Saturday, December 19, 2009

What Morocco thinks of Algeria. And of Egypt

Finally! The Algerian people have had a chance to witness the true feelings of millions of Moroccans harbor toward their neighbors to the east.  Moroccans’ celebrations of the historic win of the Algerian soccer team against Egypt were heartwarming. The spontaneous explosions of joy by thousands of Moroccans celebrating a well deserving Algerian team were unprecedented considering the tense relations between Rabat and Algiers over the Western Sahara conflict. Moroccans, holding Algerian flags, streamed into the streets of several Moroccan cities including Casablanca, Rabat, and the border town of Oujda rejoicing along with the Algerian public across the “closed” borders.
In the last thirty years, the Algerian people were subjected to several rigorous anti-Morocco campaigns conducted by the Algerian Military establishment. To reinforce their grip on power, some in the Algerian  demonized Morocco, making it a favorite punching.  Events such as the Sands war, the Moroccan Green March, the mass expulsion of thousands of Moroccans by the Algerian government, and Morocco’s impulsive and one sided closure of Morocco-Algeria borders in 1994 led to a progressive worsening the relations between the two peoples and re-enforced the “evil” image of“suspicious” Morocco in the eyes of millions of Algerians. MORE HERE

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