The BBC has a slide show that examines the Western Saharah independence on its 35th anniversary.
The slide show is an interesting one, but troublesomely without context: we have no idea when these pictures are taken or by whom.
Anyway, the real point of this post. The picture below (like all the others) appeared with a caption that has nothing to do with it (them):The caption reads: “Since then there has been a ceasefire in the mineral-rich former Spanish colony. A whole generation of Saharans has grown up in this limbo.”
Is this a Saharawi who’s grown up in “limbo”? Which part of the disputed territory is she from? What are her perspectives on her country’s condition and future?
We have the same problem here: “With years of negotiations having made little progress, many Saharawis remain uncertain about their future.”
Are these women soldiers? Outlaws? Matching dressers? What? I mean, do these women feel uncertain about their future? Did their views about their future govern their decision to decide the organization that they’re in (that presumably furnished them with these snappy outfits)?
It doesn’t matter, because these women, like all the other Saharawis in this slide show, are merely “exotic” wall paper to illustrate the viewer’s shallow educational journey about the fight for Western Sahara.