 For more videos on people's struggles, please subscribe to our YouTube channel. A joint Israeli-American delegation and Moroccan officials gathered at Rabat's Royal Palace on December 22 to sign bilateral agreements for a deal on normalizing diplomatic relations between Morocco and Israel. The outgoing US President Donald Trump had earlier announced on December 10 that Morocco and the US have agreed to a deal. According to the deal, the US will recognize Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara territory in return for Morocco establishing diplomatic relations with Israel. The agreement makes Morocco the fourth Arab country after the UAE, Bahrain and Sudan to announce normalization of its relations with Israel in recent times. Western Sahara was a colony of Spain till its withdrawal in 1975. It has since been occupied by Morocco. The Polisario Front, which governs the eastern parts of Western Sahara as Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, claims sovereignty over all of Western Sahara in terms of the Moroccan control as occupation. United Nations Security Council Resolution 1108 of 1997 calls for a referendum to decide the status of Western Sahara. The UN also recognizes the Polisario Front to be the legitimate representative of the Sahrawi people and their right to self-determination. The United Nations and the majority of the world does not recognize Moroccan claims of sovereignty over the territory. The deal has been denounced by Palestinians as well as those who see it as yet another attempt to delegitimize the Palestinian movement for the right to self-determination. A protest march was carried out in the Moroccan capital of Rabat on December 14th in opposition to the normalization of ties between Morocco and Israel. The leaders of the protest were detained briefly and the protesters were forcefully dispersed. The deal has also been criticized by prominent Palestinian organizations as well as by Iran and Hezbollah. Peace activists around the world have also criticized the deal, calling it a betrayal of both the Palestinian and Sahrawi people.