Bleeding Dakhla: Moroccan settlers attack Sahrawis, injure 60

Whenever someone tells you unrest is Western Sahara is just about economic concerns, call him a liar. In Western Sahara (like everywhere else), the economic is political and the political is ethnic. It's all a Gordian knot that will only be cut with a referendum, but until then, Sahrawis are going to get the crap kicked out of them (from translated version):

Yesterday afternoon, hundreds of Moroccans, mostly engaged in fishing, attacked in the town of Itereft, 100 kilometers from the city of Dajla, Western Sahara, fishermen and fish traders established Saharans in the area, causing dozens of injuries.

So far it is 57 wounded, five of them extremely serious, and two of those still missing are unaware of the whereabouts, said the chairman of the Committee Against Torture Dajla, El Mami Amar Salem, the Communication Service Saharawi in the Canary Islands (SCSC), through a note sent to afrol News.
...
The Moroccans, "thousands", according to witnesses, attacked the fishermen and traders Saharans with sticks, knives, diesel and even several axes, burning at least seven vehicle.

Emphasis mine. The article says the attack was meant to dislodge Sahrawis from Dakhla's fishery industry, and speculates that the two missing Sahrawis might have been thrown into the ocean.

This is the kind of outrageous stuff that people like Edward Gabriel and Robert Holley perpetuate from their comfy DC offices, and it's what people like me allow by sitting in identical offices and not doing nearly enough.

The worst thing is that these weren't even all activist Sahrawis--some of them were just trying to make a living, and now they have axe wounds. Occupation advocates will tell you that an independent Sahrawi state couldn't govern itself, that it would descend into lawlessness. They don't realize that this is lawlessness.

Via Sahara Libre and a fast commenter