The Front Polisario Verdict and the Gap Between the EU’s Trade Treatment of Western Sahara and Its Treatment of the Occupied Palestinian Territories
Morocco’s control over Western Sahara and Israel’s control of the West Bank bear similar features in terms of public international law, in general, and the laws of belligerent occupation and the principle of self-determination, in particular. Yet despite these comparable attributes, when it comes to the application of its Common Commercial Policy (CCP) the EU has been treating the two cases differently.
The taking of the Sahara: the role of natural resources in the continuing occupation of Western Sahara
The role of natural resources in the continuing ‘question’ of Western Sahara is not fully understood. In recent years, the development of the territory’s resources has been at issue in efforts to arrive at self-determination for the Saharawi people.
Natural resources and intifada: oil, phosphates and resistance to colonialism in Western Sahara
Rich in resources and small in population, Western Sahara, partially occupied since 1975 by neighbouring Morocco, has a history shaped to a large extent by its natural wealth. Indeed, sovereignty over the country’s phosphates became a key claim of the pro-independence, anti-Spanish Saharawi movement in the early 1970s.