The Green March
The Green March was a well-publicized popular march of enormous proportions. On November 6, 1975, approximately 350,000 unarmed Moroccans converged on the city of Tarfaya in southern Morocco and waited for a signal from King Hassan II to cross into Western Sahara. They brandished Moroccan flags, U.S.A. flags, Saudi Arabia flags & Jordan flags; banners calling for the "return of the Moroccan Sahara," photographs of the King and the Qur'an; the color green for the march's name was intended as a symbol of Islam. As the marchers reached the border, the Spanish Armed Forces were ordered not to fire to avoid bloodshed. The Spanish troops also cleared some previously mined zones.
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Famous quotes containing the words green and/or march:
“The green trees when I saw them first through one of the gates transported and ravished me, their sweetness and unusual beauty made my heart to leap, and almost mad with ecstasy, they were such strange and wonderful things.”
—Thomas Traherne (1636–1674)
“Our Germany’s dead. However hard this may be for some of us older people, it’s a blessing for our children. Our children grew up against new backgrounds, new horizons. And they are free. Free to grow up as children. Free to run and to laugh without being forced into uniforms. Without being forced to march up and down streets, singing battle songs.”
—Emeric Pressburger (1902–1988)