{"id":14274,"date":"2022-09-26T16:42:15","date_gmt":"2022-09-26T15:42:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cassandravoices.com\/?p=14274"},"modified":"2022-09-26T16:42:15","modified_gmt":"2022-09-26T15:42:15","slug":"maasai-forced-off-land-by-uae-royals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/casswp.eutonom.eu\/index.php\/2022\/09\/26\/maasai-forced-off-land-by-uae-royals\/","title":{"rendered":"Maasai Forced off Land by UAE Royals"},"content":{"rendered":"

Forcing indigenous peoples off ancestral lands to create so-called Gardens of Eden, pasture for grazing, or massive dams, is nothing new. It forms the basis of many colonial and neo-colonial projects.<\/span><\/p>\n

Recall the clearance of hundreds of thousands of small Irish farmers friom the1840s. Or the formation of the national parks of America, led by John Muir<\/a><\/span>, considered the Daddy of wilderness projects, who openly stated that his nature parks would NOT include people, particularly not the indigenous people whom he regarded as \u2018unclean\u2019 blots on his perfect \u2018wilderness\u2019.<\/p>\n

Thanks to Muir, thousands of First Nation American Indians were driven off lands they had lived on for hundreds of years, to make way for National Parks; places where they would never be welcome.<\/p>\n

In more recent days Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro<\/a><\/span> has been ramping up his rhetoric, encouraging the rape and pillage of the Amazon, forcing thousands of indigenous Indian tribes from their lands.<\/p>\n

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Amazonia. \u00a9 Arison Jardin<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Lovely hey?<\/p>\n

That a similar atrocity is now being visited on the Maasai people who have lived on, and with, their lands in northern Tanzania for hundreds of years, long before Tanzanian independence, to create killing fields for the super-rich Royal family of the UAE<\/a><\/span> is deeply shocking.<\/p>\n

Since the 1980\u2019s a luxury safari company \u2013 the Otterlo Business Company (OBC)<\/a><\/span> \u2013 has been trying to complete a deal with the Tanzanian government whereby hundreds of thousands of Maasai will be driven from their ancestral lands. 1,700 acres is to be stolen from them to create a private shooting park for the UAE Royal family and their super rich mates.<\/p>\n

Acting for the Royal family, the OBC, a hugely wealthy private safari set up, have had their eyes on privatising thousands of acres of Ngorongoro, and Loliondo, key parts of the Maasai homeland in Northern Tanzania for decades.<\/p>\n

Ironically, part of these lands were actually set aside for royalty under British colonial rule \u2013 in the \u2018good old days\u2019. These days, thanks to OBC, \u2018hundreds of members of Arab royalty and high-flying businessmen spend weeks each year hunting antelope, lion, leopard and other wild animals\u2019.<\/p>\n

The area is leased (under the Otterlo name) by a member of an Emirati royal family who is a senior officer in the UAE defence ministry ministry.<\/p>\n

The OBC is no newcomer<\/a><\/span> to the \u2018big game\u2019 slaughter scene. They have been busy in Tanzania\u2019s wildlife parks for decades. Under a deal brokered with the Tanzanian government in 1992, involving the transfer of millions of dollars to Tanzania\u2019s Armed Forces, Maasai homes were burnt down, their cattle stolen or killed, leaving villagers \u2018homeless and without food, clothing, land,\u00a0 water or basic medical needs\u2019. Now they want this deal cemented – and all Maasai removed. Their villages, schools, fields and medical stations destroyed.<\/p>\n