Ahead of Ramadan, Moroccans boycott Algerian dates over claims of 'radioactivity'

As Ramadan looms, some Moroccans have announced that they will boycott Algerian dates, fearing that these fruits may be radioactive due to their production close to sites in the Algerian Sahara where the French carried out nuclear detonations during the colonial era.

Algeria, the third-largest producer of dates in the world, produces more than 1,000 varieties of dates, a fruit that Muslims regularly eat to break their fasting during Ramadan.

In the Sahara, from Biskra to Adrar, most Algerian dates palms are situated, hundreds of kilometres away from the south-western region Reggan, where the French army detonated in 1960 the plutonium-filled bomb, known as Blue Jerboa.

Scandalous! Morocco should boycott algerian dates for several reasons but the most important one is the public health problem it may have!#Boycott_algerian_dates#Boycott_dattes_algériennes#مقاطعة_التمور_الجزائرية@onssamaroc @Ministere_Sante #SaharaOccidental #WesternSahara https://t.co/LBBZLDXzZP

— Breika Beiba - CORCAS Team 🇲🇦 (@BreikaBeiba) March 19, 2022

Blue Jerboa was three times more powerful than the bomb dropped by the US on Nagasaki, Japan, in 1945, which destroyed everything within 1.6 kms of the explosion. France continued further nuclear tests in the Algerian Sahara until the late 1960s.

Nuclear radiation continues to affect thousands of Algerians across the Sahara, and many of the sites are yet to be decontaminated, according to local researchers.

However Algerian dates, particularly the Deglet Nour, have gained notoriety for being one of the most delicious in the world in which Russia, Europe, and Morocco have imported tens of tons from Algeria every year. 

For their part, Moroccan dates-shop-owners shrug off any "rumours" of ongoing contamination.

"All dates placed on the market have been monitored by the National Food Safety Office (ONSSA). Morocco has been exporting dates from Algeria for years now, we did not hear about anyone getting ill or suffering any consequences from eating these fruits," said Samir, a dried-fruit-shop-owner in Rabat, to The New Arab.

Rabat imported nine thousand tons (amounting to around $US 14 million) of dates from Algeria in 2020.

ONSSA has not commented on the rumours as of yet.

A similar campaign surfaced on social media last year, claiming that Algerian dates contain "deadly bugs."

On its part, Algerian media reacted to the ongoing boycott campaign by saying it is motivated by the political conflict between the two countries, a charge affirmed by at least some of the boycotters because of Algeria's position on Western Sahara, a disputed territory in which Morocco claims sovereignty over since 1975.

The Moroccan-Algerian stalemate has been ongoing for decades now, mainly due to Algiers' support for the Polisario Front, an armed group that fights for the independence of Morocco's Western Sahara region.

Morocco's normalisation with Israel late in 2021, which Algeria perceived as a threat to its national security, reignited the dispute, with Algiers cutting off diplomatic ties with Rabat. 

The two governments' political conflict have encouraged tensions among Moroccans and Algerians, despite their shared history of familial ties and cultural heritage. Many Moroccans consider Algerians' support for Polisario a betrayal to their first national cause: proving sovereignty over Western Sahara.