Open Letter to the Organizing Committee of the World Forum for Human Rights in Morocco

[Image calling for the boycott of the World Forum for Human Rights in Morocco. Image from the Mouvement 20 février Rabat Facebook Page] [Image calling for the boycott of the World Forum for Human Rights in Morocco. Image from the Mouvement 20 février Rabat Facebook Page]

Open Letter to the Organizing Committee of the World Forum for Human Rights in Morocco

By : Jadaliyya Reports

[The following is an open letter that the Rabat branch of the 20 February Movement has written to the international committee organizing the World Forum for Human Rights in Morocco. Below are also the French and Arabic versions of the letter.]

20 February Movement, Rabat branch
20 November, 2014

Subject: For the reasons below, the 20 February Movement objects to the hosting of the World Forum for Human Rights in Morocco.

With your committee`s support, Morocco will be hosting the second annual World Forum for Human Rights in Marrakech from 27 November to 30 November 2014.

If the expectation of the forum is to provide a platform as the basis for an open international space promoting dialogue between governments, national institutions for human rights, and civil society in order to follow through on the people`s hope for dignity, equality and justice, then the reality is that the Moroccan government, true to its nature, intends to exploit this event and redirect public opinion in a way that coincides with its own views.

The national context in which your forum is taking place can be characterized by the unprecedented curbing of individual freedom, flagrant human rights violations, the banning of all human rights activities, intimidation, detentions, and assassinations. The people of Imider, for example, have been engaged in peaceful public protests since 2011 (and have been subjected to ongoing threats, arrests, false charges, and other human rights violations) against the king`s mining company of their land and water—the same holding company and king sponsoring this event and advocating for human rights in the world.

Our objection to holding the second World Forum for Human Rights in Morocco derives from our conviction that the Moroccan regime is not the human rights advocate it claims to be, and is hardly qualified to organize and host such a forum. Allowing such an event to take place in Morocco is an endorsement of each one of this regime`s human rights abuses and breaches.

We confirm to you that no matter how exorbitant the spending, no matter how many resources are expended on the deceptive publicity campaign to host this forum, the Moroccan regime can no longer cover up the farce and outright lies regarding its respect of human rights. Social activism taking place throughout the country and abroad have exposed this façade on a daily basis, and well beyond the traditional French demonstrations of solidarity. The documentation of credible national and international human rights organizations, well-known and respected individuals from foreign universities and high-level think tanks have revealed these abuses in various reports.

We object to Morocco being the “host” of this forum, and we call on all human rights activists in Morocco and abroad to participate in making the parallel protest a resounding success, underscoring our strong objection to this event.


Mouvement du 20 février, Rabat
le 20 Novembre, 2014

Lettre ouverte au Comité d’Organisation du Forum Mondial des Droits de l’Homme au Maroc.

Sujet: Pour les raisons détaillées ci-dessous, le Mouvement du 20 Février s’oppose à l`accueil du Forum mondial des droits de l`homme au Maroc.

Avec le soutien de votre comité, le Maroc sera l`hôte dU 2e Forum annuel mondial pour les droits de l`homme à Marrakech du 27 au 30 novembre 2014.

Si ce Forum a l’intention de fournir une plate-forme de base pour créer un espace international susceptible à la promotion du dialogue entre gouvernements, institutions nationales de droits de l`homme et la société civile en vue de donner suite à l`espoir du peuple pour la dignité, l`égalité et la justice, c’est que la réalité concrète est toute autre: le gouvernement marocain, fidèle à sa nature, a l`intention d`exploiter cet événement afin d’iinfluencer l`opinion publique d`une manière qui coïncide avec ses propres points de vue.

On peut dire que le contexte national dans lequel votre Forum se déroule se définit par des violences sans précédent contre la liberté individuelle, par des violations flagrantes des droits de l`homme, par l`interdiction des activités concernant les droits de l`homme, par l`intimidation, la détention et l`assassinat. Les habitants de Imider se sont engagés dans des manifestations publiques et pacifiques depuis 2011 (tout en étant sujets aux menaces continuelles, arrestations, fausses accusations, et autres violations des droits de l`homme) pour protester contre l`exploitation de leur eau et de leur terre par la société minière appartenant au roi — ce même roi et son holding qui parrainent cet événement et défendent les droits de l`homme à travers le monde.

Notre objection à ce que le Maroc reçoive dans le 2e Forum mondial des droits de l`homme provient de la conviction que le régime marocain ne saurait être la porte-parole des droits de l`homme malgré ses prétentions, et qu’il est à peine qualifié pour organiser et accueillir un tel forum. Permettre ce genre d’événement au Maroc renforce tous les abus des droits de l`homme imposés au peuple par le régime.

