Swiss Radio and Television Documentary: The Green March is Sacred

Original Story Published by: Safaa Kasraoui for Morocco World News
Photo Source: ©Les archives de la RTS (YouTube)

(Above) A 2017 documentary by Swiss Radio and Television (RTS) on the Green March has been making the rounds in Moroccan news today.

Rabat –  Forty-three years ago, King Hassan II of Morocco called on hundreds of thousands of Moroccan citizens to head to Western Sahara to defend Morocco’s territorial integrity. 

The famous peaceful “green march” gained the respect of many. Several local and international news outlets commemorated the Green March through reports and documentaries about the historical event. 

In January 2017, RTS published a 20-minute press report from its archives on the Green March after King Hassan II gave his famous speech to the nation. 

“We have to do one thing dear people and that is to undertake a peaceful march from the north, the east, the west to the south. It behooves us to act as one man in order to join the Sahara,” King Hassan II said on October 16, 1975.  

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With respect and appreciation, more than 350,000 Moroccans took the speech to heart without hesitation. 

“Morocco and the Green March. Green, because the color of the star in Morocco’s flag is green. It was preferred because green was Mohammed the prophet’s favorite color,” RTS’s reporter explains. 

For Morocco, the Green March is sacred, according to RTS. The reporter then talked about the political aspect of the event aimed to liberate Western Sahara from the Spanish colonizers. 

Escorted by more than 20,000 Moroccan troops, Moroccans headed to Western Sahara to show their willingness to sacrifice for their homeland. According to the press report, double the number the King  called on took part in the event. From north to south, people of all ages marched with flags and Qur’ans in the unprecedented event.