Rabat – A group of Polisario supporters stormed a peaceful demonstration by the Moroccan diaspora in Paris on Saturday.
The Moroccan demonstrators were expressing solidarity with Rabat’s November 13 action against the separatist group in Guerguerat.
A video shows Polisario supporters violently attacking members of the Moroccan diaspora, who rallied on Saturday in Paris to show support for Morocco’s operation to secure the Guerguerat border crossing.
Polisario militiamen had carried out provocative maneuvers in Guerguerat since September and on October 21 began a blockade of traffic between Morocco and Mauritania.
Morocco’s Royal Armed Forces (FAR) intervened in the region to secure the flow of commercial and civil traffic, earning international applause — including from the Moroccan diaspora.
Members of the Moroccan diaspora in several European countries, including Denmark, Spain, and now France held demonstrations to show support for the action.
The videos from the demonstration in Paris on Saturday show a group of Polisario members kicking and trying to hurt Moroccan demonstrators with their separatist “flags.”
Moroccans faced the attacks with patriotic slogans, waving the country’s flag.
Some Moroccans can also be heard praising King Mohammed VI and calling Polisario supporters “traitors.”
Videos online also show a group of Polisario supporters attacking a Moroccan woman for trying to defend Morocco’s flag.
One of the videos shows the woman screaming and attempting to flee the violent attacks by the separatists.
Moroccan activists strongly condemned the attacks, paying tribute to the woman for her courage to stand against the Polisario supporters.
Some activists condemned the attacks and called for a legal case to punish the violent perpetrators.
Despite the attack, the Moroccan diaspora in Paris expressed determination to continue to support their homeland.
Morocco’s state media quoted some activists who participated in the demonstration, declaring solidarity with all of Rabat’s decisions.
“The love for the Sahara flows in the veins of every Moroccan. The Sahara has always been Moroccan and will remain so for eternity,” said Naima Demnati, the president of the association Coeur Mediterranean.
Mohamed Rakoub, the president of the Association of Franco-Moroccan Friendship, said the Moroccan Sahara remains the first question for Moroccans everywhere across the world.
This is not the first time Polisario supporters carried out a violent attack against Moroccans abroad.
Earlier this month, a group of separatists stormed Morocco’s consulate general in Valencia, Spain. Some of the separatists removed Morocco’s flag from the consulate to hoist their own “flag.”
The governments of both Morocco and Spain condemned the violent attack.