Nous vous confirmons ceci: peu importe les sommes exorbitantes dépensées, peu importe les ressources gaspillées pour une campagne de publicité trompeuse dans le but d’accueillir ce forum, le régime marocain ne peut plus cacher la farce et les mensonges que sont au Maroc les droits de l`homme: ces mascarades sont exposées chaque jour par l`activisme sociale croissant mis en evidence au Maroc et maintenant répandu à l`étranger, bien au-delà des traditionnelles manifestations de solidarité franco-marocaine. La documentation se révèle dans les divers rapports publiés par des organisations crédibles qui soutiennent la défense des droits de l`homme sur le plan national et international aussi bien que des érudits connus d’universités étrangères ainsi que des spécialistes de haut niveau.

Nous nous opposons au Maroc en tant qu’«hôte» de ce Forum mondial, et nous demandons à tous les militants des droits de l`homme au Maroc et à l`étranger de participer et à faire réussir d’une façon incontournable, une manifestation parallèle, soulignant ainsi notre ferme opposition à cet événement.


حركة 20 فبراير تنسيقية الرباط
في 20 نونبر 2014
رسالة مفتوحة إلى اللجنة الدولية المنظمة للمنتدى العالمي لحقوق الإنسان بالمغرب

الموضوع : لهذه الأسباب ترفض 20 فبراير تنظيم المنتدى العالمي لحقوق الإنسان بالمغرب 

بدعم من لجنتكم المنظمة، سيستضيف المغرب النسخة الثانية للمنتدى العالمي لحقوق الإنسان بمدينة مراكش من 27 إلى 30 نونبر 2014. وإذا كان مفروضا في هذا المنتدى أن يشكل محطة لانبثاق فضاء عالمي للحوار بين الحكومات والمؤسسات الوطنية لحقوق الإنسان والمجتمع المدني لتلبية تطلعات الشعوب إلى الكرامة والمساواة والعدالة، فإن السلطات المغربية كعادتها تعمل على استغلاله لتضليل الرأي العام. 

إن السياق الوطني الذي ينعقد فيه منتداكم يتسم بتضييق غير مسبوق على الحريات العامة وحقوق الإنسان ويتسم بالمنع و التضييق والاعتقال واغتيالات ولا يزال سكان منطقة "إميضر" يخوضون أطول الاعتصامات الشعبية منذ سنوات ضد شركة مناجم التابعة للملك الذي ينظم هذا المنتدى العالمي لحقوق الإنسان بمراكش تحت رعايته.

إن رفضنا لتنظيم المنتدى العالمي لحقوق الإنسان بالمغرب يأتي على خلفية قناعتنا بأن الدولة المغربية غير مؤهلة حقوقيا لتنظيم أي منتدى حقوقي ذي صبغة دولية أو وطنية، نظرا للتردي الخطير الذي تعيشه الحريات العامة والحقوق الأساسية للشعب المغربي. وتنظيمه بالمغرب مباركة لكافة الخروقات والتجاوزات.

إننا نؤكد لكم أنه مهما بلغ حجم الأموال المنفقة والحملة الدعائية المكثفة التضليلية لاستضافة هذا المنتدى، فإنها لن تستطيع حجب أكذوبة احترام حقوق الإنسان الذي يكشف عنها يوميا النضال الاجتماعي بالمغرب، وتعريها تقارير المنظمات الحقوقية الوطنية والدولية المشهود لها بالنزاهة. 

لهذا نرفض تنظيم المنتدى بالمغرب وندعو جميع الحقوقيين والديمقراطيين بالمغرب وخارج المغرب إلى إنجاح الاحتجاجات الموازية التي ستنظم رفضا لهذا الحدث.

 

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Past is Present: Settler Colonialism Matters!

On 5-6 March 2011, the Palestine Society at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in London will hold its seventh annual conference, "Past is Present: Settler Colonialism in Palestine." This year`s conference aims to understand Zionism as a settler colonial project which has, for more than a century, subjected Palestine and Palestinians to a structural and violent form of destruction, dispossession, land appropriation and erasure in the pursuit of a new Jewish Israeli society. By organizing this conference, we hope to reclaim and revive the settler colonial paradigm and to outline its potential to inform and guide political strategy and mobilization.

