The Sahel Blog has a post up about slavery in Mauritania, a major but neglected human rights issue in the West Africa and Sahel region, where millions of people are still subject to various forms of hereditary social discrimination, ranging from outsider status to outright slavery. While there is a black/white element to it in some areas, one shouldn’t confuse this with US traditions of skin-color based labor slavery among captured peoples. It’s more an outgrowth of traditional tribal culture, local adaptions of ancient Islamic rulings on slavery, and hereditary social stratification in nomad communities, and it has existed in various forms as a fact of life for hundreds of years. It’s quite repugnant nonetheless, of course, but understanding the context is important to realizing how deeply-rooted and hard to destroy these notions are.

Also, it’s not only among the Moors of Mauritania. The caste-like traditions that underpin these practices also apply to varying degrees to the closely related Sahrawi and other communities in Western Sahara, Morocco and Algeria (including among the Tindouf refugees, as this report from Human Rights Watch makes clear) as well as among non-Moorish, non-Arab Touareg communities in the wider Sahara, and also among several African peoples in Senegal, Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, etc. This is not to mention how traditional practices sometimes mix with modern slavery practices, tied to labor exploitation, warlordism, and such phenomena.

Le XXIe siècle a enrégistré l’evolution des législations nationales dériver et conduire certains États à la reconnaissance légale du concubinage ou du mariage entre deux personnes de même sexe. Les pays bas ont ouvert en premier la voie aux couples concubins ou mariés de même sexe. certains ont meme vécu des adoptions d’enfants …
la question etant:
Si la femme a un certain attrait pour l’homme ce qui est d’ailleurs justifié par sa beauté, son charme ses habitudes ,la morphologie de son corps et surtout par sa difference, je ne vois pas ce qui peut influencer un homme a passer a l’acte avec son semblable.
L’attirance naturelle ou physique ne peut s’exercer qu’entre deux elements differents soit de sex opposé et en principe ceux de meme type doivent naturellement avoir une repulsion l’un a l’autre.
Le mariage gay c’est aussi l’union homosexuelle et peut etre entre deux femmes, mais la, en tant qu’humain je peux comprendre cette affinité issue de l’amitié de deux personnes passives qui ont un certain attrait l’un pour l’autre ce que je trouve d’ailleurs acceptable et louable meme.Concernant l’union de deux hommes je ne vois pas la l’effet generateur de cette attirance ou amitié qui peut aller jusqu’a l’acte ou le mariage.
Un homme par sa nature est rugueux, musclé, deformé, suant et la plus part du temps puant par nature de meme qu’il ne presente pas la meme morphologie que la femme , je veux dire qu’il n’est pas fait pour ce genre de plaisir.Il est vrai que , de plus en plus d’hommes avouent avoir de l’attirance pour les garçonnets ou les garçons comme c’est le cas tout recemment du très mediatique journaliste Français, mais la a penser prendre son equivalent homme en femme je trouve ça un peu depassant toute logique.

Ici a droite un mariage gay en pays bas
et a gauche se sont deux femmes couple
je suis certain que vous serez d’accord moi face a ces deux photos que le couple femme est assez charmant , je veux dire meme pasioonnant et attirant, trouvez vous la meme chose face a l’autre couple ?

Have been in contact with Fritz Catlin recently,  He be one of the founders of the legendary 23Skidoo.  

Legendary, a word that many say has been overused when applied to contemporary music.  I’ve checked, it’s definitely okay to use on this occasion.

Fritz sent two cd’s, one of his recent project with bassman Mike Joseph, called The Skintologists.  It’s pure straight-up dub.  The other cd, loaded with 147 tracks of all shapes, blends, and sizes.  The accompanying note read  ”How to devalue music?  Give enormous amounts away at once.”  Reefer tunes, classic dub, dancehaul (sic), hip hop, Indo-jazz fusion, Alice Coltrane, Mutabaruka, Roland Alphonso, phew!

For this week’s program, some of Fritz’ selection is intertwined with the following –  Taslit – Laârbi Ihini from the Manouâat Amazighia Vol.2 that I copped in Agadir a couple weeks back.  Also joining in, we have  ’lectro-synth bass frequency newness from the Hyderdub label, ‘Wind It Up’ from Mark Pritchard & Om’mas Keith;  Hackman, new on the scene from our friends at Studio Rockers, who will be releasing a three track EP from this 19 year-old producer.  

