Kabylia or Kabyle is a region located in northern Algeria. It is landlocked by the mountain chain “Tell Atlas” and bordered by the Mediterranean Sea in the north. The Kabyle literally means in Arabic the land of tribes. A misleading name as it originally refers to the homeland of the Kabyle people.
Aksel Bellabbaci, activist in the Kabyle self-determination movement sat with BarlamanToday to explain and define what the term “Kabyle” means. According to Aksel, the Kabyle people, like all peoples in the world, have their characteristics and attributes as defined by the United Nations. The Kabyle were among the few Amazigh or Imazighen people who remained independent and free. This situation will quickly change with the advent of the French colonizer and its General Schneider who decided to establish a district and named it Algeria. The Kabyle remained independent until 1857 when the French army attacked and subdued it.
Indeed, the Encyclopedia Britannica, the world’s most trusted and reliable source of information, affirms that the Berber people of Kabyle have survived in purest form, as the mountain strongholds were never fully subdued by the Romans, Arabs or Turks, and they offered fierce resistance to the French in the 1850s. The last Berber uprising was quelled in 1871, allowing French farmers to colonize the area.
“We defeated the French colonizer in 1962 only to find out that we were re-colonized by Algeria”, Aksel stated, clarifying that despite all, the Kabyle people were keen to coexist and build a unified country. “Unfortunately, this was an illusion. It is impossible to live side by side with a militarized government,” he lamented.
When asked how does the Amazigh population living in the different parts of Morocco differ from the Kabyle people, he answered: “in Morocco, people from different ethnicities form one Ummah. I have been to Morocco several times and was never able to distinguish between an Arab and an Amazigh. They can coexist because they have found middle ground. For us, this is unachievable not only for the language which is different but also for the lifestyle and identity. Above all, this is a political issue disguised in the allegations that we are a separatist movement. We are a movement looking for liberation and freedom. Our sole goal is to get our independence and sovereignty.
Tension was always running high between the Algerian government and the Kabyle people, especially after the massacre of 2001 where over 100 people were killed as a result of the government’s crackdown on protestors.
Aksel concurs to this painful fact. “Even now, and even here in France, a Kabyle activist was recently assassinated and his body was thrown in the Seine. No international organization or human rights bodies spoke of that. International forums never supported us. Hundreds of Kabyle people are rotting in Algerian dungeons.
In 2001, the Kabyle self-determination movement was established with Ferhat Mehenni as its leader and president of the Kabyle provisional government. In the beginning, the movement was calling for autonomy but time quickly showed that this quest was in vain.
Aksel explains: “we were asking for autonomy but the Algerian regime turned a blind eye. Our demands were turned down. In 2010, we founded our first provisional government and now we have moved beyond self-determination and are demanding our independence. An undemocratic government cannot grant autonomy. An example of that is the abduction in Algiers, in 2019, of a girl because she was wearing the Kabyle traditional outfit called “Jubba”.
The Kabyle traditional dresses and clothes are handmade and worn on special occasions like Kabyle cultural ceremonies. This authentic craft testifies to the beauty and uniqueness of the Kabyle culture. The way of sewing these clothes dates back to centuries ago of the Amazigh civilization.
Aksel insisted on commenting: “The Algerian TV might sometimes broadcast some Kabyle folklore or songs, or receive a Kabyle figure, but this is done only to lie to the world and tell foreigners that the Kabyle people enjoy their rights. But this is not true. Imagine that some youth were arrested for wearing the Kabyle football team’s uniform.
The Algerian regime accepts only Kabyle people whose identity was erased.
When asked how the MAK intends to achieve its objective of independence, Aksel said that the movement is peaceful and relies on different activities such as staging sit-ins and demos to express its demands. “Our latest protest was in 2001 at the homeland and thousands of Kabyle people took part in it. We do also organize rallies in European countries, in addition to Canada and the USA. In 2021, we suffered a setback when the movement was listed as a terrorist one, a fact that limited some of our activities.”
The fight will continue for the proud people of Kabyle who vowed to never stop striving until the achievement of all their rights.