeing by swimming; for most of the teenagers, dreaming of the European Eldorado, that dream that turned into nightmares on the hands of the Spanish law enforcement, teenagers for whom the other side is a mere myth they looked to on television or on the internet and who know nothing of the history of these cities which sacrificed lives for independence that Europeans don’t intend to accept, because for them, it’s an African treasure that they don’t want to give up.
Ceuta, the African city claimed since 1956 by Morocco, which seems very logical, Ceuta has always been a North African city, it has been since time an Amazigh city, before the arrival of Moorish and Arab culture.
In the middle of Ceuta itself, there is a huge statue that illustrates its true story, that of the oldest Muslim Amazigh scholar and scientist, the creator of the science of geography (Sharif Alidrissi AL Alawi), the one whose cartographies were studied in all of Europe, he was born in 1100 AD and he’s still there in the middle of the city to tell us that Ceuta is not Spanish!
Ceuta switched between Portuguese and Spanish colonization for centuries and it was only after the death of Portuguese King Sebastian I, in 1578 who was without an heir that Spain won the Battle of Alcántara and the Portuguese colonies did been incorporated into the Kingdom of Spain. In 1668, the Treaty of Lisbon officially recognized Ceuta’s membership of Spain.
Treaties between European colonizers who rejoice in separating African lands but who have never managed to hide the Moroccan face of these cities, it only takes a quick visit to these places to understand it.
However and despite Morocco’s claim to these two cities, the Shereefian Kingdom has always respected international treaties and has always fulfilled its share of respect for good neighborliness, whether in the field of migration policy, or in the fight against terrorism or in the realization of bilateral conventions, nevertheless, the neighbors seem to look at Morocco with an arrogant colonizing eye and continue to undermine its territorial unity, they insolently welcome a war criminal under a false identity, which is none other than the leader of the separatist militias of the Polisario and top it off with media hostility crammed with fake news, based on the image of teenagers who swam towards a town which is at the base a Moroccan city…
Scenes that they didn’t hesitate to broadcast and rebroadcast to hide their true face and their inability to protect their borders and those of Europe, a protection that has always been operated on the Moroccan side only, but as, said Mr. Nasser Bourita, Moroccan Minister of Foreign Affairs (Morocco has no vocation or obligation to protect borders other then its own. Morocco is neither the gendarme nor the concierge of Europe to protect borders that are not its own. Morocco has done a lot in migration cooperation, not out of obligation, or in relation to a counterpart. He did so in relation to a partnership, but he never acted for financial consideration. What Morocco receives on average from the EU does not exceed 300 million euros per year, or less than 20% of the cost assumed by Morocco in the fight against migration)
Indeed, as Mr. Bourita made clear, Morocco has dismantled 8,000 human trafficking cells, 14,000 attempted illegal migration including 80 attempted incursions in the city of Sebta (Ceuta)
He was the basis for the exchange of 9,000 pieces of information with Spain on illegal migration.
The Minister made it very clear (good neighborliness is not a one-way street. It is not an obligation for Morocco and freedom for its partners.)
Bouchra CHAKIR, Responsable relations presse et publiques Coordinatrice du Caucus panafricain des journalistes au Maroc
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