Cessa, of whom very little is known, except they produce music that embraces the goodness, roots and electronica. Listening to it now, the 4/4 beat reminds me of a tune by The Drum Club that I used to rinse.  That makes sense now, as music from 15-20 years past always seems to have a certain influence on a percentage of current producers.

Back to now, stepping up  is the sound recordist / mini-documentary maker,  the Sao Paolo based producer  Maga Bo.  His second album on Soot, Archipelagos is out now.  By the way, Maga is now booking dates for a European tour in November, and he’ll be doing his thing at Womex in Copenhagen, so any promoters reading this,  check him out, give him a shout if you need some of that Transnational Bass to warm up your cockles before winter sets in.

Anybody remember Culture Club’s ‘Murder Rap Trap‘? it’s on the b-side of ‘I’m Afraid of Me’ featuring Captain Crucial on the MIC. Love that tune yes, had to drop it last week at Txola.  When a guy asked me “What tune is this?” (in spanish of course) I produced the sleeve, and he thought I was taking the piss.  It happens every time.

This week’s program can be heard from tonight at 22h00 at Sunhole Radio, (then repeated weekday mornings at 11h00).

Thursday it’s the turn of Planet Radio, at 23h00, and next week Tuesday 20h30 at Radio Norte 89.4FM.  Radio Norte are a week behind when broadcasting the program, which means you can catch Taliesin vs. DJ Rodrigo tonight, if you missed it last week.

Thanks to all singers, players, listeners, readers, promoters, visitors, people dem in the crowd.

Timitar 2009

The last Saturday July 4th, Samira Said was honnored in the TIMITAR festival (Agadir / Morocco) with more than 110.000 peoples (accorded to the organisation team). That was a  total success, Samira sang diverses songs from her new album ‘Ayam Hayati’ & classics like; ‘Youm wara youm’ , ‘Al Eih’, ‘Aal Bal’… and the surprise was 2 new songs, one in Moroccan and another in Amazigh, duet with the star of Amazighi song: Aicha Tachinouit!

You can see here the photos from her live performances and the Press Conference, and too some videos.

Photos:

Timitar 2009

Timitar 2009

Timitar 2009

Timitar 2009

Press Conference 2009

Press Conference 2009

Videos:

Special Report with Interview (2M Tv)

‘Al Eih’ in the news of Medi 1 Tv

Source; SamiraDaily Team & Special Thanks to Khalid Faiz.

It appears that the Amazigh in Morocco are up in arms over the state’s decision to use the countries legislative branch as an instrument of social engineering.

For those who are out of the loop, a refresher on the situation in Kabylia: it all boils down to a French-Moroccan-Israeli plot.

The evidence is overwhelming, according to Ennahar – one of the handful of Algerian newspapers to have an English version (I know no Moroccan paper that has one btw – is it part of a conscious move away from the exclusive dominance of French or merely an odd occurence?):

• Mossad agents and U.S. Secret Service participated in Mehenni’s meeting with the Israeli political counsellor.
• Ferhat Mehenni prepares for an international conference in the Canary Islands to proclaim the independence of the region of Kabylia.
• The Jews of Europe support Mehenni’s movement financially

As a Moroccan used to reading Maroc Hebdo and Aujourd’hui Le Maroc, I only miss the mention of Iran or shiism or the odd reference to Robert Ménard and Moulay Hicham to feel completely at home.

The details are crushing in their indictment of the dastardly devious conjurors:

The program, which was broadcasted in Arabic, opens its space to voices that represent media and associations of the Moroccan regime (…)

The objectives of this dark conspiracy are almost too frightening for words:

the establishment of religious freedom for Jews and Christians

One of the ring-leaders of this conspiracy seems to have a carefully selected nom de guerre:

In addition, Ben Gurion Taghine, the charge of information (Chebek Algerian Jews), has asked to raise the issue of right of Israel for return

And if the conspiracy is taking place in Spain, it is part of a crafty French plan:

On the other hand and according to our sources, the movement for autonomy of Kabylia (MAK), headed by Ferhat Mehenni, is preparing for an international conference to draft the proclamation of the autonomy of Kabylia to be held to the Canary Islands, where took place the international congress of Tamazight. This will be organized with the help and support of French and Moroccan Jews official secret parts. This congress will be held far from the French capital to avoid a diplomatic crisis with Algiers.

