Sahrawi movement for the independence of Western Sahara. Sahrawi and Saharawi are terms most commonly used for the natives of the Morocco-occupied Western Sahara. ...

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" (harakat tahrir in Arabic) was created in 1967 by Muhammad Bassiri, a Smara-based Sahrawi quranic teacher. The Arabic language (; , less formally, ) is the largest member of the Semitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family (classification: South Central Semitic) and is closely related to Hebrew and Aramaic. ... 1967 (MCMLXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Smara, also Semara, is a Sahrawi city (50,000 in 1999) in the Moroccan-occupied Western Sahara. ... The Quran (Arabic al-qurʾān أَلْقُرآن; also transliterated as Quran, Koran, and less commonly Alcoran) is the holy book of Islam. ...

Its aim was the peaceful overturning of Spanish colonial rule and achievement of Western Sahara's self determination. It initially organized and operated in secret, but revealed its existence in a demonstration in El-Aaiun against Spanish rule on June 17 1970, attempting to hand over a petition to the Spanish colonial rulers calling for better treatment and Western Sahara's independence. Bold textItalic text World map of colonialism at the end of the Second World War in 1945. ... Laâyoune Laâyoune, also El Aaiún, in Arabic alayuun, is the unofficial capital of Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony now mostly controlled and occupied by Morocco. ... 1970 (MCMLXX) was a common year starting on Thursday. ...

The protest was bloodily suppressed by the occupation forces. The massacre and ensuing disturbances has been named the Zemla Intifada, or uprising, after the place the demonstration was held. A nation-wide hunt for members of the movement followed: Bassiri himself was arrested and "disappeared" in Spanish custody. He is assumed to have been killed by his jailors, and is counted by the present-day Sahrawi nationalist movement as its first modern-day martyr. The Zemla Intifada (Intifada means uprising) is the name for the disturbances of June 17, 1970, which culminated in a massacre by Spanish forces in the Zemla quarters of El-Aaiun, Western Sahara (then Spanish Sahara). ... A Forced disappearance occurs when an organization (usually a ruling government and that is usually a police state or dictatorship) forces a person to disappear from public view. ... Historically, a martyr is a person who dies for his or her religious faith. ...

After the crushing of the Harakat Tahrir, Sahrawi nationalists abandoned the hope of a peaceful end to colonial occupation. In May 1973 the militant Front Polisario formed under the leadership of El-Ouali, calling for armed revolution against Spanish rule. The Polisario, which is still active, would later turn its guns on the Moroccan and Mauritanian forces which invaded Western Sahara upon Spain's departure in 1975. Occupation may refer to: the principal activity (job or calling) that earns money for a person (see profession, business) the periods of time following a nations territory invasion by controlling enemy troops (see belligerent occupation) any activity that occupies an important portion of a persons attention (see fan... 1973 (MCMLXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday. ... ... 1975 (MCMLXXV) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1975 calendar). ...