Na al Amam: 25 years of struggle!
The Maoist group lla al Amam was founded 25 years ago. Their anniversary commes at a moment when ne criss tacing the dictator Hassan I! is deepening, and the space for an "above ground" left alternativ s growing. The following extracts are taken from their communiqué issued recently in Pari
THE MoROCCAN LeFt failed in 1965, and fell into the regime's trap again in August 1970, by agreeing to participate in the comic Constitutional Referendum. The Moroccan left was also marked by its interaction with developments in the Arab world at that time - the defeat of Nasser's regime in Egypt in 1967, the emergence of the Palestinian revolution, and the birth of an Arab "new left" in the Middle Fast. It was likewise influenced by the movements which, at that time, were shaking imperialism and the world: Vietnam, China, Latin America, and even in the heart of the capitalist system, in France and Italy. The birth of the organisation also coincided with a new interrogation about the future of the Soviet Union. [Over the last 25 years, Ila al Amam has tried to build a revolutionary Marxist organisation, even in periods of severe repression]. This orientation would be noted in the very heart of the enemy's repressive apparatus. "Building the revolutionary party while under enemy fire", published in our underground newspaper in July 1973, formed a number of the militants confronting this apparatus of torture in the secret camps, the courtrooms and the prisons [of Morocco.] [The theoretical foundation of the organisation was] from the beginning marked by a rejection of the Soviet model, and the priority given to the mass movement... [as] conceptualised in the early 1940s by Mao Zedung." In November 1972 the imperatives of the class struggle led us to establish the concept of "professional revolutionary" first elaborated by Lenin. The application of this concept allowed our organisation to resist the repression better than several other groups, up until March 1976. But, as we would analyse in 1980, the mechanical application of this concept to a structure based on the high school and university population led us to a structure which was easily dismantled once the mass struggles receded. After 1979, the reconstruction of the organisation on the basis of the political and ideological combat with the enemy during the Casablanca trials of 1977 and in the prison system, was undertaken by militants marked by these new lessons as well as by the concepts which had shaped the foundation of our organisation. This brought the concept of self-organisation of the masses to the forefront, in the period of urban struggle in the 1980s. [...] As Moroccan and Arab patriots... we have always overcome the introversion and ignorance, even reject of the universal dimension, to which Moroccan and Arab patriotism, like all nationalism, has too often fallen victim. [...] We were the first to oppose the Makhzen model which has dominated Moroccan history. This enabled us to understand the specific historical relationship of the Saharoui ethnic group with the Moroccan people better, as well as the differentiation between these two groups... and opened the way for the integration of the Tamazight (Berber) question into the national project. [...] The commemoration of 25 years of activity comes in a period when the failure of the regime's economic policies is clear. * The relationship of dependence with the European Union (fishing, agriculture, exports, tourism) has become a durable CrISIS. * There is a deepening financial crisis (foreign debt, deep budgetary crisis, bankruptcy of a large number of Moroccan companies due to the servile implementation of International Monetary Fund, World Bank and World Trade Organisation guidelines. The drought has aggravated the effects of this crisis for the whole society, but particularly in the countryside, which is suffering from hunger, a water shortage, and emigration. The drought has demonstrated the dangers of the "Dambuilding policy" for the peasants. The recent floods, which claimed hundreds of victims, cannot be attributed solely to the whims of nature. They are essentially the result of the [regime's] water management and infrastructure policies. Despite the disastrous effects of these economic policies, the masses do not give up hope, and continue to struggle, in very difficult conditions, with strikes, occupations, demonstrations and hunger strikes. Examples include the struggles of the miners of Jbel Aouam, railway workers, unemployed graduates, and the inhabitants of the poorer districts.
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* MOROCCO all still Long Loll ball idle a ca ail, Be aule we said all dull tell and ная jabll . Reprinted from lla al Amam n° 8, December 1983 The regime replies to these struggles with a combination of repression and manoeuvres. The last few months have seen waves of individual and collective [police] interrogations, ID checks, and extortion of the citizens. The aim is to discourage the population, and to give advance warning of any coming uprising. The other side of this repressive policy is the regime's stubbornness in the face of the demands of the masses, and their legitimate demands. This is the case in the struggles of the Jbel Aouam miners and the railway workers. There is also an offensive against the public sector through the privatisation of strategic sectors and attacks on fundamental social services. An arbitrary, and serious, decision has been made to backtrack on the principles of general, free education. At the same time, the regime manoeuvres round the various political forces, expressing its understanding of their demands for political and institutional reforms, and the interchange of governing parties. These developments accentuate the contradictions between the parasitic Makhzen Mafia, based on corruption, racket, the drugs trade, capital flight, and speculation, and all those social components of the people who's living conditions continue to decline. These contradictions are reflected on the political scene by the division within the reactionary parties, and the growing distinction between the techno-bureaucratic and militant 32 International Viewpoint n° 270 — October 1995 currents within the parliamentary opposition. The militan current is growing stronger within the USFP (socialist) and the OADP, while the rightist current is strengthening within the leadership of the PPS. Nor have the "new left" currents escaped the effects of these contradictions. A broad discussion has been undertaken in recent months concerning the unification of several currents into a joint political structure. These debates have ebbed and flowed. Among the concrete gains are the permeation of the debate into all regions of the country, and the beginnings of co-ordination of activities in the mass movements. On the negative side, there are signs of the factionalisation of the leadership, non-democratic behaviour, of precipitation, a weak sense of responsibility, and non-respect of commitments [...] The necessity to profit from the retreats imposed on the regime in recent months do not mean that the essence of this regime has changed. This is why Ila al Amam continues in the development of its own political line, assimilating the changes under way in society, and reaffirming our attachment to the struggle for a revolutionary change carried out by the masses themselves, led by the workers. [...] WE CALL ON ALL SINCERE DEMOCRATS, whatever their political and organisation affiliation, to struggle for a minimum programme on the following lines: * Make the general amnesty effective for all the victims of political repression, without exception or reservation: "disappeared" ", political detainees and exiles. * Just punishment for the torturers, and explanations and compensation for relatives of the "disappeared" and deceased political detainees. * Widen democratic liberties, and make sure these liberties and human rights are respected. Get rid of the Makhzen structure of the state, and replace it with the rule of law. * Improve the living conditions of the popular masses. Protect and develop the social gains, and guarantee the rights to education, work, housing and health. * Support liberation struggles round the world, and in first place the Palestinian revolution, through the creation of an independent Palestinian state and in opposition to the normalisation of relations with the Zionist State of Israel. * Fight against the new international order, and in particular the imperialist intervention in the Arab region and the unjust blockades against the Iraqi and Libyan peoples GLORY TO THE MARTYRS OF OUR PEOPLE! SOURCE: Communiqué du 25ème anniversaire de l'organisation marocaine Ila al Amam, dated 30 August 1995.