Interpol is hereby forewarned. On another note, El Watan (1) has some serious catching up to do.

PS: Amazingly enough, Ferhat Mehenni doesn’t seem to appreciate the publicity.

PPS: Describing Ferhat Mehenni as an indefatigable militant of the Palestinian cause might be considered as slightly misleading:

Primo-Europe: Contrairement à d’autres parties de la population, on sent chez les Kabyles beaucoup de respect pour ce petit pays qu’est Israël. Comment l’expliquez-vous ?

Ferhat Mehenni : Les Kabyles, aux prises avec l’arabo-islamisme qui veut les dépersonnaliser et les assimiler, se défendent comme ils peuvent. Par sa résistance contre les pays arabes qui visent à le « démanteler », par sa bravoure devant ceux qui soutiennent notre oppression, Israël suscite respect. Mais attention ! Ce respect pour Israël n’empêche nullement la compassion pour des Palestiniens innocents, victimes d’exactions et de bavures israéliennes !

Primo-Europe: Le sionisme a-t-il une chance un jour d’être acceptée comme concept dans la pensée arabe ?

Ferhat Mehenni : Excusez-moi, mais je ne suis pas la personne la plus indiquée pour répondre à cette question. Vous aurez un avis plus autorisé d’un intellectuel arabe que je ne suis pas.

(1) For a substantial part of Moroccan public opinion, El Watan has become a by-word for the Algerian presse galonnée’s chauvinism on Morocco-related issues.

But was it ever? Here’s two pre-election interviews with the leaders of Algeria’s two main Kabyle parties, the liberal/secularist RCD and the social-democratic FFS, Algeria’s oldest opposition party. As someone pointed out to me, they don’t like being described as Berber parties, but as I pointed back, they mostly are.

Said Saadi (RCD) in Le Monde: [in French]

One cannot save Algeria and the regime at the same time. Today, it would be irresponsible to become involved in these twisted political games, which are the root of the disaster ( . . . ) Boycotting is a duty, and even a patriotic necessity. Bouteflika, he’s the Mugabe of Northern Africa.

Karim Tabbou (FFS) in the Arab Reform Bulletin:

By boycotting the elections, we delivered an important message to the Algerian people: we are boycotting this corrupt regime and refusing to take part in its political game.

Such negative vibes. But what are they whining about? The Economist explains.

