Category Archives: Western Sahara

Africa Month, the 45-Year Illegal Occupation of the Western Sahara and the story of little Havdala #StandInTheSand #AfricaMonth

Havdala and Catherine Constantinides find a tree near the Sahharawi Refugee Camps [Photographer Heinrich Knoetze]

“Today is the first day of AFRICA Month. And so as the month unfolds I will use my platforms to continue sharing not only my journey with My Saharawi People but the truths surrounding a conflict of occupation and colonization that spans 45 years. An illegal invasion of their country by Morocco. We continue to tell a truth because justice must and will prevail!” – Catherine Constantinides

The month of May is Africa Month and while I’m proud to be African and we have much to celebrate I would like to call attention once again to the illegal occupation of the Western Sahara by Morocco (can you imagine fleeing from war to what you thought would be a temporary refugee camp only to still be there 45 YEARS LATER?) the United Nations recognizes the Western Sahara as a country separate from Morocco but the referendum the UN promised in 1991 is yet to take place and why because Morocco has powerful allies at the UN.

The Story of Havdala [told through the eyes of Photographer Heinrich Knoetze]

Havdala in the Saharawi Refugee Camps ( Photographer Heinrich Knoetze)
More Havdala (Photographer Heinrich Knoetze)

3 Stolen Cameras – a documentary by Equipe Media and RåFILM #StandInTheSand #SaharaLibre

“Use filmmaking for a greater purpose, than to just entertain some drowsy minds. Wake the whole world up with your movies. It has been sleeping for long. Its eternal sleep has become its darkest nemesis. Now is the time to wake it up.”― Abhijit Naskar

 Yesterday I watched 3 Stolen Cameras – a documentary, made by Equipe Media in conjunction with RåFILM, about breaking an absolute censorship with unique footage from Western Sahara, a country that has been illegally occupied by Morocco since 1975. This documentary is painful to watch because of the scenes of violence but I urge everybody to watch till the end because if we don’t know what’s happening we can’t do anything to change it