The Mouse Thinks So Too

It was a show of power. The tens of thousands of young Moroccans who were presumably sent off to force their way into Ceuta and Melilla and then move on to the mainland – it was meant to make power palpable (Wikipedia »2026 Morocco–Spain border incident«). And precisely because it is somewhat unclear (or: is supposed to be) who exactly is displaying which power.

And it is not true that the young men have practically all gone back again. Quite a few of them, so one hears, are said to have gone into hiding, or are literally making the town unsafe (jungefreiheit.de, 31.7.2026). And some young Moroccans are reportedly to be brought into the EU as »minors« (tichyseinblick.de, 1.8.2026) – until they … well, what exactly?

Vanguard and Foretaste

Beyond the show of power, the young Moroccans were also a cynical foretaste. Tent camps holding migrants from regions south of the Sahara have existed in Morocco for years (report from 2018: pbs.org; feature from 2019: reuters.com; report/PDF from 2022: mixedmigration.org).

According to social-media rumours – the most reliable source of truth these days – those camps are about as active today as can be, and the tens of thousands of Moroccans were »only« the vanguard: a show of power, a test run, an unambiguous threat. The one who is actually being threatened knows who is doing the threatening. We who are threatened indirectly have to guess; we can only suspect.

More Real Than Reality

It feels like a fever dream, and yet it is more real than the so-called reality that the victims of Germany’s public broadcasters live in. Western politicians appear to have made their peace with the destruction of the West. Destroyed economically, in terms of power, culturally – until nothing and no one is left, at least not as before.

And whatever still works in the West despite all the political sabotage is attacked by »NGOs«, for instance via »lawfare« (warfare that exploits local legal systems). Or infrastructure is simply destroyed outright (reported examples: en.ilsole24ore.com, 25.07.2026, bild.de, 25.04.2025).

The threat held over the powerful seems to be merely this: that destruction and decomposition could happen at a speed and on a scale at which, having given up their sheep, they still fail to get their own lambs to safety.

Gibraltar and Millions of Young Men

That this is a threat scenario and a trial of strength does not, of course, mean that further political aims are not being served as well. For instance: the USA and Israel would, one might speculate, like control over the Strait of Gibraltar, given that the Strait of Hormuz is currently shut (straits.live, 3.8.2026) – and not entirely through no fault of their own. Otherwise Israel is left only with the route via Eilat and the Red Sea – which at present is not safe either.

Morocco too, and Africa as a whole, has a political interest in sending its young men to Europe. Millions of unemployed young men whose expectations of living standards are at Western levels, but whose qualifications and abilities fall far short of earning that themselves, are considered a potential for unrest and revolution.

Send those young men into the EU, and you a) are rid of the social problems, b) can count on remittances in Western currency, and c) have installed a quantity of activatable young men who, after certain football matches, have already shown where their true loyalties lie – and what else is in them (aljazeera.com, 27.11.2022). (Compare also Erdoğan’s »barracks«.)

Yes, truly, all of it has the feel of a fever dream. But you are not the one running the fever. And: if you cannot wake from it, it is not a dream.

Cat and Mouse

The West, and the powers that want to end it, remind me today of a cat that has caught a mouse.

The cat, for whatever reason, plays with the mouse a while longer, before finally breaking its neck with one quick bite and eating it.

You think you have a chance to go on living as you have, as you once did?

Ha – the mouse thinks so too.