Touareg è un termine probabilmente arabo che venne ripreso dai francesi e significa “Abbandonati da Dio“, ma questa terminologia non piace ai Touareg. Secondo altre fonti più verosimili deriverebbe dal nome di una città libica chiamata Targa, anticamente chiamata  la Fezzan libica.  Sono lontani cugini degli egiziani e dei marocchini, da cui hanno ereditato la loro cultura e la loro religione: l’Islam. La religione cristiana ha avuto comunque una forte influenza, basti pensare, a livello artistico, alle splendidi croci incise nel metallo. Di certo si sa che non sono arabi: i Touareg sono di origine Amazigh e parlano uno dei dialetti berberi antichi e usano la scrittura Tifinagh nelle sue numerose varianti regionali, scrittura che ha influenzato l’alfabeto berbero attuale. Oggi i Touareg si sono incrociati con le popolazioni arabe e nere sub-sahariane e presentano numerose componenti che non sono similabili alle loro origini antiche. Come la religione, l’Islam, che  è un fondamento per la loro esistenza.  Stretto è il legame con i berberi del Maghreb, al punto che molti di loro preferiscono essere chiamati Imajeghen o Kel Tamasheq. Al tempo della crisi che sfocio’ nella colonizzazione, molti di loro, poveri e senza lavoro, vennero chiamati Shumar o Ishomar, causa la loro condizione precaria che ha dato origine alla fonetica della parola dal francese  “chômeur“, disoccupato.  All’inizio del ‘900, i francesi partirono alla conquista dell’Africa. La disfatta in Prussia nel 1870 aveva fiaccato l’orgoglio dell’Armata Nazionale e l’Africa era ancora inesplorata per i coloni, quindi si donava nuova speranza alla Francia. Un problema geografico si pose tra il nord (Maghreb) e il sud (Sudan francese, attuale Mali): l’ostilità del Sahara isolava l’avvenire delle due Afriche. Ma gli ufficiali Dupontel e Freycinet decisero, al di là di un semplice conto economico, di unire le unità militari francesi dal nord al sud. Le divisioni del nord erano riunite sotto il nome di “Armata d’Africa“, chiamati “i sederi rosa”, mentre le divisioni del sud erano chiamate “La Coloniale“, familiarmente “i sederi neri”. Nel deserto i militari si scontrarono con una opposizione forte, tenace, da parte di piccole armate di guerrieri a cavallo di dromedari, i Touareg, che regnavano nel deserto e che non vollero essere conquistati. Tutti i tentativi di attraversare il Sahara risultarono perdenti e i soldati vennero decimati dai guerrieri Touareg. L’abbigliamento, il mistero, la violenza dei combattimenti lascio’ per lungo tempo delle tracce profonde negli spiriti francesi. Poco tempo dopo si archivio’ la Conferenza di Berlino che tagliava e attribuiva dei “pezzi” d’Africa alle potenze europee. Ai francesi l’AOF (Africa Occidentale Francese) che divenne una sola regione. Si volle creare un territorio sahariano relativamente indipendente che coprisse la regione frontaliera tra il Mali e il Niger, chiamandolo Azawagh o Azawak, che inglobava il Sahara centrale, quindi il sud dell’Algeria. Quel progetto pero’ non vide mai la luce . Il rapporto tra i francesi e i Touareg era molto teso. I francesi vollero dirigere con un pugno di ferro la regione privando gli Imashaghen della libertà. Ebbero molte difficoltà ad imporre la loro organizzazione economica e sociale ai locali e utilizzarono i Touareg come trasportatori e in seguito come combattenti, giocando sulle rivalità preesistenti tra le varie tribù e le popolazioni locali. Fu Lapperine, grande amico di Père de Focault (vedi anche alla Cat.Portraits) che ebbe l’idea di arruolare questi “corsari del deserto” come mano armata, polizia del deserto. In Algeria furono i Chambaas e i Touareg, nel Mali i Kountas e i Touareg, che regnavano sull’ordine. Molti Touareg accettarono e assecondarono questa scelta perchè Laperrine offri’ loro due cammelli, uno per la pastura e uno per la monta, oltre all’ equipaggiamento. I francesi imposero il pagamento di una tassa,una “dîme” alle differenti autorità Touaregs: la “Twise“, imposta di sovranità e riconoscimento della dominazione francese. (Fine 1a parte)

[An Islamist propagandist "activist" asks:] ‘Berbers, Where Do You Stand on “Palestine”?

memri ^ | January 15, 2009

‘Berbers, Where Do You Stand on “Palestine”?’

Moroccan Islamist Daily: “Amazighs of Morocco, Where Do You Stand on Palestine?” On January 15, the Moroccan pro-Hamas Islamist daily Al-Tajdid published a column by Hassan Bouikhf titled “Amazighs of Morocco, Where Do You Stand on Palestine?” The article took to task Berber activist groups that did not show support for the Palestinians in Gaza:

February 26, 2009 No. 2262

Columnist Ahmed ‘Asid: We Don’t March Because Islamists and Pan-Arabists Have Monopolized the Public Sphere

