Algeria jails historian over Amazigh identity comments
Controversy has been ignited in Algeria after the imprisonment of a prominent historian who, on the UAE Sky News Arabia, called the Amazigh identity a “French-Zionist” construct.
According to Middle East Eye, the Historian Mohamed Amine Belghit was taken into custody after his comments on the Algerian minority. The state prosecutor stated that he had threatened the “unity” of the country.
On Saturday, the 4th of May, the Prosecutor’s Office of the Dar El Beida court released a statement on Belghit’s arrest.
“The crime of undermining national unity by an act targeting national unity with the aim of undermining the symbols of the nation and the republic, the offence of undermining the integrity of national unity, and the offence of disseminating hate speech and discrimination.”
The comments made by Belghit were on Sky News Arabia, where he denounced the Amazigh minority in a damning statement.
“There is no such thing as Amazigh culture. There is no such thing as Amazighness.”
The Amazighs are an ethnic group who can be found in Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, and Libya, with the origin of the ethnicity dating before the Arab conquest of North Africa.
The culture of the Amazighs has been suppressed by the Algerian government in the past, but in recent times has seen a growth in representation due to protests and campaigns.
Developments have seen “Yennayer”, which is the Amazigh new year, being added to the national holiday list in 2017 with many analysts seeing the representation as essential in a country with the ethnicity making up 20% of the 44 million Algerian population.
Though the situation has also been heavily criticised because of the tensions which have been occurring between Algeria and the UAE in recent times.
One key escalation came when Morocco and the UAE recognised Israel in 2021, which was heavily criticised by the Algerian government alongside the UAE’s involvement in wars in Sudan and Libya, which Algeria saw as aiming to destabilise the neighbouring Tunisia.
Whilst Algeria has taken an increased step in supporting the Amazigh ethnicity by condemning the comments made by Belghit, many critics will see this as an attack on free speech and more than likely a way in which Algeria can further criticise the UAE.
Middle East Eye, Maghrebi.org
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