Berberism
[1] The Berberist movement originally manifested itself as anti-Arab racism, Islamophobia, and Francophilia, that was sanctioned and sponsored by French colonial authorities.
[15] During the period of French colonization, Arabic and Berber were declared foreign languages in Algeria with the aim to restructure Algerian identity into a more Western one.
[16] Despite French attempts at a Divide and Rule strategy in Algeria, Berbers were on the forefront of the Independence movement with several key leaders of National Liberation Front (FLN), including Hocine Aït Ahmed, Abane Ramdane, and Krim Belkacem.
Furthermore, Aurès and Kabylia were amongst the principal footholds of FLN due to their geographical remoteness and widespread local support for independence.
These counter-insurgency operations resulted in the devastation of agricultural lands, looting, destruction of villages, population displacement, the creation of forbidden zones, etc.
The Movement for the Triumph of Democratic Liberties (MTLD) continued to impose the Arabism-Islamism framework and were denounced as anti-democratic by Berber activists.
At this stage, the Algerian People's Party (PPA) and MTLD, both headquartered in Paris, had merged to advance the Berber platform.
The platform as stated by Rachid Ali revolved around the fact that the Berbers should break the status quo that they have no place in society, as Algeria does not belong to the Arab world but was instead a nation for all its citizens.
The catalyst was set on 10 March 1980, when the government banned a lecture given by Mouloud Mammeri on Ancient Berber poetry at the University of Tizi Ouzou.
[19] Of the most notable included the Berber Cultural Movement (MCB) which held its first official meeting in July 1989 in Tizi Ouzo.
The MCB comprised French intellectuals and Kabliyan students with the agenda to oppose Arabization, call for recognition of Berber culture and language, and implement a Western style democracy.
[24] The MCB mobilized large groups of people and coordinated multiple protests to advance Berber culture, language, and position in civil society.
The 1989 constitution made no mention of Berberism and declared in its second and third articles that "Islam is the religion of the state" and "Arabic is the national and official language".
[19] Whereas these two amendments were carried forward to the 1996 constitution, there was also the addition of a preamble which stated that "the fundamental components of its [Algeria's] identity are Islam, "Arabness", and Berberness.
Later in the preamble, was the mention that "Algeria is the land of Islam, an integral part of the Greater Maghreb, an Arab, Mediterranean and African country," subsequently contradicting the weight of the former advancement.
Tension had been built up throughout the years by this law, however the catalyst which fueled this outbreak was the assassination of Lounes Matoub on 25 June 1998, an Algerian Berber singer and activist, by the Group Islamique Armee (GIA).
Matoub had just arrived from France and was on track to release his 4th CD criticizing post-independence regime and asserting the Berber identity.
On June 28, his funeral was held and 100,000 Berbers came together to protest, which resulted in the continuation of week-long outbursts of violence targeted at government property.
[27] The Berber Dahir reinforced a dichotomy in popular Moroccan historiography: the division of the country into Bled el-Makhzen—areas under the direct control of the Sultan and the Makhzen, or the state, (especially urban areas such as Fes and Rabat)—and Bled es-Siba—typically geographically isolated areas beyond the direct control of the state, where Berber languages are primarily spoken and where Islamic Sharia was not applied.
[26] The Berber gilding in Morocco shone after the speech given by the monarch Mohamed VI in October 2001, in Ajdir, Khenifra region.
[30] The establishment of IRCAM represented the first substantial change in the state's attitude towards its Berber population from a policy of subtle neglect to explicit recognition and support.
[40] Some of the symbols and colors of the flags of the Canarian pro-independence organizations,[41] as well as the use of the word 'Taknara' (rejected by Cubillo himself) to refer to the archipelago, are seeking to represent Berber cultural roots.