Columnist Ahmed ‘Asid responded to Al-Tajdid’s accusations in the Moroccan Bayan Al-Yawm daily on January 23, 2009: “…We know the Moroccan people’s solidarity with the Palestinian people, and we [the Amazighs] join in this. It is in the hearts of people of all ages and in all sectors [of society]. It is a true and spontaneous solidarity… But there is nowhere for this to be expressed apart from the private sphere. As for the public sphere, it is monopolized by others who have other aims in expressing solidarity… The author’s second error is that he has limited solidarity with Palestine to participation in marches organized by the political current to which he himself belongs [i.e. the Islamists], in cooperation with the pan-Arab current – whether in its left-wing, nationalist salafi, or right-wing liberal forms. Everyone knows that these marches are held in the framework of these two political ideologies [Islamism and pan-Arabism], both of which we reject completely and irrevocably. These marches are organized in the name of the Moroccan people, but in truth they only represent their organizers, and promote a ’solidarity’ of a different sort, and a struggle of a different sort – [that of] agitators for jihadi Islam and preachers of pan-Arabism, whose feelings are roused only when it is Arabs who are wronged…

“Thus, we are for Palestinian rights and against the instrumental political use to which they are put; we are for the Palestinian people but against Hamas, [Islamic] Jihad, and all the peddlers of Palestinian blood… We are against the savagery of brutal revenge demonstrated by Palestinian political Islam in the Gaza coup, and against all the maneuvers aiming to derail political talks through missiles – which kill no one apart from the Palestinian dream of an independent state. We believe that the Palestinian cause is a human one that is larger than the Arabs and the Muslims, and that those who have Arabized it and Islamized it have cost it the world’s forceful solidarity and have turned it into a wearisome play of which all have tired…” [4]

Berber Activist Moha Moukhlis: “The ‘Arab Street’ Is Jubilant When an Indoctrinated Palestinian Child Blows Himself up in Tel Aviv” – And Ignores Crimes in Darfur and Kurdistan

An article by the Moroccan Berber journalist Moha Moukhlis posted on the amazighworld.org website expressed in starker terms what some Berbers feel is the gulf between themselves and the Arab world: “…I want first to emphasize that I am writing as an Amazigh deprived of my most basic and legitimate rights: to be myself in the land of my ancestors and to express myself freely without constraint.

“I am not part of the flock that bleats as it is being led to the slaughterhouse. I am allergic to totalitarian ideologies and impassioned rhetoric. I hate confusions and ambiguities: I am an Amazigh, a free man.

“I can thus affirm that the tragedy of the Gaza Palestinians serves as fuel for Hamas, a gang of fundamentalist criminals who are perpetrating self-genocide, with the assistance of genocidal Arab regimes. [They are] mentally disturbed people who hate life and use the blood of their fellow Muslims to perpetuate their macabre aura.

“What can homemade and primitive rockets do against the fifth [largest] army in the world? ‘[They can bring us] Paradise,’ say the Islamists and their dark networks, and they have the Quranic verses and hadith to prove it! [These are] criminal Islamists who conceive of their own people as cannon fodder destined to build up their bogus ‘glory’…

“Death is their ideal, their culture, and the pillar of their values. The society that it [Hamas] dominates is indoctrinated to murder, to kill in jubilation and in horror. They are vampires who suck the blood of their citizens… It matters little to them if hundreds of children die or are torn to shreds. They think that they will go straight to Paradise. How morbid!

“And the so-called ‘Arab street[?]‘ A brainless herd that has been indoctrinated and riled up and that has lost all sense of gravity and direction. They express their hatred for the Jews, whom they hope to exterminate from the face of the Earth… Yet this ‘Arab street’, which sees itself as the voice of the [world's] peoples, never dared to lift a finger against the crimes committed by the Hamas fundamentalists, or by the Arabo-Islamist regimes against non-Arab populations in Darfur, Kurdistan, Egypt, Syria, Libya, Algeria, or Niger. No! [And] the rights of the Amazigh people are supposed to be sacrificed on the altar of [this] Arab fundamentalism …

“It is striking that the denunciation of the massacres in Gaza by the ‘Arab street’ and the Arab ‘intellectuals’ is not meant to defend the Palestinians’ right to live in peace, but to denounce the identity of the aggressor: the Jew. Who cares about the massacre perpetrated by the Hamas gangs against their brothers in Fatah? This macabre [attitude] is taken to extremes: The ‘Arab street’ is jubilant when an indoctrinated Palestinian child blows himself up in Tel Aviv.”

