Dakhla : Cornered, pro-Polisario forces turn to minors for protests
«A few teenagers, some with their faces covered, took to the streets carrying Polisario flags», a local source in Dakhla told Yabiladi. Images shared by Polisario media, including SPS, show minors protesting on a street in the city.
«This is clearly a propaganda stunt orchestrated by the Polisario to coincide with recent conferences in Europe and articles in certain Spanish outlets calling for the release of Sahrawi prisoners convicted of the murder of 11 law enforcement officers during the dismantling of the Gdim Izik camp in Laayoune on November 8, 2008», the same source added.
Polisario-affiliated media made no mention of any arrests following the demonstration in Dakhla.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Morocco World
2 hours ago
- Morocco World
The Makhzen Complex: A Psychoanalytical Decoding of Algeria's Obsession with Morocco
The Makhzen is often misunderstood outside Morocco, particularly by its detractors. For Moroccans, Makhzen is not simply a bureaucratic machine or a relic of feudalism—as often caricatured by outsiders—but a deep-rooted, historically evolved system of governance and social cohesion. It refers to the network of traditional authority centered around the monarchy, which includes tribal leaders, dignitaries, religious scholars, and local notables who have historically played a vital role in maintaining unity, mediation, and legitimacy in a diverse and vast territory. What is the Makhzen for Moroccans? Rather than a rigid apparatus, the Makhzen has proven highly adaptive, absorbing modern institutions while maintaining continuity with Morocco's political culture. It embodies continuity, stability, and a sense of identity. It is this very institution—understood not just as state power but as a symbolic and cultural center—that has ensured Morocco's survival through colonialism, independence, modernization, and the present regional turmoil. Why Algerian propagandists are obsessed with the Makhzen – A Psychoanalytical Analysis From a psychoanalytical standpoint, the Algerian regime's pathological obsession with the Makhzen can be seen as a textbook case of projective identification and narcissistic injury. Let us break this down: The Makhzen as the 'Symbolic Father' In Lacanian psychoanalysis, the Name-of-the-Father (Nom-du-Père) represents the symbolic law that gives structure to desire, order, and identity. The Makhzen, in the Moroccan imaginary, plays that role: it structures the symbolic order of the nation. Algeria, born in revolutionary rupture, lacks this deep-rooted symbolic continuity. Its political order is haunted by the absence of a legitimized paternal figure—there is no equivalent of a unifying monarchy. Hence, the Makhzen becomes a fantasmatic Other, a projection screen for everything the Algerian regime unconsciously feels it lacks: rootedness, continuity, legitimacy. The Algerian regime splits the world into 'us' (revolutionary, secular, virtuous) and 'them' (reactionary, monarchical, manipulative). The Makhzen is turned into a bogeyman—blamed for every social unrest, regional loss of influence, or diplomatic failure. This is pure projection—a mechanism where internal conflicts are externalized and ascribed to the Other. Instead of confronting its own deep crises—economic failure, youth unrest, military domination—the regime externalizes blame onto Morocco and its governing model. Narcissistic Wound and Envy Morocco's stability, global alliances, economic diversification, and successful royal diplomacy expose the failures of Algeria's military oligarchy. This produces what Freud would call a narcissistic injury. Rather than admit internal decay, the Algerian state apparatus creates a paranoid fantasy of the Makhzen as a monstrous manipulator controlling Africa, Europe, and even Algerian dissent. This obsessive narrative masks envy—a desire to possess what the Other has, accompanied by hatred because one cannot. Fixation and Compulsion to Repeat Algeria's state media and officials mention 'le Makhzen' more than they mention their own institutions. This is a fixation—a psychic knot that cannot be worked through. In psychoanalytic terms, their discourse is a compulsion to repeat—the repetition of the same accusatory tropes against the Makhzen reveals an inability to symbolically resolve their own political trauma, namely the betrayal of the revolutionary dream by the generals who hijacked power. Unconscious Admiration and Identification Lastly, there is repressed identification. The Algerian state, beneath its hostile rhetoric, secretly admires the symbolic power and international legitimacy of the Moroccan monarchy and its state apparatus. But since this admiration cannot be consciously admitted—given their foundational opposition to monarchy—it returns in the distorted form of obsession, attack, and paranoia. This is the return of the repressed. Conclusion: The Makhzen as Mirror and Threat For Algerian elites, the Makhzen is both a mirror—reflecting what they lack—and a threat—exposing the fragility of their power. Psychoanalysis teaches us that what we hate most is often what we unconsciously resemble or desire. In this sense, the anti-Makhzen hysteria is not just political—it is a deep-seated neurotic symptom of an unresolved postcolonial crisis in Algerian statehood. By invoking the Makhzen obsessively, the Algerian regime unwittingly confirms its own identity crisis—rootless, brittle, and haunted by the authority it cannot emulate and the legitimacy it never fully acquired. Tags: algeria abd moroccoalgeria and human rights
Ya Biladi
7 hours ago
- Ya Biladi
Morocco champions human rights in business at UN event in Geneva
