{"id":5718,"date":"2010-02-18T00:00:30","date_gmt":"2010-02-18T08:00:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/muslimahmediawatch.org\/?p=5718"},"modified":"2010-02-18T00:00:30","modified_gmt":"2010-02-18T08:00:30","slug":"honoring-aminatou-haidar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/2010\/02\/honoring-aminatou-haidar\/","title":{"rendered":"Honoring Aminatou Haidar"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"Photo<\/a>
Aminatou Haidar. Image via Global Voices Online. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Sahrawi activist Aminatou Haidar<\/a> has recently been awarded the first annual International Jovellanos \u201cResistance and Freedom\u201d Prize<\/a>, bestowed by the governments of the Spanish regions of Asturias and the Balearic Islands, in order to<\/p>\n

\u201cacknowledge the civic values of people from anywhere in the world who have distinguished themselves through their struggle for freedom and human rights and in particular, of persons who have unjustly been the object of persecution, or are undergoing or have undergone detention, sentences or punishment because of their commitment to freedom, tolerance and humanity.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The committee\u2019s selection of Haidar as award recipient <\/a>was unanimous, and recognizes\u00a0\u201cher determination in bearing witness to the principles embodied by the exercise of freedom and for the courage with which she resisted the pressure applied to her legitimate free will.\u201d<\/p>\n

As an activist from Western Sahara, a region of north-western Africa once colonized by Spain and now\u00a0under highly contested (and internationally unrecognized)\u00a0Moroccan control since 1975, Haidar has long been active in advocating for her country\u2019s independence, and was jailed\u00a0in 2005 for her role in a pro-independence political\u00a0demonstration. \u00a0Her accomplishments have previously been honored with international awards\u00a0from Spain, Austria, and\u00a0the United States, as well as a nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

More recently, in November 2009, Haidar was returning from an overseas trip, and was detained at her home airport, apparently for refusing to identify her country of residence as \u201cMorocco.\u201d Barred from entering her own country, Haidar was sent to the Lanzarote airport in the Canary Islands, where she remained in a state of legal limbo, forbidden to enter her country but without travel papers to go elsewhere. Haidar began a hunger strike, consuming only water and sugar, in protest of the conditions in which she was living, as well as the situation her country, and the repression that her people experience. Thirty-two days later, on December\u00a018, having developed severe health problems, Haidar ended her hunger strike <\/a>when the Moroccan government finally relented and allowed her to return to her home in Western Sahara.\u00a0 Since then, she has been living under constant police surveillance<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Although it was not the first time Haidar had made herself known as a committed activist for the cause of Sahrawi independence, her hunger strike has taken on a huge symbolic value: Haidar has been called an example<\/a> of \u201ca generation that dreams of nothing but seeing its country free and sovereign\u201d and that \u201crefuses to capitulate.\u201d*\u00a0 When the Moroccan government and the Polisario Front, the national independence movement of Western Sahara, planned talks that took place last week, this was attributed in part to Haidar\u2019s hunger strike, whether for its role in increasing tensions<\/a>, putting pressure on the Moroccan government<\/a>, or attracting international attention <\/a>to the issue.<\/p>\n

\"Aminatou
Photo of Aminatou Haidar leaving the hospital in Lanzarote, Canary Islands, at the end of her hunger strike. Via the BBC.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Haidar has received much attention in a variety of news sources (although significantly fewer English-language sources than French, Spanish, and likely Arabic ones), and is described<\/a> repeatedly<\/a> as a \u201cSahrawi Gandhi<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

I wonder, however, about the degree to which this solidarity will actually be expressed in more concrete ways.\u00a0 On a personal level, Haidar continues to experience the\u00a0fallout<\/a> of her hunger strike with relation, for example,\u00a0to her personal health and to her freedom of movement within her country.\u00a0 On a broader level, acknowledging the personal strength and commitment of Haidar is important, but if she is such a compelling symbol of the Sahrawi struggle, how will the rest of the world respond to the struggle itself, beyond the awards and nice words?<\/p>\n