“The Amazigh People… Will Never Give in to the Siren [Songs] of the Peddlers of Death“

Moukhlis continues: “They criticize the Amazigh movement for its ’silence’ on Gaza! This is because its position [on Gaza] is determinant [of its status]: either it goes along with the herd, or else it is condemned and accused of high treason against the fundamentalist Arab nation. To rehabilitate itself, it is expected to send its children to blow themselves up in Tel Aviv, to teach them to hate Jews, and to express the wish, after every prayer, that they [the Jews] will disappear from the Earth!

“No! The Amazigh people love life and work to perpetuate it. They will never give in to the siren [songs] of the peddlers of death and human flesh. They will always know to defend just causes without hatred and without vengefulness. While for the ‘Arab street’ and the Arab fundamentalist groups the death of dozens of children and women means nothing – since their death is a means of entering Paradise – for the Amazighs the life of every human being is sacred and must be defended by legal means and with respect for the other.

“In order to develop, the Arab fundamentalists and [pan-]Arabists need to start by changing. This change, which will allow them to build a future for coming generations, needs to be based on the total and definitive rejection of the culture of death.” [5]

Kabyle Writer: “Selective Humanism and Compassion Are the Expression of an Unspoken Racism“

The same attitudes could be observed in Algeria as well as Morocco. In an article on the Kabyle (Algerian Berber) website kabyle.com, Azouaou Azeggagh wrote: “The Palestinians, taken hostage in the Gaza Strip, suffer martyrdom while serving as a human shield in a war imposed on them by Hamas’ Islamist militias and their allies in Damascus and Tehran. The media are at the source of the clamors of indignation heard from the four corners of the world when faced with the horrors of a war broadcast live… They would do better to turn against the persecutors of the Palestinians’ liberty -namely, the Hamas fundamentalists, disciples of Khomeini and bin Laden…

“The method remains simple and terribly effective. First, you must make Israel commit an error, by launching rockets from crowded neighborhoods, schools, or hospitals, so that the return fire will inevitably hit the largest number of civilians possible – preferably women and children. Then, you show the TV [crews] the shredded bodies, and there you go. The condemnations pour in and the world looks at Israel as the barbarian of the 21st century, when it did nothing but defend its right to live – a right openly and unambiguously contested by Islamists of all stripes.

“Nonetheless, Western opinion, which often stops at the emotional level, wants neither to see nor to understand the reasons for the Israeli military reaction. [According to them], all Israel had to do was not fall into the trap of its enemies. What Western opinion forgets is that with such a reaction, it encourages in Gaza what it condemns at home: Islamist terrorism…

“Other tragedies – in Darfur, Kivu, Gambia, the Ivory Coast, Kabylia, Somaliland, Sri Lanka, Kurdistan, Afghanistan, and the Touareg lands ([in] Niger, Mali, Lybia, and Algeria) – are largely minimalized, and do not give rise to mass movements [of sympathizers]. Selective humanism and compassion are the expression of an unspoken racism. The victims of political and military violence are equal in death, whatever their identity.” [6]

“The Majority of Kabyles Cannot Show Solidarity with Hamas – When It Is Arab Islamism that Remains the Principle Menace to the Survival of the Amazigh Peoples”

Another author, D. Messaoudi, wrote on the same website: “The violence of the fighting, the mistakes [on the battlefield], and the proportion of civilians killed by the IDF in Operation Cast Lead have traveled the world round. Both in Europe and in the so-called Arab countries, the tragedies of the Kabyles, the Kurds, and the Darfurians have not excited the same compassion. In this context, it should be added that no one in Algeria or in [other] Berber countries cared when, for eight years, the Islamic jihadi militias of Hamas and Hizbullah tore Israel to pieces with Qassam rockets and Grad missiles.

“The majority of Kabyles cannot show solidarity with Hamas when it is Arab Islamism that remains the principle menace to the survival of the Amazigh peoples…

“To be sure, the slaughter being carried out by the Israeli army against the Arab Palestinian residents of Gaza is condemnable. Thus it is normal that the Arabs of other country would express solidarity with their blood brothers, try to bring in non-Arab Muslims on a basis of religious solidarity, and try to swell their ranks with people of different ethnicities and faiths on the basis of human solidarity.

