The Communist Party of Britain condemns the recent declaration by the United States, the Israeli Government and the Kingdom of Morocco supporting and recognising Morocco’s illegal occupation of Western Sahara. This declaration is in violation of UN resolution 621 (1988) upholding the right of the people of Western Sahara to self-determination and to be able to express their will through a referendum, a right denied by Morocco’s occupation.
The new declaration by the United States, Israel and Morocco seeks to ratify the illegal occupation of Western Sahara, to sanction Morocco’s military actions against its people, to legalise the arrest and imprisonment of members of the Polisario movement and to authorise the continued theft of that country’s resources. It represents an act of aggression against the principles of the United Nations and, unless challenged, supports, and gives encouragement to, other acts of illegal occupation internationally and in particular Israel’s own occupation of Palestinian territories in violation of repeated UN resolutions.
We note that since the declaration a US-owned firm, Soluna Technologies, has announced a $2bn plant in the occupied territory. We also note that the EU is Morocco’s biggest trading partner under the terms of the EU-Morocco Association Agreement. We therefore call on the British government and the EU to impose sanctions on Morocco until it honours the terms of the UN resolution.