Moroccans Celebrate the Green March

The famous Green March

Visitors to Morocco who have not done their history homework might well be wondering why Moroccans have a national holiday today. On November 6, 1975, approximately 350,000 unarmed Moroccans converged on the city of Tarfaya in southern Morocco and waited for a signal from King Hassan II to cross into Western Sahara. They brandished Moroccan flags, banners calling for the "return of the Moroccan Sahara," photographs of the King and the Qur'an; the color green for the march's name was intended as a symbol of Islam. As the marchers reached the border Spanish troops were ordered not to fire to avoid bloodshed.

So today the Moroccan people have been celebrating the anniversary of the Green March that helped the country peacefully retrieve its southern provinces from Spain under the Madrid accords signed in 1975 by Morocco, Spain and Mauritania .

According to the locals ... The march was devised in a philosophy of peace to liberate and reunite the provinces of Morocco and has been a reference point in the peaceful struggle of the people for their rights on their land.

The move was designed by the late King Hassan II and was successful thanks to selflessnes of the people, which spontaneously took part in the liberation process.

The liberation of the provinces, known as the Sahara, was made in the wake of the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice on October 16, 1975, that confirmed that the Sahara was not a "Terra nullius" and that there have been legal and allegiance between the Kingdom of Morocco and the territory.

The late King Hassan II wrote in the foreword of the book "La Marche verte": "I sought inspiration and hope in the tenets of the Holy Koran, in my past as a patriot and militant for the independence of my country, and my attachment to peace ".

350.000 volunteers, 10% of whom were women, armed only with the Holy Koran and faith, coming from all the regions of the Kingdom, converged on Tarfaya (southwest), waited for the signal of the late King, who in a speech to the nation, on November 5, 1975, okayed the starting of the march.

On Thursday, November 6, 1975, the Moroccan flag was hoisted on the Sahara. Marchers turned to the direction of Mecca and thanked the Almighty for the retrieval of the territory, which was an important stage in the completion of Moroccan territorial integrity.

Bonne fête à tous les Marocains !

November 18th

Another important date, November 18, 1955, the day the late king Mohammed V of Morocco announced to the people the end of the period of the French protectorate.

After the royal family returned to Morocco from exile in Madagascar on November 18, 1955, the late king Mohammed V announced the end of the French protectorate and the advent of the era of freedom and independence.

Moroccans have paid an expensive price for their independence that was gained after enormous sacrifices and a long struggle that left scores of martyrs. They managed to foil France's attempt in 1930 to impose the "Berber Dahir," that aimed to sow division between Arabs and Berbers, as well as the Spanish occupiers endeavor in 1946 to impose on inhabitants of Ait-Baamrane and the neighboring tribes the Spanish nationality to reinforce its colonizing power.


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