Muhammad Bassiri
Encyclopedia
Muhammad Sidi Brahim Sidi Embarek Basir was a Sahrawi nationalist leader, disappeared and presumed executed by the Spanish Legion
in June 1970.
(Southern Morocco
)
In 1957 he left for the newly independent Morocco to attend school in Marrakesh, and proceeded to study the Quran & Arabic in Cairo
, Egypt
and Journalism
in Damascus
, Syria
, where he get in touch with the Panarabism ideology. On returning to Morocco in 1966, he founded Al-Shihab (The Torch), a Sahrawi nationalist newspaper. He also worked as a journalist in Casablanca
In March 1968 he was allowed to enter to Spanish Sahara
(he had tried to enter on December 1967, but he was detained and expelled), because of the closing of the newspaper by Moroccan authorities in late 1967, and settled in the city of Smara
as a Quranic teacher. It was there he started to organize the anti-colonial movement known as the movement of liberation (In Arabic: Harakat Tahrir
) calling for end of Spanish occupation of the Sahara. Bassiri stressed non-violence (influenced by the peaceful struggle of Gandhi in the colonized India
) and wanted to bring about change through democratic action, although the ruthless colonial rule imposed by Francisco Franco
's Fascist Spain forced the Harakat Tahrir to remain clandestine. Bassiri didn't want a precipitated independence, but to negotiate with the Spanish authorities
José María Pérez de Lema y Tejero, went to Zemla to discuss with the organizers of the demonstration, but did not reach an agreement to make them leave the place and join the official demonstration. Tensions escalated between the growing mass of Sahrawi protesters and the Spanish reservist
soldiers, who were stoned-throwed after detaining 3 speakers of the protest, answered opening fire on the mass at 17:30 PM. Disturbance continued until 19:00 PM, when troops of the Tercio
"Juan de Austria" of the Spanish Legion brutally put down what remained of the protesters. The events were seen by the Spanish authorities as a defiance to the official demonstration organized by the General governor, made to show the world the supposed Sahrawi support to the Spanish regime and refusal to the UN involvement. These events have been dubbed the Zemla Intifada
by Sahrawis.
Bassiri, who had abandoned Zemla before violance erupted, was informed of the events. He was offered to escape to Mauritania by car, but he refused it. According to Salem Lebser, he replied: "Nobody could say I'm an adventurer who has led people to death and then disappeared". Bassiri was tracked down that night, detained around 03:00 AM of June 18, and jailed at El Aaiun Territorial Police headquarters. On June 19, and after being tortured, he testified before the Spanish military authorities. A photograph of him registering before the "Habs Shargui" prison authorities is the last known trace of him. Later, he was allegedly moved to "Sidi Buya", the Spanish Legion headquarters in El Aaiun. He is widely believed to have been murdered in the dunes surrounding El Aaiun
or tortured to death in jail, although Spanish authorities of the time claimed that he had been expelled from the territory to Morocco. Spanish colonial authorities even claimed in 1971 that Bassiri had died on the Skhirat
coup d'etat
against Hassan II.
Present-day Sahrawi nationalists
such as the Polisario Front
honor him as the father of the modern Sahrawi independence struggle, as well as the first of the "disappeared" and a national martyr
for the Liberty.
Spanish Legion
The Spanish Legion , formerly Spanish Foreign Legion, is an elite unit of the Spanish Army and Spain's Rapid Reaction Force. Founded as the Tercio de Extranjeros , it was originally intended as a Spanish equivalent of the French Foreign Legion, but in practice it recruited almost exclusively...
in June 1970.
Biography
Muhammad Bassiri was born to Sahrawi family in Tan-TanTan-Tan
Tan-Tan is a city in Tan-Tan Province in southern Morocco. It is a desert town with a small population, with only few claims to fame:*The nearby port, Tan-Tan Plage, or Port of Tan-Tan, about 25 kilometres away from Tan-Tan itself...
(Southern Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
)
In 1957 he left for the newly independent Morocco to attend school in Marrakesh, and proceeded to study the Quran & Arabic in Cairo
Cairo
Cairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...
, Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
and Journalism
Journalism
Journalism is the practice of investigation and reporting of events, issues and trends to a broad audience in a timely fashion. Though there are many variations of journalism, the ideal is to inform the intended audience. Along with covering organizations and institutions such as government and...
in Damascus
Damascus
Damascus , commonly known in Syria as Al Sham , and as the City of Jasmine , is the capital and the second largest city of Syria after Aleppo, both are part of the country's 14 governorates. In addition to being one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, Damascus is a major...
, Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
, where he get in touch with the Panarabism ideology. On returning to Morocco in 1966, he founded Al-Shihab (The Torch), a Sahrawi nationalist newspaper. He also worked as a journalist in Casablanca
Casablanca
Casablanca is a city in western Morocco, located on the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Grand Casablanca region.Casablanca is Morocco's largest city as well as its chief port. It is also the biggest city in the Maghreb. The 2004 census recorded a population of 2,949,805 in the prefecture...
In March 1968 he was allowed to enter to Spanish Sahara
Spanish Sahara
Spanish Sahara was the name used for the modern territory of Western Sahara when it was ruled as a territory by Spain between 1884 and 1975...