“But a question has been bothering me for quite a long time and holds me back from expressing solidarity with the Palestinian cause, though I am Muslim and a human rights activist: Have the Arab peoples and regimes, whether Muslim or Christian, ever demonstrated their support for oppressed non-Arabs, whether around the world or in their own countries? The answer is ‘no’…”

Messaoudi then reviews the cases of the Kurds and Darfur before going on to address that of his own people in Kabylia: “… In the Black Spring (2001-2004), Kabylia was invaded by government troops and 126 Kabyle civilians were murdered, and hundreds of others were crippled for life. Yet the Kabyle tragedies have never aroused the compassion of Arab figures, regimes, or simple Arab citizens, either nationally [in Algeria] or in the so-called Arab world…

“In sum, the Arabs believe that only their causes are noble and only their populations are to be classed as human – this being the justification for [why] one [should] support them and surround them with love and compassion. It is unfortunate that many people have let themselves be carried away by this wave of hypocritical inter-Arab solidarity.” 

The rest is at http://www.memri.org/bin/articles.cgi?Page=archives&Area=sd&ID=SP226209

Le premier roman féminin kabyle vient d’être publié. C’est à Tizi-Ouzou qu’il a vu le jour juste avant Yennayer 2009.

Souhaitant qu’il soit le prélude à la publication de tous les romans féminins dont nous avons eu à lire les manuscrits à l’instar de ceux de Fatiha Merabti, Fatima Aït Hemlat et tant d’autres femmes kabyles qui ont rompu le silence pour dire le monde par le truchement de mots sous un genre totalement nouveau en littérature berbère : le roman.

Rappelons-le : le premier roman féminin écrit en berbère est Tasrit n wez’ru (La mariée du rocher) de Samira Yedjis. Il a été édité en 2001 par les éditions Anakhla à Oujda (Rif). Il est par ailleurs le 3ème roman écrit en berbère du Rif (tarifit) après ceux de Med Chacha (1997) et Med Bouzeggou (2001).

Lynda Koudache

La belle jeune femme qui a osé ce défi est déjà connue du public kabyle et amazigh. C’est Lynda Koudache. Avant d’embrasser le genre romanesque, elle s’est déjà lancée dans la poésie. Elle a, donc, trois recueils à son actif à savoir : Comme une forêt de mots dits (2001), L’aube vierge (2003), Lligh uqbel ad iligh (2005).

Lynda Koudache ne s’est pas destinée uniquement à la poésie, elle s’est investie dans la nouvelle. La nouvelle Anagi n tudert traduite en français sous le titre de Témoin d’une vie a été primée au concours Femmes Méditerranée en 2006.

Il semble qu’aucun de ses genres ne parait satisfaire l’auteur. Elle veut dire (et écrire) plus, explorer de nouveaux rivages, aller à la rencontre de nouveaux horizons qui lui permettrait d’accoucher en kabyle ce qu’une femme écrivaine kabyle ressent.
Le pari est gagné avec Aâecciw n tmes

Couveture du roman

Le titre a lui seul est évocateur. Aâecciw désigne, en kabyle, une cabane construite avec du bois, du moellon ou du pisé et servant d’abri aux voyageurs en détresse, aux inconnus cherchant refuge pour fuir les bourrasques et les neiges dans les champs. Times, le feu, c’est cette énergie en incandescence source de chaleur et de lumière.

Aâecciw n tmes n’est autre que cette petite demeure offerte par Dda Saâid à Fatma une orpheline maternelle et sa tante Nna Cabha deux femmes errantes, ne sachant plus à quel saint [se] vouer depuis qu’elles ont quitté leur village.

Le charme et la grâce de Fadhma ne laisseront pas Larbi fils de Nna Ldjuher et de Dda Saâid indifférent. Il succombera aux feux de l’amour. Il ne vivra que pour aimer et être aimé par Fadhma. Mais c’est non sans compter sur la jalousie de sa tante maternelle Yamina qui rêve depuis longtemps de le voir uni à sa fille Chrifa. Ldjouher a un allié de taille, sa sœur Yamina qui, obnubilée par les lieux familiaux, acceptera de recourir aux philtres d’une sorcière pour empoisonner Fadhma alors qu’elle était enceinte de Saïd le fils de Larbi… nous voilà donc placés dans cet univers de lutte, typiquement féminin, seule une écrivaine comme Lynda Koudache peut en parler. Les jalousies, les intrigues des femmes kabyles, les complots, les alliances… pour continuer à régenter la vie des hommes dont nous la savons monnaie courante.

