The Green March: one of the most important non-violent liberation movements in history
The Green March was one of the most important and unique non-violent liberation movements in contemporary history. This is the fundamental information that the comic book "The Green March" (Editions Hypothèse, 2023), produced by Ayoub Qanir in collaboration with the Moroccan journalist Omar Mrani, and promoted by the Ministry of Youth, Culture and Communication of the Kingdom of Morocco, reminds us of. The book, which I recently received as a gift at the Salon International de l'Édition et du Livre (SIEL) in Rabat, opens with the famous words of the late His Majesty Hassan II: "The battles of life are not won by the strongest, nor by the fastest, but by those who never give up".
Indeed, the Green March was carried out without recourse to arms, but only by the strength of character and tenacity of 350,000 Moroccans who marched peacefully to regain the country's sovereignty over its historic territories. It was this peaceful character that enabled the glorious Green March to claim the moral high ground and mark one of the most significant moments of resistance against colonialism. As His Majesty King Mohammed VI, Emir Al-Muminin, said on the occasion of the celebration of the 25th anniversary of this historic epic: "The Green March was legitimate in its objectives and peaceful in its methods. Since its inception, Morocco has remained faithful to the peaceful path, respectful of international legality and attached to the civilised method of dialogue and moderation, showing itself willing to undertake constructive initiatives and ready to accept all good offices initiatives aimed at putting a definitive end to this artificial conflict for the completion of its territorial integrity".
Illustrated by Juan Doe (a cartoonist for Marvel, a major US comic book publisher), the book shows how unarmed Moroccan men, women and children, at the call of their monarch, mobilised to take the path of sovereignty, the path of national freedom and the path of justice. The 350,000 Moroccans who took part in the Green March were ordinary people, motivated solely by the love of their homeland, their family and their history, and by the idea that Man is called to serve a higher purpose.
The Green March, which demonstrated the strong cohesion between the throne and the people, nevertheless chose the peaceful and civilised path to affirm the greatest human values, which are the basic principles of Tamaghrabit (Moroccanness): the freedom of peoples, cultural openness, respect for sovereignty, history and ancestors. The march thus became one of the most important examples of non-violent culture, as demonstrated by the speech of the late His Majesty Hassan II on 5 November 1975: "If you meet a Spaniard, civilian or military, exchange greetings with him and invite him to the tent to share your meal. We have no enmity towards the Spaniards, nor do we feel any resentment towards them, because if we had wanted to make war on Spain, we would not have sent unarmed civilians, but an army. Our intentions are in no way bellicose and we are averse to bloodshed. On the contrary, our march is peaceful.
In the end, the volunteers' journey marked the end of the Spanish presence in the Moroccan Sahara, as can be read at the end of Qanir's comic. Referring to the Salt March (a non-violent demonstration held in 1930 to wrest India's independence from the British), Mohandas Gandhi rightly said: 'just means lead to just ends'.
Anna Mahjar-Barducci
Moroccan-Italian researcher and writer