مدة القراءة: 3' For Habib Belkouch, Interministerial Delegate for Human Rights (DIDH), Morocco's participation in the forum aims to «expand the circle of stakeholders in the human rights project» by fully integrating businesses. He emphasized that this topic, now central to United Nations debates, is part of ongoing discussions around a binding international treaty on business and human rights. According to Belkouch, «Morocco brings to Geneva the conclusions of the Morocco-Africa Forum in Marrakech», recently held to help forge a common approach between Africa and the Arab world. He outlined three key pillars of Moroccan policy: - Protecting workers' rights, through a new law on the right to strike, described as «a balanced law that protects both workers and business interests». - Combating child labor, reaffirming that «a child's rightful place is in school». - Promoting gender parity in corporate governance, with legal targets of 30% women on company boards by 2024 and 40% by 2027. CGEM at the Forefront Representing the General Confederation of Moroccan Enterprises (CGEM), Youssef Alaoui noted that 95% of the Moroccan private sector is made up of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). With over 90,000 members, CGEM has become a key player in social dialogue and economic governance. Since 2007, it has developed governance codes tailored to companies of all sizes, recently reinforced by an annual barometer for responsible governance. On the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) front, CGEM has awarded more than 150 Corporate Social Responsibility labels, now recognized at the European level through the Responsibility Europe network. A dedicated Responsible SME label has also been launched to support smaller businesses. On the social side, Alaoui praised the structured tripartite dialogue between the government, trade unions, and employers, which has led to a 20% increase in the minimum wage over the past six years. The constitutional right to strike is now regulated by a 2024 law that guarantees both union freedom and the right to work. Advancing Gender Parity in Governance Another key achievement, according to Alaoui—who also chairs the CGEM group in the Chamber of Advisors—is the extension of mandatory health insurance to 86% of the population, backed by a public contribution of 35 billion dirhams. CGEM has also launched a Social Academy, which has already trained over 100 managers in conflict prevention and collective bargaining, 42% of them women. Highlighting the link between diversity, economic performance, and sustainability, Alaoui called for a shift in mindset where women's representation in leadership is no longer symbolic but seen as a true growth driver. «Some companies already have 50 to 60% women in their governance structures», he noted. He also highlighted that child labor in Morocco has been reduced by 90% over the past two decades, dropping from 600,000 in 1999 to fewer than 60,000 today. Anti-child labor clauses, he added, will be integrated into CSR frameworks, especially in high-risk sectors like agriculture, construction, and textiles. International Recognition UN representatives praised Morocco's efforts. Pernille Fenger, Director of the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) office in Geneva, commended the quality of strategic dialogue with the Moroccan government, particularly on gender equality and reproductive rights, with a focus on youth, women, and people with disabilities. Olga Nilova, a specialist in the UNDP's Business and Human Rights program, applauded Morocco for convening more than 300 participants, from governments, businesses, unions, and NGOs, and reaffirmed the UNDP's support for implementing the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. Through this high-level event, Morocco sought to present a model that reconciles economic development, social inclusion, and human rights—a complex challenge, but one rooted in a clear vision: a private sector that drives transformation in the service of shared prosperity.
Ya Biladi
7 hours ago
- Ya Biladi
Several reports submitted to Paris prosecutor over Rachida Dati's alleged undeclared jewelry
French Culture Minister Rachida Dati is facing scrutiny following several reports submitted to the Paris prosecutor's office. At the center of the controversy: the alleged failure to declare valuable jewelry in her official asset disclosures. According to the newspaper Libération, Dati allegedly omitted 19 pieces of jewelry, valued at €420,000, which she is said to have owned since 2017. If confirmed, the omission would put her in violation of rules set by the High Authority for Transparency in Public Life (HATVP), which monitors the financial declarations of public officials in France. «She will have to regularize the situation if this is true», said government spokesperson Sophie Primas. The former Justice Minister, who is of Moroccan descent, denies any wrongdoing, saying she has «nothing to regularize». She has filed a complaint against journalist Laurent Léger, who led the investigation, accusing him of bias and of having political ties to Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo. Another report, this time from Socialist Senator Rémi Féraud, alleges that Dati failed to declare fees she received between 2010 and 2011 while serving as a Member of the European Parliament. Her lawyers argue that she «was never the lawyer for GDF Suez», the company named in the investigation. These revelations come as Dati is already under judicial investigation in a separate case involving alleged corruption tied to her professional dealings with Carlos Ghosn, the former head of Renault-Nissan.