Pour présider à la destinée des hommes, les femmes recourent à tout type de subterfuges dans cette société traditionnelle. Et elles réussissent. La domination masculine n’est qu’apparence. Apparence mais obligation car pour maintenir sa position dans son groupe traditionnel, le kabyle doit s’y conformer. Certes, ce modèle tend à disparaître mais le processus est lent, très lent.

Les descriptions que fait le narrateur de certaines scènes trahissent les connaissances de l’auteur. En fait, qui peut mieux que Lynda Koudache décrire les douleurs de l’accouchement, l’ambiance régnant chez une sorcière ? … Réalisme oblige. A l’instar de la première génération de romanciers kabyles (S. Saadi, R Aliche, S. Zenia, A. Uhemza…) et à l’instar des romanciers de la deuxième génération (B. Tazaghart, Ould Amar, M. Ait Ighil, etc., Lynda Koudache semble très préoccupée par la langue romanesque. Le sujet, bien que simple, trahit la volonté de la romancière de dire plus, de dire mieux, de dire mieux et mieux encore la réalité ambiante. Exercice difficile surtout lorsque nous savons que ces écrivains ne sont pas initiés aux techniques d’écriture littéraires, ni à la langue berbère. Cette dernière étant frappée d’ostracisme, marginalisée et donc non reconnue par l’Etat-nation algérien.

Certes, les critiques peuvent reprocher à Lynda Koudache sa naïveté, ses phrases simples, son manque de descriptions amplifiées… Certes, certaines coquilles et autres erreurs de notation usuelles subsistent encore dans le texte. Mais Lynda Koudache, à l’instar de Taos Amrouche, première romancière kabyle et… algérienne (comme on dit dans certains cercles éculés) innove : elle permet aux femmes kabyles de s’affirmer, de s’assumer et d’assumer la destinée de toute une frange de la société.

Du statut de gardienne du feu sacré, la gardienne préservatrice de la langue et culture amazighes, l’écrivaine kabyle est en train de devenir “passeur de gué”, la salvatrice de la mémoire non pas par la mémorisation de contes merveilleux et de poésies amoureuses mais par la création, par l’entrée par infraction dans un monde longtemps resté l’apanage des hommes.
Kateb Yacine disait qu’une femme qui s’émancipe vaut son pesant d’or et qu’une femme qui écrit vaut son pesant de poudre. Ne pourrait-on pas dire, pour paraphraser Kateb Yacine, qu’une femme qui écrit en kabyle, de surcroît, vaut son pesant d’uranium 238 ? Lynda Koudache est de celles qui valent tous ces pesants.

En toute état de cause, l’œuvre de Lynda Koudache fera date : elle est une des premières pierres d’un édifice certes fragile mais désormais en voie de consécration, à savoir la littérature kabyle.

Subjectivement, nous estimons que cette voie est à encourager car payante. Mais n’est-il pas objectif d’encourager la naissance, la promotion d’un art, d’une littérature ? Nous sommes subjectifs, certes, dans nos propos en parlant de Lynda Koudache mais nous ne sommes pas autant objectifs en encourageant les femmes kabyles à écrire, à dire le monde, à s’exprimer, à s’assumer,… nous le sommes en disant à Taqbaylit, ini-d/aru-d s teqbaylit. Lynda l’a fait et nous lui sommes reconnaissants. Que d’autres femmes kabyles écrivent : elles ne seront que les bienvenues dans le monde où l’humain, l’Humanité, ses préoccupations et son devenir sont dits par le truchement du langage. Une fois embarqués dans le navire des lettres, la langue importe peu, l’essentiel c’est de dire le monde. Lynda Koudache a pris le risque. Elle l’a fait en kabyle. Ce n’est que tant mieux.

Saïd Chemakh