Algeria accused of betraying Palestinians

Algeria has been accused of betraying the Palestinian people over the nation’s apparent priority of support for the Polisario Front, according to the Moroccan government-friendly North Africa Post and agencies on November 19th.

This criticism refers to Algeria’s ongoing backing of the separatist militia group, which is also armed by Iran. The group claims to fight for self-determination for the Sahrawi people, whose ancestral homeland is the disputed Western Sahara territory.

On October 31st, the UN Security Council voted to support Resolution 2797, also known as the Moroccan Autonomy Plan, which proposes granting Western Sahara limited self-governance under Moroccan sovereignty.

The proposal has been widely viewed as the most “feasible solution” to the dispute, which began when Spanish colonial rule of the region ended in 1975.

Since 1963, the Western Sahara has been recognised by the UN as a Non-Governing Territory. The Polisario Front has refused to participate in negotiations, which it perceives as legitimising Morocco’s occupation of the region.

This unwavering support for an group that is becoming increasingly isolated on the global stage comes amid Algeria’s recent UN Security Council vote to disarm Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The vote reportedly sparked outrage among Palestinians, as well as Arab and Muslim countries.

An poll by the Palestinian Centre for Policy and Survey Research found that around 70% of Palestinians oppose the disarmament of Hamas, with opposition being the highest in the Occupied West Bank, where Palestinians face escalating Israeli violence.

Hamas has reportedly agreed to step down from governing Gaza, but has been reluctant to completely disarm due to continued Israeli bombardment that has killed over 100 people since the ceasefire came into effect on October 10th.

many Palestinians perceive the disarmament of Hamas as not just a security threat, but also a threat to self-determination, and support Hamas keeping its weapons, even if this leads to renewed Israeli attacks.

US President Donald Trump’s Gaza peace plan is perceived as a colonial endeavour by some critics, as attacks by Israel persist, and Israel refuses to withdraw from the enclave.

Israel is accused of supporting anti-Hamas militias in Gaza, seemingly with the aim of undermining the group’s power in the enclave. The international community has repeatedly demanded that Hamas be excluded from any future Palestinian state, which some argue undermines the right to self-determination of the Palestinian people.

North Africa Post and agencies, Maghrebi.org