Spotlight: The Berbers of North Africa

▪ 1996

Introduction

      The Berber revival and reassertion of cultural identity are integral parts of a larger quest for justice and political inclusion. Berbers scored a victory in Algeria in 1995 that is likely to have a far-reaching impact on the future of their communities.

Berbers Today.

      Berbers are descended from the aboriginal inhabitants of North Africa. Their earliest kingdoms go back to the 5th and 4th centuries BC. Their writing system, tifinagh, is derived from ancient Libyan, and their tongue belongs to the Afro-Asiatic language group. In isolated areas their language, art, and way of life have resisted the changes of time. Today they shun the use of the alien name Berber, favouring instead Amazigh (plural: Imazighen, "free men"), derived from Maxyes, their historic name.

 The largest populations of Berbers are found in Morocco (30-35% of the population) and Algeria (about 15%). (The numbers used here are census and scholarly figures; some estimates are higher.) Morocco's nine million Berber speakers are located primarily in the Rif and Atlas mountain regions. In Algeria two-thirds of the nearly five million Berbers live in the Kabylie, particularly in the Djurdjura Mountains. Other significant Algerian groups include the Shawia in the Aurès Mountains and the Mˋzabites in the northern Sahara. (See Map—>.)

      Another important Berber group is the Tuaregs, who straddle several states in the Sahara-Sahel region, particularly Niger (some 950,000) and Mali (about 660,000). Significant numbers also inhabit southern Algeria, Libya, and other countries.

The Plight of the Tuaregs.

      Since 1990 Tuareg uprisings and government massacres in Niger and Mali have sent thousands of refugees to Burkina Faso, Algeria, Mauritania, and Libya. The violence has been fueled by traditional disputes over land, compounded by what Berbers feel is political exclusion and economic discrimination. The signing of a pact between the Mali government and the Unified Movements and Fronts of Azawad in mid-1994 granted limited autonomy to the Tuaregs and provided for development of their regions. In June 1995 the Arab Islamic Front of Azawad, one of the last armed groups still holding out, joined the peace process.

      The conflict in Niger was brought to a halt in April 1995 by a peace accord signed by the Organization of the Armed Resistance and the central government. The agreement provided for greater autonomy and economic development of the Tuareg region in the north. Although sporadic violence continued to plague the area, a fragile peace prevailed, easing the return of some refugees in December 1995.

Maghreb Berbers.

      In North Africa failures in nation building, along with social and cultural fragmentation, served as catalysts for violence and agitation. In Morocco the issue of Berber identity has not had the same vigour and political overtones as in Algeria. In May 1994, however, a demonstration called for the acceptance of Berber as an official language, and several leaders were subsequently put in jail. King Hassan II defused the crisis in 1995 when he allowed the introduction of news broadcasts and school programs in Berber.

      In Algeria the Berbers scored a victory in May 1995 when the government instituted a council to rehabilitate and promote the Amazigh language. The Mouvement Culturel Berbere and two political parties headed by Berbers—the Socialist Forces Front (FFS) and the Rally for Culture and Democracy—were behind the accomplishment. The FFS was one of the opposition parties that signed the Rome covenant in early 1995 calling for a return to the democratic process. In the Rome meeting the FFS negotiated to include in the covenant the Amazighity, along with the Arabo-Islamic, as one of the elements defining the Algerian state.

      The geographic dispersal of the people helps explain why there is no such entity as a Berber state or a clearly voiced aspiration to establish one. This might change, however, if Berbers' aspirations for political inclusion and for minority rights are thwarted. Transnational self-awareness is growing, as exemplified by the Berber festival held in August 1994 in Douarnenez, France, at which it was agreed to hold the first international Amazigh congress in 1996.

      Hamou Amirouche is a freelance author who has written extensively on North African affairs and published articles on democracy in North Africa.

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