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is often described as unique and exceptional with little resemblance to other historical or ongoing colonial conflicts. Yet, for Zionism, like other settler colonial projects such as the British colonization of Ireland or European settlement of North America, South Africa or Australia, the imperative is to control the land and its resources -- and to displace the original inhabitants. Indeed, as conference keynote speaker Patrick Wolfe, one of the foremost scholars on settler colonialism and professor at La Trobe University in Victoria, Australia, argues, "the logic of this project, a sustained institutional tendency to eliminate the Indigenous population, informs a range of historical practices that might otherwise appear distinct--invasion is a structure not an event."[i]

Therefore, the classification of the Zionist movement as a settler colonial project, and the Israeli state as its manifestation, is not merely intended as a statement on the historical origins of Israel, nor as a rhetorical or polemical device. Rather, the aim is to highlight Zionism`s structural continuities and the ideology which informs Israeli policies and practices in Palestine and toward Palestinians everywhere. Thus, the Nakba -- whether viewed as a spontaneous, violent episode in war, or the implementation of a preconceived master plan -- should be understood as both the precondition for the creation of Israel and the logical outcome of Zionist settlement in Palestine.

Moreover, it is this same logic that sustains the continuation of the Nakba today. As remarked by Benny Morris, “had he [David Ben Gurion] carried out full expulsion--rather than partial--he would have stabilised the State of Israel for generations.”[ii] Yet, plagued by an “instability”--defined by the very existence of the Palestinian nation--Israel continues its daily state practices in its quest to fulfill Zionism’s logic to maximize the amount of land under its control with the minimum number of Palestinians on it. These practices take a painful array of manifestations: aerial and maritime bombardment, massacre and invasion, house demolitions, land theft, identity card confiscation, racist laws and loyalty tests, the wall, the siege on Gaza, cultural appropriation, and the dependence on willing (or unwilling) native collaboration and security arrangements, all with the continued support and backing of imperial power. 

Despite these enduring practices however, the settler colonial paradigm has largely fallen into disuse. As a paradigm, it once served as a primary ideological and political framework for all Palestinian political factions and trends, and informed the intellectual work of committed academics and revolutionary scholars, both Palestinians and Jews.

The conference thus asks where and why the settler colonial paradigm was lost, both in scholarship on Palestine and in politics; how do current analyses and theoretical trends that have arisen in its place address present and historical realities? While acknowledging the creativity of these new interpretations, we must nonetheless ask: when exactly did Palestinian natives find themselves in a "post-colonial" condition? When did the ongoing struggle over land become a "post-conflict" situation? When did Israel become a "post-Zionist" society? And when did the fortification of Palestinian ghettos and reservations become "state-building"?

In outlining settler colonialism as a central paradigm from which to understand Palestine, this conference re-invigorates it as a tool by which to analyze the present situation. In doing so, it contests solutions which accommodate Zionism, and more significantly, builds settler colonialism as a political analysis that can embolden and inform a strategy of active, mutual, and principled Palestinian alignment with the Arab struggle for self-determination, and indigenous struggles in the US, Latin America, Oceania, and elsewhere.

Such an alignment would expand the tools available to Palestinians and their solidarity movement, and reconnect the struggle to its own history of anti-colonial internationalism. At its core, this internationalism asserts that the Palestinian struggle against Zionist settler colonialism can only be won when it is embedded within, and empowered by, the broader Arab movement for emancipation and the indigenous, anti-racist and anti-colonial movement--from Arizona to Auckland.

SOAS Palestine Society invites everyone to join us at what promises to be a significant intervention in Palestine activism and scholarship.

For over 30 years, SOAS Palestine Society has heightened awareness and understanding of the Palestinian people, their rights, culture, and struggle for self-determination, amongst students, faculty, staff, and the broader public. SOAS Palestine society aims to continuously push the frontiers of discourse in an effort to make provocative arguments and to stimulate debate and organizing for justice in Palestine through relevant conferences, and events ranging from the intellectual and political impact of Edward Said`s life and work (2004), international law and the Palestine question (2005), the economy of Palestine and its occupation (2006), the one state (2007), 60 Years of Nakba, 60 Years of Resistance (2009), and most recently, the Left in Palestine (2010).

For more information on the SOAS Palestine Society 7th annual conference, Past is Present: Settler Colonialism in Palestine: www.soaspalsoc.org

SOAS Palestine Society Organizing Collective is a group of committed students that has undertaken to organize annual academic conferences on Palestine since 2003.

 


[i] Patrick Wolfe, Settler Colonialism and the Transformation of Anthropology: The Politics and Poetics of an Ethnographic Event, Cassell, London, p. 163

[ii] Interview with Benny Morris, Survival of the Fittest, Haaretz, 9. January 2004, http://cosmos.ucc.ie/cs1064/jabowen/IPSC/php/art.php?aid=5412