A letter from José Saramago to Aminetu Haidar:

22nd of November 2009.
Dear Aminetu Haidar,
If I were in Lanzarote, I would be by your side. And not because I am a militant separatist; as you have been recently defined by the Moroccan ambassador. On the contrary, I think that this planet belongs to everyone, and we all have the right to have our piece of land to live in harmony. I think the real separatists are those who separate people from their homeland. They throw them out, trying to make them rootless; and being different to what they really are, some take advantage and gain power whereas others lose their self-esteem and end up being blown over by the unreasonable. Morocco, in the aspects that concern Western Sahara, does not obey the ethics and rules of good conduct.
Opressing the Saharaui people is a clear demonstration that the Declaration of Human Rights has no place in the Moroccan society, who does not protest about what happens to their neighbouring people. And it is, overall, evidence that Morocco does not respect itself: A country which has confidence in its own past does not need to expropriate land from their neighbour in order to express a greatness that nobody will ever recognize. Because if the power of Morocco succeeds in bringing down the Saharaui people, this country, admirable in other aspects, will have achieved a shameful victory, without honor, because it will have been built upon the lives and dreams of people who only wanted to live in peace in their homeland and in peace with their neighbours, so that all together they could make the African continent a better place to live.
Dear Aminetu Haidar, You have given a valuable example which has been recognized by the whole world. Don’t put your life at risk, because you still have many battles to fight, and you are essential. We, your friends, the friends of your people, will carry on the struggle everywhere we can. We call on the Spanish government to show solidarity with you and your people. We all know that international relations are highly complex, but it has been many years since the enslavement of peoples was abolished. It’s not about humanitarianism: The United Nations resolutions, international law and common-sense are all on the same side, and this is clear to both Morocco and Spain.
 Let Aminetu go back home with the acknowledgement of her bravery, because it is people like her who give personality to our times and without her, we would all be much poorer.
Aminetu does not have a problem, Morocco has the problem. And has the power to solve it, and will have to do so; not only on behalf of a fragile woman, but for an entire people which does not surrender, because it cannot understand either irrationality or the voracity of expansionism, which belongs to another age and another level of civilization. My very best wishes, dear Aminetu Haidar.
José Saramago