(he had tried to enter on December 1967, but he was detained and expelled), because of the closing of the newspaper by Moroccan authorities in late 1967, and settled in the city of Smara
Smara
Smara, also Semara , is a city in the Moroccan-Administered Western Sahara, with a population estimated at 42,056.-History:The largest city in its province, Smara was founded in the Saguia el-Hamra as an oasis for travellers in 1869. It is the only major city in Western Sahara that was not founded...
as a Quranic teacher. It was there he started to organize the anti-colonial movement known as the movement of liberation (In Arabic: Harakat Tahrir
Harakat Tahrir
The Movement for the Liberation of the Saguia el Hamra and Rio de Oro, sometimes referred to as the Movement for the Liberation of the Sahara or simply the Liberation Movement was created in 1969 by Muhammad Bassiri, a Smara-based Sahrawi quranic teacher, to work for the independence of Western...
) calling for end of Spanish occupation of the Sahara. Bassiri stressed non-violence (influenced by the peaceful struggle of Gandhi in the colonized India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
) and wanted to bring about change through democratic action, although the ruthless colonial rule imposed by Francisco Franco
Francisco Franco
Francisco Franco y Bahamonde was a Spanish general, dictator and head of state of Spain from October 1936 , and de facto regent of the nominally restored Kingdom of Spain from 1947 until his death in November, 1975...
's Fascist Spain forced the Harakat Tahrir to remain clandestine. Bassiri didn't want a precipitated independence, but to negotiate with the Spanish authorities
Disappearance
On early June 17, 1970 the organization appeared openly in a peaceful demonstration against the Spanish colonial rule, asking for autonomy (as a first step to independence) and self-determination in the Zemla neighborhood of El-Aaiun, in parallel to an official Francoist demonstration. The Spanish governor-general of the colony, GeneralGeneral
A general officer is an officer of high military rank, usually in the army, and in some nations, the air force. The term is widely used by many nations of the world, and when a country uses a different term, there is an equivalent title given....
José María Pérez de Lema y Tejero, went to Zemla to discuss with the organizers of the demonstration, but did not reach an agreement to make them leave the place and join the official demonstration. Tensions escalated between the growing mass of Sahrawi protesters and the Spanish reservist
Reservist
A reservist is a person who is a member of a military reserve force. They are otherwise civilians, and in peacetime have careers outside the military. Reservists usually go for training on an annual basis to refresh their skills. This person is usually a former active-duty member of the armed...
soldiers, who were stoned-throwed after detaining 3 speakers of the protest, answered opening fire on the mass at 17:30 PM. Disturbance continued until 19:00 PM, when troops of the Tercio
Tercio
The tercio was a Renaissance era military formation made up of a mixed infantry formation of about 3,000 pikemen, swordsmen and arquebusiers or musketeers in a mutually supportive formation. It was also sometimes referred to as the Spanish Square...
"Juan de Austria" of the Spanish Legion brutally put down what remained of the protesters. The events were seen by the Spanish authorities as a defiance to the official demonstration organized by the General governor, made to show the world the supposed Sahrawi support to the Spanish regime and refusal to the UN involvement. These events have been dubbed the Zemla Intifada
Zemla Intifada
The Zemla Intifada is the name used by the Algerian-backed Polisario movement to refer to disturbances of June 17, 1970, which culminated in a massacre by Spanish forces in the Zemla district of El-Aaiun, Western Sahara .Leaders of the hitherto secret organization Harakat Tahrir, among them its...
by Sahrawis.
Bassiri, who had abandoned Zemla before violance erupted, was informed of the events. He was offered to escape to Mauritania by car, but he refused it. According to Salem Lebser, he replied: "Nobody could say I'm an adventurer who has led people to death and then disappeared". Bassiri was tracked down that night, detained around 03:00 AM of June 18, and jailed at El Aaiun Territorial Police headquarters. On June 19, and after being tortured, he testified before the Spanish military authorities. A photograph of him registering before the "Habs Shargui" prison authorities is the last known trace of him. Later, he was allegedly moved to "Sidi Buya", the Spanish Legion headquarters in El Aaiun. He is widely believed to have been murdered in the dunes surrounding El Aaiun
El Aaiún
El-Aaiún , is a city in Western Sahara founded by the Spanish in 1928. Administered by Morocco since 1976, El-Aaiún is the capital of what the Moroccan government call the region of Laâyoune-Boujdour-Sakia El Hamra, and POLISARIO call Occupied Territories...
or tortured to death in jail, although Spanish authorities of the time claimed that he had been expelled from the territory to Morocco. Spanish colonial authorities even claimed in 1971 that Bassiri had died on the Skhirat
Skhirat
Skhirat is a city in the Rabat-Salé-Zemmour-Zaer Region of Morocco. Known within Morocco for its beautiful beaches it has recently begun developing and property and land prices have increased greatly....
coup d'etat
Coup d'état
A coup d'état state, literally: strike/blow of state)—also known as a coup, putsch, and overthrow—is the sudden, extrajudicial deposition of a government, usually by a small group of the existing state establishment—typically the military—to replace the deposed government with another body; either...
against Hassan II.
Present-day Sahrawi nationalists
Nationalism
Nationalism is a political ideology that involves a strong identification of a group of individuals with a political entity defined in national terms, i.e. a nation. In the 'modernist' image of the nation, it is nationalism that creates national identity. There are various definitions for what...
such as the Polisario Front
Polisario Front
The POLISARIO, Polisario Front, or Frente Polisario, from the Spanish abbreviation of Frente Popular de Liberación de Saguía el Hamra y Río de Oro is a Sahrawi rebel national liberation movement working for the independence of Western Sahara from Morocco...
honor him as the father of the modern Sahrawi independence struggle, as well as the first of the "disappeared" and a national martyr
Martyr
A martyr is somebody who suffers persecution and death for refusing to renounce, or accept, a belief or cause, usually religious.-Meaning:...
for the Liberty.