*My translations.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sahrawi activist Aminatou Haidar has recently been awarded the first annual International Jovellanos \u201cResistance and Freedom\u201d Prize, bestowed by the governments of the Spanish regions of Asturias and the Balearic Islands, in order to \u201cacknowledge the civic values of people from anywhere in the world who have distinguished themselves through their struggle for freedom and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":155,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,14],"tags":[106,1468],"class_list":["post-5718","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","category-politics","tag-aminatou-haidar","tag-western-sahara"],"yoast_head":"\nHonoring Aminatou Haidar<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Sahrawi activist Aminatou Haidar has recently been awarded the first annual International Jovellanos \u201cResistance and Freedom\u201d Prize, bestowed by the\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/2010\/02\/honoring-aminatou-haidar\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Honoring Aminatou Haidar\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Sahrawi activist Aminatou Haidar has recently been awarded the first annual International Jovellanos \u201cResistance and Freedom\u201d Prize, bestowed by the\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/2010\/02\/honoring-aminatou-haidar\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Muslimah Media Watch\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2010-02-18T08:00:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/globalvoicesonline.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/11\/aminatou-225x300.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Krista\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Krista\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/2010\/02\/honoring-aminatou-haidar\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/2010\/02\/honoring-aminatou-haidar\/\",\"name\":\"Honoring Aminatou Haidar\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2010-02-18T08:00:30+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2010-02-18T08:00:30+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/#\/schema\/person\/fe832019fd0850b017644ee2e0d767d0\"},\"description\":\"Sahrawi activist Aminatou Haidar has recently been awarded the first annual International Jovellanos \u201cResistance and Freedom\u201d Prize, bestowed by the\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/2010\/02\/honoring-aminatou-haidar\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/2010\/02\/honoring-aminatou-haidar\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/2010\/02\/honoring-aminatou-haidar\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Honoring Aminatou Haidar\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/\",\"name\":\"Muslimah Media Watch\",\"description\":\"Looking at Muslim women in the media and pop culture\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/#\/schema\/person\/fe832019fd0850b017644ee2e0d767d0\",\"name\":\"Krista\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/073ef96068f408208691d41e19dcce7f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/073ef96068f408208691d41e19dcce7f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Krista\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/author\/krista\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Honoring Aminatou Haidar","description":"Sahrawi activist Aminatou Haidar has recently been awarded the first annual International Jovellanos \u201cResistance and Freedom\u201d Prize, bestowed by the","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/2010\/02\/honoring-aminatou-haidar\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Honoring Aminatou Haidar","og_description":"Sahrawi activist Aminatou Haidar has recently been awarded the first annual International Jovellanos \u201cResistance and Freedom\u201d Prize, bestowed by the","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/2010\/02\/honoring-aminatou-haidar\/","og_site_name":"Muslimah Media Watch","article_published_time":"2010-02-18T08:00:30+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/globalvoicesonline.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/11\/aminatou-225x300.jpg"}],"author":"Krista","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Krista","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/2010\/02\/honoring-aminatou-haidar\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/2010\/02\/honoring-aminatou-haidar\/","name":"Honoring Aminatou Haidar","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/#website"},"datePublished":"2010-02-18T08:00:30+00:00","dateModified":"2010-02-18T08:00:30+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/#\/schema\/person\/fe832019fd0850b017644ee2e0d767d0"},"description":"Sahrawi activist Aminatou Haidar has recently been awarded the first annual International Jovellanos \u201cResistance and Freedom\u201d Prize, bestowed by the","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/2010\/02\/honoring-aminatou-haidar\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/2010\/02\/honoring-aminatou-haidar\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/2010\/02\/honoring-aminatou-haidar\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Honoring Aminatou Haidar"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/","name":"Muslimah Media Watch","description":"Looking at Muslim women in the media and pop culture","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/#\/schema\/person\/fe832019fd0850b017644ee2e0d767d0","name":"Krista","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/073ef96068f408208691d41e19dcce7f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/073ef96068f408208691d41e19dcce7f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Krista"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/author\/krista\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5718","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/155"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5718"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5718\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5718"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5718"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5718"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}